ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the historical perspectives available on the millennium confirms the need for a cautious approach. We need to beware of claims that the millennium is somehow a preternatural unit of time—a simple comparison to the views of other times and cultures reminds us of the artificiality of our calendar, and a reading of Revelation and Christian theology cautions against invocations of divine sanction. A skeptical approach has limits, of course, quite apart from the fact that there are complexities in talking about past prophecies or the actual coherence of the second millennium. Improving our knowledge about the millennium guards against the manipulation of our minds and against the trivialization of our approach to past and future, but it need not deter flights of fancy.
