Topic(s): Bible Authority, Denominationalism

Bob Prichard

Premillennialism, popularized by books such as The Late Great Planet Earth, is one of the most widely held doctrines in our religious world. The basics of this doctrine are as follows: It teaches that when Christ came to establish His kingdom in the first century, He failed and instead established the church. Since Jesus failed at His first coming, He will come again and will establish a literal earthly kingdom that will last for 1,000 years. Preceding the establishment of His earthly kingdom, Jesus will take up the saved by the rapture. This will precede a seven-year period of great tribulation, to be climaxed by the battle of Armageddon, a literal earthly battle between Satan’s armies and Christ’s armies. Many of those who hold this doctrine teach that the current “signs of the times” point to all of these events occurring in the very near future.

Perhaps the simplest accurate definition of Premillennialism that has ever been given is that of brother R. N. Hogan who said, “‘Pre’ means ‘before,’ ‘millennial’ means ‘one thousand years,’ and ‘ism’ means ‘it ain’t so.” Most every feature of the doctrine of premillennialism is completely contrary to the Bible, and especially all that it says about the church, the kingdom, and Christ’s second coming.

Premillennialism says that Christ failed and was rejected by the Jews, and only established the church as an afterthought. The psalmist had predicted, though, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner” (Psalm 118:22). His rejection by many of the Jews was expected. Jesus did not fail. He established the church as the means of reconciling men to God. Paul speaks of Christ, our peace, Who sacrificed Himself for Jew as well as Gentile, “that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Ephesians 2:16). Christ “is the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). God planned the church!

The Bible does not teach that Christ will return to the earth to set up a kingdom. His kingdom is the church. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). By being born of water and the Spirit, by baptism, one enters the “one body,” the church. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Paul says that when Christ comes again, “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). We will meet the Lord “in the air,” not on the earth.

The main scripture passage for premillennialism is Revelation 20, which speaks of the reign of Christ. This passage does not mention Christ’s second coming, the establishment of a kingdom, an earthly kingdom, David’s throne, or the Jews being gathered to Palestine, all fundamental to the theory. These significant omissions demonstrate that premillennialism is a false doctrine and must be rejected.