Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?-Part 1
| By: Dr. Thomas Ice; ©1999 |
| Preterism (the belief that biblical prophecy was fulfilled by events in the first century AD) is gaining popularity today. Dr. Ice explains why he does not believe this if a valid position to hold. |
Contents
Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?
Recently I attended the Legonier Ministries National Conference with about 4,000 other people in Orlando, Florida. Legonier is the ministry of R.C. Sproul. I attended because for the first time in
30 years the topic was on Bible Prophecy. Guess what? The predominate view, led by Dr. Sproul, was that most of what you and I believe to be future prophesies have already been fulfilled by first century events. This view now being champion by Dr. Sproul and others is known as preterism.
When Will Prophecy Be Fulfilled?
What is preterism? Before I explain that in more detail, I want to orient you to the four views that people hold in relation to the timing of prophetic fulfillment. The four views are simple in the sense that they reflect the only four possible ways that one can relate to time: past, present, future, and timeless. When speaking of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy these four timing possibilities are called preterism, historicism, futurism, and idealism]]
The preterist (Latin for “past”) believes that most, if not all prophecy has already been fulfilled, usually in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The historicist (present) sees much of the current church age as equal to the tribulation period. Thus, prophecy has been and will be fulfilled during the current church age. Futurists (future) usually believe that almost no prophetic events are occurring in the current church age, but will take place in the following future events: the tribulation of seven years, the second coming, the 1,000 year millennium, and the eternal state. This is the view that I and Midnight Call magazine hold to. The idealist (timeless) does not believe either that the Bible indicates the timing of events or that we can determine their timing in advance. Therefore, idealists see prophetic passages as a teacher of great truths about God to be applied to our present lives.
Preterism vs. Futurism
Idealism, as an approach to Bible prophecy, is rarely followed outside of liberal scholarship and thus is not a significant factor in the mainstream of current evangelical debate over when prophecy will be fulfilled. Historicism, once the dominate view of Protestants from the Reformation until the middle of last century, appears to exert little attraction as a system of prophetic interpretation to conservative Christians, outside of Seventh-Day Adventist circles. However, it must be noted that most historicists take a preterist view of the Olivet Discourse, but disassociate it from the tribulation as found in Revelation and some New Testament Epistles. During the last 150 years, within evangelicalism, futurism has grown to dominate and overcome historicism. At the turn of the millennium, we see an attempt to challenge futurism arising from evangelical preterism. We must await the next millennium to see where this development will lead. But the last five to ten years has seen an increase in the ranks of preterism, from hundreds to thousands, as someone as well-known as R.C. Sproul has adopted this view.
What Is Preterism?
Preterists argue that major prophetic portions of Scripture such as the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Revelation were fulfilled in events surrounding the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. The believe that they are compelled to take such a view because Matthew 24:34 and its parallel passages say that “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” This means it had to take place in the first century, they argue. Revelation, they advocate, says something similar in the passages that say Christ is coming “quickly” or that His return is “at hand.” Having settled in their mind that these prophecies had to take place in the first century, they believe they are justified in making the rest of the language fit into a local (Jerusalem), instead of a worldwide fulfillment. Most preterists believe that we are currently living in at least an inaugurated new heavens and new earth, since all the Book of Revelation had to have a first century fulfillment.
There are at least three kinds of preterism. For lack of better terms we will call them mild, moderate, and extreme. MILD preterism teaches that the Book of Revelation was fulfilled during the first three centuries as God waged war on the two early enemies of the church: Israel and Rome. The first half of Revelation teaches that Israel was defeated in A.D. 70, while the last half of Revelation is about God’s conquest of Rome in the fourth century when Constantine declared the Roman Empire Christian. Thus, this earliest form of preterism teaches that Revelation was fulfilled in the first 300 years of the church’s history.
MODERATE preterists believe that almost all prophecy was fulfilled in the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. They do believe that a few passages still teach a yet future second coming (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) and the resurrection of believers at Christ’s bodily return.
EXTREME preterists, or consistent preterists, as they prefer to be known as, hold that all future Bible prophecy was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. If there is a future second coming, they say, the Bible does not talk about it. Extreme preterists believe that there is no future bodily resurrection, which place them outside the realm of Christian orthodoxy.
I have never personally encountered a mild preterist. I have only encountered them in books like Isbon T. Beckwith’s The Apocalypse of John. Today, most of those calling themselves preterists would fit into the moderate camp. Those like R.C. Sproul, Kenneth Gentry, Gary DeMar, Gary North, and Greg Bahnsen belong in this group. However, extreme preterism is growing and has made noticeable gains in recent years. Although David Chilton’s books on preterism are from the moderate perspective, he did convert to extreme preterism before his recent death. Other extreme preterists include : Max King, John Bray, Ed Stevens, and Walt Hibbard.
I believe it is important for lovers of God’s Word to be aware of these false views so that they not be caught off guard when they encounter such opinions. This is why I am writing about this subject. In the next installment, I will be further introducing many of the strange views of preterism on specific issues. After that, I will pursue a critique of the preterist misinterpretation of Scripture. For those who are interested further in this matter, you may wish to order my book with preterist Ken Gentry, The Great Tribulation: Past or Future? This book is a debate between Dr. Gentry and I on this matter.
