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End Times

Millennialism, Premillenialism, Dispensationalism

Churches believe that God has a divine plan ©

Millennialism, premillennialism and dispensationalism are all theories of the end of the world.

Introduction

Many Christian Churches are greatly concerned about the ultimate fate of everything in creation. They believe that God has a divine plan for the end of everything.

The technical name for the subject of the end-times is eschatology (from the Greek word eschatos which means last).

Many of the theories are inspired by the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible.

Much of the writing and teaching about the end times is apocalyptic, frightening and threatening, and it's important to remember that many mainstream churches do not believe that these teachings should be taken literally.

But you can find a popular expression of these theories in the best-selling (over 63 million copies by 2010) Left Behind series of novels, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, which bring the ideas right up to date.

A word of reassurance

Some Christians do believe that the end of everything is going to happen soon. But don't panic; throughout recorded history people have believed that the end of the world is about to happen, and it hasn't happened yet.

Discussion on end times

Afrikaner Calvinists reflect on the end times

In 2008 Peter Owen Jones met Afrikaner Calvinists in the veldt and discussed what the end of the world means to them.

Millennialism

Millennialism

Statue of Christ, Sugarloaf Mountain, Brazil ©

Millennialism is the belief that Christ will rule the earth for a period of 1,000 years (the Millennium), and that this will be a good time when people accept Christ as King. At the end of this time Christ will judge the living and the dead.

Modern millennialists are not dedicated to a period of 1000 years - the important idea is that there will be a period during which God's will is actually carried out on earth.

This is a very popular idea. It suggests that the world will be turned upside down and be taken over by the meek - or at least by the good and the righteous - and that this will be a time of peace and justice.

It also implies a solution to the problem of evil (i.e. why does an all-good, all-powerful God allow evil to flourish unpunished or corrected) by showing that at the end of time there will be justice for everyone. Evildoers will be punished for their behaviour on earth and the good rewarded, as God balances the scales of justice at the end of time.

Millennialism comes in different flavours:

• premillennialism
• dispensationalism - partly a particular form of premillennialism popularised by J N Darby, founder of the Exclusive Brethren. Dispensationalism is also a doctrine of Bible interpretation.
• postmillennialism
• amillennialism

Premillennialism

Premillennialism

Premillennialism is a doctrine particularly popular among Evangelical Protestants in North America. Other premillennial groups include Jehovah's Witnesses, the Exclusive Brethren, and Seventh-day Adventists.

It's often mocked as the belief that "the end of the world is nigh".

Premillennialism is a pessimistic view of the world. It says that things are getting steadily worse on earth and will go on deteriorating until God has had enough and takes action in a way that will be catastrophic for humanity.

Premillennialists believe the Second Coming of Christ will happen at the start of the Millennium (the 1000 year period when Christ rules the world). Before this period will come a time of destruction, war and disaster on earth, called the tribulation, which will be ended by God defeating evil at the battle of Armageddon.

Those who follow this doctrine have a very different view of Christ to that held by other Christians. As one church leader (Bob Edgar) put it, "[Premillennialists] see a Messiah who leads an army and kills the bad guys, we see Jesus coming as a man of peace."

Although premillennialism is sometimes said to be only 200 years old, it's more like 2000 years old; early Christians held very similar beliefs about the Second Coming.

Implications for Christian behaviour

Premillennial beliefs affect the way churches and their members behave.

They believe that the important thing for Christians to do is to prepare themselves for the end-time and to convert as many people as possible into righteous believers ready for the day of judgement.

They don't see much point in Christians trying to improve the world, since God is about to clean the world of its faults by destroying much of it and then remaking it.

In practical terms premillennialists are in favour of evangelism and missionary work to convert people to belief in Christ, and less enthusiastic about church involvement in politics and social reform.

Some premillennialists take very reactionary positions on social and political issues. They argue that any attempt by Christians to reform society is religiously wrong, as it would get in the way of God's plan to end the world.

