Posted on 02/11/2010 9:14:25 AM PST by Gamecock
Although premillennialism is often seen as a dispensational way of understanding Revelation 20, and while many premillennialists are in fact dispensationalists, there is nevertheless nothing about premillennialism in itself that demands dispensationalism. In fact, in early Church history, more than a thousand years before the development of dispensational theology, there was a group called the Chiliasts (from the Greek word for “thousand years”), which held to a premillennial interpretation of Revelation 20. In recent history, there have still been some premillennialists who are not dispensational, most notably George Ladd. Many of these prefer to distance themselves from dispensational theology by using the term “historic premillennialism,” as opposed to “dispensational premillennialism”.
The basic difference between historic premillennialism and dispensational premillennialism consists in the latter's insistence on maintaining a distinction between the nation of Israel and the Church. According to dispensationalists, the millennium will be the period of history in which God reverts back to fulfilling his Old Testament promises made to ethnic Israel, after this parenthetical “Church Age” in which we live is concluded. Hence, the millennium will be a state of Jewish ascendency over all the world, complete with a renewed Jewish temple and priesthood. The Christians who reign with Christ will all have been given eternal, glorified bodies, and will reign spiritually, while the Jews will own the world physically, and will live, marry, and die (although evincing incredible longevity), just as people have throughout the history of the world. It is only after this thousand-year period, in which God fulfills his promises to ethnic Israel, that Christ will put down a final rebellion and usher in the eternal state, with its New Heavens and New Earth. Historic Premillennialism requires none of this strict dichotomy between God's spiritual people the Church, and his physical people, ethnic Israel; it merely looks ahead to a time when Christ will reign visibly on the earth, before he brings in the eternal state.
Per our discussion on the previous installment.
It seems to me, such an insistence of a distinction between Jews and Gentile believers in Jesus, lends itself to a kind of racism...and, in dispensational eschatology, in a short time would be self-defeating.
After all, if Israel is serving Christ for 1,000 years...and "in Christ there is no...Jew or Gentile" than the Jewish followers of Jesus would intermarry with the Gentile ones (as has happened now for 2000 years)...and there would be no distinction possible (over time) between Jew and Gentile...as all would be submitted to Christ.
Given the same religion, without some sort of assumed miscegenation (separation) of races (which certainly was assumed when dispensationalism developed)...separate Jewish identity would soon vanish.
The only reason for a continued separate Jewish people today--is their majority rejection of Jesus as Messiah. Had they accepted Christ, while some Jewish names and customs may remain, the Jews as a separate people-group would not exist.
Hey I have not seen you in so long!
Our associate Pastor is doing a Sunday School on end time theologies..
We are now PCA, having left the BPC. The BPC by doctrine is historic pre mil .
He is giving a balanced view both pro and con on each of the eschatology positions without giving preference one over the other.. actually most of the people in attendance do tend to historic pre mil ...
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