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Perhaps the biggest challenge against Christians from skeptics, Jews, Muslims, and others is that the prophecies of Jesus and the writers of the New Testament failed. So, if Jesus and his followers were false prophets, Christianity falls. Consider these quotes: “Say what you like, we shall be told, the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so....

HERE’S HOW FUTURISTS TWIST THE WORDS OF JESUS AND THE BIBLICAL WRITERS “This generation” (Mt. 11:16; 12:39; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36; 24:34) REALLY MEANT some other future generation. “In a very, very little while” (Heb. 10:37) REALLY MEANT thousands of years later. “The end is at hand” (1 Pet. 4:7) REALLY MEANT it was not at hand at all, but rather far distant. “The time was short” (1 Cor. 7:29) REALLY MEANT the time was a long time off. “It is the last hour” (1 John 2:18) REALLY MEANT millions of hours later. Judgment to occur at Jesus’ return in his...

You might be wondering, what is being besieged? Our borders? Yes. Common sense values? For sure. How about proper theology? Absolutely. We are besieged like never before but, then, this was predicted! There would be a vast “falling away” from the faith. (2 Thessalonians 2) But I think that this issue goes deeper. Let me explain. I have watched Bible prophecy attacked, scorned, mocked, criticized, and improperly taught for a lot of years. There has been overwhelming confusion about the last days. Again, that is predicted, so no surprise (II Peter 3:3–7). In many denominations, it is taught egregiously wrong....

It seems to me that Christians too often are more interested in defending a position, rather than surrendering to what the Bible teaches. Let’s see what the Bible teaches about a rebuilt temple. Fear not to be challenged and changed. 1. Re-instituted temple sacrifices would be blasphemous to Jesus. The New Covenant began in the first century; there is no New New Covenant. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus’ sacrifice was ONCE FOR ALL (Hebrews 10:8-14). 2. All promises of restoration of Israel have come true in Messiah Jesus (Luke 1:54-55, 69-75; 2 Corinthians 1:20). Jesus replaced...

Preterism is one of today’s popular views of the end times; its adherents among church staff continue to rapidly grow in number. Below is a list of its basic beliefs: Nero was the Antichrist. There will be no future individual Antichrist. The Tribulation Period is already over. It occurred when the Roman army besieged Jerusalem in AD 66-70. Christ “returned” in the clouds in AD 70 to witness the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army. God replaced Old Testament Israel with the Church. Therefore, all the biblical promises to Israel belong to the Church. Armageddon already happened in AD...

I know my title sounds a bit theological. Why even bring up the topic of amillennialism? I do so because a great many pastors today subscribe to some form of this errant teaching that denies the prophesied restoration of a kingdom for Israel as well as the biblical promise of Jesus’ millennial reign before the eternal state. Amillennialism dominated the church during the Dark Ages and persisted long after the Reformation. The reason for this rests with three factors that fueled this teaching for well over a thousand years and remain in place today, at least to some degree. It’s...

There are two views of when Revelation was written. One view is that it was written around AD 95-96. The second view is that it was written in the mid 60’s AD—prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. I will show that the early date has the strongest support. 1. Revelation 17:10 says that the book was written during the sixth king, who was Nero, who reigned from AD 54-68. (The previous five Roman rulers were Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.) Interestingly, the text also says that the seventh king to come would reign only “a...

Futurists sometimes claim that preterism was invented in the middle ages by Luis Alcazar. That charge is very clearly false. Let’s take a look at what the early church thought about eschatology. We preterists argue that our views are completely consistent with Jesus and his disciples. That is, the ideas which are represented by preterists were the views of the New Testament writers themselves, who expected the fulfillment of all biblical prophecy to take place in their generation. So, we feel that we are in good company! But what about the church leaders after the original Apostles? Actually, there are...

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth [land] will mourn because of Him.” This passage from Revelation 1:7 is often read by Christians and simply assumed to be a future event. (“Obviously, this hasn’t happened yet!”) Warning: the interpretation of this passage, read casually out of context, may not be as obvious as most Christians suppose. The context offers strong support for the preterist view, which is that this was fulfilled in AD 70 when Jesus “came in judgment” against apostate Israel. It...

In short, a preterist is the generally accepted term for those who believe that all biblical prophecy events have been completed, and were accomplished in the past — the first century to be exact. The event usually associated with the fulfillment of Bible prophecy is the Roman-Jewish War of A.D. 66-73, especially during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Paradigm Shift Two men who love God can see the same scripture in two different ways. Is it because one of them is stubborn or unreasonable? No, it is because each of us has within us paradigms of what life is...

I have heard smart pastors say some pretty dumb things about Bible prophecy. It is amazing to me how blinded otherwise intelligent men can be about this subject. Here are just three examples. 1. I remember being in a Bible class with a very bright young pastor as he began a study of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews clearly declared that HE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES were living in the “last days” (Hebrews 1:2). But this pastor just could not accept it. I shook my head listening to the violence he did to this text and the hoops he went through...

