The Fathers, the Catechism, and the Interpretation of Revelation 20
I. The Catechism (CCC 675–677)
The Catechism only treats Revelation’s millennial imagery in one key place:
CCC 676, which condemns all forms of millenarianism, especially teachings of a future earthly kingdom before the final judgment.
Key point: The Church rejects any literal, political, or earthly “era of peace” before Christ’s final coming.
The reason is that Christ’s Kingdom is already inaugurated through His Resurrection and is made present in the Church.
II. The Church Fathers on the “1000 years”
1. St. Augustine (most influential)
In City of God (Book XX), Augustine taught that the “thousand years” represent the symbolic fullness of the Church age — the time between the First Coming and Final Judgment.
This became the dominant Western interpretation.
2. St. Bede the Venerable
Bede’s commentary on Revelation continues Augustine’s symbolic reading. For him:
The “thousand years” symbolize the complete time of the Church.
The “binding of Satan” represents the limitation of Satan’s power by Christ’s victory.
Bede explicitly rejects a literal earthly kingdom.
3. Victorinus of Pettau (3rd century)
Victorinus is the earliest known Latin commentator on Revelation.
His original commentary contained a semi-literal reading of the millennium, but:
St. Jerome edited and corrected it, removing millenarian elements, and the version we have today reflects this orthodoxy:
“Thousand years” = the fullness of time
Not literal, not earthly, not utopian
III. Who wrote the “original translation” of Revelation?
Revelation was written in Greek by John the Apostle (or at minimum “John the Seer,” but the Church traditionally holds they are the same).
Earliest translations:
Old Latin (2nd century) — anonymous early Christians producing liturgical translations.
Vulgate (late 4th century) — St. Jerome revises existing translations but does NOT claim to make an entirely new one for Revelation. He worked from existing Greek manuscripts.
So:
There is no single “original translator.”
There are several early transmission lines, all within the Church, and none support a literal millennial kingdom.
IV. Antichrist: One, Not Two
Catholic doctrine teaches:
There are many “types” or “figures” of antichrist throughout history (1 John 2:18)
butThere is only one final Antichrist before Christ returns (2 Thess 2).
No Father, no Doctor, no council, no magisterial text teaches a “two-Antichrist system.”
V. Summary of Orthodox Teaching
The 1000 years = symbolic
No literal earthly kingdom before the end
No two Antichrists
The Church rejects millenarianism
No private timeline controls the faith