Eschatological Standpoints

The major views of the "end times" are:

pre-millennium
post-millennium
a-millennium

Enjoy your research!

 

Eschatology
Second Advent
Tribulationm Period
Great Tribulation Period
Rapture
Partial Rapture
Pretribulation Rapture
Posttribulation Rapture
Midtribulation Rapture
Millenium
Premillenialism
Postmillenialism
Amillenialism

There are many other words commonly used and there are many combinations of concepts involved here. It will keep you quite busy just reasarching these topics.

For instance, my eschatology is of a Pretribulation Rapture and I am Premillenial. Other people have the option of being wrong.

 

Premillennialism is divided into two different viewpoints - historical premillennialism and dispensational premillennialism.

 

Amoung amillenialists there are also preterists (as opposed to futurists)-- both full preterists and partial preterists.

There are a lot of terms we call each other when debating eschatology--do you want a list of those terms too?

 

Yes Tim, I believe we have been called anti-semitic, liberal , and Nazi.

 

Perhaps youe will find this information useful, USN2Pulpit. I have typed up these recaps of Revelation and Millennial interpretations from the Holman New Testament Commentary Series on the book of Revelation written by Kendell H. Easley, Professor of New Testament at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee, pp.4-7.

Four Schools of Interpretation:

The Preterist School: Everything in the book has already been fulfilled.
The Historical School: The predictions cover the entire period between John’s day and the return of Christ.
The Futurist School: The predictions are all in the future.
The Symbolic School: The events are symbolic of the ongoing conflict between God and evil; neither historical nor future events are specifically portrayed.

Millennial Views:

Amillennialism

This evil age includes ongoing persecution for Christians, becoming more intense before Christ’s return (the Tribulation). The souls of believers go to heaven at death and reign with Christ in heaven (the Millennium) as they wait with him for the Second Coming. (Others see the present church age including the spiritual condition of believers in this world as the Millennium. Still others see the new heavens and new earth as the Millennium.) When he returns gloriously and bodily to earth, Christians still living on earth will be raptured; those already dead will be resurrected. Next will be the last judgment, all people will go to either heaven or hell. The eternal state will then go on forever.

Strengths:
Held to by nearly all Christians form the 400s to the 1500s and by many today;
Simplest view;
Unites the Testaments, with Old Testament Israel and Christians seen as one group.

Weaknesses:
Rejects chronological and literal nature of the Millennium;
May appear to reject the notion of Christ’s imminent return;
Can be emotionally and psychologically difficult to believe that Christians will go through any final period of tribulation.

Postmillennialism

Tribulation equals terrible events of Jewish war of A.D. 66-70;
Gospel and Christian missions will become so powerful that most of human society will be brought voluntarily into Christ’s kingdom;
Earth will have long golden age of peace (the Millennium);
After Millennium Christ will return visibly to earth, welcomed by all;
Last judgment will mean all people go to either heaven or hell;
Eternal state will go on forever.

Strengths:
Held by many – even most – North American Bible-believing Christians during the 1800s;
Has most optimistic view of the success of Christian missions;
Emotionally and psychologically very powerful and comforting.

Weakness:
World Wars I and II caused most Christians to abandon idea that the world is getting better and most of the world’s people will become Christians, but recent rapid spread of Christianity in many parts of the Third World has brought a significant resurgence of postmillennialism.

Historic Premillennialism

This evil age will get worse and worse, ending with a final terrible persecution of Christians by “Antichrist” (tribulation);
Many Christians will become martyrs;
Christ will come to pour out God’s wrath and to bring victory for Christians; He will judge the Antichrist and establish a golden age in which Christians will be priests and kings on the earth for a thousand years (Millennium);
One last terrible war will precede the last judgment (though some historic premillennialists do not believe in a literal interpretation of Armageddon);
God will establish a new heaven and a new earth;
Eternal state will go on forever.

Strengths:
Held to strongly during the first four Christian centuries and by many today;
Takes Revelation 20 (and the entire book) literally;
Sees final culmination of Christ’s kingdom as fulfilled by Christians.

Weaknesses:
A complicated view, not clearly presented in a single passage of Scripture;
Not able to explain why a thousand years of peace will result in a last war against Christ.

Dispensational Premillennialism

Divides history into either seven or three dispensations with different revelation from God and different responsibilities of humanity;
Before this age reaches its most wicked point, Christians (or most Christians) will be removed from earth by the Rapture;
During seven-year Great Tribulation, God will deal primarily with the Israelite nation;
Antichrist will persecute the Jewish people, but many will turn to Christ; God’s wrath will be poured out, and raptured Christians will return with Christ to the earth;
Christ will reestablish Israel as a glorified righteous nation and rule the world as the King of Israel, literally fulfilling Old Testament prophecies;
One last terrible war precedes the last judgment;
A new heaven and a new earth will introduce the eternal state forever.

Strengths:
Extremely popular in the United States since World War I;
Most literal approach to the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about Israel;
Most attractive view emotionally and psychologically.

Weaknesses:
By far most complicated view of prophecy;
Not able to explain why a thousand years of peace will result in a last war against Christ;
Most recent of the views (unknown before J.N. Darby in the early 1800s).

 

Thanks Ken, I, for one, appreciate your hard work on that. I think we should all be given a handout before every discussion so we know what everyone means.

 

No one mentioned Panmillenialism. That's the view that everything is going to "pan" out in the end according to Romans 8:28.