Re: Outer Darkness?
"Kingdom exclusion" doctrine teaches that unfaithful believers will not participate in the kingdom but be restored at a later time. There are quite a few preachers who teach kingdom exclusion in one form or another, if you look for it.
Why 1000 years? Since the kingdom reign of Christ lasts for 1000 years on earth, it is logical that exclusion from the kingdom will last for the same time period - 1000 years.
There are some questions that remain:
(1) Do unfaithful believers get excluded from the kingdom, or not?
If yes, is it temporary or permanent? If permanent, then this is equivalent to believers losing their salvation, and casts doubt on the doctrine of eternal security. If temporary, then it must be for a certain time period, and 1000 years seems as good a guess as any.
(2) If no, then unfaithful believers enjoy the kingdom with the faithful?
This seems unlikely, given that the kingdom is a reward, and Jesus described unfaithful believers as not receiving a reward, but punishment.
There are two many sources of confusion in Christianity today about these topics :
a) Understanding what is the kingdom? Many believers interpret the kingdom as equal to heaven, and equate this topic with eternal salvation or damnation, and forget about Jesus's kingdom reign on Earth.
b) Understanding eternal security - many believers cannot distinguish between temporal punishment or loss, and eternal loss. This is partly coupled with a misunderstanding that believers remain disembodied spirits within heaven for eternity.
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