History of Amillennialism
In the previous thread we looked at the history of the Pre-tribulation rapture in church history. When I first heard the history behind this theory, I was truly amazed at just how young the theory is. Now we will look into the next division of eschatology which has been the overwhelming viewpoint for the longest period of time. The biggest reason for the longstanding of this theory is because this is the accepted view of the Roman Catholic Church. No matter the church that you attended, more than not, your roots began in the Roman Catholic Church. Before the protestant reformation there was one universal church, and that was the Roman Catholic Church. It always amazes me to hear some denominations state that they can trace their denomination back to the church in Acts. To make it clear once more, if you are a protestant believer in America, your church came out of the Roman Catholic Church at some point throughout history.
I must establish this point for you to fully understand the basis for the Amillennial theory. Today many protestant denominations along with the Catholic Church hold to this belief. One denomination that focuses strongly on eschatology claims this to be the oldest form of end time beliefs. They claim to be Amillennial yet they continually devalue the Catholic Church. Almost all of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation were Amillennialist, because they came out of the Catholic Church. In history, up to that point, any other form of eschatology was considered heresy.
The view is a simple one that fits the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church perfectly. The Amillennial view states that Christ is reigning through his church here on the earth, and that Satan is actually bound up because the gospel has spread throughout the world. They believe that we are living in the millennium right now, and have been doing so since 70AD. Of course Catholicism generally teaches that Christ is reining through the Catholic Church, and that He speaks directly through the Pope. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ has transmitted His power directly to the Pope, and this is the reason the Pope’s words are to be treated equal to Christ’s. Now you can see how this theory fits perfectly with the teachings of Catholicism.
The Amillennial belief dates back to approximately 380, with the Edict of Thessalonica, in which Christianity became the state religion of Rome. From that time to recent history, any other form of eschatology was barred from the Catholic Church. The whole premise for this belief is that some prophetic scriptures are not to be taken literally, but to be seen as poetry. The thousand year reign of Christ in Revelation 20 is not a literal 1000 years, but a long period of time in which the church is reigning on the earth.
The people that hold to this theory are waiting for the end of the Church age when Jesus comes back to the earth for his Second Coming, the rapture. They also believe that the tribulation has already occurred, in 70 AD to be exact, and that there will not be a physical anti-christ during the last days.
Although this theory has dominated the church more so then any other eschatological belief, it is not the oldest form of end time theories. We will look next time at the oldest recorded end time beliefs in church history.
