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Rev. 4:4; 6:9, it is far more likely that the scene is laid in heaven. (6) It also deserves notice that
the passage makes no mention whatsoever of Palestine, of Jerusalem, of the temple, and of the
Jews, the natural citizens of the millennial kingdom. There is not a single hint that these are in
any way concerned with this reign of a thousand years. For a detailed interpretation of this
passage from the Amillennial point of view we refer to Kuyper, Bavinck, De Moor, Dijk,
Greydanus, Vos, and Hendriksen.
B. POSTMILLENNIALISM.
The position of Postmillennialism is quite the opposite of that taken by Premillennialism
respecting the time of the second coming of Christ. It holds that the return of Christ will follow
the millennium, which may be expected during and at the close of the gospel dispensation.
Immediately after it Christ will come to usher in the eternal order of things. In the discussion of
Postmillennialism it will be necessary to distinguish two different forms of the theory, of which
the one expects the millennium to be realized through the supernatural influence of the Holy
Spirit, and the other expects it to come by a natural process of evolution.
1. DIFFERENT FORMS OF POSTMILLENNIALISM.
a. The earlier form.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries several Reformed
theologians in the Netherlands taught a form of Chiliasm, which would now be called
Postmillennialism. Among them were such well-known men as Coccejus, Alting, the two
Vitringas, d’Outrein, Witsius, Hoornbeek, Koelman, and Brakel, of which some regarded the
millennium as belonging to the past, others thought of it as present, and still others looked for
it in the future. The majority expected it toward the end of the world, just before the second
coming of Christ. These men rejected the two leading ideas of the Premillenarians, namely, that
Christ will return physically to reign on earth for a thousand years, and that the saints will be
raised up at His coming, and will then reign with him in the millennial kingdom. While their
representations differed in some details, the prevailing view was that the gospel, which will
gradually spread through the whole world, will in the end become immeasurably more effective
than it is at present, and will usher in a period of rich spiritual blessings for the Church of Jesus
Christ, a golden age, in which the Jews will also share in the blessings of the gospel in an
unprecedented manner. In more recent years some such Postmillennialism was advocated by
D. Brown, J. Berg, J. H. Snowden, T. P. Stafford, and A. H. Strong. The last named theologian
says that the millennium will be “a period in the later days of the Church militant, when, under
the special influence of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the martyrs shall appear again, true religion
be greatly quickened and revived, and the members of Christ’s churches become so conscious
of their strength in Christ that they shall, to an extent unknown before, triumph over the power
of evil both within and without.”[Syst. Theol., p. 1013.] The golden age of the Church will, it is