BOOKS: BIBLICAL STUDIES (1500BC-AD70) / EARLY CHRISTIAN PRETERISM (AD50-1000) / FREE ONLINE BOOKS (AD1000-2008)
| David S. Clark – The Message From Patmos: A Postmillennial Commentary on the Book of Revelation (1921) “This early twentieth-century Postmillennial commentary on the Book of Revelation, written by the father of theologian Gordon Clark, offers an easy-to-read alternative to the popular Pre-millennial/Dispensational views of the best-selling Scofield Reference Bible and a multitude of other dissertations on end-time prophecy that litter the shelves of Christian bookstores. “ |
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Minor Fulfillment of Matt. 24/25 or Revelation in Past
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HISTORICAL PRETERISM (HP) – A) Umbrella term covering all those who believe that only a slight amount of Bible prophecy was totally fulfilled in the early centuries of the Christian era. Determined by looking at where authors find a “transition” from the past to the future using the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24/25 and the Apocalypse of John. B) This class has roots dating back to the first century, such as in the writings of Barnabus and Clement of Rome, and finds greater development in the writings of Justin Martyr and Eusebius. The Catholic and Orthodox churches maintained HP through the Middle Ages. Today’s contemporary forms were largely developed in the writings of Calvin, Luther, Grotius and Lightfoot. C) Teaches that some of the Bible’s “end times” prophecies were fulfilled by AD70, but that the substantial portion of prophetic fulfillment is yet to be revealed at the “last day.” Transitions in the Middle of Matthew 24, or in the Middle of the Apocalypse of John.
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“we are to lay hold on that kingdom which cannot be shaken; for the Lord shakes us for this end, that he may really and forever establish us in himself.” John Calvin On Hebrews 12 | ||||||
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The People of God, the Land of Israel, and the Impartiality of the Gospel – Among Signatories: R. C. Sproul, Gary DeMar “At the heart of the political commitments in question are two fatally flawed propositions. First, some are teaching that God’s alleged favor toward Israel today is based upon ethnic descent rather than upon the grace of Christ alone, as proclaimed in the Gospel. Second, others are teaching that the Bible’s promises concerning the land are fulfilled in a special political region or “Holy Land,” perpetually set apart by God for one ethnic group alone.”
Brian Abshire
Charles Alexander
Steve Atkerson
Robert Baillie
Richard Barcellos
Timothy M. Barrett
Loraine Boettner
Joseph P. Braswell Pastor J. S. Brown
Sir Thomas Brown
George Wesley Buchanan
E.W. Bullinger (1837-1913)
Anthony Buzzard
Joseph M. Canfield
Ron Clark
Jonathan Companick
Melvin Curry
John Denton
Mitchell Dick
C.H. Dodd J. Ligon Duncan
Rev. Fr. Burnell F. Eckardt Jr.
Jonathan Edwards E.B. Elliot
Frederick Engels – A Founder of Modern World Socialism
Prof. David J. Engelsma
Daniel Alejandro Flores
Don Garlington
Dr. John Gill – Baptist
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FREE ONLINE BOOKS: The Judgment of Jerusalem | Stone-Campbell Journal | Greek Orthodox: The Apocalypse | Centuries of Meditation | The Book of Revelation: Introduction | Great Awakening Group | Is the Great Tribulation future or fulfilled? | The Number of Man: The Climax of Civilization | Dave MacPherson’s Post Trib Writings | Did the Council at Ephesus Condemn Chiliasm? | Lutheran Church separates from Luther’s belief about Jews | Unchained Radio | Bicentennial of Peter Linebaugh’s execution “Was he distracted by his Greek and Hebrew studies as a scholar can be? “He pointed out a mistranslation in Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews [9:26] objecting to the ‘end of the world’ and showing from the Greek testament it should be to the ‘end of the age.’ Demonstratio Evangelica Eusebius – “When, then, we see what was of old foretold for the nations fulfilled in our own day, and when the lamentation and wailing that was predicted for the Jews, and the burning of the Temple and its utter desolation, can also be seen even now to have occurred according to the prediction, surely we must also agree that the King who was prophesied, the Christ of God, has come, since the signs of His coming have been shewn in each instance I have treated to have been clearly fulfilled.”
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Bruce Gore
- 2000: Has Jesus’ Olivet Prophecy Been Fulfilled? “But what could be the abomination of desolation in the late 60s? According to Josephus, the Romans, “upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple, and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them . . .” (Wars, VI, vi, 1). So once again an abominable sacrifice was offered at the site of the temple, which did in fact lie desolate at the hand of these Roman soldiers.”
Dom Prosper Guéranger
- 1841: The Destruction of Jerusalem “Whilst the abominations of desolation, foretold by Daniel, was thus standing in the holy place, (St. Matt. xxiv. 15.) John of Grischala saw that the Zealots were too stupefied by the feastings to cause him any further alarm. He fell on the city, like a bird of prey, there to find the necessary provisions; and out of hatred for Simon, he destroyed by fire all he could not carry away. Simon, instead of quenching the fire, extended it in every part where John was likely to pass, hoping, by this means, to deprive the Galileans of all further victualling. Immense stores of corn and other provisions had been amassed by the Jewish leaders, as a necessary resource in case of a future siege; but all were now destroyed by these two men, who were greater enemies to their country than were the Romans themselves. Thus was spent the year 69 — a year of respite, which Rome, torn as she was by factions of her own, was compelled to allow, and which might have been of such incalculable benefit to the Jews.”
Scott Hahn
Roman Catholic
- 2003: Art Sippo and the Demise of Catholic Apologetics “Sippo: Scott (Hahn) is very well read in the Patristic literature and is on the cutting edge of modern biblical scholarship. Anyone who has tried to keep up with the field knows that the movement for “biblical theology” is a new and exciting area of study that crosses confessional lines and participates in the New Pauline Perspective which has been systematically dismantling the classical Protestant interpretation of Scripture in favor of a view of soteriology that is more favorable to the traditional Catholic position. R. Sungenis: Thanks for proving my point. In case you didn’t catch it, Sippo has admitted by the statement “crosses confessional lines and participates in the New Pauline Perspective,” that he and Hahn have received their newfound ideas on soteriology from Protestants. Need I say more?”
