A) Ancient Churches
It was observed that the numbers mentioned in the Holy Scripture do not have a central position but a marginal one. The omission of symbolic numbers from the passages does not diminish their meaning. Nevertheless, the millenarians in the ancient church, as well as in our century, rely on numbers and try to draw conclusions or support their misbeliefs.
The interpretation of the 6 days of creation through the prism of Psalm 89:4 “a thousand years in your sight are but yesterday”. or of 2 Peter 3:8 “a day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day”. It led to the correlation of the 8th day with the millenarian conceptions of history. This view of history made much use of the gospel of Revelation 20:3-3, where the angel “seized the dragon…… who is the devil and Satan, and gave him a thousand years…….that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After these things he was loosed for a short time”.
Thus the duration of the present world was calculated at 6 millennia. After the end of this millennium the 7th millennium will come which is identified with the thousand-year reign according to Revelation chapter 20 verses 1-15.
The tradition of the thousand-year reign of Christ begins with the book of Revelation. Subsequently, this teaching was supported by ecclesiastical writers such as Papias, the Epistle of Barnabas, Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, Victor, Lactanius, the Ebionites, the Montanists. Augustine was also present in some millenarian tendencies. This millenarianism passed to Christianity from Judaism.
Justin Martyr and philosopher admits the bodily resurrection of the dead and considers those who deny the resurrection of the flesh to be non-Christians. Justin, however, while he speaks of bodily resurrection and a reign of a thousand years before the final resurrection and the general judgment, seems not to have this teaching as a theologian. For Irenaeus, as Harnack observed, we do not have clear evidence for the acceptance of millenarianism. The writers were forced to interpret the millennial reign of Christ on earth because of the provocation of the heretics. Their interpretation is not unbiblical. They are directed against the millenarianism that developed within the church.
Augustine in his work “The City of God” addresses the problem of millennialism after dealing with the collective evolution of the religious history of the world. He adapted its millennial tendencies to the 6 days of creation. Six periods of history with the following format. First period from Adam to Noah, second from Noah to Abraham, third from Abraham to David, fourth from David to the Babylonian captivity, fifth from the captivity to Christ and sixth from Christ to the end of the world. These time periods, except for the 6th which has an unknown duration, have specific time intervals and boundaries, but not necessarily the same duration.
Augustine summarizes the millenarian position. They were based primarily on the number of thousand years that should exist for the saints, some kind of compatibilism, they spoke of a first resurrection. A sacred rest after the trials of 6 periods, that is, 6 thousand years from the creation of the world because of that great sin that God expelled man from paradise and sent him to this mortal life. When the 6,000 years are completed, like 6 days, the seventh day of the Sabbath comes, that is, the last 10 years of the saints who rest to keep the Sabbath.
This opinion, says Augustine, could be accepted to a certain extent if there were also spiritual joys that the saints would enjoy before the presence of the Lord on that Sabbath. However, Augustine condemns the so-called endless meals. They can only be believed by carnal people.
Two things we can take from here: there is a millenarianism that Augustine absolutely condemns. It is the temporal perception of a human life with multiple pleasures that carnal people have nothing else to do with the millenarian ideal. Then there is a millenarianism that accepts a spiritual kingdom of God on earth. Augustine initially accepted this view. What happens to the six thousand years of revelation? It is the sixth millennium understood as of the day of which we are running through the last part. Then the Sabbath without a Sabbath will follow and it accepts the rest of the saints. This presupposes the perception of the division of the world into millennia and shows us that Augustine did not reject such a thing. What he rejects is the intermediate millennium between the sixth and the new world of the future. The 7th day here means the world of the future. The second interpretation sees in the thousand years the total time of the world. But Augustine prefers the former. Thus, the thousand years coincide with the sixth millennium inaugurated by Christ, that is, with the church in which the kingdom of Christ will be effectively exercised.
Unlike the ecclesiastical writers, Cerinthus introduces an elaborate form of a thousand-year kingdom of desires and pleasures. Gaius, early in the third century, preserves a useful piece of information about Cerinthus, according to what Gaius observes: Cerinthus was unbiblical since he preached a kingdom of pleasures and marriages and based his teaching on unknown apostolic revelations. Dionysius of Alexandria fought against these concepts because they destroyed the eschatology of the church.
