Futurist Critiques – General

Jonathan H. Barlow
A Response to the Preterist Interpretation of the Olivet Discourse – “There are really only two dominant arguments against the literary interpretation of Matthew 24. These arguments are not only advanced by preterists, but it also by some partial preterists (those who do not adopt the entire theological program and realized eschatology of the Full Preterists). R.C. Sproul advances this first argument, for instance, in his recent popular book on the subject.”

Irvin Baxter Jr.
Historicism vs. Futurism – “The other position is called Preterist or Historicist. Those holding this position contend that the prophecies of the Bible are largely, if not entirely, fulfilled and past. The Futurist position has been the view held by the majority of Christians for at least the last century. However, the Historicist position seems to be reasserting itself of late. ”
Climbing the unstable doctrine of Preterism: Examining a False Teaching – (From Indiana Bible College’s Perspectives Magazine – Perspectives Magazine) “The teaching of preterism destroys this stated plan of God for the times in which we now live by teaching that the Bible’s prophecies have nothing to do with us today. Consequently, preterism runs counter to God’s expressed intention for endtime revival. Therefore, it should not be believed or taught.”

Brother Sal
Brother Sal on Preterism – “I have never written a piece on Preterism, because what I teach is at the other end of the spectrum, and I don’t think about it much. But over the last couple of weeks, I have received and extraordinary amount of mail with questions concerning it, so I began to think about it, and selected the following letter to answer in this forum to pass along my thoughts”

Philip Brown
This Generation Shall Not Pass – “Many Christians have switched to Preterism because of the fundamental truth that all Scripture is true.  And, of course, I would agree.  But confusing verses like these simply mean we need to dig deeper and find what we are missing.  “

Anthony Buzzard
The Markan Apocalypse – “It must follow that a destruction of Jerusalem not followed immediately by the parousia does not match the outline of events given by Christ. We may expect, therefore, a final crisis in Israel just before the arrival of Jesus in glory..”
This Generation –  “It defies common sense to believe that Jesus set an almost exact date of 40 years in Matthew 24:34, when soon after he denied that any knowledge of times and seasons is available to us (Acts 1:7) in regard to the coming of the future Kingdom (Acts 1:6).”

William B. Chalfant
The Preterist Spirit of Deception – “Some months ago I wrote a refutation of the teaching of a prominent “partial” preterist, who has been very active in spreading this doctrine throughout the ranks of apostolic pentecostals. I wrote at that time that I did not think that the teaching of prophecy should be a “point of fellowship”. I have been forced to modify that stand when I begin to thoroughly understand the intentions and the purpose of preterism.”
Anti-Preterist Message Board and Articles | Reply to Chalfant on ‘Future of Israel’ critiqu

Dr. Ronald Cooke
The Unmitigated Twaddle of Romanist-Jesuit Preterism – “I try not to cloud my readers’ minds with the twaddle that seems to be everywhere today especially in the halls of academia. The subject of ‘Preterism’ seems to be enjoying a revival of some sort today.”

Charles Cooper
That Other Gospel – “On one end of the spectrum, there are those who do not believe that Jesus said one single word of Matthew 24:1-31 and that none of what is indicated has, is, or will ever happen. On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who not only believe that Jesus said it, but that every single word indicated in Matthew 24:1-31 will be fulfilled in the fullest sense possible. It is baffling that such wide and diverse opinions about this precious passage of Scripture permeate the Body of Christ.”

Christian Debater
Why Partial Preterism is Wrong – “..an extremely strange view that everything in the entire Book of Revelation was fulfilled prior to 70 A.D., including a symbolic rapture of the saints, the Antichrist, Babylon in Revelation etc. This is so far from the truth that very few believe it.”

Lambert Dolphin
Preterism and the Confused Sea of Modern Eschatology – “Preterist theology states that the prophetic statements referring to the endtimes as presented in Revelation were fulfilled in the first century of Christendom. Preterists feel this wrapped up God’s plan for Israel and that the church has now inherited all that God promised Israel.”
Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?

Les Feldick (2001)
Don’t Believe it! “They claim to be letter perfect in their interpretation of Matthew 23:34, and then proceed to expel or twist all the prophetic things that are still awaiting a future fulfillment. If all future events were fulfilled by titus in 70 AD, then what do they do with the following scriptures? Did any of these things take place before, and up to, 70 AD? An ounce of common sense says, “No.”

Robert Fleming, younger. (1701)
A Postscript: Containing a short account of the first principles of the Apocalyptical Interpretations Advances by the Protestants – “the learning of Grotius and Dr. Hammond had influenced many to follow another way of interpreting the Revelation, as the reputation of Mr. Baxter had swayed others to think well of the same.”

