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So I just got an email today inviting me to this. I laughed a little because I was trying to picture a bunch of mathematicians sitting at a bar and listening to a DJ(sounds like the beginning of a cheesy joke right?). It just seemed hard to picture in my mind I guess. I have a sneaking suspicion that this probably won't be the liveliest crowd. I can't deny the fact, however, that these are my people. I will admit, I am a nerd.
From Kim Riddlebarger’s Recent Lectures
(each lecture is available on mp3 on the Riddleblog)
Here are my notes...Lecture 1: What is Amillennialism?
1. The centrality of Christ’s second coming to the authors & doctrine of the NT
a. We should long for His return
b. Jesus says we will see Him return in the same way He departed (Acts 1:11, Matt 24)
c. His return will mark the end of the age (The Apostles’ Creed)
2. The heresy of full preterism – Christ returned in judgment of Israel in AD 70
3. All Christians agree that Jesus will return at any time, to judge the world, raise the dead, and make all things new (except full-preterists); the division in the church is in regard to the details of this, which is unfortunate
4. The second coming of Christ for non-Christians should be terrifying—it’s nothing but law; the second coming of Christ for Christians is joyful—pure gospel
5. Some Christians nowadays interpret Bible prophecy with daily geo-political news events, rather than exegesis; dispensationalists will always be more fun to listen to than other Christians when it comes to end times prophecy
a. 1969 - Late Great Planet Earth best-selling book by millions
b. 2000 - Left Behind best-selling books by millions
6. Not all dispensationalists are the same (popular vs. scholarly)
7. Dispensationalism is not the mark of a non-Christian, but it is a serious error—determines how we read the Bible as a whole; how we interpret large chunks of Scripture
8. The test of whether any end-time view is correct: does it explain the most # of passages with the fewest # of odd passages; does it make sense of everything?
a. Dispensationalism does make sense of everything, except its hermeneutic is flawed; their presuppositions are wrong, even though their argument makes sense
9. All Christians have presuppositions when they begin interpreting bible prophecy
a. Reformed Christian’s presuppositions are that the bible is covenantal; the architecture of the bible is covenants
10. Christians ought to interpret the OT with the NT (not the other way around, which is what dispensationalists do)
11. Dispensationalist’s presuppositions:
a. God has 2 purposes – plan for Gentiles & plan for national Israel
b. Bible is to be interpreted literally
c. Israel-centered hermeneutic
d. Interpret the NT with the OT
12. All Christians need to continually subject their presuppositions to testing
a. Testing – does the hermeneutic explain biblical passages?
b. Testing – how do we fare when we interact with other views? When our presuppositions are challenged, do they have bite? Do they withstand the criticism?
13. Amillennialism literally means “no millennium”, but stands for a current/present millennium (it’s the entire period of time between the 1st and 2nd comings of Christ)
a. It’s the dominant view of much of Christianity, including majority of Roman Catholic church & Protestant church
i. Minority of Lutherans tend towards Historic Premillennialism (mill follows the return of Christ, on earth)
ii. Minority of Reformers tend towards Postmillennialism (mill precedes the return of Christ, on earth; world will be Christianized before Christ returns—golden age)
b. Understands the reign of Christ to be heavenly, not an earthly reign after He returns
c. First resurrection comes at conversion or death (this is something I am confused about)
14. Amill’s & postmill’s agree that at Christ’s return, Jesus will do 3 things (all at once, no breaks in time):
a. Raise the dead (The Resurrection)
i. imperishable (1 Cor 15); not both perishable & imperishable like premill’s believe; there won’t be both nonresurrected & resurrected bodies living together after Christ returns
ii. 1 Thess 4:13 is not a secret rapture like premill’s believe (where Christians go to Heaven & don’t come back for awhile), but the return of Christ where we go up to meet/greet the King Jesus & usher Him to the Earth
b. Judge the nations (Judgment Day)
i. Matt 25, Rev 20
c. Make all things new (New Heavens & New Earth)
i. 2 Pet 3:3-… The earth will be burned up the same day Jesus returns, so there’s no time for a thousand year millennial age
15. Amill’s believe that
a. Rev 20:1-6 takes place in heaven, not on earth; people ruling in heaven, not ruling on earth
b. The thousand years are symbolic of a long period of time
i. In the entire book of Revelation all numbers are symbolic, not just this passage (7=completion, 4=north, south, east, west (all the globe), 12=12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles, etc.)
c. The First Resurrection occurs in this age, not when Christ returns
i. John 5:24-25 First Resurrection occurs when someone comes to faith in Christ or when someone dies (I don’t understand how it’s when someone dies)
d. Satan is bound, i.e. Rev 20 clarifies the extent of how he is bound “so he can no longer deceive the nations”; the Christian’s weapon against Satan is The Gospel
i. When Satan is released at the end of this present age, it makes sense that there is then a great apostasy right before Christ returns
ii. When Christ returns He throws the Beast, the False Prophet, and the devil into the lake of fire forever
e. The book of Revelation is a series of cycles, it’s not chronological
16. Premill’s believe that Rev 20 follows chronologically after Rev 19 (this is their strongest argument); amill’s believe that Rev 20 does not follow 19 chronologically, and that it begins the last vision & deals with judgment because:
a. Rev 19:15 nations are judged when Christ returns; Rev 20:3 nations appear again (so if you’re premill the nations are destroyed in Rev 19:15 when Christ comes back, then the nations return again in 20:3 in the millennium, which is problematic)
b. The word “idon” in Rev 20:1 indicates a new vision
c. Recapitulation – both Rev 12:7-11 and Rev 20 parallel each other, they describe the same thing
i. A heavenly scene
ii. Battle between angels & Satan’s hosts
iii. Satan is cast down
iv. The angel’s evil opponent is described as Satan in the same ways in both passages
v. The binding & loosening of Satan
vi. Etc, there’s more
17. Luke 20:34-… is hard for a premill to explain. At the time of The Resurrection:
a. There is no marriage because we’ve been raised from the dead; how can there be people on earth in natural bodies? There can’t be because after Christ returns there’s no more procreation—huge problem for premill’s
b. There’s a new heaven & new earth, not a halfway improved earth where Jesus reigns from Jerusalem
18. Next lecture: What are the basic tenants of Amillennialism?
a. The promises made to national Israel/David/Abraham are fulfilled by Christ and realized in the church during this present age; the church does not replace Israel—there’s always been one people of God on the earth called Israel in OT and called the church in NT
b. The NT interprets the OT, not the other way around, e.g. book of Revelation interprets book of Daniel, not Daniel interprets Revelation—Daniel was told to roll up the scroll and John says Jesus unrolls the scroll in Revelation; Jesus says in the NT how the OT is about him
c. The millennium is a present reality, not a future hope, and extends from both advents of Christ
I will be posting my notes on the latest series of lectures by Kim Riddlebarger on his (really long & sporadic) ongoing series Amillennialism 101. The lectures are available on his Riddleblog if you want to listen.
I am not an amillennialist, but I do sit on the fence between it and historic premillennialism (not dispensationalism). Honestly, I have issues with both and am trying to figure it all out. So I thought I'd share what I hear listening to the Amill 101 lectures by Riddlebarger. My first post should be up tomorrow.
Poor Kanye, he is not going to live down what he did anytime soon.
12 garter stiches across, size 35 needles, 1 skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick Yarn in Lemongrass
Fall is almost here! My most favorite time of year. Cooler temps, breezy days, leaves everywhere, and not to mention beautiful trees and colors! I can't wait, I am literally counting down the days. September 22 is the big day--the autumnal equinox and first official day that summer is over!!!!!
