Revelation 20:1-6 — "The Thousand Years"

Churches of Christ are divided on Revelation 20, with both premillennial and amillennial interpretations represented in the fellowship. Some congregations teach a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth after his visible return and before the final judgment. Others teach that Revelation 20 is symbolic and that 'the thousand years' refers to the entire church age (from Pentecost to the end of time), during which Christ reigns spiritually over the church even while Satan is bound and limited.

The Restoration Movement's hermeneutical principle—to treat Scripture as plain where it is plain—leads some Churches of Christ to read Revelation 20:1–6 literally. Others note the highly symbolic language of Revelation and resist a wooden literalism. Both groups affirm that Christ will visibly return, that the dead will be raised, and that God will judge all people. The difference concerns the timeline and nature of the millennium itself. This is an area where Churches of Christ explicitly permit 'unity in diversity'—different views on eschatological detail are not tests of fellowship.