A Summary Of Eschatological Views
A SUMMARY OF ESCHATOLOGICAL VIEWS
The following list is not meant to be exhaustive, for there are many variations to be found among the different views of eschatology. However, we can describe several primary categories of such views:
Dispensational Premillennial.
We have already described Dispensational Premillennialism. Though there are occasional differences, it generally holds to a pre-tribulational rapture of the church. It sees an initial and temporary return of Christ in which He suddenly gathers out all believers and takes them to heaven while earth subsequently goes through a seven year period of tribulation.
One of the evidences used in support of this position is the Jewish nature of the tribulation. The passages which are used to teach of the future “great tribulation” always describe a time of judgment when God is dealing specifically with the nation of Israel. As such, it is called “the time of Jacob's distress” in Jeremiah 30:7. Accordingly, it is argued that the Church cannot be present on earth while God is dealing with Israel. Therefore, the Church must first be removed from the earth before this future period of tribulation can begin. The objection raised under this point is really an objection based upon the theological system of Dispensationalism. As we have previously noted, this is a system which holds that God has two different plans and programs and people through whom He works and that He shall always keep them separate and distinct. It is supposed that He cannot be working with Israel while He is also working with the church. This objection is removed when we examine the book of Acts. All of the events and the growth of the Church which are recorded in the books of Acts took place while the nation of Israel was still in existence. In fact, certain passages in Acts seem to show that the Kingdom was still being offered to the Jews during the first years of the Church (Acts 3:19-26; Acts 28:20-31). Thus, we have an excellent example of God dealing with the Church and Israel at the same time. A second line of evidence for the Pretribulational view is the nature of the church. The Church is the Body and the Bride of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18). It is the object of His infinite love and the recipient of every spiritual blessing. The believer finds himself in union with Christ. If the Church is to go into or through such a time of future tribulation, she will be subjected to the wrath and judgments which will characterize that period. Thus, it is argued that the Church cannot go into the tribulation, since she has been delivered from judgment (Romans 8:1; John 5:24). The problem with this argument is that there have been many instances in history when the Church has gone through terrible persecutions and tribulations. To say that Christ would not permit His Bride to go through this time of trouble is inconsistent with history. At the same time, I would submit that just because the Church goes through tribulation, it does not necessarily follow that the judgments and indignations of such tribulation would be directed at her, any more than the plagues against Egypt meant that God was judging the Israelites in the days or the Exodus.
Another line of evidence used by Pretribulationalists involve the promise to the Thessalonian believers that the will be delivered from the wrath to come. This fact is used by Pretribulationalists to teach that the church must be “raptured away” before that wrath can take place. For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception it. had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
We need to make several observations from these two passage. First of all, notice that neither of these passages tell us specifically to what this “wrath” refers. Neither make reference to a period of seven years and neither speak of something that must necessarily take place prior to the Second Coming of Christ. The word “wrath” is translated from the Greek word orge (ovrgh) which is found 35 other times in the New Testament. When describing the anger of God, it is often seen as describing the judgment of Hell (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7), the wrath which is seen on the unbeliever in general (John 3:36; Romans 1:18), as well as the day of coming judgment which takes place when Christ returns (Revelation 6:16-17; Revelation 11:18; Revelation 19:15). An unbiased reading of this passage in its context would lead most people to think that this was a reference to the deliverance from the eternal condemnation that shall take place when Christ returns in the judgment of His Second Coming.
Finally we should note that this deliverance does not look to the future but to the present. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 states that Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come. Notice the tense that is utilized. The wrath is in the future (it is to come), but the deliverance is present. The believer is delivered today from God's wrath at the very moment when he places his faith in Jesus Christ.
It is maintained by the Pretribulationalist that Christ is going to come back twice; the first time as He comes for His saints and the second time as He returns with His saints. But do the Scriptures actually keep such a distinction? Remember that the “Rapture” is to be descriptive of Jesus coming back only for His saints. Yet we read the following in a Passage that the Pretribulationalist regards as testifying to this separate “Rapture”: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:14). By the same token, how can it be denied that a passage that describes the Lord coming and gathering together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other is a coming for those very elected ones? The language of Matthew 24:30-31 is admitted by the Pretribulationalist to describe the Second Coming of Christ and yet obviously pictures Him coming for those who are alive and remain upon the earth. The truth is that the return of Christ involves both a coming for His saints as well as a coming with His saints. Those who have already died in the Lord shall come with Him while those who are alive and remain shall find that Jesus comes for them.
