Basic Preterism Question (what is it?)

Post by **_AARONDISNEY** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:56 am

I suppose I am part of what has been called the popular culture view of prophecy and will readily admit I understand very little of it. I have come to believe there will be a literal 7 year tribulation on earth - the first half of which being not as bad, the second being misery to humanity. I believe in the pretrib-rapture and so on. These are things I have not studied into deeply and understand that many on here hold different positions than these.
It may be hard to do in a nutshell, but if at all possible can someone give a preterism nutshell definition to a complete preterism dummy

. I am wide open to this teaching and would like to learn about the Biblical foundation of it but would just like to know the basics first.

Post by **_STEVE7150** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:22 am

Most here i believe are partial preterists which means that much of the plagues in Revelation that dispensationalists believe will happen in a future 7 year period actually already occured in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. PPs believe Rev was written before Nero's death sometime in the 60s AD as opposed to 95AD in Domition's reign. Also they believe that Jesus will come again on the last day for the final consummation and there will not be a thousand year millineum period afterwards. PPS believe the millineum is symbolic not literal and refers to the time between Christ's first and second coming. They believe Satan has been restrained to the extent that he can not deceive the nations but he can deceive individuals but before Christ's return he will be loosed for a little while to deceive the nations to attack the camp of the saints.

Post by **_AARONDISNEY** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:53 pm

Isn't a double prophecy a legitamate conclusion.
The fall of Rome and the final 7 year tribulation? Withing Revelation?
Also, is the idea of a Church raptured excluded from this view ( I assume so)?

Post by **_Allyn** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:20 pm

The Church rapture is legitimate but the timing has been debated for a while. The 7 year period is a broken off portion of the 70 7s which carries no Biblical basis. It is something assumed in order to make other assumptions work out.
The angel gave the 70 weeks continuous except for the first week and the rest without breaks.

Post by **_STEVE7150** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:58 pm

Isn't a double prophecy a legitamate conclusion.
The fall of Rome and the final 7 year tribulation? Withing Revelation?
Also, is the idea of a Church raptured excluded from this view ( I assume so)?
Well only speaking for myself double prophecy is possible but has to be unusual and not the norm. Certainly Rev can go past Jerusalem's fall to the fall of Rome and perhaps a brief tribulation period before Christ returns which is what i believe but the 7 year trib , probably not. It comes from Dan 9.25-27 which seems to fit well with the final 7 years being Christ's ministry of 3 1/2 yrs plus the next 3 1/2 yrs to Stephen's stoning. There isn't any evidence to skip 2,000 yrs.
Re the rapture , there are many,many verses that indicate the wicked will be taken in judgement and the righteous will inherit the earth. The word used for rapture is also used for greeting a foreign dignatery and escorting him into the city. Jesus said "the meek shall inherit the earth" and He said "As it was in the days of Noah" in which the wicked were taken away not the righteous.

Post by **_AARONDISNEY** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:12 am

Thank you guys for the help. I am planning to look into what exactly it's all about.

Post by **_GCS 98** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:02 am

Does anyone know any good books that explain preterism further? Thanks!

Post by **_STEVE7150** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:33 am

I think Kenneth Gentry, Gary Demar and Jay E. Adams are good authors on the subject and Steve Gregg wrote a book called 4 Views on Revelation which includes the preterist view and is excellent.

Post by **_AARONDISNEY** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 2:30 pm

I have to admit I will look into this very skeptically. I believe that the BIble teaches us there will be a 7 year period that will be torturous to the entire earth, but I do want to understand this point of view I've never considered. I also believe Revelation speaks of events in the future. I also am fully convinced that there will be a rapture of the Church. I believe that the Bible teaches that, but as I said before I do not know alot about all these things, so it is good (in my opinion) to be open minded when you are unsure in the first place. And to close your mind to other ideas that oppose what you know to be true.

Post by **_Steve** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 2:42 pm

Hi Aaron,

I appreciate your honesty. I think all the preterists here probably believe in the rapture of the church as a future event. We just place it further into the future than do the dispensationalists. We see no reason to place it seven years prior to the other second coming events.

It is interesting to explore the biblical case for a seven-year tribulation. It amounts entirely to the association of the seventieth week of Daniel with an end-times timeframe. When Daniel 9:24-27 are read without dispensational commentary, there seems no reason to separate the seventieth week from the other sixty-nine. Revelation nowhere mentions a period of seven years. A period half that long is mentioned five times (in chapters 11-13), but nothing indicates that these references should be understood as separate periods. My view is that they always are speaking of the same thing, and that they are not describing events at the end of the world.

I appreciate your taking the time to rethink and explore these topics. Even if you never become convinced of the view I hold, the research and thinking outside the box will only serve to broaden your grasp of biblical options.