Norman L. Geisler
A Friendly Response to Hank Hanegraaff’s Book, The Last Disciple (2006) “Of course even partial preterists are “futurists” regarding the Second Coming and Resurrection. But they reject the futurist understanding of the bulk of Book of Revelation. “

A Response to Steve Gregg’s Defense of Hanegraaff (2007) “In brief, Gregg’s attempt to rescue the partial preterist position he shares with Hank Hanegraaff is a failure. It rests upon a methodologically unorthodox way of interpreting Scripture. If this same method were used on the Gospel narratives of the resurrection of Christ, the preterist would also be theologically unorthodox. Thus, while partial preterism itself is not heretical, its hermeneutic is unorthodox, and if applied consistently, would lead to heresy, as indeed it does in full preterism.”

Great Joy in Great Trib
Preterism – “ONE THING THAT SEEMED UNIMAGINABLE IN 1995 IS THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE EMBRACING THE PRETERIST VIEW OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION. PRETERISM is also a form of rebellion against the Word of God. Blessings follow obedience to the Word of God and there will be a price to pay for rebellion. So how do we help the PRETERIST brethren from their new strong delusion? Simply do like Jesus did and ask them some simple questions, like – When did Jesus split the Mount of Olives in two? You see, IF has all happened, they should be able to tell you when Jesus touched down and split the Mount of Olives in two at His return. I am sure you will be able to think of many such simple questions. “

Gunter Creek Prophetic Ministry
On Earth As It Is In Heaven – “We have false doctrines which they say, God did away with Israel, some called Preterist and replacement theology, this is not true, Romans 11 is still in your Bible, and the prophecies were not fulfilled in 70 A.D. I don’t ever recall the apostles judging the twelve tribes, as in Mathew 29:18 and I still pray “thy Kingdom come.”

Marshall Hall
Preterit View: Straining at a Gnat and Swallowing a Camel – “Dr. Gentry put it this way: “…the matter of Revelation’s date of composition is CRUCIAL to the correct [preterit] understanding of the book…the matter of dating is ALL-IMPORTANT to the identity of the Beast [of Revelation].” (The Beast of Revelation, pp.6,7.) The bottom line here is that Preterists themselves understand that their model cannot even exist without a composition date for the Revelation somewhere between late 64 and early 68 AD. That is the only way their model can try to cast the Emperor Nero or anyone else in the role of the Beast….This admission by itself is enough to run up the odds against this eschatological hypothesis to about 1000 to 1.“

Ed Hindson
The New Last Days Scoffers (2005) “Well, it may surprise you to know that Preterism is experiencing a new wave of interest these days thanks to the encouragement of popular radio personalities like R.C. Sproul and Hank Hanegraaff.  Sproul openly admits he is a “partial preterist” and Hanegraaff claims he is seriously considering it.   While most preterists would insist they are defending the power of Christ, they are actually denying it.  They are trying to “bring in the Kingdom” without the King.  And might I add, they are fighting a losing battle! “

Historicist.com
Problems with Preterism

David Hocking
What is Preterism? (2005) “Preterists believe that the promise of our Lord’s Second Coming began to be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Some believe that the prophecies mentioned above were fulfilled in the Second Century AD at the time of the Second Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire at the time of Emperor Hadrian. Some preterists hold that the prophecies were fulfilled during the first three centuries AD as God wages war on the enemies of the Church (which they argue include Israel and Rome!) resulting in the “Christianization” of the Roman Empire under Constantine.”

Dave Hunt
Dave Hunt on Preterism: “they put out a statement a few years ago that all the promises to Israel were fulfilled in the time of Joshua. Now Joshua lived 110 years, these are everlasting promises, this is an everlasting covenant, everlasting possession of this land. And we would only have to go to, I mean, there are hundreds of prophecies promising Israel be restored. ” // On Hyper Preterism: “They claim that Jesus Christ returned in fulfillment of His promise to come back to take us to heaven, He returned in the person of the Roman armies to destroy Jerusalem and to excommunicate Israel, and Israel is finished. Now if that is not wicked, and if that is not twisting the scriptures I don’t know what is.”

