What will christians do during the millenium

Augustine never left a problem unsolved if he could help it. He took the thrones of Revelation as "the seats of the authorities by whom the church is now governed. This interpretation, coupled with his emphasis on the church as the kingdom, led to notions that Augustine could not have envisaged: in the Middle Ages, the church was viewed as the place where God's rule was exercised on earth through a papal monarch.

This was a new way of understanding last things, and the question naturally arises: Why would Augustine abandon the dominant interpretation of Christians, many of whom he deeply respected? First, Augustine owed a lot to a remarkable African Christian writer named Tyconius, who died around A.

We know too little about him, but enough to be sure that his writings shaped Augustine's beliefs. Second, Augustine increasingly focused on the life of heaven, both now and hereafter. Earthly and historical realities were less and less important to him. True fulfillment lay beyond this world. The idea of a literal Millennium on earth after Christ's return was, to him, too crass. Third, Augustine was wrestling with reactions to the sack of the "eternal city" of Rome by the Goths in Too many Christians, in his view, had invested too much spiritual capital in the permanence of the Roman Empire—and hence had been distraught when the city fell.

Augustine wanted to cut all secular history down to size. All that mattered was the story of the City of God. Fourth, Augustine had come to see the whole period between the first coming of Christ and his second coming as a single era—uniform and uninterrupted by any special events initiating new eras in salvation-history. This presents a serious problem for posttribulationists. Attempting to move the sheep and goat judgment Sensing their quandary, posttribulationists have proposed a number of possible solutions.

Gundry, Kimball, and Moo move the judgment of the sheep and goats from the beginning of the millennium to the end of the millennium. Walvoord ably argues against this posttribulational solution.

This obviously refers to the second coming of Christ to the earth at the beginning of the kingdom. Since the judgment of the Gentiles takes place at the beginning of the kingdom, posttribulationists are left with another problem. A posttribulational rapture would negate the necessity of judgments for the Jews and the Gentiles.

Tune In to the Spirit Eric B. Eight Reasons for Revelation Dallin H. Where Was My Answer? Susan Stoffer. Rachel Nielsen.

McGinn eds. Freedman, P. Friesen, S. Collins; New York — Gabriele, M. Palmer eds. Gager, J. Givens, B. Kinzig, W. Schwartz; Leuven — Landes, R. Verbeke et al. Friedman; London 44— Lerner, R. Patschovsky et al. Markus, R. McGinn, B. Odahl, C. Palmer, J. Portier-Young, A. Reeves, M. Rossato, N. Rubenstein, J. Rusconi, R. Vauchez; Tournhout 29— Smoller, L. Whalen, B. Catholics as well as Lutherans and Reformed condemned as chiliasm the literal interpretation of Rev 20 as referring to an earthly kingdom of Christ lasting for a thousand years before the last judgment.

In England there were several defenders of millennialism even before Cromwell. Thus the Calvinist John Foxe in his commentary on the book of Revelation Eicasmi seu Meditationes in Sacram Apocalypsin distinguished between seven periods of history, the last one being the millennium which begins about Thomas Brightman, another Calvinist Puritan differentiated between the millennium when Christ with his saints will reign on earth and the heavenly kingdom of God Revelation of the Revelation , Joseph Mede, Clavis Apocalyptica , expected the glorious Sabbath of the earthly reign of Christ after years of history, starting from the creation.

For some in England, the Civil War was regarded as the prelude to the millennium. Thus in The Reign of Christ and the Saints with Him, on Earth, a Thousand years , the independent clergyman William Erbery imagined a time when God alone reigns in Men, so that the rule of Christ will be followed in love.

John Explained calculating with the help of the number , the mark of the Beast Rev , thought that the millennium would begin in This interpretation of Rev 20 was taken over by Christian August Crusius Hypomnemata ad theologiam , — Lessing identified the third of these Trinitarian periods with the future age of reason in which faith is transformed into morality and speculative knowledge.

The kingdom of God no longer belonged to a heavenly sphere beginning with the last judgment and the end of the world. The kingdom of God instead became something to be realized by humankind on earth and was thus identified with the millennium. Kant, I. Rohls, J. American Christians teach one of three timings for the millennium. The question of timing is deeply entwined with the nature of the Millennium, with premillennialists emphasizing a sharper historical break and Jesus dispensing justice to a battered world from his throne in Jerusalem, and postmillennialists anticipating a more gradual inception of the millennium as evidenced through the perfection of human institutions and the successful conversion of peoples to Christianity.

While Millennialism has deep roots in Christian history, it was especially influential for early Puritan settlers fleeing the European Wars of Religion and English Civil War — Though primarily associated with Protestant sectarians, millennialists have also been counted among mainline Protestants and Catholics. Arguably the decisive characteristic of millennialism is a biblically-informed orientation toward the future — especially to the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

American millennialists have often contributed to a pervasive belief in American exceptionalism, regarding the United States or specific American churches as primary agents of the millennium. Common characteristics among all American millennialists include: 1 an interest in biblical prophecy, 2 criticism of contemporary society and global politics, 3 identification with an idealized American peoplehood or United States, and 4 a vision of the future that mixes biblical and American values.