QUESTION: What do you understand scripturally about the millennial (1000-year) reign of Christ on this earth?

ANSWER: There is no basis in scripture for this false doctrine. Those who teach such try unsuccessfully to find support in the last phrase of Revelation 20:4, “and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” However, this symbolic passage does not remotely refer to a one thousand-year reign of Christ. Nor is there mention made of a reign of any kind on this earth! The “reigning” in this verse refers only to the reign of the disembodied “souls who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and the word of God.” In today’s language, we might say that John Doe “lived and reigned” with the King of England for “ten years.” We would understand the “ten years” as referring to the duration of John Doe’s reign. It would not tell us how long the King of England reigned! The same principle holds true in Revelation 20:4. It is also interesting to note that our Lord has already been reigning for almost two thousand years (I Timothy 6:15-16).