3d. Modern premillenarians, while differing among themselves as to the details of their interpretations, agree substantially with the view just stated. Hence they are called Premillenarians, be- cause they believe the advent of Christ will occur before the Millenium.
9. What are the principal Scriptural arguments against this view t
1st. The theory is evidently Jewish in its origin and Jew- daizing in its tendency.
2d. It is not consistent with what the Scriptures teach. (1.) As to the nature of Christ's kingdom, e. g., a that it is not of this world but spiritual, Matt, xiii., 11-44 ; John xviii., 36 ; Kom. xiv., 17 ; b that it was not to be confined to the Jews, Matt, viii., 11, 12 ; c that regeneration is the condition of admis- sion to it, John iii., 3,5; d that the blessings of the kingdom are
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purely spiritual, as pardon, sanctification, etc., Matt, iii., 2, 11 ; Col. i., 13, 14. (2.) As to the fact that the kingdom of Christ has already come. He has sat upon the throne of his Father David ever since his ascension, Acts ii., 29-36 ; iii., 13-15 ; iv., 26-28 ; v., 29-31 ; Heb. x., 12, 13 ; Rev. iii., 7-12. The Old Testament prophecies, therefore, which predict this kingdom must refer to the present dispensation of grace, and not to a future reign of Christ on earth in person among men in the flesh.
3d. The second advent is not to occur until the resurrection, when all the dead, both good and bad, are to rise at once, Dan. xii., 2 ; John v., 28, 29 ; 1 Cor. xv., 23 ; 1 Thes. iv., 16 ; Rev. xx., 11-15. Only one passage, (Rev. xx., 1-10,) is even appar- ently inconsistent with the fact here asserted. For the true inter- pretation of that passage see next question.
4th. The second advent is not to occur until the simultaneous judgment of all men, the good and the bad together, Matt, vii., 21, 23 ; xiii., 30-43 ; xvi., 24, 27 ; xxv., 31-46 ; Rom. ii., 5, 16; 1 Cor. iii., 12-15 ; 2 Cor. v., 9-11 ; 2 Thes. i., 6-10 ; Rev. xx., 11-15.
5th. The second advent is to be attended with the general conflagration, and the generation of the " new heavens and the new earth/' 2 Pet. iii., 7-13 ; Rev. xx., 11 ; xxi., 1. — " Brown on the Second Advent."
10. What considerations favor the spiritual and oppose the literal interpretation of Rev. xx., 1-10 ?
The spiritual interpretation of this difficult passage is as fol- lows : Christ has in reserve for his church a period of universal expansion and of preeminent spiritual prosperity, when the spirit and character of the " noble army of martyrs" shall be repro- duced again in the great body of God's people in an unprece- dented measure, and when these martyrs shall, in the general triumph of their cause, and in the overthrow of that of their enemies, receive judgment over their foes and reign in the earth ; while the party of Satan, " the rest of the dead," shall not flourish again until the thousand years be ended, when it shall prevail again for a little season.
The considerations in favor of this interpretation of the passage are—
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1st. It occurs in one of the most highly figurative books of the Bible.
2d. This interpretation is perfectly consistent with ail the other more explicit teachings of the Scriptures on the several points involved.
3d. The same figure, viz., that of life again from the dead, is frequently used in Scripture to express the idea of the spiritual revival of the church, Is. xxvi., 19 ; Ezek. xxxvii., 12-14 ; Hosea vi., 1-3 ; Rom. xi., 15 ; Rev. xi., 11.
The considerations bearing against the literal interpretation of this passage are —
1st. That the pretended doctrine of two resurrections, i. e., first of the righteous, and then, after an interval of a thousand years, of the wicked, is taught nowhere else in the Bible, and this single passage in which it occurs is an obscure one. This is a strong presumption against the truth of the doctrine.
2d. It is inconsistent with what the Scriptures uniformly teach as to the nature of the resurrection body, i. e., that it is to be "spiritual," not "natural/' or "flesh and blood," 1 Cor. xv., 44. It is, on the contrary, an essential part of the doctrine as- sociated with the literal interpretation of this passage, that the saints, or at least the martyrs, are to rise and reign a thousand years in the flesh, and in this world as at present constituted.
3d. The literal interpretation of this passage contradicts the clear and uniform teaching of the Scriptures, that all the dead, good and bad, are to rise and be judged together at the second coming of Christ, and the entire revolution of the present order of creation. See the Scripture testimonies collected under the preceding question.
11. Shoiv that the future general conversion of the Jews is taught in Scripture ?
This Paul, in Rom. xi., 15-29, both asserts and proves from Old Testament prophecies, e. g., Isa. lix., 20 ; Jer. xxxi., 31. See also Zech. xii., 10 ; 2 Cor. iii., 15, 16.