02 July 2025

Amillennialism: You’re in the millennium right now.

AMILLENNIALISM 'eɪ.mɪ'lɛn.i.əl.ɪz.əm noun. Belief there will be no thousand-year reign of Christ Jesus and his saints on earth.
[Amillenarism 'eɪ.mɪ'lɛn.ər.ɪz.əm noun, amillennial 'eɪ.mɪ'lɛn.i.əl adjective.]

All my life I’ve attended Evangelical churches, and all these churches have been premillenial—they believe Jesus is coming back to rule the world. Some of them believe the Darbyist interpretation of the End Times, and some don’t; it all depends on how hard the pastor or church leadership wants to preach Darbyism. But all of ’em figure after Jesus comes back, the thousand years after that is gonna be a time where Jesus finally sets things right, and it’s gonna be awesome.

And it just dumbfounds my fellow churchgoers when I tell ’em most Christians don’t believe this. Usually because every Christian they know is premillennial; they don’t know anybody who believes otherwise.

They actually do, but they’re not aware they do. I’ve found amillennials usually don’t talk about the End Times. They talk about heaven. ’Cause that’s what they think Jesus is gonna do when he returns: He’s gonna destroy the world, then take us to heaven. Earth doesn’t get an extra thousand years to straighten up; humanity doesn’t get an extra thousand years to repent. This is the time for you to repent; the current era is your last chance. Jesus’s return is the end of history, the end of time, the end of the world.

2 Peter 3.8-13 NRSVue
8But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
11Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and destroyed and the elements will melt with fire? 13But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

Simon Peter’s description of the End does refer to a millennium—in verse 8 he says a millennium and a day are all the same to Jesus. Otherwise there’s nothing about a millennial reign. Jesus returns in the “day of the Lord,” and then boom, the heavens are gone, the elements burn up, and off we go with Jesus to New Heaven.

Like I said, most Christians believe this is how things’ll turn out. Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Ethiopians, most of the mainline churches, and even a number of the Evangelical churches: They don’t bother to make lessons or form doctrines about the millennium. Because it’s in Revelation, and Revelation is a bunch of apocalypses which aren’t meant to be interpreted literally. Any “prophecy scholars” who do so, are irresponsible scholars who have no idea what they’re doing. Forming doctrines based on apocalypses?—which Jesus deliberately obscures because they aren’t meant to be interpreted until they happen? That’s not biblical interpretation; that’s projecting your own paranoid fears upon the scriptures, and proclaiming that instead of God’s kingdom.

Whereas Peter wasn’t describing an apocalypse. He was telling his readers how things are definitely gonna unfold. Our Lord returns, boom, New Heaven.

What about Revelation 20?

When I describe amillennials’ view about Revelation—how it’s irresponsible to base doctrines on apocalyptic visions which are so easy for even earnest, humble Christians to misinterpret—people who are new to the idea will usually say, “So they don’t bother to look at Revelation at all?”

No, they do. You wouldn’t know about New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem without Revelation. Nor the final defeat and destruction of the devil and the wicked. Nor about the current heaven, and angels, and the Lamb of God, and lots of imagery which older churches love to use. They totally read Revelation.

And they do have an interpretation of Revelation 20, in which Jesus rules for a millennium. Which I’ll now quote:

Revelation 20.4-6 NRSVue
4Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its brand on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.

I once asked a Roman Catholic about praying to saints, and why Catholics do that when the scriptures forbid us from trying to talk with the dead. Dt 18.10-12 She agreed we’re not to talk with the dead—but her church teaches the saints aren’t dead. After they died, they were resurrected in heaven. That’s where they are now, alive. And there’s nothing wrong with talking to living saints.

Where’d Catholics get the idea the saints are alive? From Revelation 20. Says right there in verse 4: The martyrs “came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years”—and since they figure the “thousand years” is just a metaphor for the Christian Era, i.e. ever since the Holy Spirit empowered the church at Pentecost in the year 33, the saints are coming to life and reigning with Christ Jesus right now. This isn’t a reference to the resurrection of all Christians which happens at the second coming. This is happening. Every time a devout Christian dies, who was holy enough to skip purgatory and goes directly to heaven, they rise; they’re alive again; new resurrected body and everything. And they reign—which is why you can pray to ’em, because Jesus has delegated certain things to them. That’s the basis of the whole concept of patron saints.

Other amillennial churches don’t pray to saints, but they do believe the “millennial reign of Christ” is the same thing as the Christian Era. Jesus is our King, after all. He reigns over us. Not so much the rest of the world, but that’s because they refuse to acknowledge him as their King too, and in the End they’ll get theirs.

Amillennial politics.

In my article introducing millennial views, I pointed out the reason the ancient Christians adopted amillennialism was because it looked to them like Jesus did rule the world—through the Roman Empire.

’Cause the emperors and senators professed Christianity. It had a favored status in the empire. Bishops were granted political clout, and even administrative rule over their districts. Laws were passed, and social programs were created, which reflected “Christian values.” And even after the Roman Empire fell in the west, the western European kings who took its place likewise professed Christianity, and paid homage to the church of Rome. So it was still sorta like Jesus reigned… even though the popes and the kings of Europe actually did.

Frankly, our End Times views tend to reflect our politics more often than not. Shouldn’t, but do. For amillennials, particularly the ones who live in countries which are officially Christian, Jesus does hold political sway over them—in name, at least. When Christians of their stripe get elected to office, and run the government, it kinda proves to them Jesus still rules their land at least. In countries like the United States, which aren’t officially Christian, they regularly plot to change the government till it becomes functionally Christian, if not officially; functionally is just as good. Then Jesus will kinda rule this country too. That’s the dream of Christian nationalists everywhere. Gather enough Christian nations together, and Jesus rules the world.

Thing is, does Jesus really rule the world?—or is this just something hypocrites claim, and fools tell themselves? Because it doesn’t matter how “Christian” the Roman emperors, European kings, and Christian nationalists claim they are. If they’re not doing exactly as Jesus tells his followers to do—without “practical exceptions” made to promote political stability, without loopholes, without hypocrisy—Jesus ain’t reigning. They are. It’s not a Christian nation; it’s as fallen as the rest.

And let’s not forget all the “Christian nations” who participated in World War 1, and barbarously slaughtered their fellow Christians with impugnity. That certainly proved Jesus didn’t reign in those lands as much as Christians told themselves. Plenty of our other sins prove it otherwise; one can argue Jesus barely rules Christians, much less the world. It’s not an effective reign!

It’s some of the reason many Evangelicals ditched amillennialism for postmillennialism, which I’ll get to in its own article.

Anyway, that sums up the amillennial End Times view. One which, I’ll be honest, amillennials make a strong case for. The only reason I’m still premillennial is because I don’t buy their spin on Revelation 20. I believe the passage, supported by other scriptures, points to a post-resurrection, post-second-coming reign. I admit I might be totally wrong; that when Jesus returns it is the end of the world. For this reason (and the fact we don’t always know when we’re gonna die), people oughta choose Jesus now, not wait till he shows up. We might not get a last, thousand-year chance.