Homer Hailey
Church of Christ
- 1964: Matthew 24 “In describing the coming judgment upon His people and the ushering in His righteousness and salvation. God describes the passing of the order as a passing of heaven and earth. “
Ed Hara
- 2000: Problems with Stevens’ Response to Gentry “It is incredible to me that the more I see of the Internet, the more I see “believers” constantly arguing with one another. I find myself wondering if this was the “unity” which our Lord had in mind when He prayed that “they all might be one”. Unfortunately, this will be just one more argument. I hope that as it is read, one will not think that in trying to be firm I have not stooped to too low a level. “
- 1888: For The Temple “In the afternoon he head a clash of arms as the sentry gave the military salute, and a moment later Titus entered, accompanied by one whom John instantly recognized as Josephus. John rose to his feet. “I told you he was but a young man,” Titus said to Josephus; “but now that I can see him more nearly, or at any rate more calmly, I can see that he is little more than a lad, and yet, as you have heard me say, he is a man of valor, and defeated me in a fair fight.” “I seem to know his face,” Josephus said, and then addressed John in Hebrew. “Who are you, young man?” “I am that John whom you saved in the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and who fought with you at Jotapata.” “Is it possible!” Josephus exclaimed in surprise. “I thought that I alone was saved there.”
George Herbert
- 1633: A Priest to the Temple “There are two Prophesies in the Gospel, which evidently argue Christs Divinity by their success: the one concerning the woman that spent the oyntment on our Saviour, for which he told, that it should never be forgotten, but with the Gospel it selfe be preached to all ages, Matth. 26. 13. The other concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; of which our Saviour said, that that generation should not passe, till all were fulfilled, Luke 21.32. Which Josephus’s History confirmeth, and the continuance of which verdict is yet evident.”
Charles Hill
- 1996: Why the Early Church Fathers Finally Rejected Premillennialism “But despite its usefulness in helping to claim the mantle of Judaism and in fending off matter-denying Gnosticism, chiliasm was at odds with aspects of the Church’s hope handed down from the apostles and made so clear in the New Testament writings.”
Wayne Jackson
- 2009: Did the Law of Moses Continue until AD70? “Though the redemptive element of the Mosaic law was abrogated at the cross, the civil aspect of the regime continued on until A.D. 70, when the complete destruction of the Hebrew system of jurisprudence was implemented by the Lord. God sent “his armies” and brought down the last element of the former politico-religious economy (Matthew 22:7). The system as a whole was removed incrementally.”
- 2002: What Is the Meaning of “Shortly Come to Pass”?
- The Menace of Radical Preterism – “Radical Preterism… is so “off the wall”— biblically speaking— that one wonders how anyone ever falls for it. But they do. …dealing with Preterism is like cleaning the kitty litter box; one hates to fool with it, but it has to be done. He can just be thankful that cats aren’t larger than they are.”
- A Study of Matthew 24 – “Since the Jewish people are still extant, this concept allows dispensationalists to stretch the circumstances of Matthew 24 all the way to the present time. This view of the passage is seriously flawed.”
- Was the siege at Jerusalem the worst in history? – “Matthew 24:21 does not refer to the end of time. It’s application, based upon all contextual considerations, was to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70.”
Scott Kessler
- 2007: The Errors of Hyper-Preterism “If, in fact, all Bible Prophecy has been fulfilled, as hyper-preterism teaches, then what do we make of Christianity today? Have the Jews abandoned their false religion in favor of Christianity, thus bringing greater blessings to the gentiles (Romans 11:24-26)? Why are we still marrying and giving in marriage (Luke 20:35)? What of our resurrection and judgment? Has the great Commission been fulfilled (Matthew 28:18-20)? Is Jesus still sitting at the right hand of the Father (Psalm 110:1)? If not, where is He? Such a belief system tends to lead toward gnosticism and, in the case of the modern church, deism. Hyper-preterism is as ridiculous as it is unorthodox.”
- 2006: Who Are God’s Chosen People? “Preterists are often accused of holding to “Replacement Theology”. The truth of the matter is that we do no such thing. Replacement theology is a misnomer. No one has been “replaced” in regard to the blessings of the Covenant. The church is “Israel” (Galatians 6:16), and always has been, even in the Old Testament.”
Knox Theological Seminary
Brendan Kraft
- 2002: Hyper-Preterism Renounced – Brandan Kraft “For the last couple of years, I have struggled with the doctrines of hyper preterism. The doctrines also known as “realized eschatology” or “covenant eschatology” or “full preterism” teaches that the eschatological events of Scripture were entirely fulfilled in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem. Conservative preterists or “partial preterists” like me have no doubt that many of the eschatological prophecies of Scripture were fulfilled in 70 AD. However, we still hold to the belief that there remains a future coming of Christ, along with a future physical resurrection of the dead.”
- 1844: The Life of the Lord : Olivet Discourse “As soon as Christ comes to the destruction of Jerusalem, He conceives it in the prophetic importance which it has to His disciples. He assumes that they will live to see the destruction themselves. He then points out to them the sign by which they were to recognise that the judgment was about to break over Jerusalem.”
- 1730: On the Jewish Testimonies Regarding the Destruction of Jerusalem “It will certainly be worth the while to take a testimony from these writers to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the temple there. I shall therefore transcribe and translate almost word for word a long passage out of the Babylonian Talmud, in the title Gittin, chapter Hannisah: “’This is the tradition. Rabbi Elieser said: Go. And see how the blessed and holy God helped Bar-kamtza, and he destroyed his house, and burnt up his temple, and made Jerusalem ‘ desolate.'”
