Gary North has coined the term “pessimillennialism” to describe an eschatology of pessimism and defeat. Premillennialism, he says, has been dominated by a desire to escape the social issues of the day, and retreat into church-centered life, awaiting “the Rapture.” This view sees the end of progress and the gradual triumph of evil on earth, culminating in the rule of Antichrist amidst global Tribulation.
North is a “postmillennialist,” indicating a belief that Christ’s return and the end of the world is after (post) “the millennium” – the global triumph of Christian ideals over the earth.
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Postmillennialism
Today Course
Outline |
The
Biblical basis of Postmillennialism http://www.apocalipsis.org/postmillennialism.htm Paradise Restored http://freebooks.entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/html/dcpr/dcpr.html POSTMILLENNIALISM by Loraine Boettner http://www.mbrem.com/eschatology/post.htm Postmillennialism: Wishful Thinking or Certain Hope? http://www.caledonianfire.org/caledonianfire/Gentry/POSTMILLENNIALISM.htm Postmillennialism
and Protestantism |
The most recent eschatological trend is that of “preterism,” or “full preterism,” which holds that the New Testament predictions of an imminent return of Christ were fulfilled, and no future return is scheduled. This Thesis presupposes a kind of functional preterism, combined with the social optimism of North and the Postmillennialists. This is seen in the exposition of the Biblical history of Anarcho-Theocracy in section 5 below.
Nobody wants to be a "loser." Everyone wants to be on the
"winning" side.
Yet for more than a hundred years,
Christians have been preaching defeat. Christ said Christianity would storm the
fortresses of hell, and the gates of hell would "not prevail" against the
Christian offensive (Matthew 16:18). But most Christians visualize the gates of hell
storming the Church, a tiny unarmed band of misfits and losers cowering in
the corner, waiting for Jesus to "rapture" them. This is a bizarre
misinterpretation of Christ's promise.