[geocentrism] Re: Psalm 19/ Christ 2nd Return
- From: allendaves@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- To: geocentrism@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:27:25 -0700 (PDT)
Phil it is not a matter of interpritaion..you either accept what it states or
not.....if i miss quote or somthing fine but im not interpreting anything....
besides..."learn in us not to think of men ( including your Historical figures)
beyond what is written..how simple is that?
--- On Thu, 8/21/08, philip madsen <pma15027@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: philip madsen <pma15027@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [geocentrism] Re: Psalm 19/ Christ 2nd Return
To: geocentrism@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2008, 6:47 PM
Whilst I admire your imaginative interpretations, and even welcome the variety,
I do not think you have considered all the aspects of historical and scriptural
evidence.
Millennium and Millenarianism
The fundamental idea of millenarianism, as understood by Christian writers, may
be set forth as follows: At the end of time Christ will return in all His
splendour to gather together the just, to annihilate hostile powers, and to
found a glorious kingdom on earth for the enjoyment of the highest spiritual
and material blessings; He Himself will reign as its king, and all the just,
including the saints recalled to life, will participate in it. At the close of
this kingdom the saints will enter heaven with Christ, while the wicked, who
have also been resuscitated, will be condemned to eternal damnation. The
duration of this glorious reign of Christ and His saints on earth, is
frequently given as one thousand years. Hence it is commonly known as the
"millennium", while the belief in the future realization of the kingdom is
called "millenarianism" (or "chiliasm", from the Greek chilia, scil. ete).
This term of one thousand years, however, is by no means an essential element
of the millennium as conceived by its adherents. The extent, details of the
realization, conditions, the place, of the millennium were variously described.
Essential are the following points:
the early return of Christ in all His power and glory,
the establishment of an earthly kingdom with the just,
the resuscitation of the deceased saints and their participation in the
glorious reign,
the destruction of the powers hostile to God, and,
at the end of the kingdom, the universal resurrection with the final judgment,
after which the just will enter heaven, while the wicked will be consigned to
the eternal fire of hell.
The roots of the belief in a glorious kingdom, partly natural, partly
supernatural, are found in the hopes of the Jews for a temporal Messiah and in
the Jewish apocalyptic. Under the galling pressure of their political
circumstances the expectation of a Messiah who would free the people of God had
in the Jewish mind, assumed a character that was to a great extent earthly; the
Jews longed above all for a saviour who would free them from their oppressors
and restore the former splendour of Israel. These expectations generally
included the belief that Jehovah would conquer all powers hostile to Himself
and to His chosen people, and that He would set up a final, glorious kingdom of
Israel. The apocalyptic books, principally the book of Henoch and the fourth
book of Esdras, indicate various details of the arrival of the Messiah, the
defeat of the nations hostile to Israel, and the union of all the Israelites in
the Messianic kingdom followed by the renovation
of the world and the universal resurrection.
The natural and the supernatural are mingled in this conception of a Messianic
kingdom as the closing act of the world's history. The Jewish hopes of a
Messiah, and the descriptions of apocalyptic writers were blended; it was
between the close of the present world-order and the commencement of the new
that this sublime kingdom of the chosen people was to find its place. That many
details of these conceptions should remain indistinct and confused was but
natural, but the Messianic kingdom is always pictured as something miraculous,
though the colours are at times earthly and sensuous. The evangelical accounts
clearly prove how fervently the Jews at the time of Christ expected an earthly
Messianic kingdom, but the Saviour came to proclaim the spiritual kingdom of
God for the deliverance of man from his sins and for his sanctification, a
kingdom which actually began with His birth. There is no trace of chiliasm to
be found in the Gospels or in the Epistles
of St. Paul; everything moves in the spiritual and religious sphere; even the
descriptions of the end of the world and of the last judgment bear this stamp.