TEN TIPS ON UNDERSTANDING BIBLE PROPHECY by Charles Meek 1. Determine to believe what Jesus and the writers of the New Testament taught, even if it conflicts with your denominational teaching, your presuppositions, or popular perceptions. 2. Step out of your sectarian echo chamber and immerse yourself in the Word. Especially in eschatology, there are several diverse and contradictory views. Don’t assume that your sect has it right. 3. Don’t just give lip service to Sola Scriptura—embrace it. 4. When reading the Bible, take yourself out of our modern setting, and stand in the shoes of the original audience. How...

Below is a list of 101 preterist passages in the New Testament. This compilation puts an exclamation point to the radical nearness in time of the culmination of the last-days’ events. Note that some of these passages are clear and unmistakable, including such phrases as “must shortly take place,” “soon,” “near,” “at hand,” “this generation,” and “before some standing here taste death.” Others are not quite so obvious, such as “the axe is already laid at the root of the trees,” but also impart a sense of imminent fulfillment. Still others are addressed to a specific audience in the first...

BIBLE PROPHECY INTRO (“Cliff Notes” Version) by Charles Meek SUMMARY: A common view of Bible prophecy is that Jesus will return bodily at the end of time to punish the reprobate and save the faithful (again). This is usually accepted without question. However, because false predictions about the Second Coming and end of the world are so prevalent, many Christians are increasingly willing to seriously re-examine whether this tradition is truly biblical. Old Testament prophecy of Jesus’ First Advent (Isaiah 53, etc.), was, of course, fulfilled by a bodily appearance. But, “Second Coming/End Times” prophecy may actually be ALL (or...

PRETERISM 101 By David A. Green July, 2002 Following this brief article are 101 biblical, preterist "time-indicators." (Hence the title.) There are many more than 101 to be found in Scripture, but these are probably the most blunt and obvious of them all. If we were to include every preterist time-indicator in Scripture, the number would possibly be in the hundreds. My purpose in displaying these passages (with some cross references) is to lay out in a concise, easy-to-read format the overwhelming testimony that our Lord actually fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, as He said He would. (Matt. 5:17)...

There is much confusion in Christianity today surrounding the milieu of biblical eschatology. Specifically, there is widespread misunderstanding about the nature and timing of Jesus’ coming, arrival or presence (parousia in Greek). In popular preaching and imagination, it’s often called his “second coming” or “return.” Many life-long Jesus-followers are surprised to learn that these are not terms found in the Bible – and then to consider how these terms affect our thinking on just what this all means. But the rabbit-hole goes even deeper: What if the confusion about Jesus’ coming reaches even farther back, to a more basic misunderstanding...

Those who are willing to acknowledge the global context of Revelation have much evidence to support such a view. Those who are determined to shoe-horn Revelation back into the events of A.D. 70 are unlikely to be swayed by our evidence. Thankfully, we need not be overly concerned about the persistence of preterism because the plain meaning of the Biblical text stands opposed to its foundational teachings. As long as Bible students take the text at face value--as it was intended to be understood--then preterism will continue to face an uphill battle. To this fact we owe thanks to the...

Kenneth L Gentry, Jr., makes evidence derived from exegetical data of the Apocalypse his major focus in building a case for dating Revelation prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Even though acknowledging that other advocates of either a Neronic and Domitianic date for Revelation's composition find no direct evidence within the book for assigning a date, he proceeds to find "inherently suggestive and positively compelling historical time-frame indicators in Revelation." He uses the contemporary reign of the sixth king in 17:9-11 and the integrity of the temple and Jerusalem in 11:1-13 to exemplify arguments that are "virtually...

Preterists teach that the Book of Revelation is primarily a prophecy about the Roman war against the Jews in Israel that began in A.D. 67 and ended with the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. In order for Revelation to be a prediction of the future (Rev. 1:1, 3, 11, 19; 22:6-10, 16, 18-20) and if it was fulfilled by August A.D. 70, then it had to have been written by A.D. 65 or 66 for the preterist interpretation to even be a possibility. Preterist Ken Gentry has noted this major weakness when he said of fellow early date...

Last year I presented a paper to this body regarding the Jewish historian Josephus’ understanding of the Olivet Discourse and the Fall of Jerusalem and particularly how Preterists had written about Josephus’ recording of the event. ... As I demonstrated last year, little if any of Josephus’ description satisfies the words of our Lord in His discourse. ... is there support for this type of understanding of the Fall of Jerusalem and the predictions of Christ within the writings of the Church that follows A.D. 70? Did the Church Fathers of the ensuing centuries look back on A.D. 70 as...