The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views
Book Review • Clouse, Robert G., ed. The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997. 224 pp. Kindle. $11.15.
Read time: 12 min
The meaning of the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ is a matter of disagreement among many Christians. The Meaning of the Millennium features a conversation between four views of the millennium, with three critiques of each view. George E. Ladd, a Baptist minister and professor of New Testament exegesis and theology, represents Historic Premillennialism. Herman A. Hoyt, a New Testament and Greek scholar with teaching experience in Old Testament and Hebrew, represents Dispensational Premillennialism. Loraine Boettner, a teacher and writer of the Reformed tradition, represents Postmillennialism. Anthony A. Hoekema, a pastor and professor of the Reformed tradition, represents Amillennialism.
Summary
After Robert G. Clouse, the editor, summarizes the history of the millennial debate in Christianity, Ladd presents his view. He summarizes Historical Premillennialism as “the doctrine stating that after the Second Coming of Christ, he will reign for a thousand years over the earth before the final consummation of God’s redemptive purpose in the new heavens and the new earth of the Age to Come” (90-92). He rests his case entirely on what he claims is the natural reading of Revelation 20:1-6. Following the three rebuttals to Ladd’s view, Hoyt lays out his position in favor of Dispensational Premillennialism, which offers the hope of a future “golden age of civilization… [which] will be established on the earth when the conditions of life have reached the depths of great tribulation” (546-547). Breaking from the premillennial paradigm, Boettner enters the conversation, making a stance for Postmillennialism. He summarizes his view as maintaining that “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” and that the world eventually is to be Christianized during our present era—the millennium (1112). Hoekema represents Amillennialism, though preferring the terms “realized millennialism” and “inaugurated eschatology,” in that Christ’s first coming initiated some of Revelation 20:1-6.
Critical Analysis
Premillennialism
By his own admission, George Ladd bases his case for Historic Premillennialism solely on Revelation 19-20, especially 20:1-6 (264). He spends half of his time establishing why his premillennialism is not dispensational in nature, not based on Old Testament prophecy. His objection to the dispensationalist’s literal hermeneutic of the Old Testament is because he finds that “the Old Testament is reinterpreted [in the New Testament] in light of the Christ event” (132). Just as Isaiah 53 and Hosea 11 are reappropriated by Matthew in light of Messiah, without Old Testament warrant, so basing the millennium on God’s promises to Israel lends one to misinterpretation from the start (e.g., Paul’s use of Hosea in Rom. 9:25-26).
A weakness of Ladd’s view, however, with regards to the Old Testament, is that he completely refrains from including the likes of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, for example, in the debate, which leaves me with more questions than answers. Hoyt points out that Ladd’s view is underrepresented throughout church history and is a novel idea (360). But Ladd’s critique of the dispensationalist position earns him compliments from his non-dispensationalist rebutters and his literal interpretation of Revelation 19-20 a compliment from his fellow premillennialist (396).
Dispensational Premillennialism
Herman Hoyt builds his case for Dispensational Premillennialism on a literal hermeneutic of the Old Testament Prophecies concerning Israel and Revelation 19-20. He begins by arguing for the plain meaning of a text: it is appropriate to take the “Scriptures in their literal and normal sense” (586). For Hoyt, a “literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies gives us just such a picture of an earthly reign of the Messiah as the premillennialist pictures” (597). God’s promises to Israel in the Old Testament come to fruition in the millennium described in Revelation 20:1-6. This claim seems more like an inferential leap than an exegetical necessity. I would like to hear Hoyt interpret the Old Testament prophecies regarding “Israel” in light of Hebrews 8:13 and the doing away with the old order and its ceremonies.
The most dubious claim I find in Hoyt’s piece is his claim that his view gives “meaning to human effort [and] optimism to history. It provides the incentive for the exercise of all the aspirations and efforts of mankind to strive for that which is better” (613-615). The irony is that his claim is quite the opposite of what Clouse, the editor, warns of as a potential ill effect Premillennialism has on Christians (2058). Hoyt does not demonstrate how Premillennialism fosters cultural engagement in ways other than evangelism.
Postmillennialism
Loraine Boettner’s argument for Postmillennialism is twofold. He argues from a few passages that the number of the saved will far exceed the number of the lost. Insightfully, Hoekema noted that even if this were so, it would not necessitate an earthly millennial golden age (1455). Boettner’s second argument is that the world is growing better. But as both Ladd and Hoekema posit, a brief look around the world suffices to provide equal evidence that the world is increasingly hostile and groaning and awaiting redemption. Boettner paints an attractive portrait of the indefinite period of time (a figurative millennium) in which we are now allegedly living: the population growing increasingly converted and under Christ’s rule, technology advancing for the good of mankind, and the unconverted eventually becoming negligible. But I am disappointed that he cites so few scriptures and exegetes none.
The Old Testament appears in Boettner’s case only a few times, as he cites language that suggests the universal and visible reign of God on earth (Ps. 47:2; 97:5; Zech 9:10). But such promises may be understood as promises to the church, to whom Christ gave command to gospelize the nations and bring them under his teaching and into his visible reign (1120). Boettner falls short of convincingly showing that the Bible teaches that the earth will eventually be almost universally Christianized leading up to the Second Coming.
Amillennialism
The “millennium” of Revelation 20, in Anthony Hoekema’s eschatology, began with Jesus’ public ministry. The binding of Satan began when Jesus began casting out demons and “bound the strongman,” spoiling his goods (Matt. 12:28-29). The “little season” after the present age, in which Satan is loosed to deceive the nations, clarifies what it means for Satan to be bound today. From Adam’s Fall to Christ’s first advent, the nations were under Satan’s strong oppression (Acts 17:30). But now Satan’s authority has been limited so that the gospel has free course to make disciples of all nations (1553). This present binding of Satan—actually mediated through the spread of the gospel itself (e.g., Acts 26:18)—may be one of Hoekema’s best points.
By far, Hoekema’s treatment of the subject is the most comprehensive and helpful in terms of understanding the issues. He summarizes each section of Revelation, exegetes Revelation 20:1-6, and brings the Old Testament into the discussion by exegeting two passages often leaned upon by Premillennialists. Isaiah 11:6-9 describes a cosmos filled with creatures at peace with God and each other. At that time, “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Is. 11:9). Hoekema raises an important question: “Why should these words have to be thought of as applying only to a thousand-year period preceding the new earth?” (1689). As with Isaiah 11 and Isaiah 65:17-25, Dispensational Premillennialists link such an age of joy, prosperity, and cosmic reconciliation to the millennium of Revelation 20:1-6. Hoekema attributes both passages to the New Creation.
A weakness of the Amillennial position Hoekema represents is that Isaiah 65:20 does not fit with Hoekema’s felicitous scene describing the New Creation, mentioning the presence of both death and accursed “sinners,” which fits the Premillennial view. A second weakness of Amillennialism is an unnatural interpretation of Revelation 20:1-6. Hoekema, in Ladd’s critique at least, comes up short of convincingly exegeting the passage in a natural manner (1863).
Conclusion
Ladd and Hoekema, in my reading of it, are the two views with which to wrestle. While Ladd leans only on Revelation 19-20, Hoekema tries to account for eschatological scenes in the Old Testament and thus leaves the reader with a more comprehensive framework than Ladd. The interactive model of this work is, unfortunately, somewhat sloppy. It is evident that the contributors needed more collaboration. I suspect that each had a different take on their assigned task. For this reason, the merits of their arguments and approaches, being so diverse, are somewhat difficult to compare. As an introduction to the four millennial views, however, I certainly find this work helpful and will recommend it to others. ❖
