Postmillennial theology and eschatological perspectives

Postmillennial View

The Bible is certainly one of the most debated documents ever to have existed, as people are constantly interested to interpret and reinterpret passages from the book. While it is somewhat logic that the authors of the Bible did not intend their readers to take the document for what it appears to be in the present, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the diverse translations and interpretations that the Bible has had over the years. The book promotes a millennial view which has drawn a lot of disagreements among scholars working to elucidate the Book of Revelation.

A number of teachers have attempted to shed light on problems raised by texts in the Bible. However, because of the great differences existing between the versions offered to the masses, people are reluctant to accept clarification from Bible researchers. Furthermore, because it is only natural for people to want to express their opinions freely, scholars have often been contradicted. The fact that it is basically impossible for a researcher to come up with proof to back up his arguments works in favor of the disbelief coming from the public.

The Bible refers to the one thousand years period as being a time when Jesus will rule the world together with those worthy of accompanying him. Concomitantly, the rest of the world will be forced to spend the millennium in death and Satan will be bound, unable to deceive people for the whole time period. When the one thousand years reach their finale, Satan is set free, and, along with him, the rest of the dead are resurrected. In an attempt to defeat the forces of good, Satan gathers his troops and charges the city of God. However, good eventually defeats Satan and the latter is punished in a lake of fire.

Because of prejudice, the human society has been lead to believe that Jesus will most certainly rule from Jerusalem. Also, people consider that peace will reign during the one thousand years when Jesus is supposed to rule over the world. However, the Book of Revelation does not relate to such details, and, if it were to do so, there would have been a large possibility for scholars to be misguided in their studies as a result.

While the Book of Revelation apparently refrains from giving an in depth account of the millennium, it mentions how it starts and how it ends. The millennium starts when Jesus comes and resurrects those that have been virtuous in their lives. The remaining souls are left into damnation for one thousand years, the time in which Jesus rules along with the martyrs. When the millennium reaches its end, Satan is set free, and, along with him, the damned dead are resurrected to join him in a fight against good.

The concept of resurrection is presented in several circumstances in the Book of Revelation and in certain occasions it does not refer to something good. At the beginning of the millennium, the good souls that are being resurrected are honored for their behavior. This means that they undergo a beneficial treatment. In contrast, the people that have performed evil in their lives are eligible for the "resurrection of damnation" (the Book of Revelation). Resurrection would normally refer to something good, and, one would certainly appreciate being raised from the dead. However, the ones being resurrected at the end of the millennium fall for Satan's deceitfulness once again, thus not being able to enjoy their resurrection.

The thousand years start when the good souls are resurrected, and in order to determine when that moment will be, one would have to have a thorough understanding of the concept of resurrection. As most passages in the Bible, the one relating to the millennium does not necessarily have to be taken literally. It is very possible that the resurrection in the Book of Revelation has a different meaning as it is not a physical rebirth where people raise from their graves and return to the physical world it is referring to. There are several passages in the Bible which refer to the time when Jesus will return and rule over the world. However, due to the large numbers of metaphors, it is very difficult to interpret these passages.

It is pointless to take the words in the Bible literally and it is also pointless to believe that the millennium can actually refer to a one thousand years period. There have been people in the history of Christianity that believed that Jesus will rule until the year 1000 a.D. Augustine of Hippo had actually been one of the people supporting this theory. For more than five centuries after his death, a great number of people believed that the year 1000 would be the one when the Devil would return and the world would end. Consequent to observing that Augustine's teachings had not been entirely true, people started to open their minds to new theories and interpretations.

Augustine de Hippo has introduced several theories which have brought assistance to society, even if some of them proved to be unfavorable. Taking this into account, Joachim of Flora agreed to the concept that Jesus' ruling would end around the year 1000. By coincidence, those times had also brought divergences between various rulers and the Christian church. Joachim thought that Satan and his followers would soon be destroyed by Christianity. However, because of his tendency to compare the Book of Revelation with diverse events having happened until his time, he introduced the concept that Satan's companion, the false prophet, would materialize into a new pope.

Even if Joachim apparently had good intentions when concerning his appreciation of the church, his theories worked against it. The thought that the false prophet would be a pope made people believe that it had not been right for them to serve the church, as it could have been Satan's tool. This point-of-view served the Protestants in their struggle to divide from the Roman church in the sixteenth century.

Jesus will presumably rule along with the righteous dead which have been resurrected and with the righteous living. The Book of Revelation says that the dead will be damned for one thousand years after the second coming of Christ. Nevertheless, the document says nothing about the ones that are already alive but that are not worthy of joining Jesus in his mission. This has lead to a number of scholars claiming that the millennium might have already started, and, that it is possible for humankind to be too ignorant to realize this.

Because of the explicit scenes from the Book of Revelation, some believe that John had exaggerated because of the pressure which he underwent at the time when he had written the document. The reason for his stress was that Christianity was very different then in comparison to what it is the present day. While it is one of the religions with the greatest number of followers in the world at the moment, it had only had a small number of followers at the time. People reportedly rejected new religions and those appearing to favor them. Thus, it is only natural for John to have attempted to use a large number of metaphors in his writings, intending his texts to reveal as less as they could to the audience he had. The Book of Revelation has been subjected to intense research, and, if John's contemporaries would have interpreted the document similar to today's scholars, they would have probably considered John to be a madman.

The Book of Revelation is definitely one of the most discussed parts from the Bible, as it allows people to interpret it in an almost infinite number of ways. One of the most evil institutions known to John at the time had been the Roman Empire.

Thus, it is of no surprise that certain metaphors can be understood as being references to the Roman society.

Christians believe in a God who is forgiving and kind, and who never leaves his followers behind. Furthermore, Christianity sometimes promotes the concept of sinners who are saved instead of being punished for their wrongdoings. The Bible has several episodes where apostles say that sinners have no place in heaven, and that there is no second chance for them. Also, it appears that those that have sinned will be taken by surprise, with no time to repent for their sins.