Historic premillennialism

Historic premillennialism, or post-tribulational premillennialism, is the Christian eschatological view which teaches that the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur prior to a thousand-year reign of the saints, but subsequent to the tribulation.

Comparison

Premillennialism is an alternative view to both postmillennialism, which teaches that the second coming of Jesus will occur after a thousand-year period of righteousness and amillennialism, which teaches that there is no literal thousand-year period. The two major species of premillennialism are historic and dispensational premillennialism, which is associated with pre-tribulational and mid-tribulational views. See the summary of Christian eschatological differences.

A major difference of historic and dispensational premillennialism is the view of the church in relation to Israel. Historics do not see as sharp a distinction between Israel and the church as the dispensationalists do, but instead view Christians 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 so they do not need a separate pre-tribulational rapture of some believers as the dispensational system requires.

History

Historic premillennialism was a popular view amongst Protestant ChristiansFact|date=March 2008 until the rise of dispensationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Proponents of historic premillennialism include Baptists John Gill,cite journal|url=http://www.trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=140 |title=Review of "A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith" by Robert L. Reymond |author=W. Gary Crampton |accessdate=2008-03-11 |publisher=The Trinity Foundation |journal=The Trinity Review |date=February 1999] Charles Spurgeon, [ [http://www.spurgeon.org/eschat.htm Charles H. Spurgeon and Eschatology ] ] and George Eldon Ladd [ [http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?189 Direction: A Commentary on the Revelation of John ] ] and Presbyterians Francis Schaeffer, Gordon Clark, and James Montgomery Boice. [cite book| title=Foundations of the Christian Faith |author=James Montgomery Boice |pages=pp. 703ff |chapter=How Will It all End? |isbn=0877849919 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |date=1986]

ee also

* Book of Revelation

References

Links

* [http://www.ifbreformation.org/Prophecy_Intro.aspx Differences between prophectic schools of thought]
* [http://www.ifbreformation.org/Prophecy_Israel_Church.aspx Historic Premillennial view of Israel and Church]
* [http://www.ifbreformation.org/Prophecy_Historic_timeline.aspx Historic Premillennial Timeline]