Begin with The End (Pt. 2)

Eschatology - The study of the End.

Last post we looked at the Practical implications of Living with the end in mind. Today I want to move us forward into two of the major, competing beliefs about Eschatology:

A-millennialism - (Greek: a- "no" + millennialism), the rejection of the belief that Jesus will have a literal, thousand-year-long, physical reign on the earth.

Pre-millennialism - The belief that, upon Christ's second coming, he will literally, physically reign on the earth for 1,000 years.

Now I realize there are some other beliefs such as Post-Millennialism, but the scope of this BLOG will contend with the two majority positions in play today.

Without giving an exhaustive history, a-millennialism can be traced back to Augustine of Hippo in the 4th Century. Augustine was influenced not only by men like Origen who began to interpret literal scriptures through the lens of heavy allegorization but also through his upbringing in gnostic and stoic philosophy.

Before Augustine, a-millennialism was seen as a heresy. It was only beginning to be espoused by men like Clement of Alexandria and the classic thinker Origen whose use of "spiritual interpretation" - in other words, allegory - was condemned. Augustine was the first respected Theologian to stand by the a-millennial position. His systematic approach to theology was adopted almost wholesale by the Roman Catholic Church, and eventually, his Eschatology was adopted by the Reformers of the 16th century without any meaningful correction.

Fast-forward to today and pre-millennialists are BY FAR in the minority of theological thought and church practice. The Calvinist Takeover that has run through major denominations, mainly through the 'young, restless reformed movement,' has brought with it the a-millennial doctrine.

PROBLEMS WITH A-MILLENNIALISM

1. INTERPRETATION

Augustine shows evidence of ascribing to the Pre-Millennial position in his early writings. To get to the point of rejecting the clear teachings of a literal, earthly kingdom in Scripture, Augustine had to follow the path cleared by Clement, Origen, and Dionysius to leave behind hundreds of years of literal interpretation for a "spiritualized" (aka allegorical) method of interpretation.

Interestingly, although Augustine explained away countless passages in both the Old and New Testaments by taking a non-literal approach, (and giving virtually no exegesis in support of his position or in protest against the traditional Pre-Millennial approach), he stuck to a literal position when it came to the timeframe of a literal 1,000 years. Why in the world you would choose to "spiritualize" all the debatable aspects of Eschatology and pigeonhole yourself with the most clearly objective element of time, is a little baffling.

Augustine followed his own logical reasoning to a belief that the 1,000 years had started before AD and that Jesus would return in 650 AD. Of course, Augustine died well before this predicted date, leaving the church to wait in anticipation as 650 came and went. The church leaders at that point stuck to their guns but moved the date back to 1000 A.D. Which, of course, also came and went without consequence.

It's worth noting at this point that Eschatology is our take on the prophecy of what is to come. And the primary way to affirm prophecy is, (drum roll please), whether or not it comes true!

By 2019, with all this retrospect, someone should have begun questioning whether this system really could be supported by the text of scripture. Instead, we have modern A-Millennialism where even the time period has now been allegorized to mean that Heaven is the Kingdom and the thousand year reign represents eternity with God.

**a note on interpretation. Literal interpretation doesn't discount allegory when it is obviously implied in scripture. However, it does NOT allow allegorizing literal passages to retrofit truth into a preferred theological system.

2. HISTORY

The Old Testament clearly predicts an earthly Kingdom. In the intertestamental period, the Jewish people were looking forward to an earthly reign. In the New Testament, this is affirmed in many ways including the prophecy given to Mary, from an Angel, about her miraculous son. The Apostles who started the church believed the Kingdom was coming, and through the first several centuries of the church, Pre-Millennialism was the majority position.

It wasn't until Augustine that this new system was taken seriously. The movement that Augustine brought into the mainstream was solely the work of men viewed as heretics up to that point. Early church history affirms what we see still today: The plain truth of scripture does not lead to the doing away with of a real, literal, physical kingdom of Jesus on the earth for a literal 1,000 years.

3. COVENANTS

I'll be honest, if you are still reading at this point, I am more than impressed. So, take heart, this will be my last point.

Throughout the Old Testament God enters into several covenants. This is a BIG DEAL! God does not owe it to ANYONE to obligate himself to ANYTHING. Yet, in His amazing love for us, he does that very thing. Some of these are clearly Conditional covenants. They were known at the time as Suzerain-Vassal covenants, (meaning Lord/Servant). Additionally, there were some Unconditional covenants that God entered in to.

This is made most apparent with Abraham in Genesis 15. God had him, (Abram at the time), set up the covenant ritual. This required digging a trench, splitting animals in half, and draining their blood into the trench. At this point, the two carriers of the covenant would grasp arms and walk through together to make a Conditional covenant - promising a blood oath to uphold their end. If either party didn't hold up their part, the other party could break the vow.

However, in Genesis 15 something strange happens: God puts Abraham to sleep. Then, God walks through the trench ALONE! This is the sign of an unconditional covenant! The promise of the nation and the kingdom and the LAND are all sealed by God in an unconditional and unmistakable way. The promise to Abraham is later expounded in the Palestinian covenant of Land and the Davidic covenant of legacy.

So why are these problems for a-millennialism? In scripture, the Millennium, the literal 1,000 years on a physical earth, is where these promises come to fruition! It's where Abraham's descendants receive back their entire land. The Kingdom is where a descendant of David, (Jesus), sits on the throne of David and reigns and rules with an iron scepter.

Because a-millennialist don't have an eschatological place for these unconditional covenants to be realized they have two choices

1. Make God a liar who doesn't uphold his end of the promises

2. Allegorize the scriptures to explain how the promises have already been fulfilled.

Of course, the only tenable option is choice #2 - reject the literal reading of scripture. The a-millennialist then finds themselves in a hole where the only hope of getting out is to keep on digging. One allegorical interpretation creates a problem in another area of the systematic requiring further allegorical interpretation to explain, and the pattern continues on and on.

The clear answer is to let scripture speak for itself. God is so good, and scripture is so authoritative that it points us to truth in the most straightforward reading of it. When Gabriel tells Mary that Jesus will sit on David's earthly throne, maybe he means it! When God makes a promise to Abraham, perhaps he really is going to follow through!

Interpretation, History, and the continuity of God's promises and plans all stand opposed to the most wide-spread Eschatology in the church today. I pray that all will search the scripture with an open heart and an honest mind.