- 1985: Jerusalem; Rome; Revelation – John’s Apocalypse Written Before AD70
- 2000: The Anti-Preterist Historicism of John Calvin and the Westminster Standards “Finally Jesus then stated: “Truly, I tell you this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matthew 24:34. It is true that “within fifty years, the city was destroyed and the temple was rased” Calvin concedes to preterism. But then he also comments, historicistically, that “the same evils were perpetrated in uninterrupted succession for many ages afterwards…. The apostles endured the same things which we see in the present day [A.D. 1555-63]. And yet, it was not the design of Christ to promise to His followers that their calamities would be terminated within a short time. For then, He would have contradicted Himself having previously warned them that the end was not yet!”
- 2000: Revelation Unveiled
Steve Lehrer
- 2003: Preterism and the Church: Biblical View of Heaven and the New Covenant “A short readable study I designed for Full Preterists – It is meant to aid the Full Preterist in critical thinking about some of the key passages and to lead him away from that doctrinal point of view.”
Martin Luther
- 1525: A Sermon on the Destruction of Jerusalem “The Lord, however, saw deeper into the future than they when he said: 0, Jerusalem! if thou hadst known what I know, thou wouldst seek thy peace. Peace in the Scriptures means, when all things go well with us. You now think you have pleasant days, but if you knew how your enemies will encamp round about you, compass you about and hedge you in on every side, crush you to the ground and demolish all your beautiful buildings, and leave not one stone upon another; you would eagerly accept the Word, which brings to you solid peace and every blessing. [The woeful history of the destruction of Jerusalem you can read in books, from which those who wish will easily understand this Gospel.]”
- 2004: Revisers of the Pre-Trib Rapture – “The Dutch heroine Corrie ten Boom declared in a 1974 article that when communism took over in China “millions of Christians were tortured to death” who had previously been assured: “Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated—-raptured.”
- 2003: Scholar Weigh My Research “The likelihood is that Edward Irving was the first to suggest the pretribulational rapture….the outpouring on Margaret Macdonald did not include revelation of a pretribulational rapture….” But careful scholarship has long known that after Gundry saw my Macdonald findings, he deleted his Irving statement and substituted favorable comments about the Scottish lassie—-changes appearing in his classic work since the 1980’s”
- 2003: The Real Manuel Lacunza
- 2003: Thomas Ice: Hired Gun | Margaret MacDonald’s Originial Pretribulational Vision | Deceiving and Being Deceived
Bob Mahlstead
- 1997: The Anti-Rapture Page – “…yes, I (Bob) am a normal human being and sane Christian who loves the Lord and believes the Bible to be the inspired Word of God without error. I attended a conservative (Dallas Theo Seminary-type) Bible College where Premillennialism was taught and all other views scorned. Now I’m thinking that preterism is the most sound Biblical approach to prophecy. Why? Read on!” (Archived Websites Project)
- 1997: Five Errors of Premillennialists – “The fact is that all interpreters are “literalists” on some points and “symbolists” on others. The real issue is shall our interpretation be Biblical or speculative?”
Keith Mathison
- 2012: The Preterist Approach to Revelation — The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology “An issue that must be addressed before proceeding to an examination of the text of Revelation is our basic hermeneutical approach to the book. Over the course of the church’s history there have been four main approaches: the futurist, historicist, preterist, and idealist approaches.
- 2004: Acts 1:9-11 and the Hyper-Preterism Debate “The hyper-preterist rejection of the traditional interpretation of Acts 1:9–11 has not led to anything even remotely approaching agreement on an alternative interpretation of these three verses. The clarity of what Luke tells us in Acts 1:9–11 is probably the reason why this text is either ignored or else passed over with relatively little detailed discussion in most hyper-preterist literature.”
- 2004: John Humphrey Noyes and Hyper-Preterism “The question, then, is simply this: Is it accurate to classify John Humphrey Noyes as an early proponent of hyper-preterism? After re-examining the evidence, I believe that the answer is yes, and I will seek to defend that answer in what follows.”
- 2003: When Shall These Things Be? A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism “Pratt, Kistemaker, Strimple, and others refute the teaching that all biblical prophecy (second coming, general resurrection, and final judgment) was fulfilled in the first century.”
- 2002: A Brief Reponse to the Full Preterist Criticisms of Dr. Kelly Nelson Birks He fails to inform the reader that out of approximately 250 pages of text, I spent six chapters (or a little over 100 pages) going from Genesis through Revelation exegeting Scripture in order to substantiate my own position. Why Dr. Birks expects me to reproduce 100 pages of text in an appendix is a mystery to me.
- 2003: A False Gospel is Not a “Good Offense”
Philip Mauro –
Supreme Court Lawyer
EARLIER EVANGELICAL WRITINGS
- 1909: Life in the Word
- 1910: Reason to Revelation
- 1910: The Number of Man: Climax of Civilization (PDF) From his earlier pre-pret days. He notes the absence of a definite article in Revelation 13:18: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast : for it is THE NUMBER OF MAN ; and his number is 666″ (Rev. xiii. 18)”
- 1912: God’s Pilgrims: Their Dangers, Their Resources, Their Rewards – It may be of interest to the reader to learn that the writing of this book was begun and finished on the memorable voyage of the Steamship Carpathia which was interrupted by the rescue of the survivors of the Titanic, and by the return with them to the port of New York.
- 1912: “Eugenics”: A New “movement”
- 1913: The Path of the Just
- 1915: The Lord’s Supper
- 1917: Dr. Shailer Mathews on Christ’s Return: An Examination of His Pamphlet “Will Christ Come Again?”
