What is the Basis of Millennial Belief?

by Harley Pinon

with excepts from

 Views of the Millennium by R. C. Clouse

published in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology

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The following excerpt gives a brief summary of some of the basic idea of the "Millennial belief"

  Millennium, Views of the. The word "millennium" is derived from the Latin for a thousand (at times the word "chiliasm" taken from the Greek and meaning the same thing is used). It denotes a doctrine taken from a passage in Revelation (20:1-10) in which the writer describes the devil as being bound and thrown into a bottomless pit for a thousand years. The removal of Satanic influence is accompanied by the resurrection of the Christian martyrs, who reign with Christ during the millennium" -- from Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.

The basic idea of the the millennial reign of Christ is pretty simple.  As indicated in the above quotation, millennium just means 1,000 years.  So what is so controversial about the millennium?  I don't think the controversy is over the literal meaning of millennium, but various groups have chosen to make the 1,000 years a figurative time such as a long time.  Once this is done, then various times may be meant.  Some like to say that the millennium actually began on the first Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.  Well, the thousand years has now become 2,000 actual years.  For my part, I don't have a problem with making the 1,000 years a literal 1,000 years, or something close to that. 

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