AMILLENNIALISM
Essential Definition: Amillennialism means no millennium. This position does not believe in any literal physical reign of Christ on this present earth, in any Messianic Age on this earth. The Biblical millennium is regarded as being fulfilled either by Christ’s reign in the heart, or by the saints in heaven in the intermediate state.
Eschatological Calendar: 1. End times characterized by great wickedness and a great apostasy in the church.
The rise of Anti-Christ, and the concomitant persecution of the Church.
The great tribulation.
The return of Christ at the end of the age.
The resurrection of the dead in a general resurrection.
The simultaneous rapture of the living saints.
The conversion of the Jews at the glorious visible return of Christ.
The final judgment.
The eternal state in the new heavens and the new earth.
Common Ground With Historic Premillennialism: This position has much in common with historic premillennialism. All one needs to do is add a earthly millennial reign of Christ with the saints, between points 7 and 8 above and defer the resurrection of the wicked to after that millennial reign, and the two systems would be virtually the same.
Common Ground with Postmillennialism: It agrees with postmillennialism that the glorious, visible return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age ushers in the eternal state.
Distinctives: There is no earthly millennial reign of Christ either before or after his return at the end of this age.
Major Weaknesses: This position is the most prone to allegorizing and spiritualizing passages of Scripture. They tend more than the other positions to ignore eschatology and neglect this area of study. Many amillennialists in the pew are so poorly taught that they believe that they will spend eternity in heaven, confusing the intermediate state with the eternal state.
Representative Statement:
“The name itself is unfortunate in that it would seem to indicate that its advocates do not believe in the thousand year period of Revelation 20. The name literally means no millennium,' while as a matter of fact its advocates believe that the millennium is a spiritual or heavenly millennium, rather than an earthly one of a literal reign of Christ on earth before the final judgment. From one point of view it might be called a variety of postmillennialism, since it believes that the spiritual or heavenly millennium precedes the Second Coming of Christ. The only mention in the Bible of a kingdom of Christ limited to a 1000 years is in the 20th chapter of the Revelation where it is said that thesouls’ are seen reigning with Christ during the 1000 years. The amillennialist interprets this as indicating the spiritual reign with Christ o f the disembodied spirits in heaven, during the 1000 years. A thousand, the number of perfection or completion, is held to be the symbolic reference to the perfect period, or the complete period between the two comings of Christ ( italics ours).
“The picture of eschatological events, without any discussion at present of supporting Scripture passages, is as follows. Like the premillennialist we view the world as a mixture of good and evil up to the time of the Rapture. We have no hope or expectation that the whole world will grow better until it is all converted to Christianity. We expect that wars will continue right up to the time of the end when Christ comes to set things right. We expect the elect to be gathered out of an evil world, though we believe that the command of Christ to preach the gospel to the whole world must be obeyed, and that it is our duty to endeavor to establish a Christian society so far as it is in our power to do so, but while we have the obligation to do this, we by no means expect that the whole of society will be Christianized. In fact, we expect the forces of evil to grow more and more violent in their opposition to Christianity and Christians. This in no way excuses us from the attempt to propagate the Christian principles as well as the gospel in the world.
“At the close of the present age we expect the forces of evil to head up in a powerful combination of political, economic and religious power led by the Antichrist. At the close of the reign of the Antichrist or Man of Sin, he institutes a terrible persecution against the Christian Church ( not against the Jews as some premillennialists assert). In this terrible tribulation vast numbers of Christians are killed, but at the climax, when the hosts of Satan seem to be on the point of complete victory, during the battle of Armageddon, Christ appears in the Shekinah glory, the resurrection of all men takes place, and the transfigured bodies of the dead and living saints are caught up to welcome their Saviour. Then, as a terrible out-pouring of the wrath of God occurs, smiting the unbelieving nations of the world into destruction, the Jewish people look `on Him whom they pierced,’ repent and believe instantly in their Messiah . . . They too are transfigured with the living Church of Christ, and join in the rapture of the united body of the elect church of Christ of all ages. This completes the number of the elect, and from that point onward there is no more salvation for men . . . After the judgment, the eternal kingdom of God is established in the new heavens and on the new earth…It will continue through all eternity” ( pp. 35-37 ) .
Floyd E. Hamilton, The Basis o f Millennial Faith (1942 ), Quoted from The Millennium by Lorraine Boettner.