Futurism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets portions of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

and other apocalyptic sections of the Bible as future "end-time" events. By comparison, other Christian eschatological views interpret these passages as past events in a symbolic, historic context, such as preterism and

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

, or as present-day events in a non-literal and spiritual context, as in

idealism Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...

. Futurist beliefs usually have a close association with premillennialism and

dispensationalism Dispensationalism is a Christian theology, theological framework for Biblical hermeneutics, interpreting the Bible which maintains that history is divided into multiple ages called "dispensations" in which God the Father, God interacts with h ...

. Historic premillennialism combines futurist and preterist views.

Background

The term futurism refers to the fact that this view pushes prophecies in the apocalyptic sections of the Bible into a future "end time" occurrence. The futurist approach to the

contends that chapters 4-22 relate to a future time. The alternatives to futurism are preterism, both full and partial, which views prophetic fulfillment as already having happened in the past;

, which sees the unfolding of prophetic scripture throughout the church age; and

, which views these scripture texts as spiritual. All of these are hermeneutical approaches to prophetic apocalyptical scripture. They are separate from one's millennial view, which may be premillennial, postmillennial, or amillennial.

History

Some elements of the futurist interpretation of Revelation and Daniel appeared in the early centuries of the Christian Church. However, the view was not popular.

Irenaeus Irenaeus ( or ; ; ) was a Greeks, Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christianity, Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by oppos ...

of Lyon (died 202), for instance, subscribed to the view that Daniel's 70th week awaited a future fulfillment. During the Reformation, historicism was the dominant view. All, or nearly all of the reformers saw the pope as Antichrist. Futurism emerged after this time as a Roman Catholic response to historicism. This rise of futurism is generally associated with a Jesuit priest named Francisco Ribera (1537–1591). Ribera is said to have developed his scheme for the purpose of refuting historicism and its papal antichrist. A scheme similar to Ribera's was put forward by Italian archbishop

Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine (; ; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. He was one of the most important figure ...

(1542-1621). Another Jesuit, Manuel Lacunza (1731–1801), wrote in favor of futurism under the pen name "Ben-Ezra", and his work was banned by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Until the 19th century, the futurist view was generally shunned by non-Catholics, being seen as a self-defense of the papacy against the claims of the historicist reformers. The futurist view entered Protestant circles around 1827 through Samuel R. Maitland, librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It began to expand into Protestantism in the 1800s through the teachings of

John Nelson Darby John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern ...

and

. Futurism has grown in popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is currently followed by millions of Christians.

Beliefs

Zionism

Much of the futurist belief rests on the assumption that God has never given Israel all the land promised through Abraham and that the complete fulfillment of this promise is still in the future.

70th week of Daniel

According to dispensational premillennialism, the seventieth week of Daniel's seventy weeks prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27 is yet unfulfilled, to occur in the future. The prophecy of weeks is interpreted as referring to years, with a week meaning 7 years. In this view, there is a gap, or "parenthesis" between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. This is followed by a period of

tribulation In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation () is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end. At , "the Great Tribulation" () is used to indicate the period spoken of by Jesus. u ...

and the appearance of the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

. The seventieth week of the prophecy is expected to commence after the

rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

of the church, which will incorporate the establishment of an economic system using the number '666', the reign of the beast (the

), the false religious system (the harlot), the

Great Tribulation In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation () is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end. At , "the Great Tribulation" () is used to indicate the period spoken of by Jesus. us ...

and

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

. Controversy exists regarding the antecedent of ''he'' in Daniel 9:27. Many within the ranks of premillennialism do not affirm the "confirmation of the covenant" is made by Jesus Christ (as do many amillennarians) but that the antecedent of "he" in verse 27 refers back to verse 26 ("the prince who is to come"—i.e., the Antichrist).

will make a "treaty" as the Prince of the Covenant (i.e., "the prince who is to come") with Israel's future leadership at the commencement of the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy; in the midst of the week, the Antichrist will break the treaty and commence persecution against a regathered Israel. In contradistinction, historic premillennialism may or may not posit Daniel's 70th week as future yet retain the thesis of the future fulfillment of many of the prophecies of Major and Minor Prophets, the teachings of Christ (e.g., Matthew 24) and the book of Revelation.

The Olivet Discourse

The futurist view of the

Olivet Discourse The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It is also known as the Little Apocalypse because it includes the use of apocalyptic language, and it inc ...

in Matthew 24 equates Jesus's teaching to be about the future

. Verses 4-14 cover the first half of the tribulation period, verses 15-29 relate to the second half of the tribulation, and verses 29-31 cover the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

Rapture and tribulation

Futurist interpretations generally predict a

resurrection of the dead General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead ( Koine: , ''anastasis onnekron''; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died ...

and a

of the living, wherein all true Christians are gathered to Christ prior to the time God's kingdom comes on earth. They also believe a

will occur – a seven-year period of time when believers will experience worldwide persecution and martyrdom. Futurists differ on when believers will be raptured, but there are three primary views: 1) before the tribulation; 2) near or at the midpoint of the tribulation; or 3) at the end of the tribulation. There is also a fourth view of multiple raptures throughout the tribulation, but this view does not have a mainstream following. * Pretribulationists believe that all Christians then alive will be taken up to meet Christ before the tribulation begins. In this manner, Christians are "kept from" the tribulation as suggested by some interpretations of Revelation 3:10. Pretribulationists tend to argue that Jesus' claim that some will be taken and others left suggests a pretribulation rapture. Pretribulationalists also claim the katechon in 2 Thessalonians 2 is the church or holy spirit. They claim the church must be removed before the man of sin shows up and that the katechon's removal is needed to facilitate the man of sin's deception. * Midtribulationists believe that the rapture of the faithful will occur approximately halfway through the tribulation, after it begins but before the worst part of it occurs. Some midtribulationists, particularly those holding to a "pre-wrath rapture" of the church, believe that God's wrath is poured out during a "Great Tribulation" that is limited to the last 3½ years of the tribulation, after believers have been caught up to Christ. * Posttribulationists believe that Christians will be gathered in the clouds with Christ after the "tribulation of those days" as mentioned in Matthew 24:29-31 and join him in his return to earth. Posttribulationists claim the rapture coincides with the resurrection at the

second coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

. They also claim the rapture occurs at the last trumpet as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:52, which they believe is synonymous with the 7th trumpet of Revelation. All three views hold that Christians will return with Christ at the end of the tribulation. Proponents of all three views also generally portray Israel as unwittingly signing a seven-year peace treaty with the

, which initiates the seven-year tribulation. Many also tend to view the Antichrist as head of a revived Roman Empire, but the geographic location of this empire is unknown. Hal Lindsey suggests that this revived Roman Empire will be centered in western Europe, with Rome as its capital. Tim LaHaye promotes the belief that

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

will be the capital of a worldwide empire. Joel Richardson and Walid Shoebat have both recently written books proposing a revived eastern Roman Empire, which will fall within the boundaries of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. (

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

also has seven hills, was a capital of the Roman Empire as

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, known as the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, and a body of water in the city is known as the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...

– notable given the eschatological references to the "Little Horn" ,.)

Great Tribulation

In the futurist view of

Christian eschatology Christian eschatology is a minor branch of study within Christian theology which deals with the doctrine of the "last things", especially the Second Coming of Christ, or Parousia. The word eschatology derives from two Greek roots meaning "last ...

, the tribulation is a relatively short period of time where anyone who chose not to follow

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

before the

Rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

and was left behind (according to pre-tribulation doctrine, not mid- or posttribulation teaching) will experience worldwide hardships, disasters, famine, war, pain, and suffering, which will wipe out more than 75% of all life on the earth before the

takes place. According to dispensationalists who hold the futurist view, the tribulation is thought to occur before the Second Coming of Jesus and during the End Times. Another version holds that it will last seven years in all, being the last of Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks. This viewpoint was first made popular by

in the 19th century and was recently popularized by Hal Lindsey in '' The Late Great Planet Earth''. It is theorized that each week represents seven years, with the timetable beginning from Artaxerxes' order to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

). After seven plus 62 weeks, the prophecy says that the

messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

will be "cut off", which is taken to correspond to the death of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. This is seen as creating a break of indeterminate length in the timeline, with one week remaining to be fulfilled. This seven-year 'week' may be further divided into two periods of 3½ years each, from the two 3½ year periods in Daniel's prophecy where the last seven years are divided into two 3½ year periods, () The time period for these beliefs is also based on other passages: in the book of Daniel, " time, times, and half a time", interpreted as "a year, two years, and half a year," and the Book of Revelation, "a thousand two hundred and threescore days" and "forty and two months" (the prophetic month averaging 30 days, hence 1260/30 = 42 months or 3½ years). The 1290 days of , (rather than the 1260 days of ), is thought to be the result of either a simple intercalary leap month adjustment, or due to further

calculations A calculation is a deliberate mathematical process that transforms a plurality of inputs into a singular or plurality of outputs, known also as a result or results. The term is used in a variety of senses, from the very definite arithmetical ...

related to the prophecy, or due to an intermediate stage of time that is to prepare the world for the beginning of the millennial reign.

