My Preterist Journey (so far + video)
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:36 pm
A frequent reader but seldom poster (these days); I just want to do a thread on what I've been up to in The Eschatology Dept. (Our friend, Homer, was asking me about this too).
My eschatological history, so to speak, has been: raised dispensationalist (pre-trib, pre-mill), moving on to partial preterist & amillennial since the 80s, and "quasi-full-preterist" (I've called it) over the past 4 years or so.
Where I'm at now (basic premise): I'm convinced that the parousia (coming) of Christ is past, that he came in the judgment on Israel in the years proximal to 70AD. Essentially in the same manner that God judged His people in Old Testament times, i.e., never literally as a 'physical person'.
'Following the above' is where I'm sketchy on a lot of details.
Re: The Resurrection of the Dead
Scripture speaks of (at least) two primary resurrections:
1) Resurrection and/or rebirth of the nation, Israel (e.g., Ezekiel's valley of dry bones coming to life again). I think Jesus' referenced this in his dialog with Nicodemus. What was it every teacher in Israel should know? Certainly that the nation needed to be reborn. Bypassing detailed exegesis of 'born of water and the spirit'; when Jesus said 'You must be born again', the 'you' is plural, i.e., 'You all must be born again'. (I should note that I believed this when I was a partial preterist).
2) Personal/individual resurrection (there are several variations among full preterists here). I no longer accept my former (orthodox) view of literal, bodily resurrection. Currently I'm leaning toward 'IBD' -- Individual Body upon Death. If I understand the view, it says resurrection bodies are made of pneuma (spirit). Not mere disembodied spirits. Rather, bodies composed of spirit ('pneuma' as ontologically real substance). Difficult to wrap your mind around!
Otherwise, I'm not sure what to make of the controversial passage in Matthew where some of the deceased saints were seen resurrected in Jerusalem. This is probably linked to the resurrection of the nation in some sense and may well be a part of the rapture. Which brings me almost to the end of the post.
I tend to think 'the judgment seat of Christ' as an upcoming event happened around 70AD. That at this point in time God was separating the sheep from the goats, the loyal and apostate Jews. I'm leaning toward a view that each of us, upon death, will appear before the Lord to be judged. (Oddly, many 'born-again' evangelicals and probably a lot of Catholics believe 'you die and go to heaven' without giving much thought to the resurrection or resurrection bodies, etc.).
I don't have a position on the millennium; taking an almost Idealist view on the number 1,000. I, do, however believe Revelation was written before 70AD and describes the events surrounding the Great War.
Lastly, I have a hard time with feeling like I'm on the same page with a lot of full preterists. Many of them come from traditional Reformed or fundamentalist backgrounds and have held on to some of this 'baggage', as it were. I guess they think it's OK. Not for me though!
I have so much studying to do, my brain hurts!
Thanks for reading,
My eschatological history, so to speak, has been: raised dispensationalist (pre-trib, pre-mill), moving on to partial preterist & amillennial since the 80s, and "quasi-full-preterist" (I've called it) over the past 4 years or so.
Where I'm at now (basic premise): I'm convinced that the parousia (coming) of Christ is past, that he came in the judgment on Israel in the years proximal to 70AD. Essentially in the same manner that God judged His people in Old Testament times, i.e., never literally as a 'physical person'.
'Following the above' is where I'm sketchy on a lot of details.
Re: The Resurrection of the Dead
Scripture speaks of (at least) two primary resurrections:
1) Resurrection and/or rebirth of the nation, Israel (e.g., Ezekiel's valley of dry bones coming to life again). I think Jesus' referenced this in his dialog with Nicodemus. What was it every teacher in Israel should know? Certainly that the nation needed to be reborn. Bypassing detailed exegesis of 'born of water and the spirit'; when Jesus said 'You must be born again', the 'you' is plural, i.e., 'You all must be born again'. (I should note that I believed this when I was a partial preterist).
2) Personal/individual resurrection (there are several variations among full preterists here). I no longer accept my former (orthodox) view of literal, bodily resurrection. Currently I'm leaning toward 'IBD' -- Individual Body upon Death. If I understand the view, it says resurrection bodies are made of pneuma (spirit). Not mere disembodied spirits. Rather, bodies composed of spirit ('pneuma' as ontologically real substance). Difficult to wrap your mind around!
Otherwise, I'm not sure what to make of the controversial passage in Matthew where some of the deceased saints were seen resurrected in Jerusalem. This is probably linked to the resurrection of the nation in some sense and may well be a part of the rapture. Which brings me almost to the end of the post.
I tend to think 'the judgment seat of Christ' as an upcoming event happened around 70AD. That at this point in time God was separating the sheep from the goats, the loyal and apostate Jews. I'm leaning toward a view that each of us, upon death, will appear before the Lord to be judged. (Oddly, many 'born-again' evangelicals and probably a lot of Catholics believe 'you die and go to heaven' without giving much thought to the resurrection or resurrection bodies, etc.).
I don't have a position on the millennium; taking an almost Idealist view on the number 1,000. I, do, however believe Revelation was written before 70AD and describes the events surrounding the Great War.
Lastly, I have a hard time with feeling like I'm on the same page with a lot of full preterists. Many of them come from traditional Reformed or fundamentalist backgrounds and have held on to some of this 'baggage', as it were. I guess they think it's OK. Not for me though!
I have so much studying to do, my brain hurts!
Thanks for reading,