the view within Christianity that the Rapture of the Church will occur before the Millennium.
Premillennium is from the Latin [ pre] meaning before, [ mille] meaning thousand, and [ annum] meaning years. This is a doctrine very similar to the Messianic expectations of the first-century Judaizers in that it teaches that sometime in the future Christ will return to establish a literal political and earthly Kingdom in Jerusalem and will reign 1000 years on earth. Pre-millennial, meaning that Christ comes to establish this Kingdom pre or "before" the millennium. [ back
The belief that Jesus will return before the beginning of the Millennium and will be the impetus for the final battle between good and evil. It often includes apocalyptic expectation of Rapture, Tribulation, Antichrist, strong dualist tendencies, emphasis on preparation of self and missionizing.
The belief that God's millennial kingdom will not come until Christ returns to save a sinful humanity and defeat the forces of Satan. Specific interpretations vary as to the exact timing of the Second Coming -- at the beginning, middle, or end of the Tribulation period. But in general, premillennialists tend to be highly pessimistic about the present state of the world, yet anxiously await a perfect world in the near future. By placing the fate of mankind squarely in God's hands, premillennialism has tended to discourage social action, concentrating instead on conversion and preparation for final judgment.
The view that Christ's Second Advent will occur before the earthly millennium of Revelation 20, and will, in fact, institute that millennium. This is the idea that Christ will reign on the earth physically for a long period, probably a thousand years. Most, but not all, premillennialists are dispensationalists.
This is the view that Christ's second advent will occur before (pre) the "millennium," understood as a 1000-year rule of Christ on earth.
The return of Jesus will occur prior to the millennium, which is envisioned to be a an earthly, utopian period, usually a thousand years in length.
This article specifically relates to Premillennialism in Christian eschatology; for political millenarianism and other uses of the word see Millenarianism
