The discussion on the question of biblical eschatology is divided into three major schools of thought: Premillennialism, Amillennialism and Postmillennialism. The most popular among these three is the Premillennial points of view especially the dispensational type. The most neglected among them and considered dead by many scholars is the postmillennial perspective.
There are various reasons for the unpopularity of the so-called ‘eschatology of hope.’ One, the difficulty to accept it simply because the social climate and the current happenings seem contrary to what this discipline proposes. Two, this is unacceptable for the ‘prophecies’ concerning events in the last days have no room for this neglected eschatology. We shall explain what we mean by this as you continue reading the article.
At the outset, it is important to bear in mind that postmillennialism primarily is not a matter of calendar setting but rooted in Christology, Ecclesiology and in a philosophy of history that considers seriously the missiological impact of the Gospel and the work of the Spirit, (Davis,1986). The blogger is convinced that one’s view of eschatology has a direct result to the quality of life and service that a Christian will render to this world.
I divided this post into four parts. Part 1 removes the possible misapprehensions in relation to postmillennialism and gives a definition of our subject and presents its substance. Part 2 expounds the biblical basis of postmillennialism. Part 3 narrates the positive developments realized both in history and in human civilization. Finally, part 4 cites the convictions of those theologians and scholars who possessed similar persuasion.
Part 1. Clarification of Possible Misunderstandings. Definition and Substance of Postmillennialism
In the first place, postmillennialism is not to be confused with the secular dream of utopia purely on the basis of humanistic attempts to reform the society and undermining the nature of man and the doctrine of sin. It is not the “social gospel” of liberalism. It has no resemblance with the so-called “liberal postmillennialism.”
Secondly, postmillennialism is not to be mistaken with universalism. We do not expect that every individual on this planet will be converted to Christianity.
Thirdly, postmillennialism does not uphold the total eradication of evil in history. We do not say that there will be no conflicts on earth. We do not affirm that everything we will have in the final stage of human history is nothing but peace and prosperity, as if the world has literally became the abode of God.
One last caution is that we should be aware that postmillennialists vary among themselves in matters of detailed realization of some components under discussion. They do not possess similar interpretations on subjects such as the apostasy, the first resurrection, the binding of Satan, the precise interpretation of the word ‘millennium,’etc.
However, they agree in the core substance of postmillennialism. And what is that? They believe that any substantial development in human history and world civilization is not a result of humanistic endeavors but ‘essentially the result of the supernatural influence of the ascended Christ through His Word and Spirit, working through the church. A spiritually revitalized church is understood to have an increasingly positive impact on the surrounding world and its structures through its ministry of the Word, social activity, and the witness of her own life’(Davis, 1986).
Pessimillennialists, which includes both amillennialism and premillennialism upholds that our era is already a post-Christian era, while only the postmillennial affirms that we are still living in a pre-Christian era, (Boettner, 1957 and North, 1988). Such view of the end of human history motivates a postmillennial to work hard for they believe that comprehensive social transformation is not only possible but inevitable. The sovereignty of God in human affairs comes to mind especially His work of foreordination. Gary North, in his economic commentary on the book of Genesis confidently asserts:
"Postmillennialists believe that their efforts to transform society will eventually be successful, and they would like to be the people who personally lay the foundations for the reconstruction of society. They want to leave a visible mark in history. They want to be footnoted as the key transitional figures in transformation of humanist civilization into Christian civilization…. They believe in the future, so they believe that someday there will be historians who will take them seriously and favorably retroactively. Their fear of possible public embarrassment for failed efforts is offset by their expectations that perhaps their particular efforts may turn out to be the efforts that bring new aspects of God’s kingdom into history" (xviii, xix).
Part 2. The Biblical Basis of Postmillennialism
J. Marcelus Kik, in his book, An Eschatology of Victory, shares to us his exegetical work on Matthew 24 and Revelation 20. He compares his approach with the approaches of both the amillennialists and the premillennialists. He asserts that the major argument against the postmillennialists is not based on exegetical labor but on historical settings. For him, such dismissal is unfair and invalid.
The underlying principle in the work of David Chilton’s Paradise Restored is rooted in the life in Eden. He develops his idea by presenting the central importance of the ‘kingdom’ in the Scripture. He then concludes by elaborating some pertinent subjects derived from Revelation.
John Jefferson Davis, in his challenge to reconsider postmillennialism in his book, Christ’s Victorious Kigdom, starts his biblical groundwork from the perspective of Abrahamic covenant. He continues by citing the role of Messianic prophecies as God’s instrument to fulfill His divine purpose.
In this article, we shall consolidate the work of both Davis and Kik. The bulk of our Old Testament basis relies heavily on Davis; while our New Testament foundation will be based on the work of Kik.
1. Old Testament Foundation. It is widely accepted that the call of Abraham, (Genesis 12:1-3) has a universal note. John Calvin in his commentary on Genesis 22: 17,18 mentions that this text contains the promise of spiritual and cultural dominance of the covenant people, (Davis, 27). After the death of Abraham, the covenant is confirmed to Isaac, then to Jacob. From the point of view of the New Testament, it is made clear that the Abrahamic covenant is fulfilled through Christ. And this fulfillment carries with it the universal implication and cultural dominance of God’s covenant with Abraham.
