I Was a Teenage Post-Millennialist!

I have previously related the story of the time I joined a church in Bradford (Yorkshire, UK) back in 1979 where this fellowship had a clearly "Post-Millenialist" ecclesiology. The "Millennium" is a term derived from a passage in Revelation 20 - the prefixes of "Pre", "A" and "Post" describe the period when the Kingdom of God, as promised by Jesus Christ, will be truly inaugurated.

"Pre-Mill" means that Jesus will return first and then establish his kingdom on earth. This is usually attributed to a re-establisment of the State of Israel which is then overtaken by "the rapture" and an apocalyptic world conflict. This is often the subject of "pop prophecy" in Christian circles and treats the Gospel era as a kind of hiatus in God's plan.

"Post-Mill" means that Jesus will return after his kingdom has been established through the agency of the Church... generally taken to mean that the Church will so predominate the life of the world community that the vast majority of people will be saved - and the rest will be notionally "Christian". Isn't it interesting that Jesus poses the question in Luke 18 v8, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth?"

"A-Millenniallism" is a bit of a misnomer. "A" as a prefix means "without" which implies that A-Millennialists do not believe in the Biblical Millennium. A-Millennialists actually believe that the Millennium is a real and present reality - it is what Jesus called the Kingdom of God... an entity which is here now and yet not easily nailed down. It will yet be revealed in all its fullness when Jesus returns. (Contrary to some people who ought to know better "A-Millennialism" does not mean a disbelief in the Return of Christ!).

Does any of this really matter? Well, yes. Depending on your stance regarding the Millennium you will adopt one of several attitudes towards contemporary culture. The pre-mill believer will probably tend to be rather separationist from his or her non-believing contemporaries. The post-mill believer will tend to be an active lobbyist seeking to enculturate Christianity into the contemporary scene; such lobbyists tend to be rather right-wing. An A-mill believer will see that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can reform society by changing people's hearts, neither isolationism nor moralising will change a thing. By refusing to be enculturated in any place or time the Kingdom of God transcends all human categories and by doing so demonstrates the power of God.