Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

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.” 24 The golden age of the Church will, it is held, be followed by a brief apostasy,
24 Syst. Theol., p. 1013.
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