LEARNING CAPSULE: Historic Premillennialism

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9-11 (NIV)

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HISTORIC PREMILLENNIALISM, or classical premillennialism, is a Christian eschatological belief that posits Jesus will return before the millennium. During this millennium, resurrected Christians will reign with Christ on earth, while the devil will be bound. Consequently, peace and righteousness will prevail during this period. At the end of the millennium, the devil will be released, leading to a final confrontation where Christ defeats Satan, resulting in the establishment of new heavens and earth.

Historic premillennialism shares many views with dispensationalism such as Christ will literally and physically reign on earth during a future kingdom. However, each differs in their view on the timing of the rapture, the relationship between the church and Israel, and the interpretation of apocalyptic prophecies. Note that there are differing views on the reign of Christ, etc. within historic premillennialism.

Generally speaking, historic premillennialists believe that history continues on a downward trajectory until Christ returns.

CHRISTIAN ESCHATOLOGY 101: Before digging into historic premillennialism, we highly recommend reading our learning capsule on Christian Eschatology to get a general overview of four common eschatological views.

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	HISTORIC PREMILLENNIALISM
Reign of Christ	Christ will physically and visibly return; some believe it is a literal 1,000 years, others think it is a long period of time
Role of Satan	Satan is currently exerting influence in the world, but will be bound for the duration of the millennium
Rapture timing	Post-tribulation
Church and Israel	No distinction, unified view, the church is spiritual Israel
Apocalyptic prophecies	Literal
Key passages	John 5:28–29; Romans 8:17–23; 2 Peter 3:3–14; 2 Thess 1:5–10,16; Psalm 2; Isaiah 2:2–4; Matthew 13; John 12
Key representatives	Irenaeus, Robert Gundry, Ben Witherington III, Craig Blomberg, Justin Martyr, George Eldon Ladd, John W. Montgomery, J. Barton Payne, R. Laird Harris, Henry Alfrod, Theodore Zahn, James Boice, Charles Spurgeon, Wayne Grudem, Albert Mohler, John Piper

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READ

READ: Survey of Eschatological Views / Gregory Brown
A succinct introduction to four Christian eschatological views complete with key Biblical passages and some history. Skip to the middle of the article to read about historic premillennialism.

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LISTEN

LISTEN: Eschatology – Historical Premillennialism & Dispensational Premillennialism / The Babbling Pastors
A heavy focus on dispensationalism, but briefly touches on historic premillenniaism.

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WATCH

WATCH: What is Historic Premillennialism? / thirdmill
A concise explanation of historic premillennialism and its key tenets.

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DIG DEEPER

READ: Jesus Wins / Dayton Hartman
In Jesus Wins, Pastor Dayton Hartman makes his position clear: speculative discussions about the end times rarely offer any value and should never become a point of division. He emphasizes that as long as believers adhere to the foundational doctrines expressed in the Apostles‘ and Nicene Creeds, their specific views on eschatology (the study of the end times) should not fracture the church’s unity.

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