With the resurgence of traditionalism
in Protestant theology has come a renaissance of preterist thought. Preterism
seriously undermines key aspects of Christian theology and by extension
Christian practice. This article demonstrates the more glaring problems
that preterism as a system suffers from.
Index:
Preterism Defined
Preterism
Refuted
Problematic
Preterism
Conclusion
Preterism
Defined
"Preterism" is the systematized opinion that
all the prophetic events of the eschaton, short of the Second Advent itself,
have already been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
in A.D. 70. The preterist rejects sound eschatology, including the Doctrine
of Imminency, the Rapture, and the Tribulation.
Return to Index
Preterism
Refuted
There are several rather obvious problems
with the preterist position; we will focus in this article on the prophecies
of Jesus concerning the eschaton.
There are three parallel passages in the
Gospels where Jesus lays out for His disciples the signs indicating that
the end of the age is at hand. To list the signs:
-
A rise in false religion, including an epidemic
of persons or systems claiming to be Jesus Himself.
-
An unprecedented increase in the number of
wars.
-
An unprecedented increase in natural disasters,
including famines, pestilences, and earthquakes.
-
Unprecedented tribulation and mass martyrdom,
and universal hatred of Christians.
-
Mass betrayal, and General Apostasy.
-
The Gospel shall be preached to all nations.
-
The Abomination of Desolation will be set
up in the reconstructed Tribulation Temple.
-
Tribulation so great that there has been
none like it before, nor none since; in fact, if the days had not been
shortened, no flesh would survive.
-
An increase in false signs and lying wonders.
-
Immediately after the Tribulation
of those days, there will be great atmospheric/astronomic disturbances.
-
Coincident with this, the "sign
of the Son of Man" will appear in the heavens, and "all tribes of the earth"
will see Jesus' mighty Second Advent.
-
Coincident with this, the saints
of God will be gathered together from the four corners of the earth.
The first nine items deal with the events
leading up to the yet-to-occur "Tribulation Period," and the last three
with those events immediately succeeding it.
The preterist position is that all this
has already occurred. They cite the fact that the events surrounding AD
70 saw an increase in local wars, in famines, and general upheaval. However,
the Text seems to indicate far more than a localized increase in these
things, and rather points to a global increase of such titanic proportions
that it would be a readily discernible sign.
Now, why do we state that these things
speak of the end of the age, and not simply of the destruction
of the temple? Because of the Holy Spirit's very careful choice of
words: "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of
Your coming, and of the end of the age?" [Matthew 24:3] That Jesus
is not presently "here" in the sense that He will be during the Millennium
is very readily apparent.
The Signs Examined
Point-By-Point
-
The rise of persons claiming to be Christ
-- as in, claiming to be Jesus Himself, rather than just a general conception
of a "saviour" of sorts -- was not a widespread problem in the first century
AD. Even though right now we have witnessed a vast increase in false Christs
since the middle of the 1800's, the Scripture indicates that the number
and frequency of such claims will increase even more so.
-
The unrest surrounding AD 70 was actually
nothing new or strange [study, for instance, the terrible times surrounding
the Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom, and the time of the Maccabean
Revolt] nor historically unique afterwards. It was hardly the universal,
cataclysmic clashing of nations that Jesus seems to indicate in His prophecy.
On the other hand, it is a well-known fact that international violence
has, if anything, increased century-by-century until the present.
In fact, the 20th century has been the bloodiest in the history
of mankind. This trend will only get worse, until finally those years immediately
preceding the advent of antichrist will see the most turbulent period in
human history. This will be partially responsible for the relative ease
with which antichrist usurps the final vestiges of national sovereignty.
Essentially, however, the key is that the unrest is so pervasive and so
unusual that Jesus could use it as a sure sign that the end
was in sight.
-
The twentieth century has seen an exponential
increase in natural disasters. The present popular fascination with natural
disasters ("Twister, Volcano, Dante's
Peak, etc.") is an outgrowth of this geologic/meteorologic trend.
