Premillennialism In The Ante-Nicene Church -- By: H. Wayne House

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 169:675 (Jul 2012)
Article: Premillennialism In The Ante-Nicene Church
Author: H. Wayne House


Premillennialism In The Ante-Nicene Church

H. Wayne House

H. Wayne House is Distinguished Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Faith Evangelical Seminary, Tacoma, Washington.

Scholars of systematic theology and patristics generally agree that the earliest view of eschatology in the church was premillennialism.1 From the late first century until the time of Augustine in the fourth century, some form of premillennial expectation of Jesus’ return was either the dominant view or was held by a number of prominent leaders and theologians.

The church, still young at the turn of the first century, was beginning to find its way in the midst of the pagan religion that surrounded it and the Roman Empire that was suppressing it. The church had the Old Testament in Greek (the Septuagint), but the words of the apostles were in oral tradition in many quarters. Gradually the New Testament books were being collected in the various church centers of the Mediterranean world, being distinguished from extracanonical books that were not inspired. The church was facing persecution, and different doctrines were being introduced into Christian communities that conflicted with what the church had received from the apostles.2

This article seeks to demonstrate (a) that some form of premillennial theology (or elements of premillennialism) was existent from the earliest records of the church fathers who chose to speak in any detail on eschatology, (b) that the Jewish understanding of the Old Testament and of the messianic kingdom was a positive

influence in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene fathers, and (c) that those who were premillennial in Asia Minor were influenced by either a literal reading of the Old Testament similar to that of the apostles or by association with John the apostle. This contrasted with the allegorical manner of reading Scripture, the increasing anti-Semitism, and ecclesiastical triumphalism of the fourth century and afterwards that saw no need for a literal kingdom in light of the political nature of the church.

The Premillennialism Of The Earliest Post-Canonical Fathers

The Premillennial Consensus Of The Subapostolic Fathers

Why would persons so close to the times of the apostles not be in unison on all areas of doctrine? Should they not all have been able to sign various confessions and creeds? To require such uniformity is asking too much. Even those who originally received the teachings of the Lord and that of the apostles did not always understand them fully, and so...

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