In the book of Psalms, we observe that the kingdom of the Messiah is not limited in the national boundary of Israel. Psalm 2 especially verse 7 is often quoted in the New Testament. The apostle Paul claims that this prophecy was fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ. The risen Lord Himself says that all authority in heaven and on earth is now his. The nations of the earth are his heritage from the Lord. And the means to accomplish this is through the Great Commission, as the Church is empowered by the Spirit of God to faithfully proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom, (29).
Psalm 110 speaks of the enthronement of the Messiah. The apostle Peter proclaimed that this had been achieved through the resurrection and the ascension of Christ, (Acts 2:30,31,33). While Christ sits on the throne, he is waiting for God to subdue His enemies. The realization of this prophecy is not on some future event but the present church age. Christ possesses now the all-compassing power that he made available in the Church through the mighty workings of the Spirit. No enemy is able to frustrate the power of the exalted Christ. I believe that this victorious and confident spirit pervades the outlook and the life of the New Testament Church that is why they were able to triumph over the influence and the persecution of Judaism and the Roman Empire. The same power is available for us today to continue our part in this generation in carrying out our missiological task until we pass the same assignment to the succeeding generations.
2. New Testament Foundation. We will be focusing our concentration on two New Testament passages: Matthew 24 and Revelation 20:1-6. However, it is impossible for us to present the detailed exposition of this passage due to the limitation of the purpose of this paper. On the other hand, we shall try to give an overview on how these New Testament passages supply the warrant in favor of postmillennialism.
Postmillennialists recognize Matthew 24:34 as the key text in understanding the whole passage in question from Chapter 24:1 to Chapter 25:46. The events mentioned in verses 4 to 34 were happenings that took place before the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. While the occurrences stated in 24:36 to 25:46 are related to the question of the Second Coming, (Kik, 1971). The strong expressions of verses 29-31 serve as the major barrier in this whole account in accepting the viewpoint of postmillennialism. Other disciplines of eschatology believe that those expressions pertain to a catastrophic end of human history before the coming of Christ. However, if we shall accept those statements as poetical declaration and compare them with other similar expressions in the Bible especially in the Old Testament, we shall realize that they pertain to the passing away of Judaism.
In dealing with Revelation 20:1-6, the postmillennialists find verse 5 as the key text to understand the whole section. The ‘first resurrection’ does not mean the translation of the soul into the bosom of God. It does not mean also the resurrection of the bodies of the righteous. For us to comprehend this, we must first inquire what is the first death based on the Bible. Since the first death is separation from God due to man’s bondage in sin, it follows that the first resurrection is the rebirth of the soul or the conversion of the soul to God by the power of the Gospel, (181).
The whole debate on the question of ‘millennium’ is taken from this portion of Scripture. The type of postmillennialism proposed in this composition is the one that endorses that the term one thousand years should not be taken as literal but figurative. It is a picture of the messianic kingdom on earth that inaugurated during the first coming of Christ that will continually experience growth until His Second Coming. In other words, we are already in the millennium in this present stage of human history. To emphasize this point we need to listen to the words of J. Marcelus Kik:
“According to the prophets the great blessings of the ‘latter days’ would be the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of His Kingdom. This has been accomplished. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was another blessing. This has been accomplished. Salvation for all that call upon the name of the Lord was another blessing of the messianic reign. This has been accomplished. The inclusion and the conversion of the Gentile nations in the covenant blessings were another thing to occur. This has been accomplished and is in the process of fulfillment,”(206).
Applying the millennium to an individual believer, Kik adds:
“An individual Christian may ask himself this question: What more could the popular conception of the millennium give me than I already possess? I have a Saviour who is my Prophet, Priest and King. God the Father is my covenant God. I have the forgiveness of sins….I belong to the Church which is the Lamb’s Bride. I have the Holy Spirit as my Teacher, Sanctifier, and Comforter…”(ibid.).
Part 3. Developments Realized both in History and Human Civilization
Our material under this heading will be coming from the contributions of David Chilton, John Davis, and Loraine Boettner.
David Chilton notes that the primary reason that motivates Christopher Columbus in his exploratory work that finally resulted into the discovery of America was not trade only but unfulfilled prophecies. He believes that the task of discipling the whole nations will be accomplished. And as a result of the transformation of the West, the world has experienced manifold blessings such as the developments in ‘science and technology, medicine, the arts, constitutionalism, the jury system, free enterprise, literacy, increasing productivity, a rising standard of living, and the high status of women,’(7). They are all attributable to the rise of Western civilization.
John Davis traces the positive contributions of the gospel to world civilization since the time of the triumph of Christianity over the Roman Empire. As a result, Christianity became the predominant religion and many countries of the world professed allegiance to her. The Medieval Period, even though presents to us the territorial losses of Christianity to Islam, still there are activities during this period that contributes to the betterment of human society. And we can find this through the influence of Monastic movement, which endeavors to preserve the spirituality of the Church from the worldly pollution, brought about by the conversion of the Roman Empire. This Monasticism later provides the needed leadership for the missionary work of the Church.
