Postmillennialism
Before we dig into the four views of the end times, a couple
of things that I pray will help keep things in proper perspective.
1.
Every system of theology is the product of man
and will have error. No one description of any system will satisfy everyone. One
author advises his readers to look for the system that “does the least violence
to Scripture.”
2.
Keep Christ clearly in view. The ultimate goal
of all creation is the glorify God the Father and the Son. Jesus humiliated
Himself once, came to earth to live among sinful people and redeem His sheep.
He returned to the Father, with the glory that was His before He put on flesh.
Does our view of the end times keep His glory in its rightful place?
Recall the definition of postmillennialism by Loraine
Boettner: "..the kingdom of God is now being extended in the world through
the preaching of the gospel and the saving work of the Holy Spirit in the
hearts of individuals... the world eventually is to be Christianized and the
return of Christ is to occur at the close of a long period of righteousness and
peace, commonly called the millennium." This hermeneutic: Revelation
either mostly figurative or mostly fulfilled in 70AD (Mt. 24:34). Context
determines whether literal or figurative. Interpret the Old Testament by the
New Testament.
Something dawned on me: of the 4 systems of eschatology we
reviewed last week, there are two categories, Postmillennial and Premillennial,
with two variants in each category. Both postmil and amil posit the return of
Christ after the millennium; both historic premil and dispensationalism posit
the return of Christ before the millennium. The differences within each
category are very real and tangible, but the grouping should make them easier
to keep organized in our minds.
Let us learn more from two well-known advocates of this
system.
Kenneth Gentry (Postmillennialism
Made Easy): "Undoubtedly, postmillennialism’s distinctive principle is
its conviction that the vast majority of men will be saved." Since Gentry
identifies that as the distinctive principle of postmillennialism, it ought to
be easily and vigorously supported by Scripture. Here’s an example. With regard
to Matt 7:13-14, he says: "he (Jesus) is urging his disciples to consider
the present situation they currently live in. They must look around themselves
and see that many souls are presently perishing and too few men are being
saved. He is not giving them a prophecy regarding the future. He is pressing
them: What will they do about this current situation? Do they love him enough
to seek to reverse it?" Is this what the Scriptures indicate? (Read the
passage.)
In another place, Gentry tell us, "Postmillennialism
teaches that a time is coming in earth history, continuous with the present and
resulting from currently operating, God-ordained spiritual forces, in which the
overwhelming majority of men and nations will voluntarily bow in salvation to
the lordship of Jesus Christ. Scripture’s
glorious message — in both the Old and New Testaments — is that “every knee
shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Rom 14:11). This is
the postmillennial hope."
In its original context, God is calling His people to
repentance, promising salvation for them – and glory! In Romans 14, Paul uses
it to remind the saints to look kindly on one another (verses 10 – 12): But you, why do you criticize your brother?
Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before the
tribunal of God. For it is written:
As I live, says the Lord,
every knee will bow to Me,
and every tongue will give praise to God.5
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Brother Gentry confuses this age with the age to come,
claiming something that YHWH has promised to do at the end of the age, when all
who are true Israel will be redeemed and all who do not believe on the Son will
be broken. On that great and terrible day, every knee will bow and every tongue
will confess that Christ is Lord; both, those who inherit eternal life and
those who enter eternal doom. There is no place in Scripture that promises a
virtually universal redemption of humankind. We see a glimpse of them at the
closing of Rev 6 (summarize).
Loraine Boettner, in The
Meaning of the Millennium, says postmillennials look forward to "a
golden age of spiritual prosperity during this present dispensation, that is,
during the Church Age." This is brought about, he says, "through
forces now active in the world." A couple pages later, Boettner appears to
clarify what he means by this last statement, in describing life in the
millennium: "Christian principles of belief and conduct will be the
accepted standards." He agrees with Gentry about the nature of the
millennium but adds detail on how it will be brought about. Behavior
modification can produce these changes, but the kingdom of God is not so; it is
populated by God redeeming sinners and making them new creatures.
