By a Puritan Lad “A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” (Psalms 110:1) “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until [...]
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As the heat of the eschatological debate intensifies, too often the light from it diminishes. Postmillennialism is the easiest eschatological position to misunderstand in our era and therefore inadvertently to misrepresent. Consequently, we must remind our brothers in the debate of postmillennialism’s actual claims. I would caution non-postmillennialists regarding three faulty assumptions that they must [...]
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The defining feature of postmillennialism which sets it apart from the other evangelical options is its optimism. We believe that Christ is winning the victory in history and that this victory will overwhelm the world gradually as the gospel progresses. However, amillennial scholars such as R. Fowler White, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., and Robert Strimple [...]
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Historical hope is the distinctive feature of postmillennialism which sets it apart from the other eschatological positions. Postmillennialism is easily argued on the basis of many Scripture texts establishing our hope in history. However, there are texts that amillennialists seize upon to paint a bleaker picture of history. Reformed scholars R. Fowler White, Richard B. [...]
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Amillennialists complain that postmillennialism must overlook or downplay biblical calls to suffering. Our postmillennial expectation of victory in history seems to run against the New Testament statements regarding Christian suffering. How do we explain such passages? In this post I am continuing a response to Reformed amillennialists R. Fowler White, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., and [...]
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Richard Gaffin and Robert Strimple vigorously assert that the suffering motif (which results because of our union with Christ) contradicts the postmillennial outlook. And in this the recent amillennial textbook by Cornelis Venema concurs. In citing their comments, I will simply list their name and page number in their writings. The published materials I will [...]
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The eschatological debate between amillennialists and postmillennialists in the reformed camp has been taking a new turn of late. Whereas amillennialists of the recent past (e.g., Hoekema and Berkouwer) concentrated more on the formal eschatological (i.e., prophetic) statements of Scripture in rebutting postmillennialism, contemporary amillennialists (e.g. Gaffin, Strimple, and White) are pressing the basic soteriological [...]
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Historic Differences In discussing the differences in Reformed Eschatological views, I’ve been asked to defend the postmillennial view against the more popular Amillennial view. The challenge here is to clearly define views that, over time, are slowly evolving into each other, particularly with the rise of “optimistic Amillennialism”. The similarities are as follows: 1.) All [...]
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As a preteristic postmillennialist, I believe that the first portion of the Lord’s Olivet Discourse deals with the approaching destruction of the temple in AD 70. Consequently, the future “great tribulation,” does not encumber the postmillennialist’s optimistic outlook on the historical long run. But why do I believe this? Why do I believe the tribulation [...]
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Postmillennialism holds an optimistic view of history. While recognizing the enormity of the fall and the intrusion of sin into God’s created order. How can this be? Postmillennialists argue that God does not give up on man when Adam falls into sin. For immediately after the fall God establishes redemption. And he designs this redemption [...]
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KINGDOM LEAVENThe Parable of the Leaven reads: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid i...
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