- 1918: “After This”: Or, the Church, the Kingdom, and the Glory
- 1919: The House of God
LATER WRITINGS
- 1920: The Law of Christ
- 1922: The Hope of Israel, What is it? – An Examination of the Jewish/Dispensationalist Fable of Restoration for the Nation of Israel. “There are certain Prophetic passages in the Old Testament, which, apart from the light afforded by the New, might be taken as relating to “Israel after the flesh,” and as foretelling the restoration, at some future day, of their national greatness. The erroneous doctrine of the teachers of Israel was based upon an unspiritual interpretation of their own Scriptures; for “they know not the voices of their prophets which were read every sabbath day”
- 1922: The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9 – When Do They Begin And End?
- 1923: The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation A Study of the Last Two Visions of Daniel, and of the Olivet Discourse of the Lord Jesus Christ “Writings and addresses on prophecy always excite interest, because they appeal to the element of curiosity which is prominent in human nature. But such writings and addresses are of benefit only so far as they rightly interpret the Scripture. In the case of unfulfilled prophecy this is oftentimes a matter of difficulty; while on the other hand writers on prophetic themes are under constant temptation to indulge in surmises and speculations, and even in flights of imagination. Much has been put forth as interpretation of prophecy which is utterly unproved, but which could not be disproved except, as in cases where dates have been set for the coming of Christ, by the event itself.”
- 1924: Which Version? Authorized or Revised – A Historical Examination of the Nature and Validity of the Various “Versions” of the Bible
- 1927: The Gospel of the Kingdom – Dispensationalism is modernism. It is modernism, moreover, of a very pernicious sort, such that it must have a “Bible” of its own for the propagation of its peculiar doctrines, since they are not in the Word of God. Ample proof of this will be given in the pages that follow.
- 1934: “Of Things Which Soon Must Come to Pass.” A Commentary on the Book of Revelation
- Speaking in Tongues – The nature of the charismatic gift in the NT, and its timing of ceasing.
Fred Miller
Timothy Miller
- The Book of Hebrews and the End of the Age “Hebrews was written as a final warning to professing Jewish Christians not to reject entrance into the kingdom of God by apostatizing from Christianity just before God’s covenantal wrath was to be violently poured out on the unregenerate, rebellious nation of Israel during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.”
Stan Moody
- 2001: Introduction to Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship “I could not stand on Masada without realizing that something of a critical nature happened there which marked a new era in God’s redemptive plan. It seemed like a moment of cleavage, with the old order giving way to the new Messianic order, and Jews completed in Christ, violently and suddenly (albeit unwillingly) being severed from their Jewish traditions.”
The Moorings
- Prophecies of the Destruction of Jerusalem : Daniel 9 “After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, orthodox rabbinical tradition treated this event as the end of Daniel’s seventy weeks (19). The views of the Jewish historian Josephus are of particular interest. During the assault on Jerusalem, he served as a Roman spokesman urging the people of the city to surrender. In his Wars of the Jews, which furnishes a full account of the struggle from his perspective on the Roman side, he sees the miseries of the city as the fulfillment of an ancient oracle.”
Jared Olivetti
- 2006: Creeds vs. Hyper-Preterism “Why use creeds to determine orthodoxy? Why not just use Scripture? In response to that question, and to encourage all of us toward more submission to the creeds, I’d like to line out for some of the arguments given by Doug Wilson in his chapter “Sola Scriptura, Creeds, and Ecclesiastical Authority” in When Shall These Things Be? (side note: despite some recent controversy, Wilson does support and submit to the church’s creeds and offers clear thinking on the issue …and this chapter has nothing to do with the federal vision controversy.”
- 1839: Commentary on the Complete Text of the New Testament (PDF)”As regards the contents of the discourse, a great difficulty lies in its placing in apparent juxtaposition circumstances which, according to the history, are separated by wide intervals. Obvious descriptions of the approaching overthrow of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity are blended with no less evident representations of the second coming of the Lord to his kingdom. . . We do not hesitate to adopt the simple interpretation, and the only one consistent with the text, that Jesus did intend to represent his coming as contemporaneous with the destruction of Jerusalem and the overthrow of the Jewish polity.” (Vol. ii, pp. 221, 222.)”The word Parousia (presence) is the ordinary expression for the second coming of the Lord. — With the classic authors parousia commonly signifies presence; it has the same meaning sometimes in the N”. T., in the writings of Paul (2 Cor. 10: 10; Phil. 1 : 26 ; 2 : 12 ; 2 Thess. 2:9); in other cases it is used in the sense of advent, and once (2 Pet. 1 : 16) the incarnation of the Redeemer as applied to his first coming.” (Vol. ii. p. 228.)
- ‘It is precisely for this reason, viewing the Saviour’s reply to his disciples as designed to be intelligible, that in this portion of the prediction, I can find no direct reference to the day of judgment, only as the whole event of the coming to destroy Jerusalem is symbolical of that great and final coming to take vengeance on the ungodly.” (P. 312.)
- “Jesus did intend to represent his coming as contemporaneous with the destruction of Jerusalem and the overthrow of the Jewish polity”
Stanley Pahr
- 1993: The A.D.70 Doctrine and Dating the New Testament “Preterism allows for no double fulfillment of prophecies, no twin references or passages such as the alternating of the apocalyptic concepts of Matthew 24 between past and future fulfillments. In his Commentary on Revelation, Homer Harley sees only a past fulfillment (that is, before 475 A.D.) of every section of Revelation up to chapter 20. He would certainly be a left wing preterist, as would be this author who in If Thou Hadst Known isolates 115 Biblical texts which find complete fulfillment in Jerusalem’s fall in 70 A.D.”
- 1877: The Judgment of Jerusalem “As the subject of the Lord’s discourse was the destruction of the city and the temple, with the dissolution of the civil nationality of the Jews, and as all the other circumstances of the prophecy refer to these events, it is in keeping with unity to apply this prediction (son of man coming in clouds) to the same.”
- 1870: Is the Doctrine of the Final Restoration of Man Scriptural?
