[John F. Walvoord, President and Professor of Systematic Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary, Editor, Bibliotheca Sacra.] [EDITOR’S NOTE: This series, begun in Bibliotheca Sacra with the January-March, 1975 issue, is published in book form under the title The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976). This article is adapted from chapter 11 in the book. The series will continue through the January-March 1978 issue.] Probably one of the most dif...

(Continued from the January-March Number, 1941)

{Editor’s note: Footnotes in the printed original were numbered from 19-24, but in this electronic edition are numbered from 1-6, respectively.}

{Editor’s note: Footnotes in the original printed edition were numbered 4-11, but in this electronic edition are numbered 1-8 respectively.}

(Continued from the October-December Number, 1950) While amillennialism has its influence in all areas of theology, it is natural that it should affect eschatology more than any other. As a form of denial of a future millennial kingdom on earth, it stands in sharp contrast to premillennial eschatology. In previous discussion of amillennialism, it has been brought out that amillennialism is by no means a unified theology, including within its bounds such diverse systems as modern liberal...

Argument from the necessity of an interval between the translation and the establishment of the millennial kingdom. A careful study of related Scripture will demonstrate that an interval of time between the translation of the church and the coming of Christ to establish the millennial kingdom is absolutely necessary because certain events must take place in the intervening period. In general, the argument depends upon four lines of evidence: (1) intervening events in heaven; (2) intervenin...

The revelation of the second coming of Christ is one of the most important ard most frequently mentioned doctrines of the New Testament. One out of every twenty-five verses in the New Testament refers either to the rapture of the church or to Christ’s coming to reign over the world (cf. Jesse Forrest Silver, The Lord’s Return, p. 29). Though it is not always possible to distinguish references to Christ’s coming for the church from references to His coming to establish His earthly kin...

The Resurrection at the Second Advent One of the major revelations concerning the second coming of Christ is the prediction of the resurrections which will take place at that time. According to Revelation 20:4-6, the event described as the “first resurrection” takes place immediately after the second coming. The Apostle John records the vision in the following words: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had ...

The Heavenly Jerusalem One of the theological problems in relation to the doctrine of the millennium is the Scriptural teaching concerning the heavenly Jerusalem. This has not only confused opponents of premillennialism, but often has not been understood by those who hold to a millennial reign of Christ. Bound up in the problem also is the question of the relation of resurrected saints to the inhabitants of the millennial kingdom who are still in their natural bodies. Opponents of premi...