Classification Method at PreteristArchive.com (Updated 12/25/18)

Now, instead of using the Transition Text Theory as a means of distinguishing between Historical Preterism and Modern Preterism, our method classes the views according to the presence or absence of a Double-Fulfillment Theory.

Classification Method at PreteristArchive.com
(Updated 12/25/18)

By Todd Dennis
April 23, 2017

CLASSIFICATION UPDATE #1 : HISTORY FROM 1996-2007

For twenty years, the purpose of PreteristArchive.com has been to promote prophecy studies by posting books and articles examining fulfilled eschatology.   The need to clearly define precisely what form of preterism was represented by an article or book became an immediate necessity.  Proper scholarship demands the accurate identification of the theological view in question, and so a classification system was established.

The initial method of classification rested upon the distinction between full preterism and every other form of preterist eschatology.  This method was determined to be insufficient due to the over-representation of the demographically small view of preterism by being classed simply as preterism, with no reference to “full “preterism at all!

According to the 2007 method, all views known as “partial preterism” were broken down into two major views – Historical Preterism and Modern Preterism.   Each of these partial fulfillment views believed that Bible prophecy focuses on both the first century generation as well as the final generation of Earth’s history. What distinguished them from each other was where a “transition text” was placed in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew:

2007 Classifications: Click for Full Size

Prior to 2007, the numerous forms of historical and modern preterism were classed as partial preterism.  Though that system worked well by highlighting full preterism, it was hardly useful in defining the various systems of fulfilled eschatology which held sway for centuries prior to 1845.  Therefore, the 2007 classification system distinguished between forms of what Sproul called “partial preterism”.

CLASSIFICATION UPDATE #2 : 2017

Over the ensuing decade, however, it became clear that the focus on a Transition Text was not a very scientific method because of one simple reason:  Double Fulfillment Theories.

There are many would-be modern preterists who claim that the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in the last days of first century Jerusalem, but only in a secondary sense, with ultimate fulfillment being found in the last days of the world in a  primary sense.

This dual-fulfillment approach is not really preterist eschatology at all, as past fulfillment is given only an inferior sense.  And so, with the new website providing an opportunity to set this problem straight, the new method has been presented.

Now, instead of using the Transition Text Theory as a means of distinguishing between Historical Preterism and Modern Preterism, our method classes the views according to the presence or absence of a Double-Fulfillment Theory.

Under the new method, what separates the views is whether AD70 is seen as the “Major” (primary) or “Minor” (secondary) sense of fulfillment.

Modern Preterism is now the classification for those views which hold first century fulfillment as being the primary focal point of a prophecy’s interpretation.    Theologians who embrace this viewpoint are bold, in that they declare outright fulfillment of prophecies in events of the past instead of relying upon double fulfillment (as most do — even to this day!).    One can be a Modern Preterist and still believe that, in some typological fashion, events of the past will be mirrored by events of the future because this makes the application of prophecies to the future secondary in consideration to primary fulfillment in the past.

Historical Preterism is now the classification for those views which hold first century fulfillment as being the secondary focal point of a prophecy’s interpretation.   This method, which appears highly inconsistent on its face, has enjoyed wide popularity throughout the Christian era.  Though few Christians would deny that AD70 was contemplated by Bible prophecy, most would restrict past fulfillment to a secondary sense in consideration to primary fulfillment in the future.

This change did not effect the 2007 classification for Full Preterism.  See below for 2018 update to original classification.

CLASSIFICATION UPDATE #3: 2018

By Todd Dennis
January 30, 2018

This controversial classification update applies to PreteristArchive.com’s native label called “Full Preterism“.  This update amends the 2007 classification with “Letter D”.  The original classification still stands without a single change.  It reads:

FULL PRETERISM – A) Umbrella term covering all those who believe that all Bible prophecy was fulfilled by the fall of Jerusalem in AD70.   B) According the known literature, this class emerged out of Preterist Universalism in the 19th century, with the first known work being the product of Robert Townley in 1845.  C) Teaches that all “end times” prophecies had sole application to ancient Israel, but that the consequences of that fulfillment are enduring in the New Covenant Age.

This strict definition was based upon the discovery of Robert Townley’s Conversion to Universalism, (PDF) in 2006, and was the result of this website’s Realignment of Preterist History first announced at the 2007 Carlsbad Conference hosted by Kurt M. Simmons (PDF: V1 | V2 | V3).

The update to this definition relates to those alive before the destruction of Herod’s Temple.  The sole addition was “Letter D”, which reads,

D) Teaches that the destruction of the whole world is coincident with the fall of Herod’s Temple at the hands of the Romans (Pre-AD70)

This twist is intended to turbo-charge Realized Eschatology studies.  I suspect many will reject this addition, but there is a solid “Parousia Delay” tradition sown by skeptics which welcomes the challenge of proving that the early Christian writers were not mistaken, after all, about the end of the world coming at the hands of the Romans.  This study is profitable for how it ties into Dead Sea Scrolls and Pella Flight traditions, as well as many other disciplines.  I believe this update is extremely valid – and that it could quite possibly be the new garment taken out of an old cloth.

