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Introduction &
Definitions
Color Coded by Classification
Luis de Alcasar
(1614)
"I say a profound philosophy
teaches, that in the Creation of things it was the intention
of the Artificer and Builder, that in those objects of
Creation which come within the reach of our vision, men
might also be in possession of wonderful symbols and
hieroglyphics, serving to point out to them mystically such
lessons as would most highly concern them, viz., true
instruction in faith and morals.
Origen,
after pursuing the subject in a beautiful train of
reasoning, concludes at last with the following words,
'Therefore may all things be referred upward from the
visible to the invisible, from the corporeal to the
incorporeal, from the manifest to the hidden ; so that the
objects of the world may be understood to be created by
divine Wisdom according to such a divine dispensation, as
from visible things, by means of the things and exemplars
themselves, teaches us the invisible, and transfers us from
earthly things to those which are of heaven.' Thus far
Origen ; who doubts not that, in the creation of things
corporeal, it was the principal design of the divine
Artificer that they should be symbols and traces, as it
were, of the mysteries of our faith. Therefore the
merely natural office proper to every particular thing, in
virtue of which it ministers to other bodies, and in which
the philosophy of Aristotle rests, by no means satisfies the
infinite Wisdom of God, and His especial providence in the
salvation of souls ; nor indeed His own wonderful counsel
whereby He hath determined to raise us from the corporeal to
the incorporeal. It is probable, therefore, that the
omnipotence of God, when He had the power of making infinite
species of souls, plants, and stones, selected and created
out of the infinite things which he had in his power, such
as were the more apt to signify the mysteries of our
salvation, and a conformably moral instruction.
"And this was accomplished in such a
manner, that the universal mechanism of things created
should maintain a most beautiful harmony with the wonderful
counsel of God in the salvation of men ; and that things
corporeal should subserve to the representation of those
which are spiritual."
Vestigatio Arcani Sensus in Apocalypsi
Robert G. Clouse
"A preterist is one who believes that most of the
prophecies of the Apocalypse has been fulfilled in the
past.. The idealist [herein labeled the "spiritual"
approach] views the Revelation as a great drama involving
the transcendent truths such as the conflict between
righteousness and unrighteousness or the victory over
Satan." (Revelation: Four Views, xiv.)
Todd Dennis
"The quickest and most revealing
way to describe this preterist/idealist hybrid is to consider which
is the true nation of Israel. "Preterist Israel" -- aka
"Israel after the flesh" -- found its beginning and end in the process
of time. "Idealist Israel" -- aka "the Israel of God" -- was
always that
eternal nation in Christ for which the temporal nation
only served as a representative. All elements associated with
"Preterist Israel" in history are tools, given to reveal to our
hearts the everlasting fullness found in Christ alone."
Steve Gregg
"What I am calling the spiritual
approach (often called the idealist or symbolic approach)
to Revelation does not attempt to find individual fulfillments of the
visions but takes Revelation to be a great drama depicting transcendent
spiritual realities, such as the spiritual conflict between Christ and
Satan, between the saints and the antichristian world powers, and
depicting the heavenly vindication and final victory of Christ and his
saints. Fulfillment is seen either as entirely spiritual or as
recurrent, finding representative expression in historical events
throughout the age, rather than in one-time, specific fulfillments.
The prophecy is thus rendered applicable to Christians in any age."
(Revelation: Four Views, p. 2-3)
"..most modern
commentators, both of the evangelical wing and of the
literary-critical type, have mixed some of the ideas of the
spiritual approach with one of the other
historically-based approaches. This is not a difficult
merger to effect, as Pieters rightly observes: [Spiritual]
interpretations combine readily with those of the Preterists
or of the Historicists, because any symbol, understood by
them to refer to a certain force or tendency may be
considered fulfilled in any event in which such a force or
tendency is dominant." (Revelation: Four Views, p. 44)
"The most common
tendency is to mix the
spiritual approach with the preterist and then
either call their view preterism, leave their view
unlabeled, or give it an original name." (p. 44)
William Hendricksen
"PROPOSITION VI. The seals, trumpets, bowls of
wrath, and similar symbols refer not to specific events,
particular happenings, or details of history, but to
principles - of human conduct and of divine moral government
- that are operating throughout the history of the world,
especially throughout the new dispensation. [idealism]
PROPOSITION VII. The Apocalypse is
rooted in contemporaneous events and circumstances.
Its symbols should be interpreted in light of the conditions
which prevailed when the book was written. [preterism]."