- Exegesis of I. Peter, III. 18-20; or Christ’s Preaching to the Spirits-in-Prison
- Archive of Other Works
Dr. Larry Pechawer
Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew Language at Ozark Christian College
- Leaving the Rapture Behind: The Man Of Lawlessness “Assuming that the Olivet Discourse was known by Paul, and it almost certainly was, SOMETHING IMPORTANT IS MISSING HERE! It is A.D. 52, and the Thessalonians are worried about missing the Day of the Lord. But remember, Jesus had given ONE CLEAR SIGN that had to occur before He would return–the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem! Why have we missed this? I guess because it’s hard to think of ourselves on the other side of Jerusalem’s fall. How could the Second Coming occur when Jerusalem’s fall, a sign for that generation, had not yet happened? I am convinced that Paul received even further revelation about this monumentally important event and that 2 Thessalonians 2 is a type of “A.D. 70 oracle” “But what about the idea of the “apostasy,” the APOSTASIA (verse 3)? Well, the New International Version got it right when it rendered it “rebellion,” but not for the right reason! Would you believe that the term APOSTASIA and its twin APOSTASIS are the words regularly used by Josephus to describe the Jewish revolt against Rome! They occur dozens of times. Commentators have missed the possibility that the term is being used here in its political, not religious sense. “
- Prophetic Parables of Matthew 13
- The Prophetic Scope of Matthew 24 – “That part of our Lord’s prophetic discourse recorded in Luke 21 (to the middle of v. 24) was all fulfilled by the year A.D. 70. First, Jerusalem was invested by Cestius Gallus, who was repulsed. Later, it was attacked by Titus, the emperor’s son, who was successful. But between the two besiegement, there is good reason to believe that, all Christians “fled,” and that none of them perished in Jerusalem. Luke’s “sign” is past, Matthew’s is yet future. It is most important to observe that in Matthew 24 no reference is made to the destruction of Jerusalem after verse 2; while, on the other hand, in Luke 21 no reference at all is made to “the abomination of desolation.’’ (from Prophetic Parables of Matthew 13)
- A Study of Dispensationalism – “But there is further reason, and a pressing one today, why we should write upon our present subject, and that is to expose the modern and pernicious error of Dispensationalism. This is a device of the Enemy, designed to rob the children of no small part of that bread which their heavenly Father has provided for their souls; a device wherein the wily serpent appears as an angel of light, feigning to “make the Bible a new book” by simplifying much in it which perplexes the spiritually unlearned. It is sad to see how widely successful the devil has been by means of this subtle innovation.”
- 1952: The Application of the Scriptures: A Biblical Refutation of Dispensationalism “Arthur Pink wrote these series of 5 articles just before his death on July 15, 1952. They were published in Mr. Pink’s Studies in the Scriptures for the June through (posthumously) October, 1952 issues. A number of contemporary Dispensationalists have been republishing some of Mr. Pink’s writings from his dispensational days, this is unfortunate, but as these articles show Mr. Pink’s position was against the dispensational school of thought up till the very month of his death.”
John Piper
- 1996: Jesus: Mediator of a Better Covenant “It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of what happened in A. D. 70 in Jerusalem.”
Elder P. Pratt
Mormon
- 1855: Literal Fulfillment of Prophecy : The Destruction of Jerusalem “When he appeared to the Nephites, in his risen body, as you will find it written in the Book of Mormon, he took pains to refer them to the written prophecies of Isaiah and many others, and quoted many of them, and exhorted the people to search the things contained in the prophecies of Isaiah diligently, bearing testimony of their literal fulfilment: and said he, “A commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently,” for they have been fulfilled”
- 1987: Keith H. Meservy – Jesus and Josephus Told of the Destruction of Jerusalem
Charles D. Provan
- 1997: The Church is Israel Now! “During this century, Christians have been told over and over that “God has an unconditional love for Old Testament Israel,” by which is meant that God’s love is directed toward persons racially descended from Abraham, regardless of faith or obedience. Membership in Israel, therefore, is viewed as a matter of race, not faith.”
Robert Roberts
Christadelphian
- 1855: The Signs of the Son of Man’s Presence at the Destruction of Jerusalem “The parousia, or proximity, of the Son of Man to Jerusalem in the crisis of its overthrow was to be in the lifetime of that generation, according to the words of Jesus, who said, “This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.”
- 1879: Anglo-Israelism Refuted – A lecture delivered February 20th, 1879 by Robert Roberts of Birmingham in reply to a lecture given the previous evening by Mr. Edward Hine.
- 1881: The Ways of Providence.. The Overthrow of the Jewish Commonwealth by the Romans and the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus “The survey of the ways of providence would be incomplete without something more than a glance at the events attending the overthrow of Jerusalem and disruption of the Jewish polity over thirty-five years after Christ left the earth. At first sight, it might seem as if this were outside the scope of the work which aims at the illustration of the subject from Biblical narrative alone. On a further consideration, however, the matter must appear otherwise. Although we have no scriptural narrative of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, yet we have much scriptural forecast of that terrible event, and therefore the particulars of the event are the particulars of a divine work. “
Dr. Barbara Rossing
Evangelical Lutheran
- 2004: The Rapture Exposed: Hope in the Message of Revelation “The idea of “The Rapture”—the return of Christ to rescue and deliver Christians off the earth—is an extremely popular interpretation of the Bible’s Book of Revelation and a jumping-off point for the best-selling “Left Behind” series of books. This interpretation, based on a psychology of fear and destruction, guides the daily acts of thousands if not millions of people worldwide. In The Rapture Exposed, Barbara Rossing argues that this script for the world’s future is nothing more than a disingenuous distortion of the Bible. The truth, Rossing argues, is that Revelation offers a vision of God’s healing love for the world. The Rapture Exposed reclaims Christianity from fundamentalists’ destructive reading of the biblical story and back into God’s beloved community.”
