Millenarianism, also known as chiliasm (from the Greek for a thousand) is the expectation of a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth prior to the last judgment. The views underlying this expectation changed much in the course of history.

1. The biblical background. The immediate occasion was Rev 20:1–15, where, after the fall of Babylon, an angel binds Satan and casts him into the abyss for a thousand years. After that the just rise from the dead — the “first resurrection” — and reign with Christ on earth for a thousand years, during w…