Preterism!  I Can't Believe It

Todd Strandberg 2001
Rapture Ready

One of my key reason for believing in the pre-tribulation rapture is the fact all other views are always trying to undermine pre-tribulationism. Up until now the most vocal group of opponents have been the post-trib and pre-wrath folks. I'm now totally amazed to find preterism now on the attack, gaining ground by mostly converting over pre-tribbers.

What is preterism? This theory argues that all Bible prophecy has been fulfilled; nothing remains on the prophetic calendar. Events like the rise of Antichrist, the tribulation, the rapture, and the Day of the Lord all took place around 70 AD - the year the Roman's invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the second Temple.

I just cannot understand how anyone can follow a preterist line of thinking in the light of current world events. I've largely ignored preterism because I see as equivalent to the Flat Earth Society.

The heart of this gross error is based around Jesus' statement that, "this generation shall not pass, till all things be fulfilled" (Mat 24:34). It seems easy enough to claim Jesus was speaking about a first century generation, however, logic ends there when one contemplates the fulfillment of all Bible prophecy.

In order to make 70 AD the magic year, you would have to delete dozens of prophecies that were never fulfilled. When was the Gospel preached to all the nations, when was the Mark of the Beast implemented, What about China's 200 million man army, when did 100 pound hailstones fall from the sky, or what date was it when the Euphrates River dried up?

The questions are endless. Why did we have the rebirth of Israel? If Jerusalem was forever removed from being the burdensome stone, why has it now returned to that status? When did all the Jews shout, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," as Jesus said they would?

After being so strict in their interpretation of Matthew 24:34, preterists then run rough-shod over many clear statements of scripture. They say that although the "resurrection" happened in 70 AD, the bodies of Christians were left in the grave.

Preterists take the dangerous step of spiritualizing all passages of scripture that relate to the nation of Israel, and claim that these refer to the church, the "New Israel." They teach that the "old earth," which scripture says will pass away, is the Old Covenant. The new heavens and new earth , they say, is the New Covenant, and the "elements," which scripture says will burn with fervent heat when this happens, are the "elements of the law."

Preterism produces some very bizarre explanations for why the world is still experiencing suffering and calamity. One explanation I ran across cited God's need for population Control as the reason for mankind's suffering:

"I believe that people are born and people die. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. God is the providential population controller. He brings famine, disease, natural catastrophes, wars and tumults. 1/3 of the population of Europe was destroyed by the Black Plague in the early part of this millennium. 850,000 were killed in the 1556 earthquake in the Shanghai province of China. Two million were killed in World War II. 13 million were killed under Stalin and 6 million under Hitler. God is very equipped to control population."