The Postmillennialism is not a recent movement but historical one.

American puritan was Postmillennialism.
"Postmillennialism was first clearly articulated in America by a man many consider the greatest theologian in American history, New England Congregational pastor Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)."
http://ctlibrary.com/4333

As you know, Edwards was a representative theologian of American puritans.

Augustine was Postmillennialist:
"Two other prominent church fathers whose historical confidence appears to express a nascent postmillennialism are Athanasius (A.D. 296-372) and Augustine (A.D. 354-430). "
http://www.amazon.ca/Three-Views-Millennium-Beyond-Blaising/dp/product-description/0310201438

John Calvin and many Reformers were Postmillenialist:
"Greg L. Bahnsen mentions the Reformed47 Postmillennialists, John Calvin,48 Ulrich Zwingli, Theodor Bibliander of Zurich, Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr and Theodor Beza49; the Puritans John Cotten, Samuel Rutherford50, John Owen51, and Matthew Henry52, the missionaries John Elliot53, as well as many other missionaries of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries54. "
http://www.contra-mundum.org/schirrmacher/careypostmil.html

Calvin mentioned his postmil vision of world evangelism:
"Calvin's notes on the second petition of the Lord's Prayer in his Catechism of Geneva:
"268. What do you understand under the 'Kingdom of God'in the second petition? It consists basically of two things: the leadership of His own through His Spirit and, in contrast to that, in the confusion and the distruction of the lost, who refuse to submit to His rule. In the end, it
will be clear, that there is no power which can resist His power.
269. How do you pray for the coming of this Kingdom? May the Lord increase the number of His believers from day to day, may he daily pour His gifts of grace upon them, until He has filled them completely; may He let His truth
burn more brightly, may He reveal His justice, which shall confuse Satan and the darkness of His kingdom and obliterate and destroy all unrighteousness.
270. Does this not happen today already? Yes, in part. But we wish that it might continually grow and progress until it reaches completion on the Day of Judgement, on which God alone will rule in the high places and all creatures will bow before His greatness; He will be all in all. (1 Cor.
15:28)"64"
http://www.contra-mundum.org/schirrmacher/careypostmil.html

William Carey was Postmillennialist:
http://www.contra-mundum.org/schirrmacher/careypostmil.html

The Great Catechism of Westminster expresses a Postmil view in the notes to the second petition of the Lord's Prayer:

"What do we pray for in the second petition? Answer: In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come), acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of
Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, coutenanced and
maintained by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sin, and the conforming, comforting and building up of those that
already converted; that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of His second coming, and our reigning with Him forever and that He would be pleased so to excercise the kingdom of His power in all the world,
as may best conduce to these ends."68


For your information, a good introduction about Postmillennialism:
http://graceonlinelibrary.org/articles/subcats.asp?id=9|69

Postmillennialism should not be included in the list of non-historical and non-biblical interpretation of the Bible.

2007年5月12日