MINIMALISTS VS. MAXIMALISTS

The Minimalists vs. Maximalists

The Minimalist vs. Maximalist

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten minimalists and maximalists followers. The core objective of the paper is to explore diverse dimensions around the minimalist and maximalist biblical concepts; in addition, the paper will analyze the two concepts with diverse religious grounds. The fellowship of the Bible has been interpreted in multiple ways depending on the historical, social, and cultural circumstances of those doing the interpretation. Nevertheless, the current general term for the theory of interpretation is hermeneutics. There are mainly two types of biblical followers. These followers can be classified as the minimalists and the maximalists. The synonyms suggested for these followers are the metaphoric and literal. The minimalists are the people that have less knowledge in terms of religion and theology. Nevertheless, the maximalists can be categorized as the people that acknowledge profound knowledge regarding the biblical information. Minimalism is one of three major approaches to Eschatology (the doctrine of the last things) in Christian theology. The concept of the millennium, the thousand-year reign of peace mentioned in Revelation 20:6-7, is a key to understanding Protestant thought about the destiny of humankind.

Moreover, the debate upon the minimalist and maximalist fellowship originated from the conflicts concerning the reliability of Bible. Amillennialism is the dominant view within minimalism, views the verses figuratively and does not look for a literal millennium. Minimalism sees humankind as already growing into the millennium, after which Christ will return to bring history to a culmination. Very popular in the 19th century, its optimism about the course of human history, destroyed by the two world wars. Minimalism sees Christ's return in the near future, as human life continues to deteriorate, after which he will establish and rule over the millennial kingdom. Nevertheless, the maximalists believe that the world has neither originated from a battle of gods—as believed in the time of writing the Bible—nor via the processes of physical sciences—as believed today. Rather, in the way described by the biblical authors, it has come into existence by the will of a transcendent, almighty God.

Maximalists believe that the beginning God created the world. Other passages enhance the image by describing the creation as an ongoing process, e.g., Psalm 104:28-30. Furthermore, the creation of the world is a transformation from chaos to cosmos (especially Genesis 1); other passages convey the notion of creation out of nothing. According to maximalists, the creation of the world is that animals and human beings find their place for living. It is paramount for Christians to acknowledge that the Bible of the earliest followers of Jesus was the Hebrew Bible that the followers saw themselves as Jews, and that they interpreted these biblical texts in first-century Jewish modalities.

Minimalist Followers

According to diverse sources, the two forms of minimalism popularized in the 19th century, the Adventist view initially proposed by William Miller, and Dispensationalism as developed by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. While both views retain a large audience, the latter view has become by ...