Tommy Ice
The Destructive View of Preterism “You might be interested to know that in 1843, when the journal Bibliotheca Sacra was first started, it taught Preterism. You can go back and look at the early articles – Scholars such as Moses Stewart and James Robinson wrote for the journal in those early years. It was not until 1934, when Dallas Seminary took control of Bib Sac, that it became a futurist organ.”
The Global Proclamation of the Gospel – “The preterist arguments for a first-century fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 are much less than compelling. Their insistence that oikoumene in Matthew 24:14 must refer to the ancient Roman Empire has no traction.”
Preterism and Zechariah 12-14
Gary DeMar’s End Times Fiction
Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?
Preterist Implications for the New Testament

In Depth Bible Studies
Preterism – Christian Bible Studies “By theorizing that Nero is the antichrist, Preterists open the door for validating their theory by comparing the historical and Biblical records, records which cannot be reconciled and so disprove Preterist doctrine.. Preterists ignore a clear, unbroken chain of Futurism handed down from the apostles through 70 AD on into the 3rd century.. Preterists ignore New Testament scripture from both the Gospels and the epistles, which demonstrate that both Jesus and the apostles understood there would be a long delay before his second coming.”

Grant Jeffrey
Book release – “Triumphant Return” (2001) “4. Arguments and Evidence against Preterism – A powerful new attack upon this fundamental biblical doctrine is beginning to infiltrate the minds and spirits of many Christians in our day precisely as the New Testament warns us. The apostle Peter prophesied that in the last days an attack would arise within the Church against the Second Coming. Peter warned that many would say, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Those who believe literally the prophecies of the Word of God are now engaged in an unprecedented battle for the truth of Christ’s second coming.”
Grant Jeffrey – “Triumfant Return” Page – Arguments and Evidence Against Preterism

Phil Johnson
Controverting the Incontrovertible – “Whether it’s deliberate or just a result of Demar’s sloppiness and failing eyesight, his review badly distorts and caricatures MacArthur’s book rather than describing it accurately and fairly. Combine that fact with DeMar’s smug certainty that he has already written the last word on biblical eschatology “

Eld. Laurence Justice
Preposterous Preterism “Partial preterists believe that only some of the prophecy in scripture has already been fulfilled. This matter becomes confusing when we realize that there are partial preterists among premillennials and among amillennials and among post millennials. Hal Lindsay and Jack Van Impe who call themselves premillennials make good money mixing preterism and futurism in their books on prophecy.”

Bill Kalivas
Six Points Refuting the Early Writing of Revelation – “Historicism is a satisfying and godly view of Revelation. It allows for God’s hand to be seen in our past, present and future. Events which have been considered political in nature are shown to be fulfillment of His recorded word. No other interpretation offers this. Praeterism, placing Revelation behind us and Futurism, placing Revelation before us, put these revealing prophecies out of our present lives.”

Lawrence Keille
Fallacies of Preterism – “Preterism is an expedient designed to shield Rome ; Preterism violates the principle of consistent symbolism. ;  Preterism glorifies the Papacy by ignoring the actualities.; Preterism denies the elemental principle of Bible prophecy.;Preterism, like futurism, leaves an explained gap.; Preterism offers no adequate fulfillments.; Preterism cannot be correct if Futurism is correct.”

William R. Kimball
Great Trib future or fulfilled? “William R. Kimball, president of “Disciples Indeed” Bible School in South Lake Tahoe, California, has written a book entitled What the Bible Says About the Great Tribulation (Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company, 1983, paper, 291 pages). The book is primarily a study on Matthew chapter 24 and the author seeks to prove that the great tribulation (mentioned in Matthew 24:2 1) is not a future time of trouble but was fulfilled in history. He believes its historical fulfillment took place at the time of the Jewish war, around the year 70 A.D.”

Jack Kinsella
What is Preterism?  Prophecy or History? – “The nation of Israel will exist – must exist, according to Bible prophecy to move forward. The preterist ends Israel’s story in AD 70 – Bible prophecy says Israel must be reborn ‘all at once’ in the last days. And it was. Not as Judah. Not as Zion. But as ‘Israel’. The name God said would be assigned to the Holy Land in the last days. The preterist view that God abandoned His covenant with Abraham and passed its provisions along to the Church makes God a liar.”

Tim LaHaye
Strange Preterist Implications – “I believe it is important for lovers of Bible prophecy to be aware of these false views so that they not be caught off guard when they encounter such views. This is why I am informing you about this subject. After this month’s introduction to this strange new fad within the field of Bible Prophecy known as preterism, I will continue a regular article about preterism. I will be dealing with the major arguments of preterism and why they are not biblical. Then I will conclude with a presentation of why prophecy should be interpreted literally and thus understood as future events to our time.”

Last Hour
God’s Terrible Warnings Against Preterism – “In order to justify the Preterist view, apologists either completely ignore or torture the relevant end-times prophecies, along with the known facts of history.  Preterists can cite no credible early church or historical support for a pre-70 dating for Revelation.  Further destroying their claim, and important church father named Polycarp, a disciple of John, wrote that Revelation was written during the reign of Domition.”

