Progress and Premillennialism

Progressivism everywhere—even and especially Christian progressivism—agrees with the Fabian Socialist Window, saying:

Hammer stoutly, pray devoutly … [to] remake [the world] to thy desire.

The grounding principle of progressivism is humans can “remake the world” by “hammering stoutly” to make the world a better place. Societies can be mended so people can flourish by “hammering stoutly.” Most, if not all, people living in such a mended society can, and will, flourish, reaching a significant fraction of their full potential by “hammering stoutly.” People will be nice to one another; there will be little or no poverty and no difference in outcomes for anyone, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, culture, color of their skin, etc.

The secular progressive believes they can achieve these ends through data and control (libertarian paternalism), so the “thy” in this quote is the progressive, and the “desire” is the progressive’s desire.

The Christian progressive emphasizes prayer in the quote above. Through the Spirit residing in the believer, the Christian can rule, creating a close-to-perfect society (perhaps over a thousand years, but this is still the ultimate goal). The “thy” in the quote is God, and the “desire” is God’s.

To build such a society, the Christian progressive must necessarily gain the reins of political and cultural power. The duty of Christian churches, then, is to build the people who can gain the reins of political and cultural power, using them to instantiate God’s desire.

To build such a society, churches should be building and elevating men of strong character, steeped in the Scriptures, guided by the Spirit, who can rightly order (rule) their families, rightly order (rule) their churches, and then rightly order (rule) their communities. Men broken by major sin need not apply; they have shown themselves unable to overcome major sin and, hence, unable to hold the reins of power.

If the world is a wilderness, Churches must create a garden—and the garden must spread out to become a kingdom. Spirit-filled Christians, ruling by Christian law, will build Christian nations. Once all the nations are ruled by Christians, under Christian law, Christ will return, see these kingdoms, all ruled by Christian men, and say: “Well done, my good and faithful servants.”

Thus, the progressive Christian—the postmillennial Christian—holds we can immanentize the eschaton. Perfection cannot be reached, but any remaining imperfections will be local and minor. The righteous will reign, and the world will be at peace.

Is this what the Scriptures or history teach us? No.

The progressive vision flounders at its most basic level: there are no people who can take the reins of power and instantiate God’s desire. Churches cannot build them. Schools cannot build them. Families cannot build them. There is no instance of such a man anywhere in the Scriptures (save one).

Abraham talked to God face to face, and he still fell to the sin of fear. Moses’ face glowed from his time with God, and he still fell to the sin of anger. David was a man after God’s heart, leading a nation to greatness, and he still fell to the sin of lust. Elijah was filled with the Spirit, working great miracles, and he still fell to the sin of despair.

Does the indwelling of the Spirit change this? If so, then wouldn’t the generations immediately following the resurrection of Christ be the most likely to do so? Wouldn’t the Roman Empire, through the Constantinian Synthesis, be the most likely to build such a nation (or nations)?

Have you read history? The Christian Empires were filled with as much sin as any other empire in the history of man. The Crusades contained great good, but they also contained great evil. The Papacy achieved great things, but the Papacy was (and still is) filled with great corruption. Calvin’s reign over Geneva was, at best, a mixed bag.

None of this should be surprising, given the fact of sin. The irony is those who claim to make the most of sin—saying sin is so great that God only saves by predestining some, changing their heart against their very will—also claim sin can be overcome in the individual human life to the degree that we can build men who will reign righteously. There is no Scripture passage or historical record to support this contention.

Scripture teaches salvation happens in stages. First, we are released from the immediate consequences of sin—we are reconciled to God via the blood of Christ. Second, we are released from the immediate power of sin—sin no longer reigns in our lives.

But even during this time, the old man lives on. We are still influenced by sin and give sin control over part of our lives. There is no person who, in their body, is free from the influence of sin. Hence, there is no person who, in their body, will not fall to either wealth or lust or power. Given enough temptation, every person will break on the rocks of sin (save one). This is the key and essential insight of those who wrote the United States Constitution, gleaned from history, philosophy, and the Scriptures—no man, nor any group of men, can be wholly trusted with the reins of power. Not even a Christian man.

