Preterism Is Creeping Into the Church: Why It's So Dangerous

Did you know that some people actually believe Jesus has already returned? These people are called preterists, from the Latin word preter, meaning "past." They believe that all (or most) of the Bible's prophecies have already been fulfilled.

In its most extreme form, Preterism claims that Jesus came back to Earth, that there is no future resurrection of the dead, and that we now live in a spiritualized version of the new heavens and new earth.

Preterists maintain these views because they do not hold to a literal, historical, grammatical interpretation of Scripture. Remarkably, Preterism is on the rise in the American church; and Christians should be aware of some of the issues involved.

There are two versions of Preterism.

Full Preterism teaches that all of the Bible's prophecies were fulfilled around AD 70 and that the prophecies of God's judgment in Matthew 24, Revelation, and elsewhere describe events during the war between Rome and the Jewish people leading up to AD 70, when Rome sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple.

Preterists teach that these prophecies describe God's rejection of Israel and the Jewish people. Full Preterism reasons that, because some passages indicate the end will happen "soon," these prophecies had to be fulfilled in the lifetime of Jesus' disciples--including prophecies of God's judgment on the nations, Jesus' return, and the creation of the new heavens and new earth.

This position is heresy because it rejects the future Second Coming of Christ, says we shouldn't expect anyone will be resurrected, and maintains that the current state of the world is essentially its final form.

Partial Preterism (orthodox Preterism) tries to avoid the weaknesses of Full Preterism. Its well-known proponents include Gary DeMar, Kenneth Gentry, and the late R. C. Sproul. This version teaches that most but not all Bible prophecies were fulfilled, but Revelation 20--22 is still future. In other words, it recognizes the difficulty of claiming that God wrapped up all of His plans in the past.

Most partial preterists end up postmillennialists (believing Jesus will return after the Millennium [thousand-year reign]) or amillennialists (believing there is no Millennium) and frequently teach Replacement Theology: that God has replaced Israel with the church.

The danger of Preterism is threefold:

1. It denies the literal interpretation of Scripture. Preterists intentionally employ allegorical interpretations for many of the symbols in Revelation 4--19. For example, the beasts in chapter 13 are not the Antichrist and False Prophet but, rather, symbols for Roman Emperor Nero (AD 54-68). Partial preterists switch interpretive methods for the last three chapters and arbitrarily claim that Revelation 20--22 is still future, though they don't believe all of it will be fulfilled literally.

Allegorical interpretation muddies the waters. However, the properly employed discipline of literal interpretation across all of Scriptures' genres, including prophecy, leads to a consistently clear and compelling understanding of what the text meant to the original audience and what it means to us today. We don't have to be lost in the subjectivity of symbolism and allegory.

2. It leads to an insipid form of Christian antisemitism. Preterists claim the prophecies of worldwide judgment were fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, as though Israel were God's real target. However, the obvious conclusion from Daniel, Matthew 24--25, Revelation, and other prophecies is that God will judge all the nations of the earth with the events of the Tribulation, not merely Israel. Preterism's certainty that God has judged and rejected Israel is not found anywhere in the Bible, and its interpretation falls far short of the scope of the judgment described in these prophecies.

Preterists claim that Revelation was written to give hope to Christians during the difficult days of the Roman war with the Jewish people. But what conclusion should a Christian reading it today draw if that were true? A conclusion that says it's acceptable for Christians to treat Jews with contempt because God has judged and rejected Israel and raised up a new people for Himself, namely, the church.

This reasoning has repeatedly led Christians to participate in pogroms, expulsions, and the murder of countless Jewish people throughout history. Scripture does not teach that God has rejected Israel or cast the Jewish people aside in favor of the church.

3. It misinterprets important passages. Preterists use two basic arguments to support their belief that all prophecy has been fulfilled: They claim Jesus taught (in Matthew 16:28; 10:16-25; 24:1-51; Revelation 1:1; 22:6-7) that all would be fulfilled in the lifetime of the 12 disciples or their generation, and they claim Revelation was written in AD 65.

First, their interpretation of these passages is highly disputed. Jesus was not teaching that He would return in the disciples' lifetime; otherwise, He would have been lying. Broadly speaking, He was affirming the continued existence of the Jewish people until the end-times. He wasn't abandoning them, and they will be part of His plans.

Second, virtually every scholar agrees that Revelation was written in AD 90s, during the reign of Domitian, as attested to by the church fathers. To satisfy John's claim that he was writing a "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), preterists argue Revelation was written in AD 65 and that it spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. To use AD 90 with their interpretation would mean John was writing history, not prophecy.

Prophecy is always meant to give readers hope. Hope that God will do what He says. Hope that, despite the pain and suffering we face, God has a plan to win the day. Hope that God will bring justice and healing to this broken world. What hope does God offer us today if the book of Revelation says nothing about our futures?

Jesus is coming back. There is a future Second Advent. And when Christ does return to Earth, all eyes will see Him. There will be no mistaking His grand entrance: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Mt. 24:29-30).

We haven't somehow unknowingly slipped into the new heavens and new earth or the Millennial Kingdom. God's future for both Israel and the church is staggeringly genius, as He works to redeem Jews and Gentiles through the Messiah, Jesus.

Originally published at Harbinger's Daily