Date: June 2007 Series: "I Want to be Left Behind" (XXXII) Title: Extreme Preterism - "Has Jesus Already Returned?" (1)

     The term “Preterism” (“past”) is applied to the prophecy/end times approach that views a good deal of prophecy as fulfilled in the past - in other words, everything predicted for the future in the Bible is not necessarily still to occur in our future!  Surprisingly, both Dispensational Premillennial "Futurism"^[1] (Israelite kingdom prophecies are yet to be fulfilled at the future 2^nd Coming) and Preterism^[2] (all prophecy was fulfilled by 70 AD, when Jesus returned) appear to have been originally formulated by Roman Catholic scholars trying to defend the Papacy against attacks from Reformation leaders that “the Pope is the Antichrist.”

       There is a growing “full/complete Preterist” (or I call it “extreme”) movement amongst some Baptist and Restoration Movement leaders.  Their main assumption is that the 2^nd Coming of Jesus, in its entirety, came in 70 A.D.  From various writers, I found reference to Matthew 24:3 as an indication that the Parousia was predicted to coincide with the fall of Herod’s Temple, that Jesus’ kingdom began in its fullness when the Temple and Jerusalem fell, that the present age is that which is described in Revelation 21:1 - 22:6, that the “elements” which were to be destroyed with fervent heat in 2Peter 3:10 were the elements of Judaism passing away, that the “end of heaven and earth” (Matthew 24:35) was the end of the Jewish world, etc.  Extreme Preterism asserts that everything traditionally applied to Jesus’ literal/visible/glorious return (still in our future) should really be understood as happening when Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D.  I found one Preterist author asserting that true Christians were all “raptured” out of the world in 70 AD and another claiming that the “1,000 years/millennium” of Revelation 20:1-3 was the 40-year period between 30-70 A.D.  Everything else associated with the return of Christ in the New Testament is handled as a spiritual or invisible reality that occurred or began in 70 A.D.

       Preterist Views I agree with - I agree that not all Biblical prophecy is still to be fulfilled in our future and Preterist criticisms of dispensational premillennialism are, generally, pretty sound.  Second, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was a major event, it did fulfill and complete some very important prophecies (Daniel 9:24-27; Matthew 24:4-34) and is probably a more prominent element in the book of Revelation than many commentators believe.

       Doubts about Preterism - While the word parousia does appear in connection with the coming destruction of Herod’s Temple in Matthew 24:3, we must remember that this connection was made in the disciple’s question, not in Jesus’ answer.  In the disciples' thinking at this point, the issue of Judaism’s house becoming desolate/Herod’s Temple being destroyed (Matthew 23:29 - 24:2) could only be conceived of in terms of Jesus’ glorious appearance.  However, we need to remember that the disciples did not really understand Jesus’ first coming until after Jesus was raised from the dead (see: Matthew 16:21-23; John 2:18-22; 12:12-16).  The disciples connected the fall of the Temple with the parousia in their question, but Jesus seems to have separated these two events in His answer - the fall of Jerusalem/Temple would come within 40 years - upon “this generation” (Matthew 23:36; 24:34), the generation of Jews alive then that saw and heard Jesus - and they had a number of “signs” to warn of its approach so they could escape Judea (Matthew 24:4-21,32-34).  However, the end of heaven and earth/coming of the Son of Man was to come later on, at a time unknown to Jesus (Matthew 24:36) and for which there would be absolutely no last-minute warning signs (Matthew 24:37 - 24:13).

       Matthew 16:27-28 (Mark 8:38-9:1) are also taken as a prediction of a single event, but I think here again Jesus was contrasting two separate events: Jesus will someday come in glory, with the angels to judge mankind (2Thessalonians 1:7-8), but before the current generation that He spoke to had passed away, the Son of Man would powerfully come into His kingdom.  Powerful attestation to Jesus as God’s Messianic king (opposed but enthroned anyway - Psalm 2) came with the resurrection (Romans 1:1-4; Ephesians 1:18-23) and was powerfully announced at Pentecost (Acts 2:29-36).  Jesus was king at His first coming (Matthew 12:28) and Daniel 7:13-14 predicted what Jesus Himself described in Luke 19:11-27 - after initial contact and instructions are given to submissive servants, the king would depart for awhile to "receive His kingdom" and is then either served or rejected in absentia by men.  When He eventually returns, servants are rewarded and enemies destroyed.  My guess is that Jesus disappeared up into the clouds (Acts 1:9) and then continued on to the Throne of God, where what is pictured in Daniel 7:13-14 and Psalm 2:6 occurred - Jesus was seated upon heaven's throne (Revelation 3:21).  In His visible absence from earth, during the current age, Jesus holds authority^[3] and the warning is to be given that all should honor the Son before He comes again in judgment (Psalm 2:8-12).  If Jesus has already returned in judgment, then can (should) we stop warning people?

       Test by Substitution - Another way to test Preterist ideas is to assume that Jesus did fully and completely return in 70 A.D. and then see how satisfying our reading of all pertinent “2^nd Coming” passages seems to be.

       (1) Did all of the world’s people stand before the judgment seat of Christ and go to eternal fates in 70 A.D.? (Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:10-15)

       (2) Were all of the saints resurrected, was death finally and completely defeated, and was the kingdom turned back over to the father in 70 A.D. (1Corinthians 15:20-25)?  If Jesus came in 70 A.D. and the promised “resurrection” of Christians occurred, then after 70 A.D. should not the practice of marriage have ended (Matthew 22:30-32)?

       (3) Were all Christians gathered to Jesus and was the Man of Lawlessness destroyed in 70 A.D.? (2Thessalonians 2:1-12)

       (4) Did the old heavens & earth disappear in intense heat and do we all now live in the New heavens and earth, where only righteousness dwells? (2Peter 3:10-13)  If the Church is the “new heavens and earth" (a strange/strained label), is only righteousness found in the Church?

       (5) If Jesus returned in 70 A.D., then are we no longer in flesh and blood bodies but in the promised new heavenly/spiritual bodies, fitted for immortality (1Corinthians 15:50-54; Philippians 3:20-21)?  Did all of the dead in Christ and living saints join Christ in the air to be always with Him (1Thessalonians 4:13-18) in 70 A.D.?

  (to be continued)