Historical Premillennialism. This view is similar to the Dispensational scheme as outlined above, but without the separate “rapture.” It instead sees the rapture to be the same as the 2nd coming. Unlike its Dispensational counterpart, it does not hinge upon an acceptance of Dispensationalism nor does it mandate a separation between Israel and the church.
Historical Premillennialism is based upon a literal reading of Revelation 20:1-15 and has a long tradition within Christianity going back at least to the second century of the church. Tertullian gives the following description of his adherence to this view:
We confess that a kingdom has been promised to us on earth, but before heaven and in another state of existence. It will be after the resurrection for a thousand years in the divinely built city of Jerusalem, let down from heaven, which the Apostle also calls, “our mother from above.” (Against Marcion. 3:24:3).
Likewise, Justin Martyr speaks of “a thousand years in which Jerusalem will be built up, adorned and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare” (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew). The problem that this view faces is in understanding the Kingdom to be limited only to a thousand years when 2 Peter 1:11 speaks of the “eternal kingdom.” This problem is solved by maintaining that the 1000-year millennium is only the first phase of the eternal kingdom.
Amillennialism. This view sees the prophecies of tribulation and the kingdom as being fulfilled throughout this present age. Christ returns at the end of this age to usher in the eternal state. It looks at Revelation 20:1-15 and sees it as symbolic language for the present continuing kingdom today. Satan is seen to be bound with reference to his ability to deceive the nations. It is for this reason that the gospel has gone out to all of the nations and there are today believers to be found in every nation. This view answers the previous dilemma about the kingdom being an everlasting kingdom. Furthermore, it can view a passage like 2 Peter 3:10-12 at face value instead of insisting that this is an event taking place at the close of a 1000 year kingdom in which Jesus has ruled; a description that hardly sounds like “a thief.” Finally, it takes literally the words of Jesus when he speaks of the resurrection of the faithful taking place on the “last day” (John 6:39-40; John 6:44; John 6:54).
Postmillennialism. This view sees the church spreading throughout the world and the Lord eventually establishing His kingdom through the preaching of the gospel. Christ returns at the end of the age to find a church victorious. This is different from Amillennialism in that the former views this entire age as being a manifestation of the kingdom, albeit in mystery form, while Postmillennialism looks forward to such a kingdom eventually being established as the gospel is victorious in converting the nations.
Postmillennial thinking underwent a drastic decline after World War One, but has seen some slight resurgence. Much of modern Postmillennialism is seen hand-in-hand with a 5th view known as Preterism.
Preterism. The word “Preterist” is taken from the Latin word meaning “past.” This view denies any future fulfillment of the book of Revelation and sees the events it describes as already having been fulfilled within the first century after Christ. There are several different forms of Preterism. Full Preterism views all of the prophecies of the Bible as having already been fulfilled in their entirety since the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as pictured above:
Full Preterism is a very recent innovation that has no adherents in any of the writings of the early church. Partial Preterism maintains a future return of Christ, but views His “coming in the clouds” as described in Matthew 24:29-31 as having been fulfilled in A.D. 70 with the fall of Jerusalem.[3]
[3] Technically, the term “partial Preterist” can be taken in a variety of ways, even to refer to those who hold that any prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled in history. For the purposes of this discussion, I am using the term to describe only those who hold that the A.D. 70 event was a return of Christ as per such promises as are seen in Matthew 24:29-31.
It is clear from a reading of the apostolic and church fathers that ALL of them expected a future return of Jesus Christ. It would be strange indeed if the entire church failed to understand the fulfillment of so many of the New Testament prophecies on such a major point. This is especially striking when we remember the promise of Revelation 1:7 that tells us, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. A Preterist interpretation calls for this to be a reference to the “tribes of the land” of Israel, even though Israel was never described in such a way elsewhere in the Bible. But such an interpretation would demand that the Jews who suffered through the A.D. 70 event would have recognized that their sufferings were a punishment for their treatment of Jesus since the prophecy is not merely that they would mourn, but that they would mourn “over Him.” Just as there is no evidence that anyone in the church ever recognized the fall of Jerusalem as the return of Jesus, so also there is a complete absence of evidence that the Jews ever recognized the coming of Jesus in those events.
