Postmillennialism By: Jake Gurley 1. History A. The postmillennial view is thought to have originated with Augustine (even though he is not considered postmillennial in the categorization of the views today) possibly through living to see Constantine s conversion and making the Christian Church the preferred religion of the Roman Empire. B. It became popular in American Evangelicalism because of the growth in technology and missionary activity of the 18 th century. 1) The beginning of the 18 th century was a time of optimism in America. 2) The ability of Christians to freely choose their path without interference from government sanctioned religious institutions led to an unbridled push of the gospel into the population centers on the east coast. 3) Preachers like the Puritan, Jonathan Edwards, saw the boom in evangelistic converts during the Great Awakening as a sign of God s working in a new and unique way. 4) If God could use the gospel to produce Christian lives and culture, he could bring about the millennium without disasters and catastrophes. 5) Charles Finney and other evangelists encouraged Christians to take strong stands to shape cultural and political issues in the new lands. 6) By the mid-19 th century postmillennial ideals were the most widely held in American evangelical and conservative churches. 7) Hymns were being written to reflect these optimistic views such as O, Zion Haste, Thy Mission High Fulfilling, and Lead on, O King Eternal. C. The global wars I & II, the Great Depression, and the horrors of Auschwitz and Hiroshima, led to a decline in the optimism of postmillennialism and the growth of the culturally pessimistic Dispensationalism. D. Secular movements paralleled postmillennialism such as the Age of Reason s search for a natural utopia in the 18 th and 19 th century (phylanteries, Hegel s dialectics, socialism ), and the communism revolutionaries and liberal social gospel of the 20 th century which focused more on the transformation of society than the personal conversion to Christ as in postmillennialism. 2. Characteristics A. The postmillennial views the millennium as beginning at some point in this present age. 1) It will not come in a specific event but in a slow transformation, like the coming of summer (Boettner). 2) There might be setbacks of spiritual decline while on the way towards the ultimate goal; it will be two steps forward for each step back. 3) The inauguration of the golden age will not be seen from the beginning but later when looking back at history and realize it is the midst of summer.
4) The progress of American society since its inception has seen improvements to the standard of living through growth in knowledge and sciences such as medicine, horticulture, computers; harnessing new energy sources; advocating rights of women, children, minorities, and the poor; advances in transportation, communication, and economic prosperity. 5) Improvements have also been made in being able to get the gospel out to the nations; media resources enable the gospel to be preached to the world; the Bible is now available in hundreds of languages; there are world-wide increases in the numbers of churches, Bible colleges, and seminaries providing preachers, teachers and missionaries all over the world; all around the world are countless examples that those committed to Christ are making progress, especially compared to oppressive pagan countries who either make no progress, or are in decline. B. This comes about through preaching of the gospel in which the earth becomes overwhelmingly Christian. 1) American Baptist theologian, A.H. Strong wrote, Through the preaching of the gospel in all the world, the kingdom of Christ is steadily to enlarge its boundaries, until Jews and Gentiles alike become possessed of its blessings, and a millennial period is introduced in which Christianity generally prevails throughout the earth (Systematic Theology, 3:1008, 1907). 2) It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that the gospel of Christ is accepted and transforms the world, not through human effort or natural evolution. 3) The influences of paganism and papalism (J. Marcellus Kik) will be removed from the churches, transformation of the pulpits from platitudes and superficial treatise, and waken the sleeping church to do what it was commissioned to do. C. The nature of the millennium. 1) The millennium becomes a reality displaying universal peace, prosperity, and righteousness through a slow process of transformation. 2) Individuals and nations will display righteous lives initiating political, social, cultural, and economic reforms. 3) Life in the millennium will be similar to the way it is today with marriage, childbirth, and families, but the spiritual relationships seen in families, Bible study groups, churches, or social groups will become a world-wide phenomenon. 4) It does not mean that sin and evil will disappear, but the amount will be greatly reduced. 5) The influence of Satan, evil, and self interest gives way to Christ-like moral values and is restrained as an influence in the world. 6) Nature will reflect the transformation and become more beneficial and productive as the rejuvenation of mankind brings about better environmental management and fruitfulness. 7) Towards the end of the golden age (may not be exactly 1000 years) Satan reemerges as a threat using lies and deception or through a political
