Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Premillennialism

I readily confess that the controversies over end times don't ordinarily interest me very much. A good friend who has passed on and who, I am confident, now knows who is right [did I just take a position? - I don't know], used to say that he was "Promillennial." If the issues do interest you, a forum at Desiring God moderated by John Piper with Doug Wilson [Postmillennialism], Sam Storms [Amillennialism], and Jim Hamilton [Premillennialism] discussing, has inspired a number of bloggers to comment. Video and audio of the exchange is linked here and from the image below [about two hours long]. I intend to watch it. My knowledge of the issues will certainly benefit whether or not my interest increases.


Justin Taylor posted "What You Must Believe If You Are a Premillennialist" in response to the discussion:
If you watched or listened to the eschatology roundtable discussion at Desiring God, you heard Sam Storms make the case that when Christ returns, the NT is clear that a number of things will end at that time (sin, corruption, death) and a number of things will begin at that time (our physical resurrection, final judgment, new heavens and new earth). In other words, when Christ returns, it’s “curtains” on sin and death. But in Premillennialism, there are still a thousand years of sin and death and corruption. I don’t want to be insensitive to my Premillennial friends, but it struck me a few years ago that the Premillennial position seems relatively depressing: Christ returns–but death and sin and rebellion continue. Now I know that our feelings can’t determine our exegesis (i.e., Premillennialism seems depressing, therefore it can’t be true)–and yet at the same time I think I feel that way precisely because the consistent testimony of the NT leads one to confidently expect that judgment, resurrection, and the death of sin and physical death will all happen at the blessed and glorious return of Christ. I know others will disagree, but this strikes me as a fatal weakness of Premillennialism. [more]
Hamilton responds here.

Audio and Video for Eschatology Conversation :: Desiring God, What You Must Believe If You Are a Premillennialist – Justin Taylor

4 comments:

  1. Jim - you've obviously moved on from this issue, but I'm interested in the "promillennial" interpretation that you reference in passing in your post. There seems to be inconsistent definition of "promillennial", but what I'm interested in describes the 1000 yrs as a symbolic reward for martyrs of the last days. Obviously not a majority view, and not represented at the "evening of eschatology". Do you know any resources for info on promillennialism?

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  2. My friend intended "pro-millennial" to be a joke. He was in favor of the millennium, but had no idea just when or how.

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  3. ahh. I was afraid that was the case. I suppose I'm promillennial myself then.

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