One of the many theological topics I’ve been really studying this past year or so is eschatology (the study of last things). In particular I’ve been trying to figure out where I fall in the many predetermined categories. It has been such a blessing to take a step back and fairly evaluate each view. I can name several good pastors that I love and respect that fall into each category and if I’ve learned anything it’s that the Gospel is what binds us together – not anything else.

With that said (and hopefully without stepping on toes) let me go ahead and lay a groundwork for what will likely be a series of posts on this topic. First I’ll lay out some simple definitions. They won’t be all-encompassing, but they will do the job for now:

Preterist View – The prophecies in Revelation were fulfilled in the days of the early church (namely 70 AD). This view holds that the book of Revelation was written before 70 AD.

Futurist View – The prophecies in Revelation have not yet come to pass (some believe that they are beginning to come to pass in the past several decades). This view dates Revelation as being written around 80 AD.

Dispensational Pre-Millennialism – Futurist view of Revelation. We are in the church “dispensation”. Christ will secretly come back and rapture out the believers followed by 7 years of tribulation followed by the millennial reign (literal 1000 years).

Historic Pre-Millennialism – Futurist view of Revelation. Same as Dispensational Pre-Mil except that there is no secret rapture and Christians go through the tribulation.

Post-Millenialism – Preterist view of Revelation. The millennium (not literally 1000 years) was ushered in with Christ’s resurrection and the binding of Satan (i.e. Christ defeated Satan with the completion of His plan of redemption). During this millennium the gospel will be preached to every tribe and tongue until literally a representation of all the world is redeemed. At the end of this millennium there will be a rebellion against Christ and the church at which time Christ will return to destroy the wicked and usher in the new heaven and the new earth.

Amillennialism – Preterist view of Revelation. Similar to Post-Millennialism except that the millennium is representative of the church age without any promise of the Gospel going to the whole world. Note that Amillenialists do not deny a millennium, they simply attribute less significance to it.

There are a few other smaller camps in existence but the vast majority of Christians fall into one of these four categories. For further development of each of these definitions, I would definitely recommend spending the two hours to watch “An Evening of Eschatology”  – a round-table discussion between prominent representatives of each of the three main views (excluding dispensational pre-millenialism) hosted by Bethlehem Baptist Church and moderated by John Piper. Here’s the link:

An Evening of Eschatology