insurgency, leads Gog and Magog into the battle of Armageddon and is dealt with decisively through the return of Christ. D. Following his return is a general resurrection, the Great White Throne of judgment, the creation of a new heaven and earth, and the eternal state. 3. Differences in understanding the nature of the millennium. A. Classical or Puritan postmillennialism. 1) This view covered in the discussion above, looks for the conversion of the world to be reflected in society at large rather than by law. 2) It is not driven by the church but by the Holy Spirit. 3) It is supported by Jonathan Edwards, Daniel Whitby, Charles Finney, A.H. Strong, Charles Hodge, A.A. Hodge, B.B. Warfield, James Snowden, and Loraine Boettner. B. Theonomic or reconstructionist postmillennialism. 1) It looks for the church to restore a theocracy to rule through biblical laws (OT & NT). 2) This theocracy would be the means by which God would establish his rule in the world. 3) It was originally promoted by J. Marcellus Kik, and modified by R.J. Rushdoony, Greg Bahnsen, Ray Sutton, Gary DeMarr, David Chilton, Kenneth Gentry, and John Jefferson Davis. C. The Dominion postmillennialism. 1) The charismatic revival ( Latter Rain ) is the means by which God s kingdom will be established on this earth. 2) Through the Holy Spirit s leadership, the churches will establish dominion and exercise the authority of God over the nations. 3) Proponents of this view are mainly Pentecostals, such as Bishop Earl Paulk, Paul Yongli Cho. 4. Biblical Basis for Postmillennialism A. Hermeneutic Principle 1) As seen in the discussion of Dispensationalism, having a consistent method of interpretation provides a useful guideline in understanding scripture (if followed). 2) Postmillennialism looks at scripture in the sense that it was written, if it was meant to be literal take it literally, but if it was meant otherwise take it as intended. 3) For example, the prophecy that another Elijah will appear before the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal 4:5) did not mean Elijah himself will return, but an Elijah-like prophet will inaugurate the kingdom of God which NT authors understood to be John the Baptist (Matt 11:14). B. Old Testament
1) A common OT theme is the glory of the Lord filling the earth and all nations worshipping him (Num 14:21, Ps 86:9, 97:5, Isa 2:2-3, 45:22-23, Zech 9:10) which postmillennialists understand as happening during the present age. 2) The image given by Isaiah (65:17-25) does not necessitate a rapture in order to participate in the golden age. 3) The prophetic expectations can be understood as being fulfilled in Christ and the Church, as NT authors showed (Isa 9:1-2/Matt 4:12-16, Isa 40:3-5/Matt 3:1-3, Joel 2:28/Acts 2:15-20 ). C. New Testament 1) The Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 13:1-53). a) The yeast (13) indicates the growth within the individual and community expands to influence the world. b) The weeds in the fields (24-30) and fish in the nets (47-50) refer to the kingdom of God having evil present but the gospel advances forward. c) The mustard seed (31-32) is the gospel s influence which starts small but grows fast and immense throughout the world. 2) The Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). a) The authority given to Christ to commission his disciples to spread the gospel is a mandate empowered by the Holy Spirit, which when fulfilled, will bring peace and prosperity. b) The power for the gospel to reign is available in this present age. c) If the Holy Spirit is not working towards that end now, it is the church s failure in faith which needs to be transformed, not Christ s inability to act. d) Fulfillment of the Great Commission is not a guarantee that all will be saved (universalism) but a majority will choose to follow Christ. 3) The Victorious Christ (Rev 19:11-21). a) The victorious Christ on a white horse represents good winning in its struggle with evil through the preaching of the gospel (the sword in his mouth is the word of God Heb 4:12). b) The vision location in heaven (19:11) indicates it is a spiritual reality even though he is not yet ready to return to earth. c) This image is chronologically followed by the millennium declarations of chapter 20. d) When he actually returns at the close of the millennium the forces of evil will be helpless against him, the earth will be doomed, and a general resurrection will lead to the Great White Throne of Judgment (Matt 16:27, Jn 5:28-29, 2 Thess 1:6-10 ). e) If there is a prior resurrection (Rev 20:4-5) it will be a rebirth of the martyrs cause (what they died for) or a rebirth of the martyrs spirit. 5. Criticisms of Postmillennialism A. The reality of the world. 1) The world is not getting better, it is getting worse. 2) Wars, plagues, famines, natural disasters appear to be more common than ever. 3) The evil of mankind appears to be just as bad as it ever has been.
4) Even vast improvements in technology are used to promote evil, not just good. 5) However, the postmillennialist looks to scripture and not the media to determine the movement of global societies of the past, present, and future. B. The numbers of the redeemed. 1) There cannot be wholesale numbers of people saved if Jesus said it will be relatively small (Matt 7:13-14). 2) The only text indicating vast numbers are the numbers of the redeemed in heaven who had been martyred (Rev 7:9, 14). 3) However, this number does not differ so much from other views when comparing millenniums, not pre-millenniums. C. The nature of the millennium. 1) The images of Revelation do not reflect the physical nature of the postmillennial view that it is more like life is in the world now. 2) Such unbridled optimism does not reflect the negative and pessimism expressed in some biblical texts relating to the end of the age (Matt 24:4-7, Lk 18:8, 2 Tim 3:1-5). 3) However, postmillennialism proponents acknowledge an up-and-down movement where evil seems to get the upper hand, but the ups eventually become stronger than the downs. D. The appeal to scripture. 1) The postmillennial view appeals to very few scriptures, and when it does it is not a literal interpretation but mostly figurative. 2) One of the most crucial scriptures to base a millennial idea is the only text in the Bible that mentions a millennium (Rev 20:4-6), which postmillennialism does not focus much attention towards. 3) However, there are not many texts which refer to the nature of the millennium or life in the next world, so all views must include those which have figurative meanings or speak of it indirectly.