- Reviews at Google Books “I’ll admit it–I was a Dispensationalist before I read this book”
T.H. Salmon
Andrew Sandlin
- 2001: Correspondence on Full Preterism – “I think it most unlikely that the almost unanimous testimony of the church for 2000 years could have been mistaken on such a fundamental point. Full preterism is in fact, therefore, non-Christian in that it repudiates cardinal tenets of the orthodox Faith.. this is not an invitation for a debate.”
- 2001: Those Long-Lived Last Days – “The theologically liberal accusations that the New Testament writers taught that Jesus Christ would return in their own lifetimes (thus denying Biblical infallibility) is no less erroneous than is the notion by some conservatives that we must attribute most or all of such texts to the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70 in order to maintain the integrity of the Bible’s infallibility”
- 2000: Sandlin’s Review of Sproul’s “Last Days According to Jesus” – “Though Sproul does not at this point deny creedal Christianity, or come close to it, he leaves the reader with the distinct impression that he may be willing to do so if he were convinced that the Bible taught this.”
- 1999: An Open Letter to Ligonier Ministries
- 1898: History of the Christian Church., vol. 1: Apostolic Christianity
- 1882: History of the Christian Church – (Chapter 6: The Great Tribulation, The Roman Conflagration and Neronian Persecution “The aforesaid Scribes and Pharisees, therefore, placed James upon the pinnacle of the temple, and cried out to him: “O thou just man, whom we ought all to believe, since the people are led astray after Jesus that was crucified, declare to us what is the door of Jesus that was crucified.” And he answered with a loud voice: “Why do ye ask me respecting Jesus the Son of Man? He is now sitting in the heavens, on the right hand of the great Power, and is about to come on the clouds of heaven.” And as many were confirmed, and gloried in this testimony of James, and said:, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” these same priests and Pharisees said to one another: “We have done badly in affording such testimony to Jesus, but let us go up and cast him down, that they may dread to believe in him.” And they cried out: “Ho, ho, the Just himself is deceived.” And they fulfilled that which is written in Isaiah, “Let us take away the Just, because he is offensive to us; wherefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings.” [Comp. Is. 3:10.]”
- 1882: Julian the Apostate, and the Reaction of Paganism “His object in the rebuilding of the temple was rather, in the first place, to enhance the splendor of his reign, and thus gratify his personal vanity; and then most probably to put to shame the prophecy of Jesus respecting the destruction of the temple (which, however, was actually fulfilled three hundred years before once for all), to deprive the Christians of their most popular argument against the Jews, and to break the power of the new religion in Jerusalem.”
- The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
- Cyril of Jerusalem “The next incident recorded in the life of S. Cyril is his alleged prediction of the failure of Julian’s attempt to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. “The vain and ambitious mind of Julian,” says Gibbon, “might aspire to restore the ancient glory of the Temple of Jerusalem. As the Christians were firmly persuaded that a sentence of everlasting destruction had been pronounced against the whole fabric of the Mosaic law, the Imperial sophist would have converted the success of his undertaking into a specious argument against the faith of prophecy and the truth of revelation.”
- The Day of the Lord
- Antichrist was Nero to Early Church
- Christ’s Parousia His Resurrection
- The Teaching of Christ is not Millenniarian
- Pre and Post-Millenarianism
- Return of Jesus Points to Destruction of Jerusalem
- Masada
- Milton Spencer Terry “This being so, then the words relating to a personal return of Jesus are to be taken as pointing to the Destruction of Jerusalem (Mat. x.23; xvi.28).” / The Second Advent of Christ
Brian Schwertly
Kate Scot-Byson
- 1996: This Generation: A Preterist Looks Back at Premillennialism – “Has anyone ever looked at you as if you suddenly grew an extra, rather peculiar-looking head? That’s the look I often get when I tell some fellow Christians that most of the prophecies they so closely associate with the end of the world have already been fulfilled, in the 1st Century AD, culminating with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD. This position is known as partial Preterism.”
- 1869: Predictions Respecting the Second Advent of Jesus “The first attempt to assign all to the destruction of Jerusalem until we reach Matt. xxv. 31, is utterly untenable and indeed absurd. No words can be plainer than those of Matt. xxiv. 29, 30, 31. If they do not denote the visible coming of the Son of man in heaven to exercise judgment over all the tribes of earth, no words whatever suffice to enunciate this doctrine. Nothing but the extreme stress of the difficulty, extreme reluctance to admit the ignominious failure of prophecy, could ever drive a sensible man to pretend that these three verses mean nothing but the overthrow of one city—the dissolution of one nation.”
David Sergeant
- 1999: Millennium Now – “In the pages that follow, we will look again at the key biblical prophesies and attempt to discern just what they are saying to us. Are they really predicting such a bleak future? Or are they telling us that Christ has already overcome and that the future is safe in God’s hands?”
- Jonathan Seraiah
Stephen Sizer
- 1840: The Destruction of Jerusalem: The Whole Being Intended to Illustrate the Fulfillment of the Predictions of Moses and the Messiah “The history of Jerusalem, viewed as the fulfilment of prophecy, furnishes evidence of the truth of Christianity which neither Jew nor infidel can reject without positive infatuation. At the same time, it also reveals to us the awful depravity of human nature. Let nations look upon Judea, let cities look upon Jerusalem, let individuals look upon the personal calamities of the Jews, and let all fear God and fly from transgression. If, indeed, we would escape a destruction, of which that of Jerusalem was but a faint emblem, let us embrace proffered mercy, and “know the things that belong to our peace, before they are hid” FOREVER “from our eyes.”
