Background

Going home yesterday ran into a gentleman who also happens to be a Christian Pastor.

We tracked into a discussion on Preterism.

What is Preterism?

Wikipedia

Link

Preterism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets some (partial preterism) or all (full preterism) prophecies of the Bible as events which have already happened. This school of thought interprets the Book of Daniel as referring to events that happened from the 7th century BC until the first century AD, while seeing the prophecies of Revelation as events that happened in the first century AD. Preterism holds that Ancient Israel finds its continuation or fulfillment in the Christian church at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Historical

A prominent preterist exposition of prophecy was written by the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar during the Counter Reformation. Moses Stuart noted that Alcasar’s preterist interpretation was of considerable benefit to the Roman Catholic Church during its arguments with Protestants, and preterism has been described in modern eschatological commentary as a Catholic defense against the Protestant Historicist view which identified the Roman Catholic Church as a persecuting apostasy.

Due to resistance by Protestant Historicists, the preterist view was slow to gain acceptance outside the Roman Catholic Church. Among Protestants it was first accepted by Hugo Grotius, a Dutch Protestant eager to establish common ground between Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church. His first attempt to do this was entitled ‘Commentary on Certain Texts Which Deal with Antichrist’ (1640), in which he attempted to argue that the texts relating to Antichrist had their fulfillment in the 1st century AD. This was not well received by Protestants, but Grotius was undeterred and in his next work, ‘Commentaries On The New Testament’ (1641–50), he expanded his preterist views to include the Olivet prophecy and Revelation.

 

Biblical Foundation

Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim 2:17-18)

Full preterism is sometimes viewed as heretical, based upon the historic creeds of the church (which would exclude this view), and also from Biblical passages that condemn a past view of the Resurrection or the denial of a physical resurrection or transformation of the body — doctrines which most Christians believe to be essential to the faith. Critics of full preterism point to the Apostle Paul’s condemnation of the doctrine of Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim 2:17-18), which they regard as analogous to full preterism. Adherents of full preterism, however, dispute this assertion by pointing out that Paul’s condemnation was written during a time in which (their idea of) the Resurrection was still in the future (i.e., pre-AD 70). Their critics assert that if the Resurrection has not yet happened, then the condemnation would still apply.

 

Videos

1. Dr. Brock Hollet
   • Joel Richardson :- Debunking Preterism with Dr. Brock Hollett | The
     Underground #94
     Channel :- Joel Richardson
     Published On :- 2018-June-19th
     Link
2. Andrew Wommack
   • Andrew Wommack – Preterism
     Link
3. Samuel M. Frost
   • Sam Frost – Why I Left Full Hyper Preterism – AD 70
     Published On :- 2018-Sept-6th
     Link
   • Why I Left Full (Hyper) Preterism – Sam Frost
     Samuel M. Frost was once a devoted Hyper-Preterist. Now, he’s converted to Orthodox Preterism. In this interview, he explains his conversion.
     Channel :- eschatology247
     Published On :- 2013-April-5th
     Link
4. Fountain of Israel
   • Preterism Examined & Refuted 1& 2
     Channel :- Fountain of Israel
     Published On :- 2016-Dec-6th
     Link
5. William Lane Craig
   • Preterism Debunked – William Lane Craig
     Link
6. Joshua Prasch
   • Amillennialism And Post Amillennialism – James Jacob Prasch – Live From England
     Channel :- Moriel Ministries
     Published :- 2016-April-15th
     Link
7. Darrell Myatt
   • Preterism: Do You Know About This Dangerous Theology?
     Channel :- DarrellMyatt1963
     Published On :- 2009-Nov-17th

 

In-depth

Dr. Brock Hollett

Debunking Preterism with Dr. Brock Hollett | The Underground #94

1. Every generation takes the same view that the Day of the Lord is fast approaching

Samuel M. Frost

Sam Frost – Why I Left Full Hyper Preterism – AD 70

1. Theonomy
   • View of God word can be demonstrated
2. Dispensation
   • Dispensation is is not a Theology.  It is an eschatology.  It begins with an eschatology and has to go back and fit all of its Theology within its eschatology per-suppositions
   • It is fragmented
   • It cannot create a coherent, cohesive,  systematic position that pertains to a world view
3. Preterism
   • All of the Pauline letters are interpreted through 70 AD
   • Paul was expecting Jesus to come back in 70 AD
   • Everything is breaded through 70 AD
   • Parousia
   • Romans  6 through 8
   • Sanctification is to the body of Christ
   • Nothing with body resurrection
   • pigeonholed
   • Slogan of “Time of End” and not “End of Time“
   • Here gone and fulfilled
   • Now what do we do with the last 2000 years
   • And, now what do we do …

Books

Book Reviews

Brock David Hollett

Debunking Preterism: How Over-Realized Eschatology Misses the Not Yet of Bible Prophecy

Amazon
Link
By 2013, he had finished writing a book defending preterism and was scheduled to be a conference speaker at a preterist prophecy conference. However, on the very night that he received the first box of 100 books from his publisher, the Lord spoke to his heart to reexamine the biblical doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which led him to repent of his involvement with preterism.

In 2017, God placed a fresh burden on Dr. Hollett’s heart to write a book that sets forth a proper biblical eschatology and a roadmap for refuting preterism. He wrote Debunking Preterism: How Over-realized Eschatology Misses the “Not Yet” of Bible Prophecy in only three months, sensing a prophetic urgency regarding the project. Debunking Preterism will undoubtedly become the gold standard on the topic of preterism. The book is replete with a wealth of illustrative figures and comparative charts that reinforce its main concepts. Special emphasis is placed upon a proper understanding of the biblical time statements and the “already and not yet” principle of eschatology.

 

Problematic

To me there are various issues with a Preterism view.

1. Boxing
   • It boxes God into a strong timeline
   • It boxes Jesus into a strong timeline
     • It argues Jesus came back in AD 70
2. Temple Destruction
   • It says that people already flee the temple and there is no significance into a new Temple
3. Audience
   • It teaches that Jesus was speaking to a particular focus group and not to generations thereafter
4. Jewish State
   • It could lead to ambiguity about the role  of an actual Jewish state
5. Millennium Timeline
   • Verses
     • Verse ( Revelations 20:1-3)
       • And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
         He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
         He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
   • Questions
     • Will there be an actual Millennium Age
     • Or is it only Symbolic
6. Replacement Theology
   • Stairway into replacement Theology?
   • Has God promises of Land and Davidic Rule taken place, nullified, or will occur at a later time

Summary

It is one thing to listen to discussions against a straw man.  But, when someone actually believes some of these things, it gives Christianity flesh.