The victory over the symbolical beast (the enemy of God and of the saints) and
over Antichrist, as well as the triumph of Christ and His saints, are described
in the Apocalypse of St. John (Revelation 20-21), in pictures that resemble
those of the Jewish apocalyptic writers, especially of Daniel and Henoch. Satan
is chained in the abyss for a thousand years, the martyrs and the just rise
from the dead and share in the priesthood and kingship of Christ. Though it is
difficult to focus sharply the pictures used in the Apocalypse and the things
expressed by them, yet there can be no doubt that the whole description refers
to the spiritual combat between Christ and the Church on the one hand and the
malignant powers of hell and the world on the other. Nevertheless, a large
number of Christians of the
post-Apostolic era, particularly in Asia Minor, yielded so far to Jewish
apocalyptic as to put a literal meaning into these descriptions of St. John's
Apocalypse; the result was that millenarianism spread and gained staunch
advocates not only among the heretics but among the Catholic Christians as
well.
One of the heretics, the Gnostic Cerinthus, who flourished towards the end of
the first century, proclaimed a splendid kingdom of Christ on earth which He
would establish with the risen saints upon His second advent, and pictured the
pleasures of this one thousand years in gross, sensual colours (Caius in
Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", III, 28; Dionysius Alex. in Eusebius, ibid., VII, 25).
Later among Catholics, Bishop Papias of Hierapolis, a disciple of St. John,
appeared as an advocate of millenarianism. He claimed to have received his
doctrine from contemporaries of the Apostles, and Irenaeus narrates that other
"Presbyteri", who had seen and heard the disciple John, learned from him the
belief in millenarianism as part of the Lord's doctrine. According to Eusebius
(Hist. Eccl., 111, 39) Papias in his book asserted that the resurrection of the
dead would be followed by one thousand years of a visible glorious earthly
kingdom of Christ, and according to
Irenaeus (Adv. Haereses, V, 33), he taught that the saints too would enjoy a
superabundance of earthly pleasures. There will be days in which vines will
grow, each with 10,000 branches, and on each branch 10,000 twigs, and on each
twig 10,000 shoots, and in each shoot 10,000 clusters, and on each cluster
10,000 grapes, and each grape will produce 216 gallons of wine etc.
Millenarian ideas are found by most commentators in the Epistle of St.
Barnabas, in the passage treating of the Jewish sabbath; for the resting of God
on the seventh day after the creation is explained in the following manner.
After the Son of God has come and put an end to the era of the wicked and
judged them, and after the sun, the moon, and the stars have been changed, then
He will rest in glory on the seventh day. The author had premised, if it is
said that God created all things in six days, this means that God will complete
all things in six millenniums, for one day represents one thousand years. It is
certain that the writer advocates the tenet of a re-formation of the world
through the second advent of Christ, but it is not clear from the indications
whether the author of the letter was a millenarian in the strict sense of the
word. St. Irenæus of Lyons, a native of Asia Minor, influenced by the
companions of St. Polycarp, adopted millenarian
ideas, discussing and defending them in his works against the Gnostics (Adv.
Haereses, V, 32). He developed this doctrine mainly in opposition to the
Gnostics, who rejected all hopes of the Christians in a happy future life, and
discerned in the glorious kingdom of Christ on earth principally the prelude to
the final, spiritual kingdom of God, the realm of eternal bliss. St. Justin of
Rome, the martyr, opposes to the Jews in his Dialogue with Tryphon (ch. 80-1)
the tenet of a millennium and asserts that he and the Christians whose belief
is correct in every point know that there will be a resurrection of the body
and that the newly built and enlarged Jerusalem will last for the space of a
thousand years, but he adds that there are many who, though adhering to the
pure and pious teachings of Christ, do not believe in it. A witness for the
continued belief in millenarianism in the province of Asia is St. Melito,
Bishop of Sardes in the second century. He
develops the same train of thought as did St. Irenæus.
The Montanistic movement had its origin in Asia Minor. The expectation of an
early advent of the celestial Jerusalem upon earth, which, it was thought,
would appear in Phrygia, was intimately joined in the minds of the Montanists
with the idea of the millennium. Tertullian, the protagonist of Montanism,
expounds the doctrine (in his work now lost, "De Spe Fidelium" and in "Adv.
Marcionem", IV) that at the end of time the great Kingdom of promise, the new
Jerusalem, would be established and last for the space of one thousand years.
