This page is under construction…it is in draft form. Please bear patiently. Sentences are often half formed as I post quotes and thoughts etc without always clearly marking them until the final version.
Premillennialism is simply the belief that Jesus will establish an earthly reign, and will be bodily present during that earthly reign. The reign commences at Christ’s return, but there is disagreement on the literalness of 1000 years. This is similar to post-millennialism who believes in a 1000-year reign, but unlike post-millennialism, premils believe it commences with Christ’s physical return, rather than ruling through the church. Also unlike post-millennialism, premil argues that the reign will commence suddenly, dramatically, and unmistakably.
Premillennialists argue that Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24:12 that the Church will be in a very weakened state prior to his return, and his question in Luke 18:8 that Jesus sees his returning at a time when faith will be almost extinct. Premillennialists see the overall narrative of Matthew 24 and Revelation as one of persecution, almost to obliteration, until Christ returns and judges. They contend the post-mil hope is built on human engineering & social improvement, rather than seeing Christ as the rightful judge.
During the 1000 years, premillennialists hold that Satan will be bound, and unable to deceive the nations or individuals, rather than merely constrained per postmil and amil views. This allows the righteous rule of Christ and his saints to grow over the unbelieving nations, until Satan is released at the end of the 1000 years.
Premillennialists hold the two resurrections in Revelation 20 are both physical resurrections and are distinguished by their participants (believers in the 1st resurrection, and unbelievers in the 2nd resurrection. Amil and Postmil argue that the resurrections are of different natures (spiritual and physical).
Premillennialists disagree on whether the church is present during the Great Tribulation. Other pages have been dedicated to explaining these views. This is one of the largest dividing points among premillennialists. I recommend reading the pages on the timing of the rapture to get a good overview.
Most of the early church writings are explicitly premillennial. All of the early church fathers were premillennial. Justin Martyr (circa AD100-165) argued there were two types of Christians: those who believed in an earthly reign of Jesus centred on Jerusalem and those who are flawed in their faith.
But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, [as] the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare.
Justin Martyr, ‘Dialogue with Trypho’, Chapter 80, Translated by Marcus Dods and George Reith. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0128.htm>.
Other early writers, not the church fathers, attributed almost debauched activities to the millennial reign (often called Chiliasm) leading some, like Origen, Clement and Augustine to condemn the crass sensuality and prefer a symbolic, spiritual, or metaphorical understanding of the 1000 years. The controversy almost split the Egyptian church. While premillennialism survived, after Augustine it was a minority view. Augustine’s belief that the Catholic Church was the embodiment of the Kingdom of God on earth as Rome attained earthly power and dominion, was a significant influential factor in the rejection of premillennialism.,
There are two main types of premillennialism: dispensational, and historic. This page will provide an overview of historic premillennialism.
The historic view has much in common with both preterism and postmillennialism in the sense that it sees the prophecies of Revelation, Daniel etc, as being fulfilled shortly after the time the texts were written, while other prophecies would be fulfilled in coming centuries, and that some are still yet future. It rejects that the prophecies are idealistic or symbolic of spiritual events or characters that are timeless. Dispensational premillennialism treats these prophecies almost universally as futurist.
George E. Ladd argues the central question is whether the two resurrections in Revelation 20 are physical, spiritual or both?
The first resurrection involves the apostles and saints, and martyrs to whom judgement and ruling power has been promised (Matthew 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:3)
The two resurrections must be of the same type because as Ladd put it, they are parallel. The verb ἔζησαν means bodily resurrection elsewhere (Revelation 2:8; 13:14; Ezekiel 37:10), if it means it in verse 5, it must mean the same thing in verse 4, or else “we have lost control of exegesis“. Beasly-Murray said if they were different it would be “chaotic thinking” where the author had two different types of resurrections in mind but gave no indication of this thinking. Henry Alford put it more bluntly, “[if they mean different types of resurrections] then there is the end of all significance in language, and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to anything.“
Alford is not wrong. Even many Amillennialists have acknowledged that they must be resurrections of the same type, while proceeding to ignore how it is used elsewhere in Scripture to mean bodily resurrection.
Those who participate in the first resurrection, appear to be excluded from the second resurrection, which if it is physical, obliterates the promise of a physical resurrection.
To keep this page a readable length, I won’t go over all the reasons for a premillennial return, but rather focus on the ‘historic’ aspect.
Revelation 1:1-3, 19; 3:11; 22:6, all indicate that the events of Revelation start to unfold soon after it was written. Historic premillennialists do recognise that God’s understanding of soon doesn’t always correspond with our understanding of ‘soon’ or ‘quickly’. However, John was instructed to write about what “was”, “is” and “will take place”, suggesting that some of Revelation depicts the past (the early part of Revelation 12 is a good example), what “is” now happening, and prophecies pertaining to future events.
Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
Revelation 1:19
As a result, historic premillennialists hold that Revelation will be fulfilled progressively between the ascension and Christ’s return. They don’t typically make claims about how much prophecy is future, present or past, but will look and watch to see the signs of fulfillment. This is the primary difference between dispensational and historic premil. Dispensational views almost all of the prophecy of Revelation and other books to be future, fulfilled immediately prior to or after Christ’s return.
OT propphcies of rulign over unbelievesr, or of unbelievers in the kingdom. or of Jesus ruling in Jerusalem.