Category:

Amillennialism

The Didache (c.50–c.120)

by Alan Kurschner September 26, 2011

written by Alan Kurschner

The early church consistently and vigorously taught when Christ would return he would establish his kingly millennium and rule over the nations from Jerusalem. This teaching began to be abandoned during the fourth century through the influence of the reign of Emperor Constantine, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Augustine’s writings, and the third century theologian Origen whose allegorical system of interpretation explained away the natural reading of Old Testament prophecies of a millennium and a future for Israel. These four men laid the foundation for what would be known as amillennialism, until premillennialist theologians could emerge again without the threat of persecution by the state and church.

Another point of eschatological doctrine that the early church affirmed was that the church would encounter the Antichrist. Every early church writer in the first couple of centuries who wrote on this relationship agreed in a singular voice that the church would encounter the Antichrist (the prewrath position). One will search in vain for any writer who thought that the church would be resurrected or raptured before the Antichrist’s persecution (the pretribulational position).

The prewrath position is a refinement and development of the day of the Lord and rapture question. The essence of prewrath teaching reaches back to the early church period. In the next eight posts, I will cite eight early church writers who taught that the church would encounter the Antichrist.

We begin with what many believe to be the very first Christian document outside of the New Testament called the Didache (“The Teaching”), pronounced DID-ah-kay. It teaches that the church will encounter the persecution of the Antichrist, which will then be followed by the coming of Christ to rescue his people and resurrect his people.

The Didache is an extremely important early Christian document because it is a window allowing us to see the faith and practice of a segment of the primitive church. The date of the Didache has been estimated AD 50–120. It is agreed that it is a compositional document made up of several sources, of which the earliest of the sources were likely written before AD 70. The most probable place of origin is Syria, perhaps in the city of Antioch, which was the main Christian center at that time. The Didache contains three parts. The first is a code of Christian morals, the “Two Ways,” expounding on the way of life and the way of death. The second is a church order manual, a rules of conduct, prescribing correct practice of baptism, church polity, the Lord’s supper, etc. The final part concludes with an eschatological section of an outline commentary to the Olivet Discourse; hence, since this is the first interpretation in church history on Jesus’ teaching about his second coming, we will benefit from what it says.

The early church viewed this document as containing orthodox teaching, including its interpretation of eschatology. So important was this document that some early church fathers (albeit wrongly) accepted it as Scripture. But in the main it was used for instruction for church leaders, believers, and baptismal candidates. The eschatological section of the Didache is found in chapter 16. It states:

(1) “Watch” over your life: “let your lamps” be not quenched “and your loins” be not ungirded, but be “ready,” for ye know not “the hour in which our Lord cometh.” (2) But be frequently gathered together seeking the things which are profitable for your souls, for the whole time of your faith shall not profit you except ye be found perfect at the last time; (3) for in the last days the false prophets and the corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall change to hate; (4) for as lawlessness increaseth they shall hate one another and persecute and betray, and then shall appear the deceiver of the world as a Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders and the earth shall be given over into his hands and he shall commit iniquities which have never been since the world began. (5) Then shall the creation of mankind come to the fiery trial and “many shall be offended” and be lost, but “they who endure” in their faith “shall be saved” by the curse itself. (6) And “then shall appear the signs” of the truth. First the sign spread out in Heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet, and thirdly the resurrection of the dead: (7) but not of all the dead, but as it was said, “The Lord shall come and all his saints with him.” (8) Then shall the world “see the Lord coming on the clouds of Heaven.”

The main gospel source that the Didache 16 uses is Matthew, particularly chapters 24–25, alluding frequently from it. The first verse contains exhortations to be ready spiritually (e.g., “Watch” over your life”). In verse 2 there is given a cause and effect warning that a lack of consistent gathering with other believers will hinder faith-readiness. Next, verses 3–8 provide us with the chronology of key events:

vv. 3–4a—false prophets, corrupters, love shall change to hate, lawlessness increaseth.

vv. 4b–5—then shall appear the deceiver of the world [Antichrist] as a Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders and the earth shall be given over into his hands and he shall commit iniquities which have never been since the world began [great tribulation]. Then shall the creation of mankind come to the fiery trial and “many shall be offended” and be lost but “they who endure” in their faith [during the great tribulation] “shall be saved” [delivered from the day of the Lord] by the curse itself.

v. 6—And “then shall appear the signs” of the truth. First the sign spread out in Heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet, and thirdly the resurrection of the dead [i.e., resurrection of the righteous].

v. 8—Then shall the world “see the Lord coming on the clouds of Heaven” [shekinah glory].

As is clearly indicated in the sequence above, the Didache understands that Antichrist will appear first before the coming of Christ to resurrect the righteous and deliver his faithful people who are alive.

Incidentally, it should be noted that in two earlier chapters of the Didache, it interprets the elect who are gathered in Matthew 24:31 as the “Church”: “so let thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth” Didache 9:4; and, “Remember, Lord, thy Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in thy love, and gather it together in its holiness from the four winds to thy kingdom which thou hast prepared for it” Didache 10:5.

It is fundamental to the prewrath position that the resurrection of the dead-righteous and the deliverance of the alive-righteous follow the Antichrist’s great tribulation. And this can be seen above in this Christian document. Our final authority is the Word of God and that is where we must find our inspired teaching for faith and practice. Even though it is not authoritatively binding, it is however wise to learn what others who have gone before us have said about the Bible. Church history can teach us a lot. Since this is the case, how much more weight carries for writings during the apostolic age such as the Didache!

September 26, 2011 0 comment

Amillennialism Church History Historicism Imminence Olivet Discourse Post-Tribulationism Preterism Pretribulationism Prewrath Thessalonians 1&2

The Didache: The Very First Commentary on the Olivet Discourse in Church History

by Alan Kurschner June 28, 2011

written by Alan Kurschner

The following is a brief note on the very first commentary in church history on the Olivet Discourse, which corroborates the biblical veracity of the prewrath position.

Prewrath eschatology affirms that the Bible teaches expectancy, not imminency of our Lord’s return. We believe that Christ could come back in any generation of the church, not at any moment. Pretribulational imminency, however, is a relatively new British/American teaching in church history that originated in the early 19th century by the Plymouth Brethren theologian John Nelson Darby. And if it is found in other parts of the world, it is only because it has been exported by American or British pretribulational missionaries since then. In contrast, the fundamental belief of the prewrath view reaches back to the very first century of the church.

The earliest attested Christian document outside of the New Testament writings is called, The Didache, written sometime between A.D. 50–120. There are two parts to it: (1) an instruction on the “Two Ways” and (2) a manual on church practice. The document concludes with a brief but salient commentary on Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. What is highly significant about the earliest commentary on Jesus’ teaching is that it explicitly places the coming of Christ to resurrect the dead after the Antichrist’s great tribulation, not before. Thus, it recognizes that the apostle Paul’s teaching on the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4 is the same teaching that Jesus taught in Matthew 24. The Didache states:

“(4) For as lawlessness increases, they will hate and persecute and betray one another. And then the deceiver of the world [Antichrist] will appear as a son of God and “will perform signs and wonders,” and the earth will be delivered into his hands, and he will commit abominations the likes of which have never happened before [great tribulation]. (5) Then all humankind will come to the fiery test, and “many will fall away” and perish; but “those who endure” in their faith “will be saved” [delivered from the day of the Lord] by the accursed one himself. (6) And “then there will appear the signs” of the truth: first the sign of an opening in heaven, then the sign of the sound of a trumpet, and third, the resurrection of the dead [resurrection]—(7) but not of all; rather, as it has been said, “The Lord will come, and all his saints with him.” (8) Then the world “will see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven” [shekinah glory] (The Apostolic Fathers, Second Edition, Ed. Michael W. Holmes, 16:4–8). Here is an online text of the document.

As is clearly shown the resurrection of the righteous follows after the Antichrist’s great tribulation.

The label “prewrath” is new, but its fundamental beliefs are ancient. Pretribulationism must wait 1,800 years to produce a document that teaches their theology!

June 28, 2011 0 comment

Amillennialism Premillennialism Revelation

Is the Devil Fettered or on the Loose?

by Alan Kurschner May 24, 2010

written by Alan Kurschner

roaring lion.jpg
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). One of the points in this verse that should be highlighted is that before we can take seriously the biblical principles to resist the devil, we need to be aware that he is a force to be reckoned with—otherwise, why would James give us this warning to resist the devil? This command to resist the devil necessarily implies that the devil is loose. It makes no sense to resist the devil if he is restrained.

Yet, this is in some sense what amillennialists teach. To get around the literal sense of Revelation 20:1-3, amillennialists are forced to conclude that Satan is not bound today if that “means that he cannot move a muscle against God” (William Cox, Amillennialism Today, p. 59). Perhaps one of the best known supporters of amillennialism is Dr. Anthony Hoekema who in agreement with Cox defines the sense in which Satan is bound. Hoekema writes,

This [binding of Satan] does not imply that Satan can do no harm whatever while he is bound. It means only what John says here: while Satan is bound he cannot deceive the nations in such a way as to keep them from learning about the truth of God (Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (1982) p. 228).”

In other words, Satan is bound in the sense that he is only able to keep people from understanding the gospel. Yet, the New Testament at every point contradicts both Cox and Hoekema’s conclusion. Peter explicitly talks about the activity of the devil: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him” (1 Pet 5:8-9)

John says: “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19).

And Paul says: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places….In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” (Eph 6:11-12, 16)

So the diverse testimony of Scripture shows that the devil is on the loose and bent on our destruction. This is in stark contrast to the situation when Christ comes back:

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. (2) And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, (3) and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer,” (Rev 20:1-3).

If language has any meaning at all, Satan is not bound at this moment in the sense that amillennial theology teaches. Satan was not bound and chained up in a pit at the first coming of Christ in any sense whatsoever. Certainly, the victory of Christ was won on the cross, which provides the believer the basis to resist the devil. But only when Christ comes back will the prowling devil be fettered in a sealed pit.

May 24, 2010 0 comment

Amillennialism Postmillennialism Premillennialism Prewrath Revelation

Thomas Schreiner Moves To Premillennialism Away From His Former Amillennnialism Mainly Because of Revelation 20

by Alan Kurschner August 17, 2009

written by Alan Kurschner

I don’t know what position Tom Schreiner holds on the rapture. My guess is that he is post-trib, but I could be mistaken. And I do not know if he has actually considered the Prewrath position.
I want to qualify a couple of statements he makes:
He states in this sermon that the timing of the rapture is not clear in Scripture. Of course, we would disagree with him since we believe that the Bible is very clear that the Church will encounter the Antichrist’s Great Tribulation and will then be raptured followed by the Day of the Lord’s wrath upon the ungodly of this world.
One other element that I would disagree with him on is that he believes that when Satan is thrown to the earth with wrath in Revelation 12 Schreiner thinks that happened at Christ’s First Coming at the cross. I believe that it happens at the midpoint of the seven year period when Michael the Restrainer is removed and the Great Tribulation begins. Also, unfortunately, he spiritualizes the mark of the beast. But historical premillenialists tend to be inconsistent in certain areas such as this. You just have to filter the good from the bad.
Nevertheless, Schreiner does an excellent job in exegeting Revelation 20.
Here is the audio sermon.

August 17, 2009 0 comment

Amillennialism Church History Olivet Discourse Post-Tribulationism Postmillennialism Premillennialism Preterism Pretribulationism Prewrath

The Teaching of the Early Church On the Second Coming of Christ

by Guest Contributors August 9, 2009

written by Guest Contributors

Guest Article by Gary Vaterlaus

Many claims have been made by pretribulationists that the early Church believed that Christ would come before the events of the 70th Week of Daniel begin–that is, before the period of tribulation. Dwight D. Pentecost in his book Things to Come uses selected quotes from some of the early church fathers to try to show that they believed in the imminent return of Christ (see pp. 168-169).

More recently, Grant R. Jeffrey in his book Apocalypse: The Coming Judgement of the Nations devotes the entire Appendix to references to early church writings, some which he claims show that they held to an “any moment,” imminent coming of the Lord.

I believe that we should let the Church fathers speak for themselves. Below are lengthy quotes from 12 documents of the early Church fathers from the first four centuries showing that they believed that the Church would be present on the earth during the Great Tribulation of Antichrist. From my review of the early Church writings I would agree with Robert Gundry’s assessment that “…the early Church did not hold to the doctrine of imminence. The very passages cited for imminence (by the pretribulationists) reveal a belief that the Church will pass through the tribulation.” (Robert Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation, p. 179). In fact, in this same book Gundry shows convincingly that the pretribulation theory of the rapture was not known nor widely held until the mid-nineteenth century (see pp. 185-188).

Our sole rule for faith and practice must be Scripture. The teachings of the early Church do not “prove” that pretribulationism is incorrect, only Scripture can do that (and it does). However, as Robert Gundry sates, “…the antiquity of a view weighs in its favor, especially when that antiquity reaches back to the apostolic age. For those who received their doctrine first-hand from the apostles and from those who heard them stood in a better position to judge what was apostolic doctrine than we who are many centuries removed” (The Church and the Tribulation, p. 172).

The prewrath rapture position has its roots in historical premillennialism–the belief that the Church will be persecuted by the Antichrist, delivered at Christ’s coming, and then God’s wrath will be poured out on the wicked who remain, followed by the establishment of Christ’s earthly kingdom. As you can see from the quotes below, this is precisely what the early Church fathers wrote. I quote many of them at length so that the claim of ignoring context cannot be made. I have emphasized the relevant portions.

August 9, 2009 0 comment

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