George Eldon Ladd

I want you to consider inmillennialism, a model for interpreting prophecy based on the Olivet Discourse and 1 Corinthians 15. This view supports an optimistic view of the kingdom of God—Jesus Christ is reigning and is subduing all His enemies. His ultimate conquest will be over death, in the bodily resurrection…

The major challenge to my prophetic view (inmillennialism) in Paul’s “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11) is in the following statements: The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.…

After reading our “Already—Not Yet” post, a reader suggested we provide a list of prophecies inmillennialism puts in the “not yet” category. This post will expand on his request. It will use typology to develop a list of both “already” and “not yet” prophecies. It will emphasize the relevance of…

Prophetic models and their underlying assumptions influence how we interpret Scripture. The atheist Bertrand Russell believed Jesus taught his coming, the end of history, and the kingdom’s arrival would occur simultaneously. Further, he believed Jesus said they would happen in his generation based on passages like Matt 16:27–28; 24:1–3, 34.…

In Mark’s version of the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13:1–37), Jesus told his disciples about the Temple’s destruction (Mark 13:1–2). They asked two questions about “these things”: when would they happen and what would be their sign (Mark 13:3–4)? Jesus answers the questions in reverse order. He gives the sign in Mark 13:5–27…

Can you imagine death in heaven? The existing prophetic frameworks imply it will be there. They also suggest other surprising conditions will exist. These implications arise from the subject of Revelation’s seventh vision (Rev. 21–22:7). The existing prophetic models all teach John’s “new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1)…

Let’s set some prophetic dates! This post will consider the timing of the “thousand years,” or millennium, of Rev. 20:2–7. It will discuss the millennium’s place in the sequence of major prophetic events. Also, it will set a calendar date for its occurrence. This will answer the question in our…

Revelation’s sixth vision—The Vision of the Great Whore (Rev. 17–20)—mentions a thousand-year reign of Christ (Rev. 20:2–7). Commentators call this period “the millennium.” This word comes from the Latin words mille, “thousand,” and annum, “year.” The traditional prophetic frameworks derive their names from this period. Postmillennialism believes the Lord will…

Revelation’s bookend time stamps raise important questions. If we interpret them as literal truth statements, what profound event(s) happened soon after John saw these visions? What fulfilled his about-to-be prophecies? The answer depends on another important question: When did John see these visions? Most conservative scholars limit the possible date…

My Webster’s Third World International Dictionary weighs a whopping 13 pounds. It requires strong bookends to keep it upright. Supports too weak would allow this large volume to fall, with the potential of knocking other books off the shelf, not to mention the possibility of doing bodily harm. John’s book…