The Narrow Path Ministries

Hello all, first post.

I've heard time and time again in Steve's podcasts about the Jesuit priest Ribera coming up with the futurist idea as part of the Counter Reformation. But I don't think I've ever heard Steve mention Alcazar coming up with the preterist idea.

So my question is did the church historically believe in the preterist position or is this a relatively new idea starting with Alcazar?

I seldom talk about the history of interpretation of the Book of Revelation without mentioning Luis de Alcazar (1554-1613—see my book or my lectures on Revelation). Many futurists claim that he was the originator of preterism. He taught that the first part of Revelation predicted the fall of Jerusalem and the second part predicted the fall of Rome. Jay Adams follows this view in his book "The Time is at Hand."

But there were writers earlier than Alcazar that applied parts of Revelation to the fall of Jerusalem. Commentaries by Adreas of Cappadocia and Arethas (both written in the sixth century, a millennium before Alcazar) applied many of the visions in Revelation to the Jewish War.

In the fourth century, the historian Eusebius applied the Olivet Discourse to AD70. If he had accepted the canonization of Revelation (he wrote before it was accepted into the canon of scripture) he might also have seen it the same way.

Great, thanks for the reply.

BTW, I really enjoy your teaching.