Amillennialism

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Amillennialism or Amillenarismus is one of the most influential fundamental conceptions of Christian eschatology - next to the premillenarianism and Postmillenarismus .

Scheme of the amillenarian view of the millennium

The term is derived from Latin from “mille” for “thousand”, “annus” for “year” and the prefix “a” as a negative. He refers to the passage in ( Rev 20 : 1-6  NGÜ ), where there is talk of a period of a thousand years ( millennium ) in which Satan is bound and Christ rules with his priests. Amillenalists do not believe in a literal millennial earthly peace reign of Christ after his return. As a replacement for the term "amillennialism" , Jay Adams proposed the term "realized millennialism" . Within amillennialism, preterist opinions are also represented.

General

Amillennialism also appears in literature in the spelling amillennialism, amillennialism or amillennialism, written with two or an n . Amillennarists see the number 1000 symbolically and believe that the kingdom of God is present in the world today as the victorious Christ rules his church by word and spirit. The cause lies in the expectation of the return of Jesus Christ, which was hoped for in the year 1000. When Jesus did not return to that point in time, the prevailing belief was that the millennium should be interpreted purely spiritually.

From an amillennialist point of view, Old Testament imperial promises are fulfilled spiritually rather than literally. It is true that a literal return of Christ is assumed, but a subsequent thousand-year rulership of peace by Christ on this earth is rejected. The kingdom of God or especially the millennial kingdom is therefore already present during the age of the church and the second coming of Christ brings about the eternal state. In this sense, the Revelation of John is also interpreted as a description of events during the church age.

The basis for this conception is an allegorical interpretation of Scripture, which began in the theology of the church father Origen .

Anthony A. Hoekema the question in an essay of amillenalistischen perspective whether one must necessarily assume that in Revelation 20.1 to 4  NIV millennium described immediately to in Revelation 19.1  NIV must follow described return of Christ. The statement in Rev 20 : 1-6  NCT can also be interpreted as a summary of the events since the first coming of Christ. Hoekema relies on the revelatory interpretation system of so-called "progressive parallelism" by William Hendriksen. Chapters 20 to 22 of the Revelation of John are to be understood as the seventh section of the entire book.

criticism

Herman A. Hoyt criticizes the fact that the attempt to place the seven sections between the first and second coming of Christ cannot be carried out without considerable confusion. George Eldon Ladd thinks that Hoekema disregards the rules of healthy exegesis on three points. Chapters 19 and 20 are apparently linked. Loraine Boettner points out that there would be little difference between postmillenialism and amillenialism when contrasted with historical premillenalism or dispensationalism. Boettner says ( Rev 19.11 to 21  NIV ) does not constitute the return of Christ, as Hoekema claims, but in "pictorial form the progress and struggle of the church after the first coming of Christ and before his return."

literature

  • Charles C. Ryrie : Understanding the Bible. The manual of systematic theology for everyone. 3. Edition. Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 1996, ISBN 3-89436-109-3 .
  • Mal Couch (Ed.): Lexicon to the end times. A practical guide to people, viewpoints, and the study of biblical prophecy and salvation history. 1st edition. Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 2004, ISBN 3-89436-410-6 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anthony A. Hoekema: The view of amillenialism. In: Robert Clouse (Ed.): The Thousand Year Reich. Four points of view. Francke, Marburg an der Lahn 1983, ISBN 3-88224-283-3 , p. 123.
  2. ↑ Anthony A. Hoekema: The view of amillenialism. In: Robert Clouse (Ed.) The Thousand Year Reich. Four points of view. Francke, Marburg an der Lahn 1983, ISBN 3-88224-283-3 , pp. 124-127.
  3. ↑ Herman A. Hoyst: opinion from the perspective of dispensationalism. In: Robert Clouse (Ed.) The Thousand Year Reich. Four points of view. Francke, Marburg an der Lahn 1983, ISBN 3-88224-283-3 , pp. 124-127.
  4. ↑ George Eldon Ladd: Statement from the perspective of historical premillenialism. In: Robert Clouse (Ed.) The Thousand Year Reich. Four points of view. Francke, Marburg an der Lahn 1983, ISBN 3-88224-283-3 , p. 152.
  5. ^ Loraine Boettner: Statement from the perspective of postmillenialism. In: Robert Clouse (Ed.) The Thousand Year Reich. Four points of view. Francke, Marburg an der Lahn 1983, ISBN 3-88224-283-3 , p. 159.