Although premillennialism has an ancient basis in the early Church, it never completely dominated Christian thinking, something admitted by Justin Martyr. However, it became muddier in the Middle Ages, especially with Joachim of Flora who introduced the Year for a Day theory from Judaism into Christianity and renewed the business of date setting for the Second Coming. Frankly, I agree with George Storrs after he was stung by Millerite false predictions – which he refused to indulge in thereafter - and when he came to feel that the Year/Day business had no proper basis as an exegetical principle. Unlike most millenarians and pre-millenarians over the centuries, he strongly repudiated the idea of Jewish national conversion and return to the Holy Land. Too bad Russell didn’t pay more attention to him.

Jim