Postmillennial Texts

[Puritan Sailor]

I try to avoid terms like "literal" but we'll go with this. The postmillennialist and premillennialist understand this verse to refer to the space-time cosmos before the end of history. The amillennialist who is also a pessimist relegates this to "heaven." But that robs the verse of its force. Of course heaven will be filled with the glory of the Lord. That's a truism and not the issue at stake.

If the a-mill relegated this verse to space time history he would be a postmillennialist.

Or he would be one who believes the second coming, resurrection, and the new heavens/earth are historical events and thus do get fulfilled in time/space history.

That wasn't the issue, I think. There are texts (Isaiah 11, Psalm 72) where there are posited realities of a worldwide kingdom of God and creational blessings on a plane not yet experienced (for the record, I don't believe the postmillennialist can adequately explain this either). Such would seem to be "heaven." Then there is mention of "enemies" and those being turned to righteousness, which is impossible in heaven.

Why can't "heaven" reach backward to this age? We are are those upon whom the end of the ages have dawned right?

 

[RamistThomist]

Or he would be one who believes the second coming, resurrection, and the new heavens/earth are historical events and thus do get fulfilled in time/space history.

That wasn't the issue, I think. There are texts (Isaiah 11, Psalm 72) where there are posited realities of a worldwide kingdom of God and creational blessings on a plane not yet experienced (for the record, I don't believe the postmillennialist can adequately explain this either). Such would seem to be "heaven." Then there is mention of "enemies" and those being turned to righteousness, which is impossible in heaven.

Why can't "heaven" reach backward to this age? We are are those upon whom the end of the ages have dawned right?

It *could* but we would actually need to prove that this verse is talking about that. but there are verses (Psalm 72 et al) where it speaks of worldwide blessing but also speaks of enemies of God. But I believe, skipping to Rev 20, that the millennial blessings are sequential, not juxtapositional to the church age. To believe otherwise is a respected position, but it bears the burden of proof of showing how the two resurrections aren't physicalwhen all the evidence points that they are physical (the standard amill-postmill response is that one is spiritual and the other physical, but this needs to be proven, not assumed).

 

[Puritan Sailor]

I think we also need to keep in mind that Solomon an Isaiah were speaking from visions, given to them in their own cultural language. They didn't know how the Savior would do what they saw in the visions. That mystery wasn't revealed until Christ came.

 

[RamistThomist]

I think we also need to keep in mind that Solomon an Isaiah were speaking from visions, given to them in their own cultural language. They didn't know how the Savior would do what they saw in the visions. That mystery wasn't revealed until Christ came.

That is true...