Historic premillennialism

Historic premillennialism is the designation made by premillennialists, now also known as post-tribulational premillennialism. The doctrine is called "historic" because many early church fathers appear to have held it, including Ireneaus, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, and Papias.[1] Post-tribulational premillennialism is the Christian eschatological view that the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur prior to a thousand-year reign of the saints but subsequent to the great apostasy (and to any tribulation).

Comparison

Premillennialism is a view alternative to both postmillennialism, which teaches that the second coming of Jesus will occur after a thousand-year period of righteousness, and to amillennialism, which teaches that the thousand-year period is not meant to be taken literally but is the current church/messianic age. The two major species of premillennialism are historic and dispensational premillennialism, the latter of which is associated with pre-tribulational and mid-tribulational views. See the summary of Christian eschatological differences.

A major difference between historic and dispensational premillennialism is the view of the church in relation to Israel. Historics do not see so sharp a distinction between Israel and the church as the dispensationalists do, but instead view believers of all ages as part of one group, now revealed as the body of Christ. Thus, historic premillennialists see no issue with the church going through the Great Tribulation, and they do not need a separate pre-tribulational rapture of some believers as the dispensational system requires.

History

Proponents of historic premillennialism include Baptists, Presbyterians, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and several Evangelical groups. Individual proponents of historic premillennialism include: John Gill,[2] Robert Shank, Charles Spurgeon, Mike Bickle,[2][3] Benjamin Wills Newton (a contemporary and fierce theological rival of the father of dispensationalism, John Nelson Darby), George Eldon Ladd,[4] Albert Mohler,[5] Clarence Bass, John Piper,[6] Francis Schaeffer, D. A. Carson,[7][8][9] Gordon Clark,[2] Bryan Chapell,[10] and Carl F. H. Henry.[11]

See also

  • Book of Revelation
  • Blomberg, Craig L. & Chung, Sung Wook, eds. A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind" Eschatology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2009.ISBN 978-0-801-03596-8
  • Mathewson, David & Chung, Sung Wook, Models of Premillennialism. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2018.
  • Ladd, George. "The Blessed Hope." Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980. ISBN 0-8028-1111-6

References


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