Fundamental to full Preterism is the idea that there is no future physical resurrection of the dead. But the pattern for our resurrection is that of Jesus. The big idea presented in 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 is that Jesus arose from the dead. This was not merely some sort of spiritual resurrection. The point is made throughout this chapter that His resurrection was bodily and physical. Furthermore we are told that His resurrection serves as the paradigm for our own resurrection. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). He is the firstfruits and we are the “later fruits.” When Paul came to Athens, he was mocked by the Greeks for believing in a physical resurrection. Such mockery would not have been forthcoming had he held that the resurrection was only going to be of a spiritual or mystical nature. But he went out of his way to side himself with the Pharisees who believed in a physical resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6-8). In denying any future resurrection at the coming of Christ, the Preterist also finds himself out of accord with the words of Paul when he says, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51). The reference to sleep is used throughout this epistle as a euphemism for death (1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 Corinthians 15:6; 1 Corinthians 15:18; 1 Corinthians 15:20). While Paul says of the coming of the Lord that it will be a time when all do not die, the Preterist is left with the rather obvious historic truth that everyone who lived in the first century did indeed die. When it comes to the resurrection, the Bible teaches that Jesus is our prototype. His resurrection is the forerunner and the pattern for our own resurrection. This point is made in 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 where Paul says that if there is no resurrection then even Jesus has not risen. The resurrection of Jesus was a physical resurrection. He was able to stand before His disciples in His resurrection body and say, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39). 1 John 3:2 says that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. Therefore we can conclude that our future resurrection will be of a physical and spiritual nature.
Preterists like to point out that Jesus and the disciples stated that the kingdom was near and at hand. What they often ignore is that this same formula was used in the Old Testament in instances where the eventual fulfillment was a long way off. An example of this is seen in Isaiah 13:6 where, speaking of a coming judgment against the city of Babylon, the prophet says, “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.” Isaiah writes these words in the 8th century B.C. but it is not until 539 B.C. that Babylon fell to the Persians. The Preterist attempts to make a similar case via the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:34 where Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” The Preterist points to this verse as the primary argument for his preterism. On the basis of this passage, he determines that all of the events of Matthew 24:1-51 including the return of the Son of Man and the gathing of God's elect all took place in their entirety within the lifetime of the apostles. He views the complete and total fulfillment of all of the prophecies in the A.D. 70 fall of Jerusalem.
Bible scholars have suggested other interpretations, but most of them fall flat. One interpretation is to view the term “generations” as being a reference to the race of Jews. But this is an unnatural use of the term and inconsistent with the way that Matthew uses it elsewhere in his Gospel. Another suggested interpretation is that Jesus is referring to the generation that is alive when the prophecies begin to be fulfilled, as if to say that once the fulfillments begin to take place they will all culminate in their fulfillments within a single generation. Were this the case, we would expect Jesus to say, THAT generation will not pass away until all these things take place. He does not. He uses a specific term that implies that it is the present generation that is in view.
Royce Gruenler points out that reading this as an ingressive aorist would have us translate it “from the perspective of initiated action” and therefore render it: “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things begin to come to pass” (2003:193). The same sort of language is seen when Jesus says,“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28).
What shall we say to these things? I believe that the answer to both passages is seen in the fact that a partial and typological fulfillment took place in that day. In the case of the Matthew 16:28 passage, we are given the partial fulfillment in the following verses that describe the Transfiguration of Jesus. In the case of Matthew 24:1-51, it is true that the destruction of Jerusalem served as a type and a shadow of the future destruction and judgment that face all men and that this process began to take place within the lifetime of those who were present in that day. The early church seems to have understood this point, for their treatment of the events of Matthew 24:1-51 was to look for a future fulfillment. Such an interpretation should not surprise us. We see this take place regularly in Biblical prophecy.
