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The City of God

Chapter 9.--What the Reign of the Saints with Christ for a Thousand Years Is, and How It Differs from the Eternal Kingdom.

But while the devil is bound, the saints reign with Christ during the same thousand years, understood in the same way, that is, of the time of His first coming. ¹ For, leaving out of account that kingdom concerning which He shall say in the end, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you," ² the Church could not now be called His kingdom or the kingdom of heaven unless His saints were even now reigning with Him, though in another and far different way; for to His saints He says, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." ³ Certainly it is in this present time that the scribe well instructed in the kingdom of God, and of whom we have already spoken, brings forth from his treasure things new and old. And from the Church those reapers shall gather out the tares which He suffered to grow with the wheat till the harvest, as He explains in the words "The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered together and burned with fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all offenses." ⁴ Can He mean out of that kingdom in which are no offenses? Then it must be out of His present kingdom, the Church, that they are gathered. So He says, "He that breaketh one of the least of these commandments, and teacheth men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth and teacheth thus shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." ⁵ He speaks of both as being in the kingdom of heaven, both the man who does not perform the commandments which He teaches,--for "to break" means not to keep, not to perform,--and the man who does and teaches as He did; but the one He calls least, the other great. And He immediately adds, "For I say unto you, that except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees,"--that is, the righteousness of those who break what they teach; for of the scribes and Pharisees He elsewhere says, "For they say and do not;" ⁶ --unless therefore, your righteousness exceed theirs that is, so that you do not break but rather do what you teach, "ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." ⁷ We must understand in one sense the kingdom of heaven in which exist together both he who breaks what he teaches and he who does it, the one being least, the other great, and in another sense the kingdom of heaven into which only he who does what he teaches shall enter. Consequently, where both classes exist, it is the Church as it now is, but where only the one shall exist, it is the Church as it is destined to be when no wicked person shall be in her. Therefore the Church even now is the kingdom of Christ, and the kingdom of heaven. Accordingly, even now His saints reign with Him, though otherwise than as they shall reign hereafter; and yet, though the tares grow in the Church along with the wheat, they do not reign with Him. For they reign with Him who do what the apostle says, "If ye be risen with Christ, mind the things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Seek those things which are above, not the things which are on the earth." ⁸ Of such persons he also says that their conversation is in heaven. ⁹ In fine, they reign with Him who are so in His kingdom that they themselves are His kingdom. But in what sense are those the kingdom of Christ who, to say no more, though they are in it until all offenses are gathered out of it at the end of the world, yet seek their own things in it, and not the things that are Christ's? ¹⁰

It is then of this kingdom militant, in which conflict with the enemy is still maintained, and war carried on with warring lusts, or government laid upon them as they yield, until we come to that most peaceful kingdom in which we shall reign without an enemy, and it is of this first resurrection in the present life, that the Apocalypse speaks in the words just quoted. For, after saying that the devil is bound a thousand years and is afterwards loosed for a short season, it goes on to give a sketch of what the Church does or of what is done in the Church in those days, in the words, "And I saw seats and them that sat upon them, and judgment was given." It is not to be supposed that this refers to the last judgment, but to the seats of the rulers and to the rulers themselves by whom the Church is now governed. And no better interpretation of judgment being given can be produced than that which we have in the words, "What ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." ¹¹ Whence the apostle says, "What have I to do with judging them that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?" ¹² "And the souls," says John, "of those who were slain for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God,"--understanding what he afterwards says, "reigned with Christ a thousand years," ¹³ --that is, the souls of the martyrs not yet restored to their bodies. For the souls of the pious dead are not separated from the Church, which even now is the kingdom of Christ; otherwise there would be no remembrance made of them at the altar of God in the partaking of the body of Christ, nor would it do any good in danger to run to His baptism, that we might not pass from this life without it; nor to reconciliation, if by penitence or a bad conscience any one may be severed from His body. For why are these things practised, if not because the faithful, even though dead, are His members? Therefore, while these thousand years run on, their souls reign with Him, though not as yet in conjunction with their bodies. And therefore in another part of this same book we read, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth and now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works do follow them." ¹⁴ The Church, then, begins its reign with Christ now in the living and in the dead. For, as the apostle says, "Christ died that He might be Lord both of the living and of the dead." ¹⁵ But he mentioned the souls of the martyrs only, because they who have contended even to death for the truth, themselves principally reign after death; but, taking the part for the whole, we understand the words of all others who belong to the Church, which is the kingdom of Christ.

