It would seem that Covenant Eschatology (i.e. hyper or consistent preterism) views all New Testament references to "heaven and earth" as an allusion or metaphor for the Mosaic covenant.
See the following link:
http://www.eschatology.org/articles/sec ... heaven.htm
Does the phrase "heaven and earth" refer to the physical planet earth and the cosmos?
What evidence is there to support that?
Heavens and Earth
Heavens and Earth
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
To my mind, there is good reason to see the replacement of the old heaven and old earth with the new heavens and new earth as a reference to the New Covenant supplanting the Old, in Isaiah 65:17ff. Not all would agree with this interpretation, and it arises from my understanding of the whole section of Isaiah in which it occurs (chapters 60-66). My series of lectures, entitled "Topical Isaiah" (available for download at the website) discusses the rationale for my thinking about subjects like this one, in Isaiah.
The New Testament references about the new heavens and the new earth are more difficult to be sure about. Paul may give us reason to see the matter in the preterist's way in his statement, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor.5:17). Also, it is quite evident that the description of the New Jerusalem (associated with the new heavens and the new earth, in Revelation 21-22) is apparently a symbolic way of describing the Church. These data may seem to support the full-preterist view of this matter.
On the other hand, I am not so sure about 2 Peter 3:10-13. Peter says that he and his readers were anticipating a new heavens and a new earth that would replace the first heavens and earth in the day of the Lord, which comes "as a thief in the night." Perhaps I am just stubborn and conservative, but I still associate this language with the second coming of Christ, when He comes to judge the world (cf., Matt.24:43/ 1Thess.5:2).
The idea that there will be a renovation of the creation at the same time as the glorification of our bodies (i.e., the resurrection at the second coming) is affirmed by Paul, in Romans 8:19-23. Paul says that the creation is groaning in anticipation of its deliverance from "the bondage of corruption," which, he says, will happen when the "sons of God" are manifested in the resurrection ("the redemption of our bodies).
This makes me think that Peter (who had read Paul's epistles—2 Pet.3:15f) used the expressions "heaven and earth" in the normal and natural sense in 2 Peter 3:10-13.
I am inclined to think that there will be a literal new heavens and earth at the second coming of Christ, but that this new, eternal order is presaged in the believer's present experience through participation in the New Covenant. Hence, the believer "is a new creation," and has "tasted of the powers of the age to come"—but this is just (as the words of the familiar hymn put it) "a foretaste of glory divine."
The New Testament references about the new heavens and the new earth are more difficult to be sure about. Paul may give us reason to see the matter in the preterist's way in his statement, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor.5:17). Also, it is quite evident that the description of the New Jerusalem (associated with the new heavens and the new earth, in Revelation 21-22) is apparently a symbolic way of describing the Church. These data may seem to support the full-preterist view of this matter.
On the other hand, I am not so sure about 2 Peter 3:10-13. Peter says that he and his readers were anticipating a new heavens and a new earth that would replace the first heavens and earth in the day of the Lord, which comes "as a thief in the night." Perhaps I am just stubborn and conservative, but I still associate this language with the second coming of Christ, when He comes to judge the world (cf., Matt.24:43/ 1Thess.5:2).
The idea that there will be a renovation of the creation at the same time as the glorification of our bodies (i.e., the resurrection at the second coming) is affirmed by Paul, in Romans 8:19-23. Paul says that the creation is groaning in anticipation of its deliverance from "the bondage of corruption," which, he says, will happen when the "sons of God" are manifested in the resurrection ("the redemption of our bodies).
This makes me think that Peter (who had read Paul's epistles—2 Pet.3:15f) used the expressions "heaven and earth" in the normal and natural sense in 2 Peter 3:10-13.
I am inclined to think that there will be a literal new heavens and earth at the second coming of Christ, but that this new, eternal order is presaged in the believer's present experience through participation in the New Covenant. Hence, the believer "is a new creation," and has "tasted of the powers of the age to come"—but this is just (as the words of the familiar hymn put it) "a foretaste of glory divine."
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
In Jesus,
Steve
Steve
Good stuff.
It almost seems that the language metaphorically describing the change from the Old covenant to the New is a precursor or antitype of the pending change from the corrupt creation to the resurrected creation.
In the hyper-preterist understanding, is there a second coming of Christ?
If not, does history have an ending in that eschatological system?
Is the second coming of Christ one of the essentials of beliefs of Christianity? By denying it, would hyper-preterism be labeled a heresy?
It almost seems that the language metaphorically describing the change from the Old covenant to the New is a precursor or antitype of the pending change from the corrupt creation to the resurrected creation.
In the hyper-preterist understanding, is there a second coming of Christ?
If not, does history have an ending in that eschatological system?
Is the second coming of Christ one of the essentials of beliefs of Christianity? By denying it, would hyper-preterism be labeled a heresy?
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
The fully-realized preterist does not anticipate a future second coming of Christ, nor an end to the world. The world endures forever, on this view, and each generation simply comes and goes, responding one way or another to the gospel, and going on, either to heaven or to hell. The main problem with this idea seems to be that there is never any real redemption or restoration of the creation, and there is never any final victory of Christ over human evil—except on an individual basis.
Is it heresy? I think it is very wrong, but I am not in the place of God to say that one who holds such a view cannot be a true follower of Christ. In fact, it seems to me that some of these preterists are sincere Christians. I will leave it to God to decide how serious He considers their doctrinal aberations to be.
Is it heresy? I think it is very wrong, but I am not in the place of God to say that one who holds such a view cannot be a true follower of Christ. In fact, it seems to me that some of these preterists are sincere Christians. I will leave it to God to decide how serious He considers their doctrinal aberations to be.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
In Jesus,
Steve
Steve