He Shall Have Dominion

3
THE PESSIMISTIC MILLENNIAL VIEWS
“When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and
when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood in their midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” (Jn
20:19)
Discussing cosmic eschatology necessarily involves the entire sweep
of history, including the spiritual forces that impel history’s forward
movement toward its God-predestined consummation. It also includes
the complex series of events associated with the end of history. One
particular aspect in the popular debate, however, has risen to dominance:
the millennium. Some premillennialists even call the millennium “one of
1
the most controversial and intriguing questions of eschatology.” This
becomes all the more problematic in that the millennium derives from
Revelation 20 which itself is “one of the most divisive passages in the
Bible.” 2
1. Johnson, Revelation, 180.
2. Osborne, Revelation, 696.