As to the words following, "And if any have not worshipped the beast nor his image, nor have received his inscription on their forehead, or on their hand," we must take them of both the living and the dead. And what this beast is, though it requires a more careful investigation, yet it is not inconsistent with the true faith to understand it of the ungodly city itself, and the community of unbelievers set in opposition to the faithful people and the city of God. "His image" seems to me to mean his simulation, to wit, in those men who profess to believe, but live as unbelievers. For they pretend to be what they are not, and are called Christians, not from a true likeness but from a deceitful image. For to this beast belong not only the avowed enemies of the name of Christ and His most glorious city, but also the tares which are to be gathered out of His kingdom, the Church, in the end of the world. And who are they who do not worship the beast and his image, if not those who do what the apostle says, "Be not yoked with unbelievers?" ¹⁶ For such do not worship, i.e., do not consent, are not subjected; neither do they receive the inscription, the brand of crime, on their forehead by their profession, on their hand by their practice. They, then, who are free from these pollutions, whether they still live in this mortal flesh, or are dead, reign with Christ even now, through this whole interval which is indicated by the thousand years, in a fashion suited to this time.

"The rest of them," he says, "did not live." For now is the hour when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live; and the rest of them shall not live. The words added, "until the thousand years are finished," mean that they did not live in the time in which they ought to have lived by passing from death to life. And therefore, when the day of the bodily resurrection arrives, they shall come out of their graves, not to life, but to judgment, namely, to damnation, which is called the second death. For whosoever has not lived until the thousand years be finished, i.e., during this whole time in which the first resurrection is going on,--whosoever has not heard the voice of the Son of God, and passed from death to life,--that man shall certainly in the second resurrection, the resurrection of the flesh, pass with his flesh into the second death. For he goes to say "This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection," or who experiences it. Now he experiences it who not only revives from the death of sin, but continues in this renewed life. "In these the second death hath no power." Therefore it has power in the rest, of whom he said above, "The rest of them did not live until the thousand years were finished;" for in this whole intervening time called a thousand years, however lustily they lived in the body, they were not quickened to life out of that death in which their wickedness held them, so that by this revived life they should become partakers of the first resurrection, and so the second death should have no power over them.

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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput IX: Quod sit regnum sanctorum cum Christo per mille annos, et in quo discernatur a regno aeterno.