The Great Tribulation

Millions of Christians believe that the tribulation is a period immediately before the Millennium when God's judgement is carried out on the world and humanity endures great suffering.

Most mainstream Christians think the doctrine of the tribulation should be regarded as a poetic or symbolic way of describing the eternal conflict between good and evil. However there are many millions who believe the doctrine of the tribulation is a literal and truthful description of what will happen sometime in the future.

During the tribulation the antichrist (Satan's emissary) will torture humanity, and God will go to war against the antichrist. The tribulation ends after seven years when God defeats the antichrist.

The tribulation has provided the background to many novels and a great deal of prophetic writing.

Most premillennialists believe that the Church will escape the Tribulation altogether, through the doctrine of the Rapture.

One group of premillennialists (called 'posttribulationists') believe that the righteous believers have to remain on earth throughout the tribulation, but that God keeps them safe.

Dispensationalism, postmillennialism and amillennialism

Dispensationalism

Dispensationalism is a theological belief system devised by J. N. Darby (founder of the Exclusive Brethren) that divides human time into different ages, called dispensations. It aims to show how God's plans and purposes have changed throughout history not gradually but in large steps.

J. N. Darby, founder of the Exclusive Brethren ©

Each dispensation is a period during which God works in a specific way. There is a change of dispensation when God gives humanity a different revelation of his will to follow.

Another way of looking at it is to consider a dispensation as a period of government. Different governments bring different ways of running a country - in different dispensations the same God runs the world in a different way.

C. I. Scofield, editor of the Scofield Reference Bible, devised the most commonly used dispensational breakdown of human history. He listed seven dispensations:

1. Innocence - from the beginning to the fall
2. Conscience - from the fall to Noah
3. Human Government - Noah to Abraham
4. Promise - Abraham to Moses
5. Law - Moses to Christ
6. Church - the present age
7. Kingdom - beginning at the Second Coming of Christ

Scofield wrote about the change from dispensation 5 to dispensation 6:

So in the present dispensation God tests us by seeing if we reject or accept Christ. In the previous dispensation God tested us by seeing if we obeyed the law.

For those who accept it, dispensationalism provides a way of interpreting the Bible literally and consistently without contradictions.

Dispensationalists say that in each dispensation God is using different revelations and so the Bible only has to be consistent within a particular dispensation.

So contradictions in the Bible are only contradictions on the surface. If studied properly they turn out not to be contradictions at all, because different rules operate within each dispensation.

Historical note

Critics say that the idea of dispensationalism is something that Darby made up himself ("concocted in complete contradiction to all main Christian traditions", said James Barr), but Darby believed that the idea had been given to him by God.

Dispensationalism wasn't a brand new doctrine anyway; Joachim of Fiore had put a similar idea forward in the 12th century CE.

Progressive Dispensationalism

In this version of dispensationalism the dispensations are not rigidly separated at an instant in time but gradually progress from one to another. In each dispensation it's possible to find early signs of the dispensation to come.

Progressive dispensationalists interpret the Bible in a less literal way than other dispensationalists.

Postmillennialists

Postmillennialists believe that the Second Coming of Christ will come at the end of the Millennium and mark the full achievement of the kingdom of God on earth.

They believe that we are already in the Millennium, which began with Christ's resurrection, and that the world is gradually moving towards the promised time of peace and righteousness. Christ is ruling earth from heaven, through his church and through believers, and his kingdom and rule are steadily growing.

This view can lead to either of these two possible practical consequences:

• the church should take a major social and political role in reshaping the world to advance God's Kingdom on earth
• countries should be ruled by theocracies (religious governments) as this is the way to bring about God's Kingdom

Amillennialism

Amillennialists don't believe in the Millennium as a specific period of 1000 years, and regard Biblical reference to it as symbolic.

