He looked forward to a period of prosperity for the church, this to be during the first millennium when Satan would be bound. He expected the conversion of the nations and of the Jews by the preaching of the Gospel. Following this would come the second millennium during which the martyred saints (not all saints) would be raised and rule with Christ in heaven. But neither the beginning nor the end of either the first or the second millennium, he declares, would be known to men on earth. (On all this see his Erklaerte Offenbarung Johannis, comment on chapter 20). But while Bengel was not a premillennialist, his example encouraged apocalyptic studies and later premillennial speculations. As late as the first half of the nineteenth century a mild chiliasm was felt in certain theological circles of Germany, an example of which is Hengstenberg, who found in the revolutionary turmoils of 1848 the beginnings of the final conflict of Gog and Magog, in this case, as he put it, exemplified by Demagog.

These influences worked within the larger church bodies like Lutheranism, though without ever dominating the real thought of the church. A different influence was that working outside the great churches and appearing in the smaller separatist groups. These were the modern successors of the more radical circles of the Reformation period. In the first half of the nineteenth century there appeared in England the Irvingites and Plymouth Brethren, in this country the Adventists under Miller. Other movements appeared later: Mormonism, Dowieism, and Millennial Dawnism, and suggest, in connection with the first named, what wide differences there were among these groups. Common to them all

is the thought of a millennial kingdom to be established upon earth in some special manner. Certain other elements constantly recur, though not always present in any one instance: a verbal theory of inspiration, a frequent recourse to type and allegory, an emphasis on special gifts of the Spirit and often on special revelations, and the sharp criticism of the established churches and opposition to them. The emphasis upon a biblical and legalistic literalism is often joined with an attempt to reproduce primitive Christianity. From this source come the revival of practices like feet-washing and healings, the observance of the seventh day, the avoidance of pork, and so forth.

Our historical study has shown us the roots of modern premillennialism as these reach into the distant past, as well as the more recent movements upon which it is dependent. A brief summary of these historical conclusions is desirable before we consider modern premillennialism itself and its claim to represent the truest interpretation of Christianity.

1. In its fundamental point of view as a theology and as a program of salvation, modern premillennialism represents Jewish apocalypticism. It despairs of this age and looks to some sudden and unexpected deed of omnipotence to overthrow the old, and establish a new world. It has the same extreme emphasis upon divine sovereignty and the same fatalistic conception of world history.

2. The details of its system, especially of its conception of the millennial kingdom, it gets from the Old Testament through a doctrine of biblical literalism according to which every Jewish hope contained in the older Scriptures must be literally realized in the new day.

3. The order of its program, with its intermediate kingdom, it gets from the Jewish apocalypses through one passage in Revelation.

4. In its spirit and in its special ideas modern undenominational premillennialism has been strongly influenced by certain of the separatist movements of the last century, and particularly by the Plymouth Brethren. That is seen at such points as its teaching of the twofold return of Christ, and its extreme critical and condemnatory attitude toward the church.

THE CONTRAST OF OLD AND NEW

It is important, as we turn to a detailed study of modern premillennialism, that we shall not only recognize how it is connected with the past, but also the peculiar character which it has to-day. The change that has taken place will appear if we contrast this modern movement with the chiliastic hopes that were held in many parts of the church in the first two centuries. The early Christians lived in a hostile world, governed by forces that were always frankly pagan and sometimes threatened their very existence. They saw no hope for deliverance except by the destruction of the whole world-order. They believed that the age was near its end. In the midst of this darkness they felt that the Lord would speedily return and deliver them. They had no plans for the future because they did not expect any future. They had not worked out any system of doctrine in the matter. It was probably quite true, as Professor F. C. Porter has suggested, that Jewish apocalypticism never belonged to the schools, but was a laymen's theology; certainly that seems to have

been the case with apocalypticism in the early church.

Modern premillennialism faces a radically changed situation. It has to deal with the fact that nineteen centuries have passed, that several score generations have come and gone since that early day. It cannot ignore the fact that there is such a thing as a long Christian history for which some sort of meaning must be found. And unless it turns again to discredited calculations and fixing of dates, it must realize that there may still be long centuries and even millennia ahead of us here in this earth. The time is past when it can merely quote a passage and voice a hope. And so modern chiliasm differs radically from the simple and unreflective hope of that early day. It is no mere expectation of the speedy second coming of Christ. It is no mere teaching as to the order of certain events. It has of necessity become an elaborate system of doctrine, a complete outline of theology. It is an interpretation of Christianity claiming to give alone its true meaning. In Judaism and early Christianity these hopes were expressed with a certain freedom, marked with feeling and imagination, with no suggestion of logic and system. Modern premillennialism has become scholastic system, with rigid forms of thought and endless elaboration of doctrine.

PREMILLENNIALISM IN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
AND CREED

It is one of the ironies of the modern situation that in certain circles premillennialism wins adherents by a denunciation of its opponents as heretics and rationalists, joined to vigorous claims of orthodoxy for itself.

It is worth while, therefore, to look over the history of Christian thought from this standpoint.

First of all as regards Christian theology, almost from the beginning those who have shaped the thinking of the church that has expressed itself either in creed or in theological system have been opposed to this doctrine, or have simply left it to one side. It would be hard to find in the world of scholarship to-day a recognized theologian or biblical student of the first rank who stands on this side. Significant of the present-day situation is the statement made by Professor J. H. Snowden (The Coming of the Lord, p. 32), that as a result of investigation of the theological seminaries of eight denominations in this country he found but eight premillennialists among two hundred and thirty-six members of faculties. The premillennialist does not aid his cause by the frequent denunciation of schools and scholars with which this situation is often met.

Equally suggestive is a study of the great symbols in which the church has expressed her faith. The Apostles' Creed seems clearly to exclude premillennialism by its phrase, "from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." The Nicene Creed is a little more explicit: "He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end." The Athanasian Creed joins unmistakably a general resurrection and final Judgment with his return: "From whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; and shall give account for their own works. And they that are good shall go into life everlasting. and they that have done evil into everlasting fire."