James Lloyd
Preterist Apostasy – “They are all in serious error, for preterists are propagating a downright heretical system of prophecy that will lead many to ultimately embrace the Antichrist and his religious agenda.”
Scoffers: Preterists and II Peter 3 “While the preterists love to quote verses that seem to show the New Testament writers taught that they were in the last days at that time, they almost universally avoid verse 3 of chapter 3 in II Peter.   “If you are abiding in preterism, you are enveloped in a profound spiritual darkness that places you in the soul destroying peril of following “another gospel.” If you are abiding in pre-tribulationism, you are in a deadly delusion and walking in such a spiritually wicked false doctrine that your path is directly heading towards the lake of fire”
The Culting of Christianity “Unfortunately, very few have recognized the enormous threat of Preterism and, as such, there are very few titles available exposing the subject. This might surprise the reader, but I would venture to say that for every published book criticizing Preterism, there are 50 promoting it. Thus, like a fireman throwing everything he has against a rapidly spreading blaze, I am even willing to distribute a book written from the erroneous pre-tribulationist Rapture perspective in order to attack this deadly false doctrine.”

Jan Markell
The War Against Bible Prophecy – “Recently a Christian publishing house advised me that he had learned that most Christian houses were dropping newly-submitted Bible prophecy books with a few exceptions. LaHaye/Jenkins will likely continue to sell as well as Mark Hitchcock through Multnomah, and sadly, Hannegraff’s false Preterism books..  Eschatology will finally be thrown on the ash heap of history. “
Deception, Discernment, Delusion 2005 – Omega Letter “The newest “pop theology” on the block is Preterism which teaches that all Bible prophecy is history: It happened in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem.”
Evil in the Name of God – Omega Letter – “At the root of this is not just anti-Semitism which is the quick blame. It is also the pop theology (though it is not new) that the Church is the new Israel—Replacement Theology. When church leaders and members believe that Israel has no present or future role or prominence, it is much easier to demonize them, call them oppressors, and urge the above action. They have also tossed out eschatology and emphasized false “end-time” theologies such as Preterism—that all prophecy occurred in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem. Without exception, false eschatological teachings disinherit Jews and Israel from the land and covenants made to them and put them on the level of prominence comparable to the Canary Islands.”

Essh Geebor Mawkor
Preterism and a Sledge Hammer – “Preterists say that this generation means that the generation he was talking to must see all these signs. Preterist are weak in faith, thus forced like atheists to come to odd conclusions…  Well here is the verse that SLAPS then right UPSIDE their hard heads.

J. Parnell McCarter
A Reponse to Partial Preterism
A Critique of Gentry and a Second Critique of Partial Preterism “In this critique I will first outline some of the fallacies present in Dr. Gentry’s book “The Beast of Revelation”, then examine its premises in light of those fallacies, and then make certain observations and conclusions regarding both of Dr. Gentry’s books and the larger topic of partial preterism.”

Middletown Baptist
Preterism and Matthew 16:27-28 “It is typical for those who are preterists to condemn dispensationalists for the way we interpret a handful of verses that they do not think we are taking literally (such as Matthew 16:27-28 and Matthew 24:34, etc.) and yet they seem to ignore hundreds of kingdom prophecies given by the prophets of old and say that they will never find any literal fulfillment. Any prophetic view which seeks to take a few passages literally in such a way that forces hundreds of verses to be understood in a non-literal way is suspect, to say the least.” | AD70 Contrasted

H.L. Nigro 
Response to the Preterist Position as Outlined in The Last Days According to Jesus by R.C. Sproul – “One of the positions on the fulfillment of end-times events that is rapidly rising in popularity, both in scholarly circles and among “everyday” believers, is the preterist position.  “

Otto Nordgreen
The Problems of a Pre-AD70 Date of the Apocalypse – “The date of the Book of Revelation (Rev) has been as disputed as its authorship. The dates proposed for the composition oscillate between, on the one hand, the time before or during the so-called Jewish War (66-77 CE) and, on the other hand, the time of Emperor Trajan, viz. late 1st century (Aune 1997:lvii). Traditionally, the prevailing view has been that Rev was written sometime during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96 CE); more specifically (and in harmony with the ancient testimony of Irenaeus ) towards the end of his reign, viz. ca. 94/95 CE. “

NotDeceived.net
“In Like Manner” Not Always Interpreted the Same (By Preterists) “When speaking of something happening “in like manner” in Acts 1:11, we are told by James Stuart Russell that this “must not be pressed too far.” But in Luke 13:1-9, the same phrase – “in like manner” – is used to defend the belief that the parousia of Jesus Christ occurred in 70 A.D. The inconsistency of this is almost too much to believe.”

