Monday, March 02, 2009

4) Preterism (Esch 305)

Preterism interprets most of the prophecies as already fulfilled in the past, namely in the first coming of Christ. Preterists observe that many of the prophecies are centered around the time period between the ascension of Jesus and the judgment of Jerusalem in AD 70.


Thus, the great tribulation happened to the early church. The beast and false prophet were first century figures. The book of Revelation has been mostly fulfilled for almost two thousand years.


There is an aberrant form of Preterism which holds that all prophecy has been fulfilled, and we are in the eternal state right now. Sometimes this is called “Full Preterism.” However, this view has been universally condemned.


It is important to note that Preterists do believe that there are still some prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled. Jesus will return; there will be the resurrection and the final judgment.


The popularity of Preterism has waxed and waned throughout the centuries, but it has enjoyed a comeback in the past few decades. RC Sproul and Hank Hanegraaff are two of the most well-known Preterists.


Preterism is the approach that we are going to take throughout this series.

3 comments:

Frontier Forest said...

Pastor Eric, for years I was so pre-mill I wouldn't eat post-toasties. But after listening to RC and Hank and Pastor Tony, I am leaning towards a mix of partial preterist and post-mill thinking.
Since I know you are not in any of the dispensational camps, where do you stand on pre, post, all or pret?

Woody

Eric Adams said...

I am a partial preterist in that I believe many of the Biblical prophecies were fulfilled in the first century, prior to AD 70.

I am a post-millennialist in that I believe we are in the "millennium" right now, and that Christ will return after the nations are discipled.

You might search through my earlier posts, as I have talked about many of these specific issues. Thanks!

Frontier Forest said...

I am going to dig in tomorrow! I will share some of Doug's thinking with you and your readers.