The upheavals are so pervasive that Jesus could use them as a definite
sign of the end of the age. The geologic upheavals surrounding
AD 70, by way of comparison, were hardly universal, and have been more
than outmatched in recent history.
-
The mass martyrdom of the first century was
perhaps more pandemic on a per capita basis, but the blood spilled
since the beginning of the second century till now far outweigh that spilled
in the first century, much less the few years leading up to AD 70. The
mass martyrdom and universal hatred of Christians being spoken of by Jesus
rather refers to a universal tribulation yet future that is so intense
and all-encompassing that it can serve as a definite sign of the end
of the age.
-
No general apostasy has yet overtaken the
Church. The majority of professing Christians in the first century did
not turn aside to false gospels; rather, the majority seemingly lived and
died for the True Gospel of Jesus. No, this definite sign is speaking of
a general apostasy yet future, which is so awesome in scope that
it can serve as a definite indication that the end of the age
has come.
-
The Gospel has obviously not been preached
to all nations. The Acts 2 outpouring does not constitute that preaching
(as some preterists would argue). First, all nations weren't covered
in the Acts 2 list. And as a wise man once said, "All means 'all,' and
that's all 'all' means." Rather, there are still a great many nations who
have yet to hear the glorious Gospel. This sign is yet future.
-
The desecration of the Temple in AD 70 did
not fulfill the requirements of being the "Abomination which makes desolation."
Titus destroyed Herod's Temple; he did not usurp it. Heterodyning
Jesus' prophecy with Paul's in II Thessalonians 2:4, we note with interest
that antichrist will seat himself in the Temple of God, claiming to be
God. Antiochus Epiphanes was the clearest type of antichrist in Old Testament
apocalyptic literature. Titus did not set himself up as God, but rather
desecrated the Temple by obliterating it; he did not even get to deport
its treasures as did Nebuchadnezzar, according to Josephus, as the Temple
was first gutted by fire, causing the gold of the Holy Place and Most Holy
Place to melt and run into the cracks in the stones, necessitating the
stone-by-stone dismantling that Titus ordered. This event, predicted by
Jesus, is yet future, and is a definite sign of the end of
the age.
-
The tribulation surrounding AD 70 has certainly
been far surpassed in recent history. Most notably for the Jewish nation
is Hitler's Holocaust. For the Gentiles, there are untold examples. Jesus
is predicting a tribulation even more severe than this (the tribulation
will be so severe that no tribulation will ever surpass it in intensity,
either in the past or future to it [v. 21]), and this tribulation is yet
future.
-
Today we are seeing a true exponential increase
in false signs and lying wonders. First, we have the Tornado
Blessing; then there is the Pensacola
Abomination. The New [Old] Age [Lie] Movement is reporting a
vast number of paranormal occurrences, signs, wonders, healings, past-life
regressions, "UFO" encounters, avatar visitations, messages from the "Ascended
Masters," and a host of other stuff that is not fake but real
(just not what they think of as real; the UFOs are, for instance,
demonic manifestations, etc). I grew up in the New [Old] Age [Lie] Movement,
and can unequivocally vouch for the reality of the lying signs and wonders
within that camp. It is out-and-out demonic deception at its height, and
is increasing. It has infiltrated the church with the Kenyonist
movement ("Word-Faith"), and is simply the most recent incarnation of the
ancient Mystery Religions of Babylon (check out the superb book En
Route to Global Occupation by Gary Kah for a detailed examination
of this) and Nimrod.
-
Jesus uses the amazing "immediately after
the tribulation of those days..." Immediately. Immediately after
the tribulation of those days, there will be great signs in heaven. Such
signs have not yet occurred.
-
The nations of the earth will see the Son
of Man (Jesus) coming in His Second Advent immediately after the
tribulation of those days, according to verse 30; that Jesus did not return
at or around AD 70 is somewhat obvious...
