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In Christian end-times theology (eschatology), postmillennialism is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ's second coming as occurring ''after'' (Latin ''post-'') the "Millennium", a Golden Age in which Christian ethics prosper.〔 David T. Steineker, ''The Greatest Commandment: Matthew 22:37'' (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2010), 132.〕 The term subsumes several similar views of the end times, and it stands in contrast to premillennialism and, to a lesser extent, amillennialism (see Summary of Christian eschatological differences). Postmillennialism holds that Jesus Christ establishes his kingdom on earth through his preaching and redemptive work in the first century and that he equips his church with the gospel, empowers her by the Spirit, and charges her with the Great Commission (Matt 28:19) to disciple all nations. Postmillennialism expects that eventually the vast majority of men living will be saved. Increasing gospel success will gradually produce a time in history prior to Christ's return in which faith, righteousness, peace, and prosperity will prevail in the affairs of men and of nations. After an extensive era of such conditions Jesus Christ will return visibly, bodily, and gloriously, to end history with the general resurrection and the final judgment after which the eternal order follows. Postmillenialism was a dominant theological belief among American Protestants who promoted reform movements in the 19th and 20th century such as abolitionism〔 Randall M. Miller, ''Religion and the American Civil War'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 115.〕 and the Social Gospel.〔Douglas M. Strong, ''Perfectionist Politics: Abolitionism and the Religious Tensions of American Democracy'' (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002), 30.〕 Postmillennialism has become one of the key tenets of a movement known as Christian Reconstructionism. It has been criticized by 20th century religious conservatives as an attempt to Immanentize the eschaton. ==Background== The Savoy Declaration of 1658 contains one of the earliest creedal statements of a postmillennial eschatology:
John Jefferson Davis notes that the postmillennial outlook was articulated by men like John Owen in the 17th century, Jonathan Edwards in the 18th century, and Charles Hodge in the 19th century. Davis argues that it was the dominant view in the nineteenth century, but was eclipsed by the other millennial positions by the end of World War I due to the "pessimism and disillusionment engendered by wartime conditions."〔John Jefferson Davis,''The Victory of Christ's Kingdom'' (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 1996), 21.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Postmillennialism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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