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SPECIAL ISSUE: MILLENNIUM -- BEYOND THE YEAR 2000 THE GREAT EVENT, Page 9Waiting for the End of the World
There's an undeniable tingle about 1,000 years. Some of it
stems from the magical allure of special numbers, and some of
it from Scripture. The 20th chapter of the New Testament book
of Revelation (or Apocalypse) inscribes a famous vision of
martyrs who "reigned with Christ a thousand years." This is the
origin of the celebrated capital-M Millennium (from the Latin
for thousand).
Most branches of Christianity agree with St. Augustine that
the 1,000 years stand symbolically for the ongoing spiritual
hegemony of Jesus Christ. An onward-and-upward millennial
version holds that believers will gradually establish a kingdom
of peace and righteousness on earth, preparing for Christ's
Second Coming. There has always been a millenarian undercurrent,
however, that rejects symbolism and holds Revelation 20 to mean
that Jesus will return to rule an earthly kingdom for literally
1,000 years.
Millennial expectations and predictions have been occurring
ever since the time of Jesus, but most, oddly, bear no relation
to the actual beginning of new centuries. One of the bloodiest
episodes came during the German Peasants' War of 1524-25, in
which preacher Thomas Muntzer, whose ravings anticipated Marx
by centuries, played a leading role. American preacher William
Miller prophesied that Jesus would return in 1843 or 1844.
Enthusiastic Millerites waited eagerly, only to see several
deadlines pass uneventfully. Many Jehovah's Witnesses, led to
expect the End, most recently in 1975, have left the apocalyptic
group in confusion. The latest bout of millennial fever is said
to be occurring among Christians in central China.
The remedy for such supposedly biblical miscalculations can
be found in the Bible itself. Concerning the End, Jesus told his
followers that "you know neither the day nor the hour." And St.
Peter's second Epistle reminds believers that "with the Lord one
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Good verses to memorize as Anno Domini 1999 approaches.