Post Millennialism

*Edit: I have rewritten the body of this post. I didn't answer Emily's question very well and instead went off on a tangent. Hopefully this revised version will prove more helpful.

Emily a.k.a. thefrazzledsister of Em's Blog, asked me this evening if I was a postmillenialist. I am not.

As I understand Post Millennialism, it teaches that the Christ will return only after the Church has converted the entire world. A Post Millennialist believes that Christians through aggressive evangelism, missionaries, and political involvement will convince the entire world to believe and be saved. They believe that this will result in a golden age that will last until Christ returns to reign over the earth. This golden age is known as the Millennium. There seems to be disagreement whether the Millennium is a literal 1000 year period or whether it is a non-literal undefined length of time.

While I am not by any means an end times Scholar with a readily defined eschatological theory, Millennialism seems to be inherently flawed.

According to PM teaching, the world should be getting better and moving steadily towards Christian dominance. It isn't. In actuality, the opposite is happening. Christians are steadily losing face and influence in Government. Gay marriage is established in at least one state, abortion has been legal for thirty years, the Ten Commandments were taken down from the courthouse in Alabama. While Michael Newdow hasn't been successful in removing “under God” from the pledge, do we really doubt that it will be done, probably sooner than later?

Additionally, I believe that the Scripture portrays the last days as a time of turmoil and great suffering. In Matthew 24, Jesus tells the disciples that there will be wars, natural disasters, and persecution. False teachers and messiahs will come and deceive many. 2^nd Timothy 3 describes a world consumed by arrogance, immorality, and blasphemy. Verse 12 says that all Christians will suffer persecution. This hardly seems to be the description of a Christian golden age.

To address Emily's other question: I have not read the “TULIP” pamphlet. Furthermore, I am unsure whether you are referring to a publication of TULIP.org, the acrostic describing the five points of Calvanism or something else entirely. I will be happy to answer any question you have about this pamphlet if you give me a little more information. You can email me by clicking the “Ask Rabenstrange” link located in my sidebar or by sending a message to rabenstrange@gmail.com