Millennium, Premillennial View

Premillennialism is the eschatological view that Christ will return before (Latin pre) the millennium — a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth (Rev. 20:1–6) following his return and the first resurrection. Premillennialism is the oldest organized Christian eschatological scheme, attested in Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and other early fathers, though later replaced by amillennialism in Augustinian theology. The millennium of Revelation 20 is interpreted literally: Satan is physically bound for a thousand years, the martyrs and saints reign with Christ on earth, and at the end Satan is loosed, the final rebellion crushed, and the great white throne judgment occurs. Premillennialism divides into historic premillennialism (the church passes through the tribulation before Christ's return) and dispensational premillennialism (the church is raptured before the tribulation, God deals separately with Israel during a seven-year tribulation period, and Christ then returns to reign from Jerusalem). Dispensational premillennialism, developed by J.N. Darby (1800–1882) and popularized by the Scofield Reference Bible, became the dominant eschatological scheme in American evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity in the 20th century. Key texts include Daniel 9:24–27; Matthew 24; Revelation 4–22; and the OT promises of national Israel's restoration.