The End

No, I do not plan for this to be my last post.

This may be my last post as an ordained minster. I was ordained at Scofield Memorial Church in Dallas, TX and at that time, I fully agreed with their doctrinal statement and constitution. Today, I would no longer agree with their full doctrinal statement as will be seen in this post and future posts.

This post is about the end times.

It was the late 1970s. Gerald Ford was President, Henry Kissinger was the Secretary of State and George H. W. Bush was the Director of the CIA . I was with my great aunt and she was telling me that she believed that Henry Kissinger was the Anti-Christ and George H. W. Bush was part of a secret society trying to establish a New World Order. I loved my great aunt and she knew much about politics and faith. She was living in our cultural stream that believed that the end times were very near. She along with everyone else I knew was trying to match up current events with the book of Revelation.

Anti-Christs:

• After the Reformation, most denominations, except the Roman Catholics, identified the Pope as the Anti-Christ.
• Napoleon was identified as the Anti-Christ.
• Hitler was identified as the Anti-Christ.
• In the late 1980s, some viewed Mikhail Gorbachev as the Anti-Christ. Russia was viewed as the power from the north in the Scriptures.
• In 1991, the First Gulf War led to speculation of Saddam Hussein being the Anti-Christ.
• Barack Obama was identified as the Anti-Christ.
• Donald Trump was identified as the Anti-Christ.
• Biden is identified as the Anti-Christ.

Marks of the Beast:

• My great aunt was concerned that Social Security cards were the “mark of the beast.”
• Other identifiers for the “mark of the beast,” have been,
• credit cards,
• bar codes,
• RFID seals,
• pet chips, and
• vaccines.
• I assume if it becomes more popular, cryptocurrency will be the true “mark of the beast.”

Predicted Dates

Wikipedia lists over 150 predictions for the end of the world that have now passed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

With so much confusion and failed identifications, about the end times, I think it is time to step out of the hype and understand what drives our understanding.

Millennialism:

There are four views of the Millennialism described in Rev. 20:1-10. Here are simple definitions of each from https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/mill.cfm

Dispensationalism Premillennialism

Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. After this period of fulfillment of divine wrath, He shall then return to rule from a holy city (i.e., the New Jerusalem) over the earthly nations for one thousand years. After these thousand years, Satan, who was bound up during Christ’s earthly reign, will be loosed to deceive the nations, gather an army of the deceived, and take up to battle against the Lord. This battle will end in both the judgment of the wicked and Satan and the entrance into the eternal state of glory by the righteous. This view is called premillenialism because it places the return of Christ before the millennium and it is called dispensational because it is founded in the doctrines of dispensationalism.

Features and Distinctions:

• Favored method of interpretation: strict literal.
• Israel and the church: views church and Israel as two distinct identities with two individual redemptive plans.
• The rapture of the Church: The church is raptured before a seven-year tribulation (the seventieth week of Daniel – Daniel 9:24-27). This tribulational period contains the reign of the AntiChrist.
• Millennium: Christ will return at the end of the great tribulation to institute a thousand-year rule from a holy city (the New Jerusalem). Those who come to believe in Christ during the seventieth week of Daniel (including the 144,000 Jews) and survive will go on to populate the earth during this time. Those who were raptured or raised previous to the tribulational period will reign with Christ over the millennial population.
• Miscellaneous:
• Higher degrees of interpreting present-day events in the light of end-times prophecy.
• The Millennium will see the re-establishment of temple worship and sacrifice as a remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice.
• From the millennium-ending “white throne” judgment (by which Satan and all unbelievers will be thrown into the lake of fire) Christ and all saints will proceed into eternal glory.
• Major proponents: John Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, Louis Sperry Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Norman Geisler, Charles Stanley, Chuck Smith, and Chuck Missler.

Historical Premillennialism

Historical premillennialists place the return of Christ just before the millennium and just after a time of great apostasy and tribulation. After the millennium, Satan will be loosed and Gog and Magog will rise against the kingdom of God; this will be immediately followed by the final judgment. While similar in some respects to the dispensational variety (in that they hold to Christ’s return being previous the establishment of a thousand-year earthly reign), historical premillennialism differs in significant ways (notably in their method of interpreting Scripture).

Features and Distinctions:

• Favored method of interpretation: grammatico-historical.
• Israel and the church: The church is the fulfillment of Israel.
• Kingdom of God: present through the Spirit since Pentecost – to be experienced by sight during the millennium after Christ’s return.
• The Rapture: The saints, living and dead, shall meet the Lord in the clouds immediately preceding the millennial reign.
• The Millennium: Christ will return to institute a thousand-year reign on earth. The Millennium will see the re-establishment of temple worship and sacrifice as a remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice.
• Major proponents: George Eldon Ladd, Walter Martin, John Warwick Montgomery, and Theodore Zahn.

