Millennium understood symbolically or realized; emphasis on faithful community living
Hutterites do not emphasize detailed eschatological speculation about the millennium. Revelation 20 is understood variously—some interpret it symbolically as the reign of Christ in the present age through the church, while others hold to a more futuristic reading. The community's focus is not on calculating the timing of the thousand years but on living faithfully in the already-but-not-yet of God's kingdom.
Since Hutterites emphasize the communal life and sharing of goods as manifestations of the kingdom of God in the present, Revelation 20 is read through the lens of realized or inaugurated eschatology, where Christ reigns now and the faithful share in that reign through the Holy Spirit's empowering of community.
Key Distinctions
- Millennium view:
- on faithfulness rather than timing
- Christ return:
- Satan binding:
Scripture References
Sources
- Peter Riedemann, Rechenschaft (1542)