(More than Conquerers, pp. 43-45, quoted and noted by Gregg)
Ron Maness
"It is here that we should note that the lines
are not as clearly drawn as one might imagine. For example,
one common tendency is to mix the spiritual approach
with the preterist, such as Leon Morris and Michael
Wilcock. Gregg also classifies William Hendriksen’s
commentary as “essentially spiritual/idealist in
character, with some preterist or historicist
elements” (page 45). George Eldon Ladd is a futurist
who believes that “the correct method of interpreting
Revelation is the blending of the preterist and
futurist methods” (page 46), but he also in some
instances brings in spiritual/idealist views. The
same can be said for futurist Robert Mounce." (review)
Albertus Pieters
"Today, scholars are prevailingly in favor of
this system [preterism], either unchanged, or
combines with the ideas of the Philosophy of History [spiritual]
School." (The Lamb, the Woman and the Dragon, p. 44)
J. Denny Weaver
"Idealist and preterist views
are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. The
universal message derived from idealist interpretation
supplies the contemporary relevance of a preterist
interpretation. This comparison of views shows that the
combination of a preterist approach with the general meaning
of an idealist view is the only approach that takes
seriously both the significance of symbolism for
first-century readers along with relevance for contemporary
readers." (Revelation as Nonviolent Rhetoric, Introduction)
PRINCIPLES
AND APPROACHES
Color Coded by
Classification
Lauren Hill's "Oh Jerusalem" - Seeing the Heart of
Jerusalem
"Focused on the
shadow, with my back turned to the light
Too intelligent to see
it's me in the way"
John Chrysostom
"Since Scripture addresses human beings and uses
also human illustrations, which are indeed insufficient to
represent the thing spoken of, those which exhibit the full
proportions of the matter, suffice for the infirmity of the
hearers". ("Homily 2: After Eutropius Having Being Found
Outside the Church had been Taken Captive," Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1956)
258. The Greek text reads: "Επειδή ανθρώποις διαλέγεται (=η
Γραφή) και ανθρωπίναις κέχρηται εικόσιν, ουκ αρκούσαις μεν
παραστήσαι το λεγόμενον, αι δε δυναμέναις όλον το μέτρον
αγαγείν εις το μέσον, αρκούσαις δε τη ασθενεία των ακουόντων".
(PG 52, 404).
Alpheus Crosby
"It may be remarked
alike of Dr. Lightfoot and of most of his successors in the figurative
interpretation, and that without any disparagement of their merits, that
they have been more successful in establishing the necessity of such an
interpretation, than in rising to the fulness and spirituality of the
figurative sense. They have rested too much in the outward, to the neglect
of the inward; too much in the sign, to the neglect of the thing signified.
Their thoughts have been too much occupied with the intense tragedy of the
destruction of Jerusalem, and too little with those vast, those infinite
spiritual transactions, of which that destruction was a mere circumstance.
They have rested too much in the outward, to the neglect of the inward; too
much in the sign, to the neglect of the thing signified." (The Second
Advent: Or, What Do the Scriptures Teach, Respecting the Second Coming of
Christ, Page 131)
Patrick Fairbairn
"the deliverance accomplished from
the yoke of Babylon formed a fitting stepping-stone to the main subject of
the prophecy - the revelation of God in the person and work in the Son.
The certainty of the one - a certainty soon to be realized - was a pledge of
the ultimate certainty of the other ; and the character also of the former,
as a singular and unexpected manifestation of the Lord's power to deliver
his people and lay their enemies in the dust, was a prefiguration of what
was to be accomplished once for all in the salvation to be wrought out by
Jesus Christ. There are few portions of Old Testament prophecy, which
altogether resemble the one we have been considering. Perhaps that
which approaches nearest to it, in the mode of combining type with prophecy,
is the thirty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, which is not a direct and simple
delineation of the judgments that were destined to alight upon Idumea, but
rather an ideal representation of the judgments preparing to alight on the
enemies generally of God's people, founded upon the approaching desolations
of Edom, which it contemplates as the type of the destruction which awaits
all the adversaries." (Typology,
pp. 125-126)
Samuel Lee
"In all which cases it should
be remembered, that language is the mere vehicle of
things conceived of, or entertained, in the mind : and that
the things
themselves, so entertained, are the great objects of our
inquiries ; and hence, that we should not confuse ourselves
and others, by inconsiderately mistaking one for the other."
(The Events and Times of the Visions of
Daniel and St John investigated. .
xxi)
Peter J. Leithart, Ph.D.
"[T]ropologically, the history of
Jerusalem can be understood as a model for the history of
the soul (secundum tropologiam). Just as David
conquered Jerusalem and set up the Lord's throne there, so
Jesus, His Son, conquers the inner city of the sinner and
consecrates him as a saint, a holy one." (Peter Leithart,
Ascent to Love, pp. 22)
Frederick Whitfield
"We are to give to everything a heavenly meaning. We
are to invest everything with a spiritual character.
The mind of heaven is to be impressed upon our words and
deeds, and on the way in which we look at all earthly
things. This will be the case if the mind is
spiritual. Everything will then take colouring of the
mind. It is not as Christians that we
shall thus see all things reflecting the deep things of God.
