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Examined Doctrine

Augustine of Hippo on the millennium & Christ's return

354 – 430 · LATIN FATHER
STANDARD SCHOLARLY ACCOUNTAFFIRMS°
STANCE

Amillennial — the millennium is the present church age

THE POSITION

Read the millennium of Revelation 20 as the present age of the church rather than a future earthly reign — the shift that made amillennialism the dominant Western view for over a thousand years and displaced the earlier chiliasm.

SCRIPTURE
REVELATION 20:1-6 · BSB

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time. 4 Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

6 OTHERS HOLD THIS

AquinasCalvinTim KellerLutherPhilip MelanchthonR.C. Sproul
Premillennial — Christ returns before a future millenniumIRENAEUS · JOHN MACARTHUR · JUSTIN PETERS · JOHN PIPER
Postmillennial — the gospel triumphs before Christ returnsJONATHAN EDWARDS · JOHN OWEN
No required position; several views held faithfullyATHANASIUS · M. HEISER · JOSH HOWERTON · SECOND LONDON BAPTIST CONFESSION · WESTMINSTER CONFESSION
See all 23 figures on the millennium & christ's return →

ABOUT THIS FIGURE

Bishop of Hippo. The single most influential theologian in Western Christianity; both Catholic and Reformed traditions claim him. Anti-Pelagian works, the Enchiridion, and On Baptism Against the Donatists.

8 OF 14 POSITIONS QUOTED
Everything Augustine holds →
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"Augustine of Hippo on the millennium & Christ's return", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/augustine/millennium (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/augustine/millennium).

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