God And His Word - A Question And Answer Approach To Understanding The Bible

-------- What Do the Interpreters Say? --------

1. Historic premillennialism 2. Amillennialism 3. Dispensational premillennialism 4. Postmillennialism

Most of us find millennium hard enough to spell, let alone in terpret! The word, suddenly popular through secular promotion (movies, TV, books and the arrival of the year 2000), has tended to assume farfetched meaning, so the topic for Christians takes on new significance. You may find, as I have, that each system of interpretation, when left unchallenged, tends to oversimplify the biblical data, even when presenting certain worthwhile biblical insights. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses; no one school, regret tably, answers every question fully and satisfactorily. Many Chris tians hold beliefs that combine the thoughts of several different schools. Some years ago I attended a conference on eschatology in which two capable scholars presented their views and debated the Mil lennium. One represented the viewpoint of a literal thousand year period; the other presented the amillennial approach, which says that the thousand-year reign of Christ is an invisible, spiri tual reality rather than a literal, earthly Kingdom. All the schools of interpretation were considered and the two debaters did cred ible jobs. I found myself giving consideration to certain points just because of my esteem for and relation to the speakers. I also found it amusing that, after the conference, it appeared that no one had changed his or her mind! Because we all esteemed each other, however, we have remained good friends and have developed a healthier respect for the opinions of others. Professor F. F. Bruce, attempting to answer an inquirer's ques tion about the Millennium, said, "If we are content to follow the relevant passages of Scripture as they come, we can dispense with interpretative labels; I for my part would not care to wear any of them." 1 As much as I sympathize with Bruce's statement, I do feel that it is both honest and important to point out the different inter pretations of the Millennium and how Christ's coming relates to

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