PRETERIST CENTRAL

The mission of this site to further the study of eschatology and preterism. Eschatology is from the Greek eschatos, "last", and signifies the study of "last things." Eschatology is far and away the most difficult and challenging disciplines of Biblical study. The usus loquendi of the prophets was highly figurative; their speech was veiled with poetic exaggeration and metaphors; they wrote in signs and symbols. Without a working familiarity with their method, the prophets are difficult to apprehend. This has caused widely divergent interpretations of their writings. However, through the application of sound hermeneutical principles, we believe that the message of the prophets can be objectively ascertained, and that it is best understood by that school of interpretation called "preterism." Read >>>

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Still Chosen? Are the Jews Still the Elect of God?

I am always astonished when I encounter Christians who harbor the idea that the Jews are still God’s chosen people. It is a common belief among many Christians that there is a natural affinity between Jews and Christians; that we are somehow serving the same God and are equally acceptable to him. Many Christians even believe that Christians are obligated to support the Jews as a nation and people; that America’s foreign policy must be pro-Israel, and that in “blessing them” we will in turn be blessed by God.[1] When I pointed out to someone recently that God destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70 in vengeance for the Jews’ murder of Christ, rejection of the gospel, and persecution of the church, and that they therefore could not still be God’s chosen people, I was called “anti-Semitic.” Thus, it would seem there is a need to see what the Bible says about the Jews and whether they are still the elect of God. Read >>>

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The Prophecy of Daniel Two

The image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is among the most important prophecies of the Bible. In it we see the hand of God carefully guiding the progress of history to accomplish his purpose to bring Christ into the world, establish his kingdom, and save mankind. The dream's primary purpose was to serve as a timeline unto the kingdom and coming of the Messiah. The specificity of the vision and the facility with which it enables us to pinpoint the coming of Christ's kingdom makes it unique among the visions of the Old Testament. However, it was remarkable in more ways that this: the vision occurred while the Jews were in captivity and their political institutions and government were non-existent; it was given to the very Gentile king who had carried the Jews into captivity and burned God's own temple, but who later became a worshipper of the one true God; the dream foretold events until an appointed consummation that would mark the transfer of world dominion from Gentile powers unto the Messiah and his people. Read >>>

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Revelation Explained

Chapter Nine – Romans, Zealots, & Idumeans

The imagery of the present chapter is adapted in part from the prophet Joel, who described successive invasions of locusts that devoured the land like fire. Joel appears to have used the imagery both literally to describe an actual drought and plague of locusts (Joel 1:1-10), and figuratively for the armies of the Assyrians and Babylonians (Joel 2:1-11; cf. Jer. 52:27). Moreover, it is clear that Joel’s prophecies had a plenior sensus (fuller meaning) that looked to the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem. Peter cited Joel on the day of Pentecost, saying that the gifts of the Holy Ghost were among the signs that were to occur before the “great and notable day of the Lord” (Acts 2:20). Peter limited the period remaining to the day of the Lord when he said “save yourselves from this untoward generation” (v. 40). “This generation” was the timeframe set by the Lord for the vengeance that would overtake Jerusalem for the blood of the martyrs (Matt. 23:37). He then reiterated this timeframe in his Olivet Discourse, limiting the events described to “this generation” (Matt. 24:30, 34). Jesus repeated these warnings before the Sanhedrin and to the women of Jerusalem as he was led out to be crucified (Matt. 26:64; Lk. 23:27-31). Stephen made the same predictions and was stoned for it (Acts 6:14). John here portrays the same predictions clothed in poetic language adapted from Joel, signifying the imminent fulfillment of the prophecies. Read >>>

The New Standard for Daniel Studies!

$24.95 plus 4.00 shipping & handling

www.danielstudies.info

In this book learn

· Why the prophets treat the first and second coming of Christ as an historical unit

· Why the “Last Days” refer to the end of an epoch now long past

· Gaius Julius Caesar and the “time of the end”

· The persecution of Nero and the coming of Christ

· The Great Tribulation and universal “time of trouble”

· Caesar’s sacrifice and the “abomination of desolation”

· AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the end of Israel’s national election

· Michael the Archangel and the resurrection of the dead

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What the Bible Says About The Resurrection

And Immortality

There is a lot of confusion concerning what the Bible says about the eschatological resurrection and immortality. In this article we want to resolve these issues simply and concisely.

Types of Life

Before we can arrive at a correct understanding of death, resurrection, and immortality, we must first gain an understanding of the kinds of life represented in the Bible. There are no fewer than five kinds or qualities of life may be identified. These are 1) Physical/sentient life; 2) Moral/spiritual life; 3) Juridical life; 4) Hadean life; and 5) Eternal life.

Physical and Sentient Life: Physical life is bare life; it may be of a cell, or a plant, mushroom, or lichen. It is life without the ability to perceive itself or its surroundings. Sentient life is life defined by the ability to perceive one’s self or surroundings. A worm or shell fish has physical life, but also possesses physical sense and the ability to perceive and react to threat or danger and, therefore, possesses sentient life. Read >>>

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Urgent Corrections Preterism Must Make

No. 1:

"The Eschaton was Essentially Local"

Kurt M. Simmons

Introduction

St. Paul said, “If any man thinketh he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” (I Cor. 8:2) I have been a Preterist almost 26 years. I have learned a few things along the way; one of them is how much I don’t know and still have to learn. This last year, I have learned some new things; I have become aware of a couple areas that appear to me to need correction within the Preterist movement. The first of these has to do with the notion that the eschaton was essentially local; the second that it was essentially covenantal. In this article, I want to address the idea that the eschaton was essentially local. Read >>>

Urgent Corrections Preterism Must Make No. 2:

"The Eschaton was Essentially Covenantal"

Kurt M. Simmons

Introduction

In a recent article, companion to this one, we noted the impossibility of maintaining the view that the eschaton was local, or historically confined to events in Palestine. In that article, we saw that numerous texts depict the day of Christ’s eschatological coming as world-wide; a time when all nations would feel the rod of his correction. In this article, we want to look at the second major corrective Preterism needs to make: the assumption that the eschaton was essentially covenantal. Read >>>

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