All these millenarian authors appeal to various passages in the prophetic books
of the Old Testament, to a few passages in the Letters of St. Paul and to the
Apocalypse of St. John. Though millenarianism had found numerous adherents
among the Christians and had been upheld by several ecclesiastical theologians,
neither in the post-Apostolic period nor in the course of the second century,
does it appear as a universal doctrine
of the Church or as a part of the Apostolic tradition. The primitive Apostolic
symbol mentions indeed the resurrection of the body and the return of Christ to
judge the living and the dead, but it says not a word of the millennium. It was
the second century that produced not only defenders of the millennium but
pronounced adversaries of the chiliastic ideas. Gnosticism rejected
millenarianism. In Asia Minor, the principal seat of millenarian teachings, the
so-called Alogi rose up against millenarianism as well as against Montanism,
but they went too far in their opposition, rejecting not only the Apocalypse of
St. John, alleging Cerinthus as its author, but his Gospel also. The opposition
to millenarianism became more general towards the end of the second century,
going hand in hand with the struggle against Montanism. The Roman presbyter
Caius (end of the second and beginning of the third century) attacked the
millenarians. On the other hand,
Hippolytus of Rome defended them and attempted a proof, basing his arguments
on the allegorical explanation of the six days of creation as six thousand
years, as he had been taught by tradition.
The most powerful adversary of millenarianism was Origen of Alexandria. In view
of the Neo-Platonism on which his doctrines were founded and of his
spiritual-allegorical method of explaining the Holy Scripture, he could not
side with the millenarians. He combatted them expressly, and, owing to the
great influence which his writings exerted on ecclesiastical theology
especially in Oriental countries, millenarianism gradually disappeared from the
idea of Oriental Christians. Only a few later advocates are known to us,
principally theological adversaries of Origen. About the middle of the third
century, Nepos, bishop in Egypt, who entered the lists against the allegorism
of Origen, also propounded millenarian ideas and gained some adherents in the
vicinity of Arsino . A schism threatened; but the prudent and moderate policy
of Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, preserved unity; the chiliasts abandoned
their views (Eusebius "Hist. Eccl.", VII, 14). Egypt seems
to have harboured adherents of millenarianism in still later times Methodius,
Bishop of Olympus, one of the principal opponents of Origen at the beginning of
the fourth century, upheld chiliasm in his Symposion (IX, 1, 5). In the second
half of the fourth century, these doctrines found their last defender in
Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea and founder of Apollinarism (q.v.). His
writings on this subject, have been lost; but St. Basil of Caesarea (Epist.
CCLXIII, 4), Epiphanius (Haeres. LXX, 36) and Jerome (In Isai. XVIII) testify
to his having been a chiliast. Jerome also adds that many Christians of that
time shared the same beliefs; but after that millenarianism found no outspoken
champion among the theologians of the Greek Church.
In the West, the millenarian expectations of a glorious kingdom of Christ and
His just, found adherents for a long time. The poet Commodian (Instructiones,
41, 42, 44) as well as Lactantius (Institutiones, VII) proclaim the millennial
realm and describe its splendour, partly drawing on the earlier chiliasts and
the Sybilline prophecies, partly borrowing their colours from the "golden age"
of the pagan poets; but the idea of the six thousand years for the duration of
the world is ever conspicuous. Victorinus of Pettau also was a millenarian
though in the extant copy of his commentary on the Apocalypse no allusions to
it can be detected. St. Jerome, himself a decided opponent of the millenial
ideas, brands Sulpicius Severus as adhering to them, but in the writings of
this author in their present form nothing can be found to support this charge.