They believe that the millennium began when Christ was born on earth and will end with the second coming. Amillennialists say that Christ is reigning now, both in heaven, and on the earth in the hearts of believers.

The doctrine, which was made popular by St Augustine, is accepted by the Roman Catholic church and many middle of the road Protestant denominations.

The Rapture

The Rapture

The Rapture is the event in which Christ carries the faithful believers off to heaven before the Tribulation.

This word refers to a "taking up" of Christians, both alive and dead, at the return of Christ. The idea is based on 1 Thessalonians 4.17, which speaks of Christians who are alive being "caught up in the air" at Christ's return. Rapture derives from Latin for "to seize" (rapere, also the root for raptor, a bird of prey).

During the Millennium the believers will remain in heaven, and God will be working on earth with the people of Israel.

Some Christians believe in the rapture, but disagree about the timing. Some think the rapture will occur at the end of the tribulation period and others believe it will occur in the middle.

Beam me up, Jesus

This doctrine says that Christ will come to earth and take all the true believers to heaven before the Second Coming.

Christians disagree as to exactly when in the "end times" this will happen, and the Bible itself doesn't explicitly say whether it will happen before, during or after the great tribulation.

The rapture is described in 1 Thessalonians 4, which says that believers will be "raptured" or "caught up" (Latin: rapiemur) in the clouds to meet Christ in the air.

Some Christians have encapsulated the idea of the rapture in the phrase "beam me up, Jesus" because they believe that the way the transporter works on Star Trek is the closest thing we have to the way the rapture will work.

Many Evangelical Christians, including the Brethren, follow John Nelson Darby in believing that the rapture will happen before the great tribulation, sparing Christians from a terrible experience.

Other Christians believe that the Rapture will occur during the Great Tribulation, or after it, while yet other Christians don't believe it will happen at all.

Darby

Darby added a new element to millennial beliefs when he said that Christ's second coming would come in three parts:

• the Rapture
• the Great Tribulation - when the antichrist will rule the earth, and the Jews will be converted and do God's work. This is expected to be a terrifying time for those who remain on earth.
• the Second Coming - when Christ will return with the saints to crush the antichrist and rule the earth for 1000 years.

The antichrist

The antichrist

The antichrist is the enemy of God who appears during the final years of the world's existence and takes over the world. He is a very powerful and evil ruler who pretends to be God and appears to perform miracles.

Some beliefs about the antichrist are that:

• he or she is already living in this world and we will soon discover who he/she is.
  • Throughout history various villains have been accused of being the antichrist. Popes have been accused by Protestants in the past of being the antichrist; the emperor Frederick II was another candidate.
• the antichrist is an institution rather than an individual.
  • So the Papacy itself, rather than individual popes, has been attacked as the antichrist.
  • Following 9/11 some have accused Islam of being the antichrist.
  • During the cold war the Soviet Union was sometimes called the antichrist.
  • The United Nations, and the League of Nations have both been regarded as the antichrist.
• heretics are the forerunners of the antichrist - this probably derives from the passage in 1 John that says "even now are there many antichrists..."

Some Christians believe that the antichrist will take over the earth at a time in the future and will bring great destruction until eventually overthrown by Christ.

One modern writer (2002) has suggested that the antichrist will emerge as the leader of a European super-state, impose a peace settlement on Israel "and possibly her neighbours," get assassinated and then resurrected, win the Nobel Peace Prize and be named Time's Man of the Year; after these triumphs, he will set himself up as God and rule the world.

The Christian doctrine of the antichrist is a development of a similar Jewish belief, which makes it all the more regrettable that the antichrist doctrine has been used as a weapon of anti-Semitism. The Jewish references are found in the book of Daniel.

Biblical references for the antichrist

The antichrist is only mentioned in the Bible by that title at 1 John 2:18:

But there are many other New Testament passages that have been regarded as referring to the antichrist. Here are a few of them:

Find out more

• Revelation
• Exclusive Brethren