As did Gentry, Boettner assigns Scripture revealing the
age-to-come to the millennium, which is in this age. This point, that EVERY
system of eschatology places the millennium in this age is important to keep in
mind. Otherwise we can incorrectly accept arguments that describe the eternal
state when they are used to describe the temporal state. Zech 9:10 and Rev
7:9-10 are examples he uses. The context of each passage provides clear
evidence that the Spirit was speaking of the age-to-come. Rev 7 is striking
(page 2473). The scene is in heaven, not on earth. The saints in 9 & 10 are
described in 11 – 17. These are the ones
coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and
serve Him day and night. How can anyone claim this scene describes a scene
on earth?
In like fashion, Boettner uses Psalms 47:2 & 97:5 to
claim specific validation of their glorious millennium, while these passages
describe YHWH's sovereignty and power over all the earth even now - not only or
peculiarly during this golden age.
Boettner writes several pages describing how he looks to
current events as evidence of the "golden age" blossoming, citing
foreign aid spending by the USA and reports in the London Times lauding our
spending. He cites various forms of religious radio programs spreading what he
calls "the Christian message" as more evidence. If you have spent any
amount of time listening to "Christian radio" you know the gospel is
a rare thing to be broadcast, there being as much error as truth in any given
radio program. With scant discernment, Boettner would have us be impressed with
size and scope: the 22 million listeners of the Lutheran Hour and other large
scale programs. When Christians measure spiritual success by the numbers, they
will end up being businessmen, with an eye for the numbers of this world rather
than having a desire for faithfulness to the gospel.
He pushes this pragmatic perspective further touting
"theological seminaries, Bible institutes and Christian colleges"
which are "growing faster than the population" as well as statistics
which show "nominal adherents" to the Christian faith to be the
largest religious group in the world and declares "All the false religions
are dying." He bases this assertion on the fact that false religions come
and go. But there is nothing new under the sun and all false religions have the
same substance and foundation, regardless of their name. And John tells us
antichrist is coming and many have already come. False religions are not dying
- they are putting on new clothes, spreading the same lies as always.
On this point, I cannot help but think of what Paul said in
his second letter to Timothy. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (page 2329). Gentry noted this passage and declared that it does not say more
and more people will grow in wickedness, so it doesn't work against their
position. He agrees that some people
will continue and grow worse - which flies in the face of Boettner's assertion
that false religions are dying. Everyone who speaks against Christ serves
doctrines of demons and is part of a false religion. These men and their work
will not die off until Christ returns to destroy them.
In keeping with his focus on things temporal, Boettner next
tells us, "The great material prosperity of which the Bible speaks of
accompanying the millennial era will be, to a large extent, the natural result
of the high moral and spiritual life of that that time. In numerous prophecies
temporal blessings are expressly represented as following in the train of the
new covenant blessings." He
references Matt 6:33; Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to
you. Based on his statement, one would expect this passage to reveal “great
material blessings” for those in the New Covenant. But the “other things”
mentioned here are the basics of life, as the preceding verses make clear: Matthew
6:31-32; Therefore do not be anxious,
saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we
wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. We are
not promised "great material prosperity" in this passage! We are told
not to worry about food and drink and clothes; to trust God to provide.
In this same line of thought, he cites 1 Timothy 4:8; for while bodily training is of some value,
godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come. Does this communicate "great material
prosperity" or spiritual value as a child of God? Which of these will be a
part of the life to come? He lastly
brings to our notice Isaiah 35:1; The
wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom
like the crocus. This verse is in the midst of a lengthy passage wherein
the prophet is describing the age-to-come, when the judgment of God has set all
things right.
