A Case for Premillennialism

Book excerpt: Premillennialism is not a fundamental doctrine of evangelical faith. For example, the Bible certainly does not set it forth in the same unequivocal terms or give it the same central position that the deity of Christ, the vicarious atonement, or the second coming have. Yet to many evangelicals, premillennialism is not merely what the Bible teaches on some minor point. It has a special significance of its own among the "loci" of Christian faith. This view has increased immensely during the last century .... The cause of this relatively sudden shift toward premillennialism has never been adequately explained. Several factors certainly influenced it, such as the vastly increased depth of Bible study ..., the hermeneutical shift in churchly interpretation with its emphasis on the natural meaning of a passage in the context of the history and culture in which it was first given ..., and modern studies of the early church (which seem) to show it was not really amillennial but premillennial ... This book seeks to set forth in ... comprehensive fashion the biblical basis for premillennialism and its significance for evangelical faith.