The history of the Chiliastic doctrine from the opening of the fifth century may be briefly summarized, since its manifestations have been only sporadic and temporary.
As the tenth century drew to a close there arose “an undefined fear and expectation among the masses that the year 1000 would witness the advent of the Lord,” but this passed away with the century.
At the time of the Reformation, the doctrine was revived by the fanatical Anabaptists, Münzer and his followers, who attempted to put down all temporal sovereignty and to establish the kingdom of the saints with fire and sword. They were, however, vigorously opposed by Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and the other great reformers, and their military forces were defeated and crushed and their leaders slain at Mühlhausen in 1525 and at Munster in 1535. Leading symbols of the Reformation period strongly condemn Chiliasm, e.g., the Augsburg Confession, the Belgic Confession, and the English Confession of Edward VI.
The history of the doctrine during the nineteenth century is well summarized by Dr. Shedd:
“During the present century, individual minds in England and America, and upon the Continent of Europe, have attempted to revive the theory—in some instances in union with an intelligent and earnest orthodoxy, in others in connection with an uneducated and somewhat fanatical pietism. The first class is represented by Delitzsch and Auberlen in Germany, and by Cumming, Elliott, and Bonar in Great Britain; the second class by the so-called Adventists and Millerites in the United States.”
The Millerite movement, started in 1831 by William Miller, an American, who predicted that Christ’s Second Coming and the end of the world would take place in 1843, received what was practically its death-blow in the failure of the prediction to meet with accomplishment at the appointed time. Substantially the same classes of people are, however, to be found among the Adventists, or Second Adventists, of the present time, including a considerable number of immigrant foreigners, especially Scandinavians. Some of these hold to the doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked and to that of the sleep of the dead until the resurrection. The approach of the twentieth century seems to have given an impulse to the Adventist movement, altho it has not changed the character or quality of its advocates.
The survey thus made of the history of the Church, ancient, medieval, and modern, brings out the fact that the Catholic doctrine, as already outlined, has always been the Church doctrine. The Chiliastic views based upon the literal interpretation of the Scriptures bearing upon the subject have never been generally accepted. The facts, as summarized by Dr. Shedd (“History of Christian Doctrine,” vol. ii., p. 398), are as follows:
“1. That Millenarianism was never the ecumenical faith of the Church and never entered as an article into any of the creeds.
“2. That Millenarianism has been the opinion of individuals and parties only—some of whom have stood in agreement with the Catholic faith, and some in opposition to it.”