@aqwsed
Well presented. People wonder why there are different types of churches. This is one of the reasons why. It has nothing to do with Salvation. Christians have latitude to disagree on a number of things. And, we do. How we get saved isn't one of them.
Just a few closing remarks, becuase both posts describe Premillennialism and Amillennialism well.
1. Premillennialism believes the next dispensation is literal just like the current (and previous) dispensations are literal. (See chart above)
2. Amillennialism jumps from the current dispensation of Grace to the eternal state, skipping a literal 1000 yr. reign.
3. Premillennialism is the dominant view of Evangelicals - 2/3
4. Premillennialism was the view of the early church leaders some of which were trained directly by the apostles.
Below is an excerpt from a White Paper from Liberty University on the topic.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARLY PREMILLENNIALISM
by Thomas Ice
I believe that premillennialism is so clearly taught in Revelation 19 and 20 that I still cannot understand how anyone can think otherwise without realizing deep down that they are going against the biblical text. A kingdom reign of the Messiah was just as clearly taught in the Old Testament. Jesus and His Scripture writing disciples also support the notion of an earthly kingdom headed by the Messiah. Such clearness in the Bible provides the likely reason why the early church fathers who spoke on this matter were all premillennialists.
THE FIRST PREMILLENNIALISTS
The first premillennialists were those who received God’s revelation and wrote it down in the Bible. Eusebius tells us that one of the earliest church fathers that had heard the Apostle John and others who had known the Lord and His Apostles was Papias (A.D. 60–130) the bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, Asia Minor.
Papias taught “that there will be a millennium after the resurrection of the dead, when the kingdom of Christ will be set up in material form on this earth.”1 Irenaeus (A.D. 130–202) tells us that Papias “related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times” (the millennium) in book 4 of Papias’ writings, which are no longer extant, except a few fragments. Papias is recorded as saying: “there will be a millennium after the resurrection from the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be established on this earth.”2 Polycarp (A.D. 70–155), bishop of Smyrna, is also said to have been a premillennialist.
The Epistle of Barnabas (written between A.D. 120–150) presents the common belief that “in six thousand years, all things will be finished. . . . then shall He truly rest on the seventh day.” The writer speaks of the second coming of Christ with the clear implication that He will set up the thousand year kingdom on earth, followed by the eight day or the eternal state.
Justin Martyr (A.D. 100–165) in his Dialogue With Trypho (@ A.D. 140), a Jewish man, made the following premillennial statement: But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare.
Justin considered premillennialism an aspect of orthodoxy in his day. And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place.
IRENAEUS AND TERTULLIAN Two of the greatest ante-Nicene fathers were Irenaeus and Tertullian (A.D. 160–230). Irenaeus grew up in Asia Minor and was discipled by Polycarp, who knew the Apostle John. Irenaeus had a very extensive view of Bible prophecy in his last five chapters of Premillennial History — Page Against Heresies, which were suppressed throughout the Middle Ages by antipremillennialists and rediscovered in 1571.
The restoration of a more literal interpretation and reading of the early church fathers by many post-Reformationists led to a revival of premillennialism in the early 1600s. Irenaeus’ writings played a key role because of their clear premillennial statements. “John, therefore, did distinctly foresee the first ‘resurrection of the just,’ and the inheritance in the kingdom of the earth,” he says, “and what the prophets have prophesied concerning it harmonize [with his vision].”
Again, Irenaeus declares: "But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire; but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom".
Tertullian, who gave us the Latin word “Trinity,” was also a strong premillennialist. He makes his premillennialism clear when he says the following: But we do confess that a kingdom is promised to us upon the earth, although before heaven, only in another state of existence; inasmuch as it will be after the resurrection for a thousand years in the divinely-built city of Jerusalem, “let down from heaven,” which the apostle also calls “our mother from above;” and, while declaring that our citizenship is in heaven, he predicts of it that it is really a city in heaven. This both Ezekiel had knowledge of and the Apostle John beheld.