Origen, Gaius, and Dionysius of Alexandria combat this type of carnal millenarianism. There are persons who believe that the fulfillment of the promises of a future kingdom will be in such a way as to satisfy the materialistic perceptions of people: Jerusalem will be rebuilt and all nations will serve them for the satisfaction of desires.
In the third century we have a clear polemic against materialistic millenarianism. This polemic contributed to the complete elimination of millenarianism in general in the church, however later in the dark ages of the Middle Ages tendencies appear that contributed to the re-emergence of millenarianism.
Jewish theology as contained in the Talmud believed that the messiah would gather from the diaspora all the scattered descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel, establish a kingdom and, with the Jewish people at its head, disperse the foreign rulers, and that with Jerusalem as its center, he would rule the entire earth, which would be full of temporary pleasures and happiness.
During the millennium, according to the teachings of the Talmud, the Messiah will resurrect from the dead the patriarchs, prophets, and other high priests of Israel, whom he will lead, along with living Jews, to the land of Canaan. According to these Jewish expectations, it is easy to know on what principles the Jews based the doctrine of millennialism. It is the Sabbath of God’s weeks.
Today the following Orthodox theological views prevail. The absolute kingdom of God is not yet a general reality. It began with the prophets to appear in the promise and was realized in Christ with the resurrection of those held captive by the devil and the death of souls is generalized in the sacramental life of the church and finally it will prevail fully during the second coming when all the dead will be resurrected with their bodies for the general judgment then the time of lawlessness and injustice will be abolished.
The quickening of the dead by the resurrection of the Lord and the incorruption of the inner man by the sacraments of the church constitute the first resurrection. This is the reign of the righteous with Christ for a thousand years, that is, an indefinite period. The body is not included in the first resurrection. The souls, not the bodies. It is not a thousand years of the bodily reign of the righteous.
On the contrary, the first resurrection is an event. This first resurrection will be experienced by those who live in Christ and those who will be saved in the future until the end of the age. In the first resurrection, the kingdom in Christ has already begun and is set on fire in its definitive triumph with the resurrection of the flesh. The time of the final victory is known only to God. The militant church is a reality of the spirit. And the kingdom of God is not a government or a state of restoration but the glory of God. That is why the militant church in the Holy Spirit mysteriously casts out demons. Only with the communion of the Holy Spirit can the believer become a partaker of the kingdom.
B) Newer appearance of millenarianism – Jehovah’s Witnesses
The latest appearance of millenarianism appeared in the New World in America. In this country the social, cultural and religious conditions were favorable. The sect was invented with the name initially “presenters” or “students of the scriptures”
The movement with the coming of the kingdom of God developed in 1844 with the movement Sekond Adventistes expected the second coming in 1844 and were called Millerites by Wellmo Meller. He spoke of the beginning of the end times in 1799 based on Daniel taught that the end of the world would come in 1843 but set the next year 1844. Some Adventist groups set the year 1874 as the time for the second coming of Christ. After this refutation, a disappointed one of them, N. Barbour, founded a new group and believed that the date 1874 was correct and that the second coming occurred invisibly. But the one who established the millenarian movement is Charles Russell – from Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States of America, he initially collaborated with N. Barbour. They jointly published the book “The Three Worlds and the Harvest”.
Russell 1852-1916 appeared on the scene in 1870 He was a commercial genius He claimed to have two ordinations one from God and one from men. In 1877 he abandoned the worldly and dealt with the spiritual, dedicating all his property to his work. He now had contributions from his followers He himself believed that this work was born His followers believed the same The theories of the Adventists became for Russell the model of similar thoughts and ideas. However, he himself defined 1878 as the time of cessation and rejection of the Christian world. In 1978 God’s favor began to withdraw from the churches and was given to Russell. From 1874 Christ returned while in 1878 he understood the coming of Christ. Then he began writing the books entitled “The Purpose and Manner of Our Lord’s Return” and “Food for Thinking Christians”. In 1879 Russell’s tower was built – he also published the magazine “Zion’s Watch Tower”. In 1881 he presented himself publicly and became God’s watchman, he became a faithful and wise steward after his tower evolved into the transformation of the Philadelphia Watch Tower Society, which was recognized by the law of Pennsylvania in 1884. Russell was an instrument of God, he was given the authority to offer food, he was shown to be superior to Paul, John and of all the fathers he admired Arius, whose teaching he repeated.
