Recently there has been an uptick of interest in postmillennialism, which is a particular eschatological view (that is, a view of the future or the “end time”) that was popular in the 19th century but has fallen out of favor since then. In the PCA, there is no requirement for pastors to hold to any one eschatological position, but most tend to lean toward amillennialism. That’s how I would have described myself for most of my ministry, but the postmil lately has gotten my attention.
According to Andrew Sandlin, the postmil view expects three things to happen sometime (and maybe a long way off) in the future: an extended era of earthly righteousness and peace; the incremental advancement of God's kingdom; and the presence of God to empower his people in their "kingdom-advancing commission" (p.33). Bottom line is that it is a very optimistic way of looking at the future.
In other words, the Christian hope is not that the world is going to get increasingly dark and evil as we get closer to Christ's return (even though that might appear to be the case in our current day). Instead, the overall number of Christians as a percentage of the population is going to get larger, not smaller. Should we expect anything less when the resurrected Christ, to whom is given all power and authority, is equipping and empowering the Great Commission?
One reason this book is valuable is that it presents a brief overview of each of the major eschatological views (dispensationalism, premillennialism and amillennialism). Then in the second half of the book, Sandlin reasons from scripture that postmillennialism makes the best sense of the entire Biblical story. (Sandlin admits that an optimistic amillennialism is basically the same as postmillennialism).
With eschatology in particular, it's easy to get so deep in the weeds that we miss the broad scope of redemptive history. Sandlin makes the case that the postmil view makes the best sense when we simply start in the first few chapters of Genesis, not in Revelation. "God's purpose is not chiefly to save man and fit him for heaven, but to restore him to covenant-keeping submission and his calling as God's dominion agent in the earth." (p.70).
Sandlin also dispels two common critiques of postmillennialism -- that it leads to a denial of Christ's second coming (a view called “full preterism,” which is plainly and accurately called “heresy" in ch. 6), and that it leaves no room for the reality of suffering since it is basically optimistic. "There is no room for a Christian army that craves victories without battles, glory without pain." (p.72). The fact that we can expect an “incremental advancement of God's kingdom” in the future does not mean there won’t be setbacks and various troubles for believers to contend with.
This book is short (77 pages), so by no means does it answer all the questions surrounding the timing and circumstances of Jesus’ second coming, but it’s a great place to start. Those interested in further reading on this topic should consider these options:
