End Times
Millennialism, Premillenialism, Dispensationalism
Churches believe that God has a divine plan ©
Millennialism, premillennialism and dispensationalism are all theories of the end of the world.
Introduction
Many Christian Churches are greatly concerned about the ultimate fate of everything in creation. They believe that God has a divine plan for the end of everything.
The technical name for the subject of the end-times is eschatology (from the Greek word eschatos which means last).
Many of the theories are inspired by the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible.
Much of the writing and teaching about the end times is apocalyptic, frightening and threatening, and it's important to remember that many mainstream churches do not believe that these teachings should be taken literally.
But you can find a popular expression of these theories in the best-selling (over 63 million copies by 2010) Left Behind series of novels, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, which bring the ideas right up to date.
A word of reassurance
Some Christians do believe that the end of everything is going to happen soon. But don't panic; throughout recorded history people have believed that the end of the world is about to happen, and it hasn't happened yet.