Millennium
- T01.1 Split: earthly millennium (Papias, Justin, Irenaeus) vs the present reign (Augustine); Justin treats it as open (medium)
- T01.2 Open: bodily (Irenaeus, Justin) or spiritual and present (Augustine, City of God XX.6, from John 5:25) (medium)
Two separate measures, shown side by side; neither is combined with the other (confidence-weighted, out of 4; counts show how many of this doctrine's 2 questions each rests on; ⚠ marks coverage more than 10 points below the median, a less certain rank). This doctrine is third-order (tier weight 1). How scoring works · Scripture and tradition · Glossary · Every score with its citation
Closeness to Scripture
Closeness to the fathers
Charts: closeness to the fathers by question, and timeline
- c. 155 Justin Martyr T01.1 · fathers varied
- c. 180 Irenaeus T01.1 · fathers varied
- c. 415 Augustine T01.1 · fathers varied
- c. 415 Augustine T01.2
- 1646 Westminster Confession Presbyterian
T1 · Millennium
Amillennial, premillennial, postmillennial.
Tier: Third-order (scoring weight 1). How the tiers were set: theological triage. Method: conventions. Traditions’ sources: confessional sources.
In short
Revelation 20 speaks of Christ’s saints reigning a thousand years. Some of the earliest fathers took this as a future earthly kingdom; Justin admitted many good Christians disagreed. From Augustine on, most read it as Christ’s present reign through the Church. Scripture has only this one text, so the question stays open.
Plan
Question: T01.1: will Christ reign a thousand years on earth before the final state (premillennial), or is the thousand years the present reign (amillennial)? Scripture: Rev 20:1–10; 1 Cor 15:23–28; Matt 13:24–43. Fathers: Irenaeus V.33 (Papias); Justin, Dialogue 80; Augustine, City of God XX.7–9. Question: T01.2: Is the ‘first resurrection’ of Rev 20:5 bodily or spiritual?
Questions
Verdicts and trace
Weighed under the source-proximity principle: Scripture first, then the father eras I–IV.
T01.1 · Millennium
| Question | Verdict | Confidence | Reasoning | Key sources | Scripture (benchmark) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T01.1 | Split: earthly millennium (Papias, Justin, Irenaeus) vs the present reign (Augustine); Justin treats it as open | Medium | T01.1.1 · T01.1.3 weighing | irenaeus-t01-s1 · justin-martyr-t01-s1 · augustine-t01-s1 | T01.1.4: low |
T01.2 · Is the ‘first resurrection’ of Rev 20:5 bodily or spiritual?
| Question | Verdict | Confidence | Reasoning | Key sources | Scripture (benchmark) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T01.2 | Open: bodily (Irenaeus, Justin) or spiritual and present (Augustine, City of God XX.6, from John 5:25) | Medium | T01.2.1 · T01.2.3 weighing | augustine-t01-s2 | T01.2.4: low |
Post-750 development
Which of this doctrine’s questions each tradition stays closest to, or departs from. Each row links to the tradition’s notes; exact scores and bases are in the reasoning.
| Tradition | Closest to the fathers on | Departs or sharpens on |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| Orthodox | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| Oriental Orthodox | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| Lutheran | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| Anglican | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| Presbyterian | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| Reformed Baptist | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| General Baptist | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
| Anabaptist | partly T01.1, partly T01.2 | — |
Overall verdict
A genuinely open question: the earliest fathers leaned premillennial, Augustine and the classic confessions amillennial; Scripture’s one text is disputed. T01.2 (first resurrection) is equally open.
Verification status
Status from the score data: 2 tradition cells cite a text checked against an online source (marked verified); 13 cite the named article or practice without a separate check in this project (see each tradition’s section); 3 are not assessed (T01.1 Oriental Orthodox, T01.1 General Baptist, T01.2 General Baptist), with the reason given in the reasoning page.