-
The saints of God will be gathered together
immediately after the tribulation of those days. Such a gathering
has never occurred. Even the reforming of Israel as a nation in
the '40s does not constitute this (if you intend to make "the saints" equate
with "Israel" only), since the majority of Jews still live outside Israel
proper.
We see rather apparently -- even after limiting
our examination to Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24, and not even touching
on Paul's eschatology -- that the preterist position is worse than precarious.
Return to Index
Problematic
Preterism
Not only is preterism untenable, but it is
unwise as well. Preterism undermines the encompassing nature of Scriptural
prophecy, spiritualizes/allegorizes Scriptural passages, robs the saint
of the hope of Jesus' imminent appearing, and produces a "lazy virgin"
syndrome.
Undermines
The Bible encompasses human history from
its inception to its end. It accurately taught history in advance,
as it were; the dead-accurate prophecies of Moses, Isaiah, and others demonstrated
God's Word's accuracy and divine origin.
The Bible also encompasses the entirety
of human history this side of the Eternal State. Genesis describes in perfect
detail the Beginning, and the Revelation (and other passages) predicts
the End.
Preterism knocks out one of those "bookends."
It leaves one with the feeling that Jesus' return is far, far off, when
in fact it is very near.
This is borne out by reading the works
of preterists attacking dispensational eschatology. The chief aspect which
is ridiculed seems to be the Doctrine of Imminency. This is Paul's
teaching that Jesus' return is an "it-can-happen-at-any-moment" kind of
thing.
Spirutalizes/Allegorizes
The preterist is forced to allegorize obviously
literal passages of Text. He comes to Revelation 7:5-8 and is forced to
assign spiritual meaning to the listed Twelve Tribes, and the numbers given.
He comes to the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl Judgments, and is forced to allegorize
the obviously literal scenery; the "great burning mountain" of 7:8 suddenly
becomes something other than a "great burning mountain." The Two Witnesses
of Revelation 11 become the Old and New Testaments, or something else other
than what is obviously meant: That they are two literal humans who will
prophesy for 3.5 years in the city of Jerusalem during the yet-future
Tribulation Period. Etc.
The preterist, then, is forced to reject
sensus literalis in the apocalyptic passages. It is not surprising,
then, to note that most modern preterists also reject the Biblical account
of a six-day Creation Week, but rather allegorize Genesis 1&2.
Robs
Hebrews 9:28b reads: "To those who
eagerly await for Him He will appear a second time apart from sin,
for salvation." In multitudinous other places in Scripture we are exhorted
to "watch eagerly" for Jesus' coming. Preterism robs the saint of
this "Great Hope of the Gospel;" the Pretribulational, Premillennial Return
of Jesus Christ for His saints.
"Lazy Virgin"
Jesus speaks a parable about the end
in Matthew 25 (immediately after He prophesies about the eschaton in chapter
24), in which there are ten virgins. Five kept oil in vessels, five were
foolish. Five were prepared for the Bridegroom's return, five were not.
Now, this parable is not speaking about believers (the Bridegroom does
not allow the five foolish virgins in, but "casts them out into outer darkness,"
a fate reserved for unbelievers), but note Jesus' words at the end of the
parable:
"Watch therefore, for you know neither
the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."
We are commanded to watch. To watch
with expectancy, for the Bridegroom's coming is imminent
(that is, it can occur at any time). Preterism falsely assumes that all
the signs of the end have already been fulfilled, so there
is no need to "watch," except in some vague sense of "Yeah, Jesus can return...
someday..." Jesus' return to the rank-and-file preterist is a far-off ideal,
not an imminent reality.
Return to Index
Conclusion
Preterism as a system is untenable, indefensible,
and should be rejected outright.
Return to Index
Return to Theology
Return to Ixthys'
Home Page
This page last updated November 28th,
1997 by Michael D Macon.
© 1997 Michael D Macon; All rights
reserved.