Millennial Aspirations and the Problem of Religious Nominalism (original) (raw)

The Eschatology of the Reformation

The Reformers were not able to produce a compendious theological work solely dedicated in the area of eschatology not because they are unwilling or that they don’t have any capacity to do so, but because during their time they are hard-pressed by an issue concerning the Gospel and the supremacy of the Holy Scriptures. And even though the Reformers did not conduct an in-depth study or analysis in the area of the study of eschatology, still, their eschatological understanding is orthodox and founded upon the Scriptures. Nevertheless, the Reformers, in general, holds an amillennial worldview on the doctrine of eschatology — though some Anabaptists beg to differ from this. Notwithstanding, crucial to the Reformers’ perusal of the doctrine of the last things is the significance of Covenant Theology. Without which, it is nearly impossible to have a clear perception of how and why the Reformers perceive the way they did concerning the doctrine of eschatology.

The Future in the Past: Eschatological Vision in British and American Protestant Missionary History

Tyndale Bulletin, 2000

This article examines the strategic significance of different eschatological positions in British and North American Protestant missions. By the late nineteenth century the postmillennial expectation of a world transformed through the work of missions was being challenged by premillennial emphases, particularly in the ‘faith’ missions. Premillennial mission theorists were not, however, necessarily pessimistic nor indifferent to social concerns until after the First World War. Postmillennial mission theory in the twentieth century moved first towards an expectation of religious convergence, and, after 1968, towards a theology of the kingdom being realised independently of Christian evangelism. The article concludes with some suggestions for a missionary eschatology founded on the biblical vision of a new heaven and a new earth.

Towards a revitalisation of Calvinistic eschatology

In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi

The theology of John Calvin has a structurally Christocentric and eschatological character. In Calvin’s theology eschatology does not deal with probabilities and speculations about the future, but with the reliable promises of God in Christ. The Kingdom is already a realised kingdom in the cross-bearing Church on earth. According to Calvin the Millenarians deprive Christ of His honour by assigning to Him a temporal kingdom. Calvin rejects the idea that the Old Testament prophecies of salvation and blessings will only be fulfilled to the people of Israel in future world-history. According to Millenarianism, Old Testament prophecy – concerning the messianic kingdom – should be interpreted as referring to the physical kingdom of Israel on earth. The main route of God through history is His way with Israel. This way of thinking, however, overemphasizes the theologia gloriae. Nevertheless, in these millenarian views the insistence on the unique place of Israel in God’s plan of salvation ...

Major Themes in John Wesley's Eschatology

A John Wesley Reader on Eschatology, 2011

This article highlights several themes in Wesley's eschatology. First, he believed the Evangelical Revival was preparing the way for the millennial reign of Christ through the conversion of the world. Regarding the nature of Christ's reign, Wesley drew a distinction between the present kingdom of grace and the future kingdom of glory. Then there was the concept of the Chain of Being, which influenced his understanding of the new creation and its structure. Wesley's eschatology was also influenced by salvation history, current political events, the materiality of the eternal states, and the active role of departed humans in the intermediate state...

Eschatology in the 19th Century

Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Christian Thought, 2017

This paper traces trends in 19th-century thought, both theological and philosophical, about eschatology and apocalypticism. A corrected and formatted version has now been published in the Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Christian Thought, edited by Joel Rasmussen, Judith Wolfe and Johannes Zachhuber (OUP, 2017). All rights reserved.