St. Ambrose indeed teaches a twofold resurrection, but millenarian doctrines do
not stand out clearly. On the
other hand; St. Augustine was for a time, as he himself testifies (De Civitate
Dei, XX, 7), a pronounced champion of millenarianism; but he places the
millennium after the universal resurrection and regards it in a more spiritual
light (Sermo, CCLIX). When, however, he accepted the doctrine of only one
universal resurrection and a final judgment immediately following, he could no
longer cling to the principal tenet of early chiliasm. St. Augustine finally
held to the conviction that there will be no millennium. The struggle between
Christ and His saints on the one hand and the wicked world and Satan on the
other, is waged in the Church on earth; so the great Doctor describes it in his
work De Civitate Dei. In the same book he gives us an allegorical explanation
of Chapter 20 of the Apocalypse. The first resurrection, of which this chapter
treats, he tells us, refers to the spiritual rebirth in baptism; the sabbath of
one thousand years after the six
thousand years of history is the whole of eternal life -- or in other words,
the number one thousand is intended to express perfection, and the last space
of one thousand years must be understood as referring to the end of the world;
at all events, the kingdom of Christ, of which the Apocalypse speaks, can only
be applied to the Church (De Civitate Dei, XX 5-7). This explanation of the
illustrious Doctor was adopted by succeeding Western theologians, and
millenarianism in its earlier shape no longer received support. Cerinthus and
the Ebionites are mentioned in later writings against the heretics as defenders
of the millennium, it is true, but as cut-off from the Church. Moreover, the
attitude of the Church towards the secular power had undergone a change with
closer connection between her and the Roman empire. There is no doubt that this
turn of events did much towards weaning the Christians from the old
millenarianism, which during the time of
persecution had been the expression of their hopes that Christ would soon
reappear and overthrow the foes of His elect. Chiliastic views disappeared all
the more rapidly, because, as was remarked above, in spite of their wide
diffusion even among sincere Christians, and in spite of their defence by
prominent Fathers of the early Church, millenarianism was never held in the
universal Church as an article of faith based on Apostolic traditions.
The Middle Ages were never tainted with millenarianism; it was foreign both to
the theology of that period and to the religious ideas of the people. The
fantastic views of the apocalyptic writers (Joachim of Floris, the
Franciscan-Spirituals, the Apostolici), referred only to a particular form of
spiritual renovation of the Church, but did not include a second advent of
Christ. The "emperor myths," which prophesied the establishment of a happy,
universal kingdom by the great emperor of the future, contain indeed
descriptions that remind one of the ancient Sybilline and millenarian writings,
but an essential trait is again missing, the return of Christ and the
connection of the blissful reign with the resurrection of the just. Hence the
millennium proper is unknown to them. The Protestantism of the sixteenth
century ushered in a new epoch of millenarian doctrines. Protestant fanatics of
the earlier years, particularly the Anabaptists, believed in a new,
golden age under the sceptre of Christ, after the overthrow of the papacy and
secular empires. In 1534 the Anabaptists set up in Münster (Westphalia) the new
Kingdom of Zion, which advocated sharing property and women in common, as a
prelude to the new kingdom of Christ. Their excesses were opposed and their
millenarianism disowned by both the Augsberg (art. 17) and the Helvetian
Confession (ch. 11), so that it found no admission into the Lutheran and
Reformed theologies. Nevertheless, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
produced new apocalyptic fanatics and mystics who expected the millennium in
one form or another: in Germany, the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren (Comenius);
in France, Pierre Jurien (L'Accomplissement des Propheties, 1686); in England
at the time of Cromwell, the Independents and Jane Leade. A new phase in the
development of millenarian views among the Protestants commenced with Pietism.
One of the chief champions of the
millennium in Germany was I.A. Bengel and his disciple Crusius, who were
afterwards joined by Rothe, Volch, Thiersch, Lange and others. Protestants from
Wurtemberg emigrated to Palestine (Temple Communities) in order to be closer to
Christ at His second advent. Certain fantastical sects of England and North
America, such as the Irvingites, Mormons, Adventists, adopted both apocalyptic
and millenarian views, expecting the return of Christ and the establishment of
His kingdom at an early date. Some Catholic theologians of the nineteenth
century championed a moderate, modified millenarianism, especially in
connection with their explanations of the Apocalypse; as Pagani (The End of the
World, 1856), Schneider (Die chiliastische Doktrin, 1859), Rohling (Erklärung
der Apokalypse des hl. lohannes, 1895; Auf nach Sion, 1901), Rougeyron Chabauty
(Avenir de l'Eglise catholique selon le Plan Divin, 1890).
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