Interea dum mille annis ligatus est diabolus, sancti regnant cum Christo etiam ipsis mille annis, eisdem sine dubio et eodem modo intellegendis, id est isto iam tempore prioris eius aduentus. excepto quippe illo regno, de quo in fine dicturus est: uenite, benedicti patris mei, possidete paratum uobis regnum, nisi alio aliquo modo, longe quidem inpari, iam nunc regnarent cum illo sancti eius, quibus ait: ecce ego uobis cum sum usque in consummationem saeculi, profecto non etiam nunc diceretur ecclesia regnum eius regnumue caelorum. nam utique isto tempore in regno dei eruditur scriba ille, qui profert de thensauro suo noua et uetera, de quo supra locuti sumus; et de ecclesia collecturi sunt zizania messores illi, quae permisit cum tritico simul crescere usque ad messem; quod exponens ait: messis est finis saeculi, messores autem angeli sunt. sicut ergo colliguntur zizania et igni comburuntur, sic erit in consummatione saeculi; mittet filius hominis angelos suos, et colligent de regno eius omnia scandala. numquid de regno illo, ubi nulla sunt scandala? de isto ergo regno eius, quod est hic ecclesia, colligentur. item dicit: qui soluerit unum de mandatis istis minimis et docuerit sic homines, minimus uocabitur in regno caelorum; qui autem fecerit et sic docuerit, magnus uocabitur in regno caelorum. utrumque dicit in regno caelorum, et qui non facit mandata quae docet - hoc est enim soluere: non seruare, non facere - , et illum qui facit et sic docet; sed istum minimum, illum magnum. et continuo secutus adiungit: dico enim uobis quia, nisi abundauerit iustitia uestra super scribarum et Pharisaeorum, id est super eos, qui soluunt quod docent - de scribis enim et Pharisaeis dicit alio loco: quoniam dicunt, et non faciunt - , nisi ergo super hos abundauerit iustitia uestra, id est, ut uos non soluatis, sed faciatis potius quod docetis, non intrabitis, inquit, in regnum caelorum. alio modo igitur intellegendum est regnum caelorum, ubi ambo sunt, et ille scilicet qui soluit quod docet, et ille qui facit, sed ille minimus, ille magnus - , alio modo autem regnum caelorum dicitur, quo non intrat nisi ille qui facit. ac per hoc ubi utrumque genus est, ecclesia est, qualis nunc est; ubi autem illud solum erit, ecclesia est, qualis tunc erit, quando malus in ea non erit. ergo et nunc ecclesia regnum Christi est regnumque caelorum. regnant itaque cum illo etiam nunc sancti eius, aliter quidem, quam tunc regnabunt; nec tamen cum illo regnant zizania, quamuis in ecclesia cum tritico crescant. regnant enim cum illo, qui faciunt quod ait apostolus: si resurrexistis cum Christo, quae sursum sunt sapite, ubi Christus est in dextera dei sedens; quae sursum sunt quaerite, non quae super terram; de qualibus item dicit, quod eorum conuersatio sit in caelis. postremo regnant cum illo, qui eo modo sunt in regno eius, ut sint etiam ipsi regnum eius. quomodo autem sunt regnum Christi, qui, ut alia taceam, quamuis ibi sint donec colligantur in fine saeculi de regno eius omnia scandala, tamen illic sua quaerunt, non quae Iesu Christi ? de hoc ergo regno militiae, in quo adhuc cum hoste confligitur et aliquando repugnatur pugnantibus uitiis, aliquando cedentibus imperatur, donec ueniatur ad illud pacatissimum regnum, ubi sine hoste regnabitur, et de hac prima resurrectione, quae nunc est, liber iste sic loquitur. cum enim dixisset adligari diabolum mille annis, et postea solui breui tempore, tum recapitulando quid in istis mille annis agat ecclesia uel agatur in ea: et uidi, inquit, sedes et sedentes super eas, et iudicium datum est. non hoc putandum est de ultimo iudicio dici; sed sedes praepositorum et ipsi praepositi intellegendi sunt, per quos nunc ecclesia gubernatur. iudicium autem datum nullum melius accipiendum uidetur, quam id quod dictum est: quae ligaueritis in terra, ligata erunt et in caelo; et quae solueritis in terra, soluta erunt et in caelo. unde apostolus: quid enim mihi est, inquit, de his, qui foris sunt, iudicare? nonne de his qui intus sunt uos iudicatis? et animae, inquit, occisorum propter testimonium Iesu