Eschatologies Of Education

here is a wedding feast, and the eternal reign of Christ the King. On this, at least, Christians of all stripes, even a lot of the weird ones (heterodox? heretics? something else entirely?), agree about the end of days. The details are fuzzy, though, what with poetry and prophecy and tradition. Is this the future or something spiritual, always already eternally present, anno Domini? That’s “amillennialism” to the nerds. Is there a Rapture? Tribulations? Some apocalyptic season of testing that unveils the true earthly church and calls the Lord’s Chosen People back to Him on His Holy Mountain? That’s usually called “premillennialism,” or “dispensationalism,” and is discussed exhaustively by precocious Baptist kids every Wednesday night in youth groups across the country.

Then there’s a certain kind of guy that, eyes glowing, grinning toothily, usually bearded, turns to you and asks, with the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:3, “Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?” The kingdom is at hand; the elders and the people of God, new creations, need only be faithful in laying down the seeds and we will be co-heirs and co-creators and co-rulers with Christ under this heaven and on this earth first, before with the Lord’s return it passes away for a new heaven and new earth. That’s “postmillennialism”—when it’s given a semi-technical name and not called something scary like “dominionism” or “theonomism” or “Christian nationalism,” whatever that means.

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