My time at Southern Seminary opened my eyes to a lot of theological issues. Eschatology is certainly one of those issues. When I arrived, The Left Behind Series was all I knew. I soon realized I had been trapped in a theological vacuous church. I began to study Eschatology and I came to a very different conclusion than the one I had been raised in.
Most of the professors at Boyce College, that I am aware of, hold to a post-tribulation, Historic Premillennial view of Eschatology. Yet, a lot of the students I spoke to were going in a different direction. Although there were a fair share of Pre-Mills, I found more and more students leaning towards an Amillennial or Partial Preterist view of the End Times.
Am I crazy or has anyone else noticed a swing in Eschatology? Is it a coincidence that this swing seems to go along with the new resurgence of Reformed Theology? Amillennialism is the most historic view of Eschatology in the Reformed tradition. Also, R.C. Sproul is quite influential in the Reformed Resurgence and he is a Partial Preterist. Many professors at Southern Seminary are advocating the works of Graeme Goldsworthy and he is an unapologetic Amillenialist.
One thing I want to say is that I am glad that the SBC does not make SBCer’s believe a particular view of the End Times in order to work for the denomination, as some denominations do. Southern Baptists are free to believe any view they want.
The main point of this post is to see if anyone else has noticed a swing in Eschatological Beliefs within the SBC?
For those of you not savvy on Eschatology, Evangelical Village is doing a mini-series.
I wrote a post in support of Amillennialism today- The Coming of the Slain Lamb
In the next few days there will also be a post on Postmillennialism and Premillennialism.