- 1885: Israel and Britain: A Note of Warning “They went so far as to crucify him, and cried as they did so, “His blood be on us, and our children,” words so sadly verified when Jerusalem was destroyed, and her children slaughtered, sold as slaves, or scattered to the four corners of the earth. It was indeed, a terrible blindness which happened unto Israel. But although this blindness was a punishment for former sin, it was itself a sin. They willfully rejected the testimony of God against themselves; they refused the self-evident Christ who would so greatly have blessed them. This wilful rejection was carried out so effectually that it became impossible to convert and heal them; they could not be instructed, or reformed, and therefore they were given over to destruction. Nothing remained but to allow the Romans to burn the temple and plough the site of the city. It was a dreadful thing that they should deliberately choose destruction, and obstinately involve themselves in the most tremendous of woes. Poor Israel, we pity thee! It was sad indeed to fall from so great a height! Yet we are bound to admit that God dealt with thee justly, for thou didst choose thine own delusions. The Lord cries, “Oh that my people had harkened unto me.”
- 1890: Commenting on Commentaries
- 1867: Old Testament Saints
- 1705: A Paraphrase and Comment on the Epistles and Gospels “For this ambiguous manner our Lord’s expressing himself, some of the Disciples imagined, that St. John should never die, but he found among those that shall be alive at Christ’s Second Coming. Whereas, in Truth, those words of Jesus imply no such matter foretel, that that Disciple should survive the Destruction of Jerusalem ; which is probably believed to be called our Lord’s Coming (as a most eminent Judgment, and instance of his Truth and Power) in sundry places of the New Testament.” (A paraphrase and comment upon the Epistle and Gospels, vol. 1., p. 262)
Dr. Kenneth G. Talbot
- 2009: Samuel Frost and the Westminster Confession “Here Mr. Frost acknowledges himself as rightfully being a ‘heretic’ in light of Reformed theology. We also read in: The Constitution of Christ Covenant Church, Organized by Samuel Frost, in Section 1:A 1:2, Frost and others where they wrote: “We are fully aware of the opinion by many that preterism is regarded as a “damnable heresy.” Dr. Talbot continues: Again, Mr. Frost clearly understands the implications of his doctrine in light of both Reformed and Evangelical Christianity. Why would he acknowledge that he is rightfully being called a ‘heretic’ and a ‘damnable heretic’ (not my words, but Mr. Frost’s and Mr. Green’s), and then complain about being called a ‘heretic’ and a ‘damnable heretic’ at that? Let’s see if this is logical.”
Ross Taylor
Rinaldo Texidor
- 2003: Reforming Foundations; Global Transitioning of the Church through the Apostolic Reformation “one author made a lot of money selling a book titled “88 Reasons Why Jesus Is Coming In 1988.” People saying such things make the Church a laughing stock and cause the truth to be discredited. However, the reasons why these opinions were so widely accepted is because of this wrong underlying thought system which has pervaded the Church.”
Dr. John Thomas
Christadelphian
- 1860: The Comings and Appearings of Christ “He came, in sending forth his armies of Romans, and by them destroying his murderers, and burning up their city, Jerusalem. This was coming according to the legal maxim, which is a scriptural one also, that what is done by one’s agent is done by one’s self. That Gentile and Pagan armies may be God’s armies is testified in Joel, where the Chaldeans who destroyed Zion are styled “His army” (Joel 2:11); and in Isaiah, where the Medes under Cyrus are termed Yahweh’s sanctified and mighty ones for His anger-(Isa. 13:17; 29:3).”
Dan Trotter
- 2002: Why it is Perfectly OK to say Naughty Things About Heretical Preterists “This is typical of the slick rhetorical tricks heretical preterists like to use. The reader will notice that the logic I’ve given above pierces their buncombe. That the heretical preterists (given their premises) are right about the timing of the resurrection, and that the ancient Hymenaeans were wrong about the timing of the resurrection, is absolutely irrelevant to Paul’s anger and condemnation of Hymenaeus and company. Paul could not have possibly gotten that upset over a few decades worth of difference in timing between himself and Hymenaeus.”
- 2003: A (Somewhat) Irenic Response to Certain Naughty Heretical Preterists “My view is that the anti resurrectionist neo-hymenaean opinion is precisely “the constant application of stupidity” to the eschatological problem. My view is that hymenaean heretics don’t deserve a seat at the eschatological debating table. My view is that giving these doctrinal deviants a place of respectability will allow “enemy forces to gather to deceive the unwary who cannot defend themselves.”
Don Walker
- Playing the Eschatological Guessing Game
- The Beast of Revelation – “Over the years I have heard probably every imaginable, (and some unimaginable), “candidate” for the Beast of Revelation. Everyone from Henry Kissinger to Ronald Wilson Reagan (whose three names each have six letters) has appeared at the top of the “Beast list” at one time or another. Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini were popular candidates for the job in the late 1930’s and early 40’s. Recently, in some circles, Prince Charles has emerged as a contender for the title. Of course, I would be amiss, if I left out William Jefferson Clinton. I have a friend who strongly believed that Gorbachev was the “prophesied one.” The mark on his head being a Hebrew “6.”
- The Mountain Cast into the Sea
- The Relationship of the Ekklesia to the Basileia of God
- Worship and the Threshing Floor
- Is Islam a Religion of Peace?
- The Meaning of Biblical Love
Robert Walker
- 1834: The truth of Christianity proved from ancient prophecies “CHAPTER IV. ANCIENT PROPHECIES FORETELLING THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. In treating of the prophecies which relate to the final destruction of Jerusalem, I would first draw the reader’s attention to the 28th chapter of the hook of Deuteronomy, in which is an eminent instance of God’s merciful kindness, when the prophets are commanded to declare God’s judgments against the rebellious, in providing them with previous gracious promises towards the obedient, and with compassionate offers of favour and pardon to those who, although they have strayed, are willing to repent and return. “
- 1885: The Book of Revelation: an exposition based on the principles of Professor Stuart’s Commentary, and designed to familiarize those principles to the minds of non-professional readers If a book we had never before seen, and of whose contents we were ignorant, were placed in our hands, we should turn at once to the title- page to ascertain its subject. If we found that subject distinctly stated there, we should deem it conclusive as to the import of the book. We should not regard ourselves at liberty to assume that it was designed to refer to something else without clear and positive evidence to that effect. If, for instance, the title-page declared it to be a history of the American Revolution, we should not think it reasonable to expect in it the history of the late Rebellion, or the life of Napoleon III. The language of the title-page we should inevitably regard as the key to the. book. Now the title-page of the Book of Revelation gives us such a key. We marvel that it should ever have been misapprehended: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS.”