et propter uerbum dei; subauditur quod postea dicturus est: regnauerunt cum Iesu mille annis; animae scilicet martyrum nondum sibi corporibus suis redditis. neque enim piorum animae mortuorum separantur ab ecclesia, quae nunc etiam est regnum Christi. alioquin nec ad altare dei fieret eorum memoria in communicatione corporis Christi; nec aliquid prodesset ad eius baptismum in periculis currere, ne sine illo finiatur haec uita; nec ad reconciliationem, si forte per paenitentiam malam ue conscientiam quisque ab eodem corpore separatus est. cur enim fiunt ista, nisi quia fideles etiam defuncti membra sunt eius? quamuis ergo cum suis corporibus nondum, iam tamen eorum animae regnant cum illo, dum isti anni mille decurrunt. unde in hoc eodem libro et alibi legitur: beati mortui, qui in domino moriuntur. amodo etiam dicit spiritus, ut requiescant a laboribus suis; nam opera eorum sequuntur eos. regnat itaque cum Christo nunc primum ecclesia in uiuis et mortuis. propterea enim, sicut dicit apostolus, mortuus est Christus, ut et uiuorum et mortuorum dominetur. sed ideo tantummodo martyrum animas commemorauit, quia ipsi praecipue regnant mortui, qui usque ad mortem pro ueritate certarunt. sed a parte totum etiam ceteros mortuos intellegimus pertinentes ad ecclesiam, quod est regnum Christi. quod uero sequitur: et si qui non adorauerunt bestiam nec imaginem eius, neque acceperunt inscriptionem in fronte aut in manu sua, simul de uiuis et mortuis debemus accipere. quae sit porro ista bestia, quamuis sit diligentius requirendum, non tamen abhorret a fide recta, ut ipsa inpia ciuitas intellegatur et populus infidelium contrarius populo fideli et ciuitati dei. imago uero eius simulatio eius mihi uidetur, in eis uidelicet hominibus, qui uelut fidem profitentur et infideliter uiuunt. fingunt enim se esse quod non sunt, uocanturque non ueraci effigie, sed fallaci imagine Christiani. ad eandem namque bestiam pertinent non solum aperte inimici nominis Christi et eius gloriosissimae ciuitatis, sed etiam zizania, quae de regno eius, quod est ecclesia, in fine saeculi colligenda sunt. et qui sunt qui non adorant bestiam nec imaginem eius, nisi qui faciunt quod ait apostolus: ne sitis iugum ducentes cum infidelibus? non adorant enim est non consentiunt, non subiciuntur; neque accipiunt inscriptionem, notam scilicet criminis, in fronte propter professionem, in manu propter operationem. ab his igitur malis alieni, siue adhuc in ista mortali carne uiuentes siue defuncti, regnant cum Christo iam nunc modo quodam huic tempori congruo per totum hoc interuallum, quod numero mille significatur annorum. reliqui eorum, inquit, non uixerunt. hora enim nunc est, cum mortui audiunt uocem filii dei, et qui audierint uiuent; reliqui ergo eorum non uiuent. quod uero subdidit: donec finiantur mille anni, intellegendum est, quod eo tempore non dixerunt, quo uiuere debuerunt, ad uitam scilicet de morte transeundo. et ideo cum dies uenerit, quo fiat et corporum resurrectio, non ad uitam de monumentis procedent, sed ad iudicium; ad damnationem scilicet, quae secunda mors dicitur. donec finiantur enim mille anni, quicumque non uixerit, id est, toto isto tempore, quo agitur prima resurrectio, non audierit uocem filii dei et ad uitam de morte transierit, profecto in secunda resurrectione, quae carnis est, in mortem secundam cum ipsa carne transibit. sequitur enim et dicit: haec resurrectio prima est. beatus et sanctus qui habet in hac prima resurrectione partem, id est particeps eius est. ipse est autem particeps eius, qui non solum a morte, quae in peccatis est, reuiuescit, uerum etiam in eo, quod reuixerit, permanebit. in istis, inquit, secunda mors non habet potestatem. habet ergo in reliquis, de quibus superius ait: reliqui eorum non uixerunt, donec finiantur mille anni; quoniam toto isto temporis interuallo, quod mille annos uocat, quantumcumque in eo quisque eorum uixit in corpore, non reuixit a morte, in qua eum tenebat inpietas, ut sic reuiuescendo primae resurrectionis particeps fieret atque in eo potestatem secunda mors non haberet.