In his “gospel” the following dates are included
1799 beginning of the end times and its end in 1914
1872 end of 6000 years from Adam and Eve and beginning of the 7th millennium or millennial kingdom
1874 manifestation and beginning of the invisible second presence of Christ This year Jesus began the work of his preparation. Russell became a preacher of the second coming of Christ, the establishment of the kingdom and the restoration of humanity on earth, followers of this idea became known by the names “Russellists”, “people of the dawn of the millennium”, “millennialists”, “international association of students of the scriptures” and others
1878 shocking events beginning of the kingdom of Christ, resurrection of saints instantaneous change and the sleeping in heavenly glory
1881 note of the end of the high calling
1914 is the most dramatic and shocking chronology based on the famous “7 times of the nations”. Russell’s theory said that Jehovah granted a period of time from 606 BC to 1914 The nations of the earth would exercise government and after the end of this period Jehovah would destroy human governments (end of the world) and the kingdom of Christ would rule the earth. Also with 1914 other events have been connected such as the rapture of the “church” to the heavens and the resurrection of the prophets and the Jewish patriarchs to be the earthly rulers of the kingdom.
This was the “gospel” of the Watchtower Society for 50 years and many accepted it. After 1914, the irreparable shipwreck followed. The nations did not lose their power and still exist. The first world war in 1914 revived their hopes because the war is identified with the great tribulation that will bring the complete overthrow of all human governments. The end brought a difference of followers.
After Russell’s death, Rutherford takes over as a new leader, he sets new dates from 1918 to 1920 for the fulfillment of all that did not happen in 1914, followed by a new refutation. Russell is considered to have spoken his own words with pride for his prophecies. The company nevertheless set 1925. In 1921, a work by Judge Joseph Rutherford was published, “Millions of Living Species Will Never Die.” The new gospel of the watchtower, Rutherford based his theory for 1925 on the Jubilees, contradicts Russell, who taught that the antitypical jubilee began in 1875, while Rutherford did so in 1925. Thus, the events had to take place not in 1914 but in 1925. He said that we are waiting for 1925 which will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the well-known prophets, especially those named by the Apostle Paul in the 11th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews. Rutherford tried to come out in 1925 by citing the passages of Genesis chapter 15 verses 9 to 12 where animal sacrifices are mentioned. Then with money from the brothers he bought a large mansion for the settlement of the ancient prophets in the city of San Diego, California, which was called “Beith-Sarim” the house of lords. Finally, Rutherford settled there and died in 1941.
After the disaster of 1925, a new game of defining other chronologies begins with which the same events that did not happen in the published chronologies are prophetically connected
1799 beginning of the end times and end of years in 1914 now the beginning of 1914 and end in 1975
1872 end of six thousand years and the beginning of the 7th millennium 1943 is considered an accurate date in 1943 was found to be wrong by about 100 years. In 1964 it is revised and set at 1975. The end of this date is associated with the war of Armageddon. So for a decade from 1965 to 1975 the watchtower and the representatives of the “service area” “service area” thundered that Armageddon would be present in 1975. The brothers were afraid they did not marry they did not have children they did not make purchases and sales. The company made the largest real estate purchases they deceived the world. After the failure, the Watchtower tries to disclaim responsibility for what ordinary Jehovah’s Witnesses spread and what they falsely prophesied regarding 1975, mocking them and calling them seventy-fivers.
After the failure of the vague teaching of the establishment of the kingdom of heaven today they say that the great tribulation is coming, this is what the speakers of their assemblies declared
When the brothers of the faith, brother Saint Russell, founded his organization with the numbers 1874 1875 1914, he wanted to prove that the great pyramid of Cheops had been built by Melchizedek and that it is a stone witness of God. The great pyramid is located in Egypt near Cairo and is a witness of Jehovah. He said that individual parts of the pyramid symbolize many historical events and many prophetic elements, including the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the angel of Laodicea, Russell appears as the only one who holds the office of the wise and discreet slave of the master.
Rutherford, with his writings, overturned Russell’s teaching and brought turmoil and division. Rutherford, trying to control the situation within the Brooklyn company, threw the slogan new light. Russell’s followers mocked Rutherford. The evil slaves, as Rutherford called Russell’s followers, were given the names “dawners”
The members of the organization, at an official general meeting held on July 26, 1931 in Columbus Ohio, decided to be called “Jehovah’s Witnesses”.
Antonios Papadopoulos, Professor, School of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
From his book MODERN HERESIES “RELIGIOUS” MOVEMENTS NEW AGE
P. POURNARAS PUBLICATIONS
