III. Later Developments in Premillennialism

The new prophetic views spread among various denominations. Even in the 1840’s we find American non-Millerite premillennialists of the Literalist type teaching the pretribulation rapture. At first there was cooperation between the American Literalists and Millerites. But between those who had a millennial kingdom of glorified saints together with earthly Jews ruling over unregenerate nations, and those who saw in the millennium only the reign of the regenerate saints in the first phase of the eternal state, after the close of human probation, the differences came to be viewed as fundamental. Millerism, midway between the extremes of “spiritualizing” postmillennialism and “Judaizing” Literalism, protested against both extremes in defense of the unity of the church and the covenants.PFF4 1226.1

After the breakup of the Millerite movement as such, the successors of Millerism channeled their Historicism, along with their premillennialism, into new Adventist denominations. But the Literalists, having never separated from the churches, continued within the various denominations to follow the new path into which the British Literalists had turned as they departed from the historic premillennialism. This new type of doctrine that followed the “utterances” of Irvingism and the teachings of J. N. Darby led into a whole new system of chiliasm that often stands apart from the standard beliefs of the orthodox Protestant bodies on major points such as the law and the covenants, the church, the Scriptures, salvation, et cetera. The Plymouth Brethren remained a small group, but their doctrines of Futurism, pretribulationism, and Dispensationalism, with distinct antinomian ^{17See Neatby, op. cit., pp. 234, 235.} tendencies, spread out widely to other lands.PFF4 1226.2

Through interdenominational prophetic conferences (beginning in America in 1878, and noted in the Epilogue, chapters LIV and LV); ^{18For some of these doctrines in the 1878 conference see Nathaniel West, Second Coming of Christ, Premillennial Essays (a collection of papers read), pp. 229n, 264-267.} through evangelists ^{19On Moody, see Noel, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 105, 106: Ironside, Historical Sketch, preface p. [4], pp. 81, 82.} and through Fundamentalist Bible institutes this nondenominational but distinctly sectarian system of doctrine has been diligently elaborated and propagated among the various churches. ^{20Kromminga, of. cit., pp. 231, 232.} Doubtless its most systematic presentation is embodied in the notes of the Scofield Bible. ^{21Mauro (The Gospel of the Kingdom, pp. 20, 21) says that Scofield received his dispensational views from a Plymouth Brother, Malachi Taylor.}PFF4 1226.3