Thomas Schreiner, in a sermon on Revelation 20:1-15, has stated that his view of the millennium has switched from amillennial to premillennial as a result of his study of the passage. I just listened to the sermon and would recommend that others do so as well. My encouragement is not based on the fact that he has moved to a position that I hold. Rather, it is because it is worth listening to a seasoned, cautious scholar who has wrestled with a difficult doctrine. Schreiner demonstrates in the sermon how he observed the plain meaning of the text and found the postmillennial and amillennial positions lacking in terms of their ability to handle the argument of Revelation as well as the theology of the NT in terms of Satan being bound and the biblical teaching of the resurrection.

It is hard for all of us who interpret Scripture to lay aside our presuppositions or pre-knowledge whenever we come to Scripture afresh. I am more impressed with Schreiner’s approach and attitude toward the text than I am with where he landed.

Categories: Eschatology, Preaching