Events

Among futurists there are differing views about what will happen to Christians during the tribulation: * Pretribulationists believe that all Christians (dead and alive) will be taken bodily to

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

(called the Rapture) before the tribulation begins. According to this doctrine, every true Christian that has ever existed throughout the course of the entire Christian era will be instantaneously transformed into a perfect resurrected body, and will thus escape the trials of the tribulation. Those who become Christians after the rapture will live through (or perish during) the tribulation. After the tribulation, Christ will return to establish His Millennial Kingdom. * Prewrath tribulationists believe the Rapture will occur after the tribulation, but before the seven bowls of the wrath of God. * Midtribulationists believe that the Rapture will occur halfway through the tribulation, but before the worst part of it occurs. The seven-year period is divided into halves – the "beginning of sorrows" and the "great tribulation". * Posttribulationists believe that Christians will not be taken up into Heaven, but will be received or gathered by Christ into the Kingdom of God on earth at the end of the tribulation. In pretribulationism and midtribulationism, the Rapture and the

(or

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, ''par usia'') of Christ are separate events, while in posttribulationism the two events are identical or simultaneous. Another feature of the pre- and mid-tribulation beliefs is the idea that after the Rapture, Christ will return for a third time (when also counting the first coming) to set up his kingdom on the earth. Some, including many

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

theologians, do not believe in a "time of trouble" period as usually described by tribulationists, but rather that there will be a near

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

n period led by the

Millennium

Futurism is premillennial. Premillennialism believes that Christ will return to Earth, bind Satan, and reign for a literal thousand years on Earth with Jerusalem as his capital. Thus Christ returns before ("pre-") the thousand years mentioned in chapter 20. There are generally two subclasses of premillennialism: dispensational and historic. Some form of premillennialism is thought to be the oldest millennial view in church history. Papias, believed to be a disciple of the Apostle John, was a premillennialist, according to

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

. Also

Justin Martyr Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr (; ), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and Philosophy, philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The ''First Apolog ...

and

expressed belief in premillennialism in their writings.

Proponents

* Gleason Archer * Donald Barnhouse *

* Martin De Haan * Arno Clemens Gaebelein * Norman Geisler * Robert Govett * Thomas Ice * Harry A. Ironside * David Jeremiah * Walter Kaiser, Jr. * Arthur Katz *

Tim LaHaye Timothy Francis LaHaye (April 27, 1926 – July 25, 2016) was an American Baptist evangelical Christian Minister of religion, minister who wrote more than 85 books, both non-fiction and fiction, including the ''Left Behind (series), Left Behind ...

* Clarence Larkin * Hal Lindsey * Ernst Lohmeyer * John F. MacArthur * J. Vernon McGee] *

Henry M. Morris Henry Madison Morris (October 6, 1918 – February 25, 2006) was an American young Earth creationist, Christian apologist and engineer. He was one of the founders of the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research. He i ...

* William A. Newell * J. Dwight Pentecost * Lewis Sperry Chafer * John Bertram Phillips * Francisco Ribera *

Charles Caldwell Ryrie Charles Caldwell Ryrie (March 2, 1925 – February 16, 2016) was an American Bible scholar and Christian theologian. He served as professor of systematic theology and dean of doctoral studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and as president and p ...

* C. I. Scofield * Ray Stedman * Chuck Swindoll * Merrill Tenney *

Jack Van Impe Jack Leo Van Impe ( ; February 9, 1931 – January 18, 2020) was an American televangelist who had a half-hour weekly television series ''Jack Van Impe Presents'', featuring eschatological commentary on the news of the week through an int ...

* John Walvoord * Warren W. WiersbeBe Victorious. Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1985. * John Whitcomb * Peter Ruckman

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * {{Book of Daniel Christian interpretation of the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation