End Times

The End Times, also called the Last Days, refers to the period of time in Christian theology just before and during the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This period of time is foretold in the Old Testament prophetical books, such as Daniel and Ezekiel, and in the New Testament with the Gospels, several of the Pauline Epistles, and in the Revelation.

Views of the End Times

Three main views exist regarding the End Times and the Second Coming. These views are "premillennialist" [1], "postmillennialist" [2], and "amillennialist" [3].

Premillennialist

This viewpoint takes a literal interpretation of Biblical events, and states that the following must occur in order prior to the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom when Jesus Christ returns:

1. World conditions as specified in Matthew 24 (i.e. lawlessness, wars, famines, etc) must exist.

2. The rebirth of Israel as a nation.

3. The construction and re-institution of the Jewish Temple and related religious practices upon the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

4. Creation of a united Europe, modeled on the old Roman Empire.

5. Implementation of a seven-year peace treaty in favor of Israel, and brokered by the leader of Europe.

6. A major war (Armageddon) which is world-wide, ending only with Christ's return.

Premillennialist views became popular around 1900 and to this day dominate the Fundamentalist churches.

Postmillennialism

Postmillennialists argue that a "utopia" will be physically set up by man, through evangelical and missionary work and systematic efforts to rid society of evil. Thereby the Millennial Kingdom is established before Christ's return.

Jonathan Edwards, thrilled with the progress of the First Great Awakening in the 1740s was the leading exponent. It gained strength as the Second Great Awakening and the Third Great Awakening made America an intensely religious nation in the 19th century. Postmillennialism energized the mainstream Protestant churches to redouble their missionary work and engage in large scale programs of education and social reform.

The Prohibition and Social Gospel movements of the late 19th and early 20th century were inspired by postmillenarium beliefs, which have faded away in recent decades.

Amillennialist

Augustine, the early Catholic theologian, created this concept as a result of his failure to try to fit the prophetical events of the Bible to the timeframe in which he lived. His disillusionment caused him to believe that when it came to prophecy, the Bible but be taken allegorically or symbolically, rather than literally (he regarded the rest of the Bible as literal). The Kingdom of God was in men's hearts, he stressed, and not in an actual kingdom in which Christ will establish upon His return.

Signs of the times

Concerned by Jesus' statement that the Temple would not be left standing, He was asked by his disciples "when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3; King James Version). Jesus replied that there would be specific signs to look for as to the condition of the world just prior to His second coming.

False Christs and false prophets

And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:4-5; King James Version)

Wars, famine, disease, earthquakes

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." (Matthew 24:6-7; King James Version)

Massive persecution of Christians

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Matthew 24:9; King James Version)

Disappearence of natural human love

"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." (Matthew 24:12; King James Version)

World-wide preaching of the Gospel

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:14; King James Version)

See also

• Antichrist
• Dispensationalism
• Number of the Beast
• Prophecy
• Rapture

Further reading

• Moorhead, James H. "Between Progress and Apocalypse: A Reassessment of Millennialism in American Religious Thought, 1800-1880," Journal of American History, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Dec., 1984), pp. 524-542 in JSTOR
• Sandeen, The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and American Millenarianism, 1800-1930 (1970), the standard scholarly history
• Weber, Timothy P. Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming: American Premillennialism, 1875-1982 (2nd ed. 1987)