Scripture teaches the heart is so filled with sin that we will always mistake our desire for God’s. “Hammering stoutly to remake it to thy desire” will necessarily never be God’s desire but our own.

When will any person be beyond the influence of sin enough to truly take the reins of power and rule righteously? When they are no longer in this body. When they are resurrected into a new body, and hence no longer under even the influence of sin.

The Scriptures describe the Millennial Reign in precisely these terms. God sets those who are resurrected—hence free from even the influence of sin—to reign for a time. The Earth will heal during this time. Communities and nations will be built. God will sit on his throne in Jerusalem. There will be one final rebellion at the end of this reign, and God will cleanse the Earth of all sin in fire. The remade Earth, filled with people free from the very influence of sin, will then continue for eternity.

This, then, is the premillennial message. Men are sinful, and giving men power over other men—even to “reshape their lives towards righteousness”—only encourages and enables the sin that lives in the heart of every person who has ever lived (save one). The power given to some men over other men must be carefully controlled by law set above the power; we must have governments of law rather than governments of men, even Christian men.

But isn’t the postmillennial view one of hope and growth, while the premillennial view is one of defeat? Must the world become ever worse until Christ returns? If there is no hope against the world system, should Christians withdraw from the world, ceasing to do the good they might otherwise do?

Sometimes, those who follow God might be better off withdrawing from the world, preserving the gardens they have built from the world. While not perfect, the monasteries preserved Christian thought through very secular times. The underground churches in Rome preserved Christianity through severe persecution. Elijah fled Israel in despair, and God told him there were 7000 faithful remaining. Lot fled from Sodom and Gomorrah.

Other times, churches and Christians must stand where they are and fight against the evil they see in the world. Mordecai and Esther fought against evil and won a great victory, so there is hope even in the times of greatest darkness. Scripture and history teach us that times are mixed. There is always great evil mixed with great good in the world. History ebbs and flows.

Christians should attune themselves to the times and do what is correct at the time rather than accepting that the world is on a permanent downward—or upward—trend. There is never a time when Christians must assume an entirely defensive position toward the world, and there is never a time when Christians must assume an entirely offensive position toward the world.

According to some, the Scriptures describe a world out of control, filled with evil, before Christ returns. These descriptions, however, relate to the time after Christianity has been removed from the Earth.

But isn’t every historical turn, every dispensational shift, accompanied by a world on the brink of disaster? It is certainly true that God changed the nature of his relationship to humanity via the Flood. This time is described as a time of great evil. On the other hand, God also changed his relationship with humanity during the Roman Empire, a time of great peace and prosperity. God is not restricted from acting in one way or another—he can just act.

Let me lay this image before you: God sometimes acts to change the course of history through the rapids or a waterfall. God sometimes acts to change the course of history through a little pond at a turning of the river of time. You cannot handle your boat the same in the pond at the turning as you can through the rapids. You must adjust to the turnings of the river.

Further, the very idea that we can pinpoint the time of Christ’s return by looking at the world’s state defies the logic of his return’s immanence.

What, then, should Christians and churches do?

Grow. Build. Create. Make a garden where you are. Create a garden where you are by building a family, a home, and a community. Sometimes, the garden will be large; sometimes, it will be small and hard to defend—but regardless of its size, building the garden is what God has given us to do. Be humble and realistic in your desire for reach and influence, knowing every man in history (save one) has broken on the wheel of great power or wealth.

Just because you can only build a garden does not mean you are doing nothing. Just because you build a garden does not mean you can build a kingdom. Just because you cannot build a kingdom does not mean you cannot build a garden.

The message of premillennialism is just this: set about building what is before you with hope and good cheer and leave the rest in God’s able hands.