Hi, Charles —

Hi Charles,

I believe we have already answered that question.
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• Could you explain the Protestant view of the Rapture and how it squares with the Catholic view?
• Can you please give me a solid, Scriptural defense of Amillennialism?

Mike

Hi, Charles —

The short answer.

The millennium is the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation and is figurative language referring to the Church age. The Temple is no longer in Jerusalem. The Temple is the Body of Christ, as the Temple of the Holy Spirit is each Christian.

So we are living in the millennium. The literal interpretation has been condemned for centuries as heresy. No Protestants bought in to it until a guy named Darvey, in the 19th century, came up with another heresy, Dispensationalism.

John

Charles —

When Christ returns there will be a New Heaven and New Earth. The universe, as we know it, will be transformed. These are mysteries that we can't fully understand.

Remember Scripture is God's Word given to us for our salvation. It is not a history and science book. Prophecy does not involve fortune telling or predicting. Rather Prophecy is a proclamation of God's Will which will come to pass.

The book of Revelation is a liturgical book, as much, if not more, than prophecy. It is apocalyptic literature in the tradition of Daniel. Who is not considered to be a prophet by the Jews, but again a special kind of apocalyptic or revealing literary construct.

In Revelation, we see the liturgy taking place in Heaven and in the liturgy we see creation — past, present, and future — worshiping the Lord. We see that the liturgy itself is Calvary made present,
in the eternal now, defeating Satan and his minions.

In a sense, as we live in the Church age (the millennium), Christ inhabits the earth through His Body, the Church, and through the Eucharist.

John