Millennium

Methodist official documents do not specify a millennial position, and the tradition has historically encompassed both postmillennial and amillennial views. John Wesley himself was broadly postmillennial in his expectations — he believed the Gospel would progressively spread throughout the world and that God's kingdom would be advanced through the preaching of the Word and the transformation of society. This optimistic postmillennial vision animated much of the Methodist social reform movement (abolitionism, temperance, prison reform).

In the twentieth century, many Methodist theologians moved toward amillennial or realized eschatological positions. The United Methodist Church does not make the millennium a binding doctrinal issue. Premillennialism, particularly of the dispensationalist variety, has been much less characteristic of Methodism, though individual Methodist pastors hold various views. The focus in Methodist eschatology is on the ultimate reign of God and human participation in anticipating that reign through works of love and justice.