Various movements inspire the part of the Protestant in this global mission. The pietists, the Moravians, and the influence of Revivalism during the 18th century contributed to the rise of modern missions. In the 20th century, we are witnessing considerable expansion of Christianity. Even though many are reserved and suspicious with regards to the quality of converts, but still comparatively speaking with that of the ancient history, Christianity now is no longer a minority religion.
Statistics say that an estimated of seventy-eight thousand new Christians are added to the Church each day and one thousand new churches are planted every week in Asia and Africa alone, (Davis, 80). Though in Europe, Christianity has declined; but Latin America, Africa, and Asia are encountering massive influx of conversion. The phenomenal growth in South Korea and China are sufficient proofs of this claim.
Loraine Boettner contradicts the popular notion that the world is getting worst. He cites history as his evidence that the world is growing better. But in order to appreciate his thesis, one must see this development neither from a local perspective nor from the point of view of one generation. We should see his vision from a global and trans-generational overview. To accentuate this distinctive position, we need to quote a sizable material from Boettner himself:
“The redemption of the world is a long, slow process, extending through the centuries, yet surely approaching an appointed goal. We live in the day of advancing victory, although there are many apparent setbacks. As seen from the human point of view it often looks as though the process of evil is about to gain the upper hand. Periods of spiritual advance and prosperity alternate with periods of spiritual decline and depression. But as one age succeeds another there is progress. Looking back across the nearly two thousand years that have passed since the coming of Christ we can see that there has indeed been marvelous progress. This process ultimately shall be completed, and before Christ comes again we shall see a Christianized world”(38).
The writer invites us to visit the condition of the world before the first advent of Christ. Rampant social evils were prevalent such as paganism, polygamy, slavery, oppression of women and children, ignorance, poverty, political tyranny and primitive medical care. Today the world in general is on far a higher level of development in relation to the enumerated social plagues.
The major improvements that made our contemporary situation more advantageous are visible in terms of the publication of the Scriptures and Christian literatures into the native language of the people, the use of broadcasting in airing the Christian message, the rise of theological institutions and the awakening of the Church to her responsibility of cross-cultural and urban missions.
To conclude this section, we shall cite another pertinent witness favoring the progress of human civilization. Boettner writes:
“The true way of judging the world is to compare its present with its past condition and note in which direction it is moving. Is it going backward, or forward, is it getting worse or better? It maybe wrapped in gloomy twilight, but is it the twilight of the evening, or of the morning? Are the shadows deepening into starless night, or are they fleeing before the rising sun? One glance at the world as it is today compared with what it was ten or twenty centuries ago shows us that it has swept through a wide arc and is moving toward the morning”(45).
Part 4. Thinkers of Similar Persuasion
David Chilton has argued that the expectation for a global victory of Christianity has been the orthodox eschatology of the Church throughout the ages. He cites the words of Athanasius, the Church Father of the fourth century that reveal a strong eschatology of dominion, (5).
Many of the old hymns expressed this eschatology of hope. But the general number of the members of the Church is not aware of this. Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress is our God, Isaac Watt’s Joy to the World, and George Duffield’s Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, are few examples of what the Church believes historically.
Chilton included the names of John Calvin, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Archibald Alexander, the Hodges, and Benjamin Warfield in the list of the voices in the past that advocates postmillennial eschatology. Even the twentieth century does not fail to produce postmillennial thinkers. We have Loraine Boettner’s The Millennium (1957), J. Marcellus Kik’s Eschatology of Victory (1955), Roderick Campbell’s Israel and the New Covenant (1954), R.J. Rushdoony’s Thy Kingdom Come (1974), Iain Murray’s The Puritan Hope (1971), David Chilton’s Paradise Restored, (1985) and John Davis’ Christ’s Victorious Kingdom (1986). The most surprising of all are the works of Gary North. The enormity and massiveness of his writings made the blogger doubtful and overwhelmed whether he will find enough time even just to browse them. All his commentaries from the prospect of both economics and jurisprudence contain huge materials on postmillennialism.
Conclusion:
The blogger hopes that through this brief article on postmillennialism, students of eschatology will realize that far from the general opinion, the eschatology of hope is still alive and active. I believe that the enumerated works above are sufficient evidence to convince serious students of Scriptures and theology of this claim. The challenge therefore to the evangelical circle, especially those of Reformed persuasion is to reconsider once again the assertion of the postmillennial camp.
The blogger himself realized his need for further serious research and study in this specific subject. I am convinced that one’s view of the end of human history and civilization will influence one’s level of spirituality and energy for service and mission. When a postmillennial prays, “Let thy Kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” he is expectant that God will someday grant this request in time and in history. May the Lord find us faithful and bestow our labors with success as we devote to Him our whole strength and being in the service of His kingdom. Amen!
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