To understand why, it helps to contrast amillennialism with the forms of premillennialism that dominate much of American evangelicalism. Premillennial theology tends to read biblical prophecy through a futurist lens, where many events described in books like Daniel and Revelation are still waiting to occur in the future. In these systems you often find an elaborate End Times timeline: the Rapture, the Tribulation, the rise of the Antichrist, the Battle of Armageddon, a literal thousand year reign of Christ upon the earth, and then the Final Judgment. Current world events become signs to be interpreted, clues to be uncovered, and a code to be cracked. Geopolitical conflicts become charged with apocalyptic significance.
By contrast, the Churches of Christ have historically endorsed amillennialism. In amillennial theology, the "thousand year reign" described in Revelation is not understood as a future literal political kingdom established upon the earth after the return of Christ. Rather, the millennium is understood symbolically, referring to the current reign of Christ through the church age between the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and his eventual Second Coming and Final Judgment. Consequently, amillennialism does not expect a future sequence of End Times events involving a Rapture, Tribulation, rise of the Antichrist, Battle of Armageddon, and a literal thousand year earthly reign of Christ centered upon geopolitical developments in the Middle East.
This understanding of Revelation and biblical prophecy is closely connected to what is called preterism. Preterism holds that biblical prophecies, especially those found in Daniel and Revelation, were fulfilled in the first century through events such as the destruction of Jerusalem, the persecution of the early church, the conflict between Christianity and the Roman Empire, and the fall of Rome. This stands in sharp contrast to premillennial futurism, which reads these prophecies as predicting events still awaiting fulfillment in our future. In futurism, Revelation is used to predict coming geopolitical upheavals and apocalyptic events. In preterism, Revelation was primarily addressing the suffering, hopes, and historical circumstances of the early Christians to whom it was originally written.
Historically, most Churches of Christ subscribed not to full preterism, but to partial preterism. Full preterism holds that all biblical prophecy, including the Second Coming and Final Judgment, has already occurred. Partial preterism, by contrast, holds that most prophecy has been fulfilled except for the future bodily return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the Final Judgment. Thus, the only great prophetic event remaining is the Second Coming of Christ, though it should be mentioned that full preterism is espoused by some within the Churches of Christ.
Concerning the Second Coming, our tradition emphasized two things over and over again. First, it would be absolutely unpredictable. Jesus would come "like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Second, it would happen instantaneously, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52). Consequently, the Christian posture was not speculation, prediction, or code-cracking. The posture was watchfulness, faithfulness, and readiness. Trying to decipher newspaper headlines, identify the Antichrist, or connect world events to secret prophetic timelines was viewed as pointless and useless.
To put the matter plainly, according to amillennialism there is nothing currently happening in the Middle East, nor will anything ever happen in the Middle East, that affects the Second Coming.
I praised this amillennial and preterist tradition in my sermon because of how it has protected us from much of the premillennial madness that has twisted evangelical political theology.
Two obvious things jump out at me about this saner eschatology.
First, growing up in an amillennial tradition gives you some immunity to conspiratorial thinking. I didn't grow up reading Revelation as a code to be cracked or becoming fretful about "signs of the end times" playing out in daily news events. Politics, in our tradition, lacked apocalyptic intensity. This has largely protected us from going down conspiratorial YouTube rabbit holes trafficking in premillennial fever dreams.
Second, and more importantly, amillennialism has allowed us to care for and love all the people of the Middle East fully and equally, both Israeli and Palestinian. If the modern state of Israel possesses no prophetic role in ushering in the End Times, then we are freed from treating one population as actors in a divine script and the other as disposable background characters in an apocalyptic drama. We can simply see human beings. Human suffering. Human dignity. Human tragedy. Human neighbors to be loved. My amillennial tradition has allowed me to look upon a troubled world without bias or prejudice against anyone. My love doesn't have to pick a side.