NOTES

1. More on Townley at bottom.

2. 12/25/18: Final version of this classification update is old enough to stand.  The Study Archives are nowhere close to being complete.  For any feedback, visit facebook.com/groups/PreteristIdealism, or email me at todd@preteristarchive.com

ONLY CHANGE TO DATE: JAMES 5
All Classification Updates Will Be Listed Above

This Chapter has been found consistent with Full Preterism (1/30/18).

  • Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
  • Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
  • Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
  • Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
  •  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
  • Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
  • Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
  • Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
  • Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

CLASSIFICATION UPDATES

1/30/2018:

FULL PRETERISM – A) Umbrella term covering all those who believe that all Bible prophecy was fulfilled by the fall of Jerusalem in AD70.   B) According the known literature, this class emerged out of Preterist Universalism in the 19th century, with the first known work being the product of Robert Townley in 1845.  C) Teaches that all “end times” prophecies had sole application to ancient Israel, but that the consequences of that fulfillment are enduring in the New Covenant Age. D) Teaches that the destruction of the whole world is coincident with the fall of the Temple at the hands of the Romans (Pre-AD70)

1/30/2018:

REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY – This is a new category, intended to highlight the large amount of work being done by nonsectarian scholars.  These studies take on a number of names, including inaugurated eschatology, realized eschatology, higher criticism, kingdom of God studies, historical Jesus studies, historical Paul studies, the missional church view, and many others.  As of 2018, PreteristArchive.com has presented a new entry to this class, Pre-AD70 Full Preterism.

2017:

MODERN PRETERISM (MP) – A) Umbrella term covering all those who believe that the majority of Bible prophecy was totally fulfilled in the early centuries of the Christian era. Determined by looking at whether authors find primary application to the past using the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24/25 and the Apocalypse of John. Differs from Full Preterism in that it does not make the Parousia, the General Judgment, nor the General Resurrection events solely of the past. B) According to known literature, this class emerged during the Reformation or Counter Reformation and can be seen in a fully developed form at the beginning of the 17th century in the writings of the Jesuit Alcasar — although many believe that the “Preterist Assumption” seen throughout church history reveals the ancient and medieval equivalents of the Modern Preterist view. (perhaps systematized the most consistently in 310 by Eusebius in “Theophany”). C) Teaches that the bulk of “end times” prophecy has sole application to ancient Israel, but some regard the “last day” — sometimes that “end” being personal, not global, in nature.

2017:

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 whether authors find primary application 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 Barnabas 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. . C) Teaches that some of the Bible’s “end times” prophecies were fulfilled by AD70 in a secondary sense but that the substantial portion of prophetic fulfillment is yet to be revealed at the “last day.”

2007:

JEWISH SOURCES – Comments from Josephus, the Talmud and Historians, Midrashim, Mishnah, and Targums, as well as all known Apocalyptic Literature. Contemporary Jewish literature is also collected under the classification. Though many early Christians were Jewish, they are classified with Early Church Fathers.

DSS AND ANCIENT DISCOVERIES – The Dead Sea Scrolls are documents unearthed from the Judean Wilderness that date from roughly the second century B.C. to A.D.68.   This category also includes additional items of discovery from archaeology, epigraphy, papyrology and numismatics.

EARLY CHURCH PRETERISM (EC) – A) Views espoused by all Christian sources during the first thousand years of church history, during which the only systematizing being done was in Catholic and Orthodox circles. B) This class includes all the earliest church fathers, historians and pseudepigraphic writers, dating back to the writings of the New Testament. C) Sources could be considered “Historicist” or “Futurist” but very rarely “Preterist” in any developed way (Eusebius would be the most likely to be considered Preterist).  (Broadest in Years, Broadest in Doctrine – First Thousand Years of Church History – Pret-related comments color-coded with “Historical Preterism” due to similarities)

GENERAL FUTURISM – A) Umbrella term covering all systems of nonfulfillment-based theology, including most contemporary forms of Historicism and Premillennialism, and some Postmillennialism. B) This class, though represented by authors throughout the centuries, wasn’t systematized until the Reformation era. C) Generally believes that a scant amount of prophecies may have been fulfilled in the first century, but even then only in a secondary sense.  Dispensationalism specifically believes that “the rapture” might be any moment now, leading to the Great Tribulation and ultimately ushering in the Millennial Age.

EARLIEST KNOWN FULL PRETERIST ROBERT TOWNLEY

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