In the last post in this series here Growing Christian Resources: Post #29 1700 Years of the Nicene Creed - the phrase "whose kingdom shall have no end" and evaluating millennial views, I spent time overviewing the major interpretive options for the millennium in Revelation 20. Our whole point was to interact with the Nicene Creed's affirmation "whose kingdom shall have no end".
In today's post I intend to wrap up this part of our study of the Nicene Creed by noting key hermeneutical or interpretive assumptions that govern where and why people conclude premillennialism, amillennialism, or postmillennialism. I will then make some final remarks on the relevance of this whole discussion to the Nicene Creed's statement about Christ's never ending kingdom.
What interpretive issues in Revelation 20 govern the millennial discussion?
1. Is Revelation 20:1-10 recapping current history from Christ's resurrection to 2nd coming or is it following from His 2nd coming in Revelation 19:11-21?
2. Is the reference to "First Resurrection" speaking of salvation or of a future resurrection of the righteous at Christ's return?
3. Is Revelation 20:1-10 detailing more than one resurrection or is there only one general resurrection of both righteous and the wicked at the end of history? Many will include discussion of 20:11-15 in answering this question.
4. Is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ only spiritual and present, spiritual and earthly with an already/not yet component or entirely earthly in the future?
5. Is the number "1,000" a literal reference to a future 1,000 year reign of Jesus or is it a symbolic round number referring to His current reign in Heaven over the earth or a little bit of both?
Why does the millennial discussion have relevance to the Nicene Creed's statement "who kingdom shall have no end"?
As I noted at the beginning of this post, the Nicene Creed does not tilt either way in the direction of any of the above millennial views. The Nicene Creed's main purpose is to summarize key affirmations of the Christian faith that Christians in all places and at all times may confess in a worship service.
The millennial discussion is relevant because of how it has us refocus our attention on the second coming of Jesus Christ and the manifestation of Himself, His Kingdom, and the end of the age. Furthermore, the millennial conversation draws our attention to how Christ will bring about what will be the perpetuation of His Kingdom into eternity long after this age and its kingdoms have passed off the scene.
Even how the first four or five centuries of church history construed these things reveals a lack of pure consensus. Yes, Chiliasm or Classical Premillennialism was the majority report in the beginning, however, a minority of church fathers held to some type of allegorized view of the millennium or in some cases, a half-way point between chiliasm and the allegorized view.
For the church fathers, the emphasis was on the resurrection of the body and the anticipation of Christ's "at-any-moment" return (which by the way is a hallmark detail of modern pretribulation, premillennial thought).
The eternal kingdom of Christ far exceeds the systematic expressions of eschatology found in the early church or even in the four main positions I outlined above. The Nicene Creed's standard, generalized expression of eschatological expectation keeps us focused on Christ's physical, bodily return and the unending nature of His Kingdom. In other words: keeping the main thing is the main thing.
Closing thoughts and what's next
As we've been at this series on the Nicene Creed, we journeyed through the detailed confessions of the deity and personhood of God the Father, the deity and humanity of the Son and His atoning work, resurrection, ascension, and soon return. In our next post we will begin to explore the Nicene Creed's statements on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. Stay tuned!