Graham Pearce
The Revelation — Preterist Interpretation “Is it likely that God would provide a super abundance of prophetic guidance for those living around AD 70, and then provide nothing for the centuries ahead? This is barely credible. An interpretation that applies the Revelation only to the 1st century and the distant future, leaving 18 centuries or more of prophetic darkness cannot be accepted (cf. Amos 3:7). “

People’s New Testament
On the Date of Revelation (1891)  Great Defense of Late Date Theory

Joel Porter
A Backwards Look to Find the Truth – “Although the whore is destroyed by the beast and his ten kings, the beast and his army are destroyed at Armageddon, not the whore. The time frame for all the events appears to be at the end of the age we are living in. Although I am willing to be persuaded by the great effort by many people to fit this into the time frame of AD 70, I find that it just does not fit with history or what the bible says. We must go by the bible, everybody has a right to study scripture, but sooner or later we will find we need to get back to what the book says. “

David W. Roth
Knowing the Love of Christ (1998) “To deny the physical bodily resurrection of both Christ or the believer is a departure from the faith”

Chad Rudolph
The Problem with Preterism “Preterists (akin to Antimillennialism, Church of Christ, Covenant Theology, Reformed Theology, Catholicism, Cults, 1/2 of Protestants) believe that all or most of the prophecies in the Olivet Discourse/Matthew 24-25 and Revelation were fulfilled when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and her temple in A.D. 70. Partial preterists believe that the 2nd coming, judgement and destruction of the earth are yet future (Rev. 20). “

Soul Device
Do Preterists Spiritualize the Bible?

Larry Spargamino
Was All Bible Prophecy Fulfilled By A.D.70? – “Even the Mark of the Beast is explained as a low – tech brand, used on slaves and animals. No microchip technology here! Christians need to be aware of those teachings that would turn “the blessed hope” into “the blasted hope.”
Preterism and the Eclipse of Pre-millennialism –  “Pre-millennialists do not have to create doomsday scenarios. They already exist. Denials of the critical nature of our present situation will not make the danger go away.”
The Anti-Prophets: The Challenge of Preterism

Dr. Michael D. Stallard
A Review of R.C. Sprouls The Last Days: An Analysis of Moderate Preterism – “Moderate preterism also suffers from inconsistencies as pointed out by the fact that radical preterism is sometimes called “consistent” preterism. While having its own problems, radical preterism does handle all of the day of the Lord passages in the same way. Sproul, as a moderate preterist, does not want to deny the literal Second Coming and future resurrection of believers. Therefore, he must do a balancing act with some of the passages supporting 70 A.D. fulfillment and some pointing toward the future. Exegetically and theologically he is attempting the impossible.”

Dean Tisch
A Preterist’s Presuppositions “Preterists make “THE stars” and other parts of the context to be fulfilled totally in 67-70 A.D. Preterist Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., states their good figurative case for this more thoroughly than any other Preterist I have found. What do the Premillennialists do here? They make “THE stars” into some meteors [the parallel is in the Sixth Seal of Revelation 6:13] so that this earth is not destroyed when they think Jesus will appear before the Millennium. How are these two usually battling positions, Preterist and Premillennial, alike? Neither of them can stand the literal meaning of the language. “

Stanley Toussaint
A Critique Of The Preterist View – “Moderate preterism believes large blocks of New Testament prophecy were fulfilled in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, but they also hold to a future literal return of Christ with a bodily resurrection of believers and unbelievers. This preterism has seen a strong revival with the Reconstructionist movement; it is essentially the view of reconstructionist postmillennialism. “

James Ventilato
Preterist Time Texts Answered by Scripture – “Within the confines of this relatively short paper, the four key passages of scripture which Preterism (of all stripes) relies upon for the very life-blood of its theory will be taken up: namely, Matt.24:34, Matt.10:23, Matt. 16:28, and Matt. 26:64. As the Lord enables, some of the issues and insurmountable problems involved in its isolated (2 Pet. 1:20), pseudo-literal, eisegesis of these four key texts will be exposed, and the only scripturally tenable view of each passage will be set forth.”

Tony Warren
What Does the Term ‘Preterism’ Mean? – “One of the weaknesses in this position is that they selectively interpret the word age/world [aion], and then arbitrarily make the supposition that there was an end of the age in 70 A.D. This does not agree with, nor explain, verses such as: Luke 18:30 The exact same word world/age. If that present time or age was before 70 A.D., and the age to come was Eternal life, then 70 A.D., being the coming age (according to their hypothesis), was the start of this eternal life. “
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. “