Postmillennialism

The postmillennialist believes that the millennium is an era (not a literal thousand years) during which Christ will reign over the earth, not from an literal and earthly throne, but through the gradual increase of the Gospel and its power to change lives. After this gradual Christianization of the world, Christ will return and immediately usher the church into their eternal state after judging the wicked. This is called postmillennialism because, by its view, Christ will return after the millennium.

Features and Distinctions:

• Favored method of interpretation: covenant-historical.
• Israel and the church: the church is the fulfillment of Israel.
• Kingdom of God: a spiritual entity experienced on earth through the Christianizing affect of the Gospel.
• The Millennium: a Golden Age previous to Christ’s second advent during which Christ will virtually rule over the whole earth through an unprecedented spread of the Gospel; the large majority of people will be Christian.
• Miscellaneous:
• Higher degrees of interpreting First Century events in the light of prophecy; preterism often goes hand-in-hand with postmillennialism.
• Of the several versions of postmillennial eschatology, the reconstructionist’s seems to be gaining the most popularity in the world today.
• Major proponents: Rousas J. Rushdoony, Greg L. Bahnsen, Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., David Chilton, and Gary North.

Amillennialism

The amillennialist believes that the Kingdom of God was inaugurated at Christ’s resurrection (hence the term “inaugurated millennialism”) at which point he gained victory over both Satan and the Curse. Christ is even now reigning (hence the term “nunc-millennialism” — nunc means “now”) at the right hand of the Father over His church. After this present age has ended, Christ will return and immediately usher the church into their eternal state after judging the wicked. The term “amillennialism” is actually a misnomer for it implies that Revelation 20:1-6 is ignored; in fact, the amillennialist’s hermeneutic interprets it (and in fact, much of apocalyptic literature) non-literally.

Features and Distinctions:

• Favored method of interpretation: redemptive-historical.
• Israel and the church: The church is the eschatological fulfillment of Israel.
• Kingdom of God: a spiritual reality that all Christians partake in and that is seen presently by faith, but will be grasped by sight at the consummation.
• The Rapture: The saints, living and dead, shall meet the Lord in the clouds and immediately proceed to judge the nations with Christ and then follow Him into their eternal state.
• The Millennium: inaugurated with Christ’s resurrection. In an “already/not yet” sense, Christ already reigns over all and is already victorious over Satan.
• Miscellaneous:
• Higher degrees of interpreting prophecy in light of Christ’s advent, death, resurrection, and glorification.
• Relies heavily on a two-age theology.
• Major proponents: Meredith Kline, Richard Gaffin, Robert B. Strimple, Gregory K. Beale, and John Murray.

When you live and swim in the American culture since the 1960s, most would think that Dispensationalism Premillennialism is the only true view and the predominant view. If you surveyed the average pew sitter in America, this would be true. But, if you surveyed the average Biblical scholar in America, you would probably find Amillennialism as the predominant view. If you surveyed the average Christian from Western Europe/UK, you would probably find Amillennialism as the predominant view. If you surveyed the average Christian from the Eastern church, you would probably find Amillennialism as the predominant view.

I find this doctrine to be a “negotiable” belief. I find fellow citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus differ in this belief. I do think we have to be careful that our end time views don’t lead to extremes.

In my early life, I swam in the Dispensationalism Premillennialism. I went to the foremost seminary teaching Dispensationalism Premillennialism. I was ordained at the church where C. I. Scofield had been the preacher and created the Scofield Bible which espoused Dispensationalism Premillennialism.

Many of my family and friends tell me about current events matching up to Revelation and so they believe the end times are very near. As I study history and the Scriptures, I think we have had many times in history when you could match current events with Revelation. To me, the time in history that matches the most was 68-70 A.D.

After reviewing all of the views, I have changed my beliefs. I now believe amillennialism matches the Scriptures the best and has the deepest history of belief.

Scofield Memorial Church’s latest preamble to their beliefs says the following, so maybe I am still ordained.

Introduction: Most churches publish a doctrinal statement or statement of faith in which they set out their essential and distinctive beliefs. We recognize that there are some doctrines which have been primary and universal within all the historic Church, such as what we find in the great creeds. And we accept that guideline which states all believers should take care to hold what has been believed by all believers, everywhere, in all times. However there are also a number of secondary doctrinal beliefs to which we have committed our church. On these matters there are differing convictions across the body of Christ. Complete agreement on every point is not required for the sake of membership in Scofield Church, but it should be known that we will preach, teach and propagate both the primary truths and secondary matters to which we have committed ourselves. In this we try to follow the rule of: “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things, charity.”

First posted May 15, 2022