Two great errors attend this line of thought: claiming
spiritual promises and blessings as material, and seeing material blessings as
the measure of godliness. This is the very same perspective of Job's friends
and of the Jewish community in the say of our Lord. This is why His disciples
were incredulous when He told them it was easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom. They were
incredulous, having been taught material blessings were a sure sign of God’s
favor. Who, then could be saved? In their cultural religion, if a rich man
could enter the kingdom, who could? Further, Romans 14:17; the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Again - the Jewish
culture of Jesus' day was based on this same error, thinking the kingdom was of
eating and drinking and of silver and gold. Did not the Pharisees question
Jesus about why His disciples did not wash before eating? Did they not question
why He ate with tax collectors and sinners? Did His own disciples not think
valuable perfume was better sold to feed the poor than to “waste” washing His
feet?
To be concerned about temporal things, thinking they are of
God’s kingdom is to fall into the same ditch as did the Jews of Jesus day. This
is the ditch the postmillennial position puts people in.
David Engelsma noted, “The hope of postmillennialism,
particularly in its "Christian Reconstruction" form, is a
"Jewish dream." This was the express judgement of the early Reformed
creed, the Second Helvetic Confession (A.D. 1566):
We further condemn Jewish dreams that
there will be a golden age on earth before the Day of Judgement, and that the
pious, having subdued all their godless enemies, will possess all the kingdoms
of the earth. For evangelical truth in Matt. chs. 24 and 25, and Luke, ch. 18
and the apostolic teaching in II Thess., ch. 2, and II Tim., chs. 3 and 4,
present something quite different (Chap. 11, in Reformed Confessions of the
16th Century, ed. Arthur C. Cochrane, Westminster Press, 1966).
He says, postmillennials “call the church to
"Christianize" the world, a task that Holy Scripture nowhere assigns
either to the church or to the believer. Christ calls His church to guard
against becoming worldly; He does not call her to make the world Christian.”
Back to Boettner’s case for Postmillennialism. He says,
“man’s proper management of the earth, the task assigned to him before the
fall, will go far toward restoring a profitable plant and animal life. Remedy
for the sin condition in man and a marvelous transformation will take place in
nature.” Did you understand what he said? By “properly managing the earth” man
can restore and transform nature – including remedying the sin condition in
man! Boettner cites no Scripture for this extreme claim – how could he! How
presumptuous of the man! He devotes a page to describing advances in
transportation, medicine, communications; not one word about the work of the
Spirit. Does this not sound exactly like the liberal who claims man is
inherently good and simply needs a little education to make his righteous?
After all this, Boettner seems to try to get back on track,
saying, “no matter how marvelous this material prosperity may become, it will
ever remain but he by-product of the moral and spiritual prosperity that
already to some extent characterizes the partially Christianized nations.” Not
quite back on track, Boettner claims God pours out material blessings in
response to what He sees in “partially Christianized nations.” There is a
consistent theme here: the kingdom of God is about great material blessings.
Pagan nations suffer poverty. What does Scripture say?
Psalm 37:1-2 & 7 Fret
not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will
soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Be still before the
LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in
his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Psalm 73 reveals the prosperity of the wicked, who seem to
prosper and never face trouble like the common folk. They deny God’s existence,
and yet: (verse12) Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase
in riches. Despite all this, he has the right perspective: (Read 23 – 28, page 1028)
The Christian response to material prosperity is NOT to
blindly assume it’s a blessing from God. He will be generous and take care not
to fall in the various pits that await those who seek after riches. The foolish
farmer who thought material prosperity was goodness met his maker that very
evening. Better to treasure peace with God through faith in Christ than to
trust in uncertain riches of this age. Rather than boasting in wealth, Paul
tells us (2 Thess 1:5-7, page 2316). Some trust in horses and chariots, we trust
God. That should be our stance.
These men who hold to a postmil view are not heretics, but
the arguments put forth by these advocates are at odds with the express intent
of Scripture in critical areas. I think we'll see another way of looking at the
end times which does less violence to Scripture and points us more consistently
to Christ.
