Accessible Eschatology: two types of premillennialism

If you're reading along from post-to-post (which, regrettably, is probably the only way this is gonna make sense), you'll recall premillennialism as it was introduced in the last post. Let's look at it again, shall we?Remember, the cloud stands for Christ's return, and the throne stands for Judgment Day. So at the end of this age, premillennialists believe that Jesus will return to establish his global rule over all things. It will be a spiritual, social, economic, and political rule, known as the "millennium" (whether or not that period will last exactly 1,000 years). Those who have died in Christ will be resurrected when he returns to live and reign with him in the millennium. At the end of the millennium, the ungodly who have died will be resurrected, Christ will judge all people, and then the "new heavens and new earth" will come.

There are two major versions of premillennialism, and they differ in their expectations of what will happen during the period of intense tribulation immediately before the millennium...

Dispensational premillennialism. This view has been widely popularized by such books as the Left Behind series. There is an emphasis on a pre-tribulation rapture: Jesus' return is expected to come in two stages. There will be an unseen return, when he takes all those who are already Christians off the earth. This will be followed by seven years of intense tribulation on earth. After that seven years will come Jesus' public return, and he will bring all the Christians back with him. Dispensationalists believe that God is doing two separate things in history (different "dispensations"), one with the Jewish people and one with the Church, and the seven years of tribulation will be a time when God is primarily dealing with the Jewish people. There is an emphasis in many dispensational churches on the importance of saving people's souls because of the view that the Church needs to help people get out of the way of the coming tribulation. Many dispensationalists are staunchly pro-Israel in their political views.

Historic premillennialism. This view expects Jesus' return to be a single event. There will be no unseen return to take Christians away from a period of tribulation - we will still be on earth for that time. The "rapture" will be concurrent with Jesus' public return, and it will not be a matter of Christians being taken away from earth. Rather, Christians will be caught up into the air as Jesus descends to serve as his "royal welcoming party" to earth, and we will immediately descend back to earth with him to rule in his kingdom. (This is often called a post-tribulation rapture.) Historic premillennialists emphasize the unity of God's work in history concerning the Jewish people and the Church. Because they believe Christians will live through the tribulation, there can be a stronger emphasis in historic premillennial churches on holistic ministry, desiring to meet people's spiritual, physical, and even political needs. (To give a random example, a "dispensational soup kitchen" might view feeding people as a fringe benefit to gaining a captive audience to hear the gospel; a "historic premillennial soup kitchen" might view the act of feeding people as integral to what it means to share the gospel with them.) Finally, historic premillennialists may or may not be politically pro-Israel.

Are you beginning to see how these different theological views inform practical choices in life and ministry? I hope so!

In the next post, you get to hear from Meggan!!! Her topic: Why I Do Not Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture.