A History of the End of the World

humankind into ages (or “dispensations”), each one characterized by a distinctive theme and set of events, and all of which are believed to be stages in the divine plan for the end of the world. One variety of dispensationalism, variously known as “dispensational premillennialism” or “premillennial dispensationalism,” holds that we are now living in the so-called Church Age, which began with the rejection of Jesus of Nazareth by the Jewish people in antiquity and will end only when Jesus returns to earth and establishes a millennial kingdom. (See also Millennialism.) Among the articles of faith in dispensational premillennialism is the doctrine of the Rapture—that is, the belief that faithful Christians will be spared the sufferings of the Tribulation by sudden removal to heaven before the end-times. (See also Rapture and Tribulation.) Dispensational premillennialism also assigns an important role to the Jewish people, whose return to sovereignty in Israel is seen as an event that must take place before the second coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world.

Eschatology. See Apocalyptic eschatology.

Futurism. See Preterism.

Historicism. See Preterism.

Messiah. “Messiah” is an English word derived from the Hebrew word moshiach, which means “the anointed one”—that is, someone who has been anointed with oil. As used in the Hebrew Bible, moshiach usually refers to a priest, a king, or some other human being who is designated by God for a special and important task. By late biblical antiquity, however, the Messiah came to be seen in Jewish tradition as a savior who would be sent by God to relieve the suffering of the Jewish people and reign over an earthly realm of peace and security. In Jewish tradition, the Messiah is understood to be human rather than divine, although it is believed that he will be sent by God and endowed with remarkable power and authority. Christianity sees Jesus of Nazareth as the long-promised Messiah but also introduces the concept that the Messiah is divine—that is, the Son of God. “Messianism” is a term used to describe the belief in the coming of a savior or redeemer, whether human (as in Judaism) or divine (as in Christianity).

Messianism. See Messiah.

Millennialism. “Millennialism,” a term derived from the Latin word for “thousand,” is the belief in the coming of a future golden age on earth under a redeemer sent by God, a concept that is rooted in Jewish messianic tradition but finds its fullest expression in the book of Revelation with the prediction that Jesus Christ will reign over a divine kingdom on earth for one thousand years after his second coming. (See Parousia.) Used more loosely, the same term is sometimes used to identify the belief in a future age of peace and prosperity on earth without specific reference to the Christian tradition of the thousand- year reign of Jesus Christ. “Millennialism,” “millenarianism,” and “chiliasm,” which is derived from the Greek word for “thousand,” are all roughly equivalent in meaning and are sometimes used interchangeably. However, “millenarianism” is often reserved for the beliefs and practices of the most radical and violence-prone millennial movements.

Variants of the term are used in scholarly and religious writings to describe a variety of specific beliefs about the timing and nature of the millennial kingdom. “Premillennialism” is the belief that Jesus Christ will return before the millennial kingdom is established. “Postmillennialism” is the belief that Jesus Christ will return only after the millennial era—that is, after the world (or, according to some varieties of postmillennialism, the church) has been purged of evil. “Amillennialism” or “antimillenialism” is the belief that the thousand-year reign of Christ as described in Revelation should be understood purely as an allegory for the spiritual perfection of the human soul or human institutions and not as a prediction that Jesus Christ will actually return to earth for a thousand years prior to the end of the world and the final Day of Judgment.

Premillennialism can be subdivided into several categories. “Pretribulationists” believe that faithful Christians will be removed to heaven (or “raptured”) before the Tribulation. “Midtribulationists” believe that the Rapture will take place after Antichrist has come to power but before the final Day of Judgment. “Posttribbulationists” believe that even faithful Christians must endure the Tribulation before they are removed to heaven at the end of the world. (See Rapture and Tribulation.)

Parousia. Derived from the Greek word for “presence,” the term refers to the return (or “Second Coming”) of Jesus Christ to earth. According to Revelation, Jesus Christ will return to earth at some point in the future to reign over a kingdom of saints for a thousand years before the end of the world, the final judgment, and the creation of a “new heaven and a new earth” that will endure forever.

Postmillennialism. See Millennialism.

Premillennialism. See Dispensationalism and Millennialism.

Presentism. See Preterism.

Preterism. The belief that the prophecies in the book of Revelation have already been fulfilled. A “preterist” (or “historicist”) interpretation of Revelation focuses on what its imagery and symbolism meant to its original author and his readers and hearers. By contrast with a “preterist” (or “historicist”) reading of Revelation, a “futurist” reading focuses on the meaning of the text as a prophecy of events that will take place in the future, and a “presentist” reading holds that the prophecies are being fulfilled now.

Pseudepigrapha. A term used by modern scholars to describe various ancient writings on biblical themes, many of them Jewish in origin and others apparently composed or revised by Christians, all of which were excluded from the Bible in both Jewish and Christian tradition. “Pseudepigrapha” means “false writing” in Greek, and the term refers to the fact that the texts are generally ascribed to biblical figures rather than their actual authors. Among the Pseudepigrapha are early Jewish apocalyptic writings, including the various writings that make up the book of Enoch, and apocalypses attributed to Adam, Abraham, Elijah, and Daniel.

Rapture. The belief that faithful Christians who are worthy of salvation will be suddenly and miraculously removed from earth and lifted to heaven by God at some point during the end-times. The doctrine, which is based on the text of 1 Thess. 4:15–17 rather than the book of Revelation, achieved popularity in certain Protestant circles in the nineteenth century and still figures prominently in the apocalyptic doctrine known as “dispensationalism”—that is, the belief that faithful Christians will be “raptured” to heaven before the time of suffering known as the Tribulation. (See also Dispensationalism, Millennialism, and Tribulation.)

Revelation. See Apocalypse.

Second Coming. See Parousia.

Tribulation. A period of oppression and persecution under the sovereignty of the Antichrist, described in Revelation and other apocalyptic passages of the New Testament, that will supposedly precede the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Battle of Armageddon, and the establishment of the millennial kingdom on earth. (See also Millennialism.)