Prophecy|Initial Fulfillment|Ultimate Fulfillment|
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3).|Points to Israel as a blessing|Jesus is the ultimate blessing|
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, And a scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth. 18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also shall be a possession, While Israel performs valiantly. 19 One from Jacob shall have dominion, And shall destroy the remnant from the city. (Numbers 24:17-19).|References to Edom and Moab indicate it is fulfilled initially in David|Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment whose coming is announced by a Star|
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).|Context of the passage points to a child in that day|Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the virgin born child.|
Another problem facing the Preterist is seen in the promise that was given to the disciples at the ascension of Jesus. The event took place on the Mount of Olives. And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; 11 and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11). The promise that was given by the angels is that Jesus would come again in exactly the same way as they had watched Him go into heaven. This had not been a spiritual ascension, but a physical and visible one. It is for this reason that Christians throughout the ages have fully expected a future physical and visible return of Christ. In Romans 8:1-39, Paul teaches that the creation has fallen as a result of sin and that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:21). He goes on in Romans 8:22 to describe how the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now as it looks to its final redemption. The Preterist foresees no physical redemption of creation. According to his scheme, world is fallen and will always be fallen. In this way, Preterism embraces the tenants of Gnosticism with its lack of regard for the redemption of the physical world.
Because they believe there is no future Second Coming or final judgment, Preterists believe that sin will continue indefinitely. 1 Corinthians 15:26 tells us that the last enemy that will be abolished is death, but the Preterist would have us believe that death will never be abolished and that it will always continue to exist.
There are some eschatological differences that exist between Christians that I consider to be relatively benign and within the realm of Christian orthodoxy. This is not one of them. To the contrary, the teaching of Preterism comes uncomfortably close to the spiritual gangrene that is described by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:18 when he speaks of those who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some. The teachings of Preterism have not resulted in stronger and more loving Christians. Though I am happy to report that there are some exceptions, this teaching for the most part has been divisive and destructive. I cannot help but to be reminded of the litmus test given to us by Jesus: You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit (Matthew 7:16-17).
|Post
Millennial|Amillennial|Historic Premillenial|Dispensational Premillennial|
Hermeneutic|Context and genre are important interpretive considerations|Inclination toward literalism|
Second Coming|Christ's 2nd coming takes place after the millennium. This coming initiates a general resurrection, the last judgment and eternal state for all people|Christ's 2nd coming takes place before the millennium|Christ comes in a rapture and then again after a 7-year tribulation to establish an earthly kingdom|
Timing of the Kingdom|God's kingdom is a present spiritual reality that started with Christ's first advent.|Present spiritual reality to the kingdom, followed by future 1000 year kingdom|An earthly kingdom lasting 1000 years will be established by Christ after His 2nd coming|
Nature of the Kingdom|Kingdom is spiritual in nature. It will grow to fill the whole earth|The kingdom is spiritual in nature.|The 2nd coming will establish a literal 1000 year kingdom on earth|The literal 1000 year kingdom on earth will be primarily Jewish in nature|
Millennium Description|We are in millennium now. It will slowly grow into a “golden age.”|Millennium is today's church age and gospel unbound to reach the world.|Millennium is future. Christ will reign with absolute control.|The millennium is future. The Old Testament Jewish economy will be restored.|
Millennium Duration|A prolonged period of time greater than a 1000 year period. The 2nd coming follows the millennium.|Exactly 1000 years. The 2nd coming precedes the millennium|
Satan's Binding and Current Status|At Christ's death and resurrection Satan was bound with respect to his ability to deceive the nations and prevent them from hearing the truth about God.|The future 2nd coming of Christ will cause Satan to be bound 1000 years. He is not bound now, but rules the kingdom of this present world.|
Tribulation|Took place in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.|The church is in tribulation in this age.|A future 7 year tribulation will precede the 2nd Coming. The church will go through this tribulation|A future 7 year tribulation will precede the 2nd Coming. The church will escape this tribulation by being “raptured.”|
Rapture|The Rapture and the 2nd coming take place at the same time.|The Rapture precedes the 2nd Coming by 7 years.|