“Since the age of Augustine, however, an effort has been made to allegorize the statements of Revelation and apply them to the history of the Church.
The binding of Satan refers to the binding of the strong man by the stronger, foretold by Christ. The thousand years is not to be construed literally, but represents the whole history of the Church from the Incarnation to the final conflict [i.e., amillennialism].
The reign of the saints is a prophecy of the domination of the world by the Church. The first resurrection is metaphorical, and simply refers to the spiritual resurrection of the believer in Christ. But exegesis of this kind is dishonest trifling…To put such an interpretation on the phrase ‘first resurrection’ is simply playing with terms. If we explain away the obvious meaning of the words, then, as Alford says, ‘There is an end of all significance in language, and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to anything.’”
The binding of Satan refers to the binding of the strong man by the stronger, foretold by Christ. The thousand years is not to be construed literally, but represents the whole history of the Church from the Incarnation to the final conflict [i.e., amillennialism].
The reign of the saints is a prophecy of the domination of the world by the Church. The first resurrection is metaphorical, and simply refers to the spiritual resurrection of the believer in Christ. But exegesis of this kind is dishonest trifling…To put such an interpretation on the phrase ‘first resurrection’ is simply playing with terms. If we explain away the obvious meaning of the words, then, as Alford says, ‘There is an end of all significance in language, and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to anything.’”