Tony Warren
- 2000: This Generation Shall Not Pass, Till All These Things be Fulfilled “Of course we are well aware of the Preterist claim that the end of the age was in 70 A.D., but that is a Biblically untenable position. When will all be fulfilled? When this evil generation is no longer ruling with the prince of this world. In other words, when Christ returns! There is no age in between. No new age was occurred in 70 A.D. “
Jim West
Reformed Church USA
- 1997: The Allurment of Hymenaen Preterism: The Rise of “Dispensable Eschatology” “Hymenænism is damnable heresy.”
Ellen G. White
- 1858:Cosmic Conflict: The Destruction of Jerusalem “With the overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associated the events of Christ’s personal coming in temporal glory to take the throne of universal empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and to break from off the nation the Roman yoke.”
- Is Belief in the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Necessary? Wright Says No: “I have friends who I am quite sure are Christians who do not believe in the bodily resurrection,” he says carefully, citing another eminent scholar, American theologian Marcus Borg, co-author with Wright of The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions. “Marcus Borg really does not believe Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead. But I know Marcus well: he loves Jesus and believes in him passionately.”
- 2003 Review: The Resurrection of the Son of God. Christian Origins and the Question of God Volume Three “Equally outrageous is Wright’s contrived and harmonistic treatment of the statements about a spiritual resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, where we read that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (v. 50) and that the resurrected Jesus, the precedent for believers, accordingly possessed a “spiritual body” (v. 44). Wright labors mightily and futilely to persuade us that all Paul meant by “flesh and blood” was “mortal and corruptible,” not “made of flesh and blood.” “
W.A. Young
- An Examination of the Coming of Christ “As I have grown in my understanding of scriptures I have come to see that the moderate preterist perspective is the biblical perspective.”
- Julius Scott
- 1998: Did Jerusalem Christians Flee to Pella? “Early Christian historians Eusebius and Epiphanius claim that prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70 the Jerusalem Christians fled to the Decapolis city of Pella (note also Mark 13:14; Matt 24:15; Lu 21:20-22; cf. 19:43-44). During the last half of the twentieth century critical scholars have debated the accuracy of this report. This paper summarizes the major arguments in the discussion and evaluates them against a restudy of the evidence presently available. It concludes that the ancient writers are more likely than modern doubters to be essentially correct.”
- 1983: The effects of the Fall of Jerusalem on Christianity “For all Jewish Christians, the fall of Jerusalem was “the beginning of the end.” Although they may have continued to exert some influence, the grandeur of the Jewish Church was tarnished. Jewish Christianity survived, but it did so in obscurity, in backwaters, where some slipped into sectarianism, others into heterodoxy.
Samuel E. Waldron
- 2000: Notes on Eschatology -” In the historical introduction to these lectures preterism was presented as a method of interpreting the Book of Revelation originating within Roman Catholicism. It was offered by them as an alternative to the historicist method and its identification of the Roman Papacy as the Beast. It contrasted with the system of interpretation known as futurism which was also presented by the Jesuits as an alternative to historicism. While futurism referred the events of the Revelation primarily to a future period of tribulation at the end of this age, preterism declared that with very few or no exceptions its prophecies were fulfilled by or before the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70.”
Andrew Corbett: Why the Rapture Has Ruptured – “The seventh trumpet announced the completion of God’s Old Covenant with Israel and the announcement that the Kingdom of Christ had begun (Rev. 11:15). Yet their remains a final trumpet, which we might call the “eighth”.”
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PARTIAL PRETERISM ON FULL PRETERISM:
- Defense of the Orthodox View of the Second Coming of Christ
- Richard Barcellos Some Thoughts on Hyper Preterism “I view it as neo-Hymenaenism, a damning heresy, idle babbling, a cancer which must be cut out immediately!”
- Committee Paper Investigating Full Preterism
- Anathema of Preterism – Missouri Synod Lutheran
- Dr. Gary North vs. David Chilton
- Puritan Board Official Damns Preterists
- Anathema of Preterism – Reformed USA
- The Braying of Heretics, or, The Heresies of Bray
- Editorial: Chicken Little Goes to Church
- Andrew Sandlin’s Response to Walt Hibbard
- An Open Letter to Ligonier Ministries
- A Response to “Full Preterism”
- Mark Horne: Why Side with the Sadducees?
- Paul Manata: Transcendental Argument Against HyperPreterism (TAAHP)
- Paul Manata: You Might Be A Hyper-Preterist
- Resolution Concerning Preterism and the Future, Physical Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecies
- 4/12/12: The Mysteries of Daniel and the 70 Weeks- Historical Preterism
- 4/15/12: Christ the King and Preterism- Historical Preterism “If Christ has already destroyed all His enemies in the first-century, and death is the last enemy, then there would be no distinction between the Church and the world; all people would be born free from spiritual death and the corruption of original sin. Although the theological arguments seem to suffice, a closer exegetical look at the Word of God is in order.”
- 4/15/12: ΠΡΩΪ: a preterist view of the zombie apocalypse “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matt 27:51-53)”
- 3/5/12: Preterism? (Fullness of Time Part 3) “I then thought, Am I a heretic? Is anybody else seeing the things that I’m seeing? That’s when I discovered the theological phrase that defined my developing convictions: Preterism.”
- 2/6/12: What a partial preterist believes