Heaven Misplaced is a really good introductory book on postmillenialism, and it really helped fill in some gaps in my understanding. Wilson describes his view of historical optimism in the introduction in this way:
This is the view that the gospel will continue to grow and flourish throughout the world, more and more individuals will be converted, the nations will stream to Christ, and the Great Commission will finally be successfully completed. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. When that happens, generation after generation will love and serve the Lord faithfully. And then the end will come. (10)Wilson argues that evangelicals nowadays place Heaven as the ultimate destination instead of looking toward the time in which Christians will inherit the earth.
When we die, before the harvest of all history, what happens to us? We of course go to be with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). But over time, this intermediate state, this very temporary state of affairs, somehow became for us our central hope, something we call "going to heaven." We have drifted into a very Greek idea of the immortality of the soul, up in another heavenly dimension somewhere, and we have lost the Hebraic truth of the resurrection of the dead. Instead of the physical, we have spiritual, and instead of here we have substituted there. But this is not the biblical hope.
The Bible doesn't generally speak in our popular way of "going to heaven when we die" - not that it is technically wrong. If we die before the Second Coming, we will go to be with the Lord. We do go to heaven when we die. The problem is that this interim state has become our overarching paradigm, replacing the biblical hope. The final biblical hope is heaven coming here. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Mt. 6:10). Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth (Mt. 5:5). We look to heaven, not so much because that is where we are going in order to be finally saved, but because that is where our salvation is coming from (Phil. 3:20-21).The book used Scripture convincingly, and it's hard for me to now understand those passages in another way. I particularly liked his exhortation for Christians to believe their Christmas cards (e.g. Isaiah 9:6-7).
I'm pretty well convinced of Wilson's position, but I do plan to follow up this read with Paradise Restored by David Chilton (another post-mill read) and The Case for Amillenialism by Kim Riddlebarger (which I started reading a few years ago).
Read Riddlebarger's book. After that, postmillennialism just doesn't make too much sense, and Doug Wilson's particular brand seems silly.
ReplyDeleteChristian,
ReplyDeleteWhat have you found to be different in Doug Wilson's position from other postmillenialists? Other than it being "silly"?
The main difference between Doug Wilson's camp and other postmillennialists (like the Puritans) is how the new age comes about. Old-school postmillennialists say that it's a grassroots, bottom-up change through revivals and mission work. Wilson and other Reconstructionists say it's top-down through government and institutions. I don't think traditional postmillennialists would envision a campaign for a new Christendom a la the Middle Ages to be central to God's plan.
ReplyDeleteThe "silly" comment stems from what I see as a total lack of biblical evidence that God's kingdom is to come through the work of government institutions and politics. I could possibly see it coming from the institution of the church (like traditional postmillennialists would say), but only if it's through the preaching of the gospel and not political influence.
I've heard Doug Wilson say on specifically on several occasions that he does not believe that God's kingdom is ushered in through government. And I certainly did not get that from Heaven Misplaced. Is there some kind of reference you could give me for that? Like one of his books, sermons, or even a blog post?
ReplyDelete