Monday, March 12, 2007

Problems with Premillennialism

For those interested in studying eschatology--and who are open to considering an articulate case on behalf of ammillenialism--check out this series of studies by Sam Storms. (Unfortunately, for some reason the link won't work in Firefox, so I'm copying the whole list of studies to the end of this post.)

I recently read Storms's overview on Problems with Premillennialism, which shows why premillennialism can't be squared with passages like 1 Cor. 15:22-28; 1 Cor. 15:50-57; Rom. 8:18-23; 2 Pet. 3:8-13; Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Thess. 1:5-10; and John 5:28-29.

In my (hopefully humble) opinion, these passages are clear that when Christ comes, it's "curtains" on sin and death. There will be a final judgment and a final resurrection, with a new heavens and a new earth.

Nowhere do I see Scripture teaching things like there being both glorified bodies and unglorified bodies on earth at the same time--and I have to confess that the idea of such seems quite unsettling and depressing to me.

I'm open to being persuaded that I'm wrong. Most of my exegetical heroes are pre-mill, post-trib. But books like Hans laRondelle's The Israel of God in Prophecy and especially Anthony Hoekema's The Bible and the Future put me over the edge exegetically.

I know that this issue is a hot potato, a can of worms, or (insert your own cliche here ______). I recognize that people have strong feelings about this. So I ask that any interaction in the comments be measured and respectful. You can go after ideas, but not persons. And please use arguments instead of just stating opinions.

Here is the list of studies by Storms:

HT: Justin Taylor

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