Eschatology

=====Millennialists and Amillennialists=====
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[[File:Antichrist1.jpg|thumb|The Antichrist, by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] (1521). Here the [[Antichrist]] is shown wearing the triple crown of the Roman papacy.]]

Protestants are divided between Millennialists and Amillennialists. Millennialists concentrate on the issue of whether the true believers will see the [[Great Tribulation]] or be removed from it by what is referred to as a Pre-Tribulation [[rapture]].

Amillennialists believe the end times encompass the time from Christ's ascension to the last day, and maintain that the mention of the "thousand years" in the [[Book of Revelation]] is meant to be taken [[metaphor]]ically (i.e., not literally), a view which continues to cause divisions within [[Protestantism|Protestant Christianity]].

There is a range of eschatological belief in Protestant Christianity. Christian [[premillennialism|premillennialists]] who believe the end times are occurring now, are usually specific about timelines that climax in the end of the world. For some, Israel, the [[European Union]], or the United Nations are seen as major players whose roles were foretold in scripture. Within [[dispensationalism|dispensational premillennialist]] writing, there is the belief that Christians will be summoned to [[Heaven]] by Christ at the [[rapture]], occurring before a Great Tribulation prophesied in Matthew 24–25; Mark 13 and Luke 21. The Tribulation is described in the Book of Revelation.

"End times" may also refer to the passing of an age or long period in the relationship between man and God.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chang Soppe|first1=Seok Lyun|title=God's Mystery That Is Christ|date=2014|publisher=WestBow Press|isbn=978-1490815947}}</ref> Adherents to this view cite the [[Second Epistle to Timothy]] and draw analogies to the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Post-Exilic Hebrew books of [[prophecy]] such as [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] are given new interpretations in this Christian tradition, while [[apocalyptic literature|apocalyptic forecasts]] appear in the Judeo-Christian [[Sibylline Oracles]] which include the Book of Revelation ascribed to John, the [[apocrypha]]l [[Apocalypse of Peter]], and the [[2 Esdras|Second Book of Esdras]].