Eschatology: A Tale of Two Futures Part 1

This talk is the first part of a two-part series. In this first presentation, following a definition of “eschatology”, Geoff gives an overview of Church-centered eschatological schemes which can be broadly categorized as A-Millennial, Post-Millennial and Pre-Millennial views. The first question to be answered is whether the Millennium is literal or a symbolic concept. The entire Bible (both Old and New Testaments) speak of a Messianic Age on Planet Earth. However, the Institutional church (Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox) are almost exclusively A-Millennialist. Inevitably, advocates can only see the modern state of Israel as a “political accident”. Their theology is both anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic. This is best illustrated by Martin Luther who wrote the booklet “On the Jews and their Lies” which was published in 1543. Hitler took Luther’s views of the Jewish people as theological justification for the Holocaust. There are many examples of Post-Reformation Evangelical faith that was Post-Millennial. Perhaps the best example is John and Charles Wesley. Furthermore, in the Victorian Age, with the expansion of the British Empire, there was real expectation that the world would become Christian before Jesus returned. In other words, these Christians believed that this “Gospel Age” was in fact the Millennium. With the increasing darkness in the nations, a more realistic eschatological view of the Evangelical church is now Pre-Millennialist. This theology can be expressed in two ways, namely Classical Pre-Millennialism and Dispensational Pre-Millennialism. The latter theology was popularized in the late 19th Century by John Nelson Darby (a co-founder of the Brethren movement) and Cyrus Schofield. It took root in the USA particularly following the publication of the book “The Late Great Planert Earth” written by Hal Lindsay and published in 1970. For Geoff, one of the greatest ironies is that many Christian Zionists are Dispensationalist. This is also true for many Messianic Jews even in Israel.