It will only be as our own souls are living in God's
presence." (Earthly
shadows of the heavenly kingdom, p. 13)
JERUSALEM A MODEL OF THE HEART
Historically called
the "Tropological Sense" of Scripture
"Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion"
How doth the city sit solitary, that
was full of people!
How is she become as a widow! She that
was great among the nations,
and princess among the provinces, How is
she become tributary!
She weepeth sore in the night, and her
tears are on her cheeks:
among all her lovers she hath none to
comfort her.
Lamentations 1:1
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"O priests,
comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak to the
heart of Jerusalem, and say that she has
received of the Lord's hand double for her sins" (Isa.
xl. 1,2, LXX.)
"At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne
of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered
unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem:
neither shall they walk any more after the
imagination of their evil heart."
"O Jerusalem,
wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest
be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge
within thee?" |
John Cassian
(420)
"The tropological sense is the moral explanation which has
to do with improvement of life and practical teaching, as if
we were to understand by these two covenants practical and
theoretical instruction, or at any rate as if we were to
want to take Jerusalem or Sion as the soul of man, according
to this: "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O
Sion." (Conferences)
Peter J. Leithart
""[T]ropologically,
the history of Jerusalem can be understood as a model for
the history of the soul (secundum tropologiam).
Just as David conquered Jerusalem and set up the Lord's
throne there, so Jesus, His Son, conquers the inner city of
the sinner and consecrates him as a saint, a holy one."
(Ascent to Love, pp. 22)
Isaac Pennington
(1658)
"Now for the sakes of such as have been truly exercised in
their spirits by the Spirit of the Lord, (and have felt the
powerful work of his grace, and a building raised up by him)
and may yet be further exercised, I shall add this.
Jerusalem
was a type of an inward building in the spirits of God's
people"
Writers on the
"Tropological Sense" of Jerusalem:
Origen,
John Cassian,
Gregory the Great,
Isaac Pennington

FREE ONLINE BOOKS
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Pseudo Clement:
"Second
Clement" (145) "Now
the Church, being spiritual was manifested in the flesh
of Christ, thereby showing us that if any of us guard
her in the flesh and defile her not, he shall receive
her again in the Holy Spirit: for this flesh is the
counterpart and copy of the spirit. No man therefore,
when he hath defiled the copy, shall receive the
original for his portion. This therefore is what He
meaneth, brethren; Guard ye the flesh, that ye may
partake of the spirit."
"For the
Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would
come, replied, "When two shall be one, that which is
without as that which is within, and the male with the
female, neither male nor female." And "that which is
without as" that which is within meaneth this: He calls
the soul "that which is within," and the body "that
which is without." ""the Books and the Apostles teach
that the church is not of the present, but from the
beginning. For it was spiritual, as was also our Jesus,
and was made manifest
at the end of the days
in order to save us. "
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John Cassian's Conferences
(420) "The tropological sense is the moral explanation
which has to do with improvement of life and practical
teaching, as if we were to understand by these two
covenants practical and theoretical instruction, or at
any rate as if we were to want to take Jerusalem or Sion
as the soul of man, according to this: "Praise the Lord,
O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion."
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Dr. John Gill:
On the Everlasting Covenant
(1769)
"When we
speak of the Abrogation of the [Old] Covenant this is to
be understood, not of the covenant of grace, as to the
matter and substance of it, which remains invariably the
same in all periods of time; it is an everlasting
covenant; it is ordered in all things and sure; it
can never be broken and made void; every promise of it
is unalterable, and every blessing irreversible; the
covenant of peace can never be removed; it will stand
firm to all generations; but with respect to the
form of the administration of it only, even the
form of it, under the former, or Old Testament
dispensation, before described; and in order to set this
in its true and proper light"

Horatio Bonar
(1875)
"The temple was not overthrown till about forty years
after the Son of God died on the cross. The type was
preserved for a season, that the antitype might be more
fully understood. The shadow and the substance were thus
for forty years exhibited together. " (The
Rent Veil)
John Calvin
"we are to lay hold on that
kingdom which cannot be shaken; for the Lord shakes us
for this end, that he may really and forever establish
us in himself." (Hebrews
12:27)
Patrick Fairbairn
(1854)
"Thus, the deliverance accomplished
from the yoke of Babylon formed a fitting stepping-stone to the main
subject of the prophecy - the revelation of God in the person and work
in the Son. The certainty of the one - a certainty soon to
be realized - was a pledge of the ultimate certainty of the other ; and
the character also of the former, as a singular and unexpected
manifestation of the Lord's power to deliver his people and lay their
enemies in the dust, was a prefiguration of what was to be accomplished
once for all in the salvation to be wrought out by Jesus Christ. There
are few portions of Old Testament prophecy, which altogether resemble
the one we have been considering. Perhaps that which approaches
nearest to it, in the mode of combining type with prophecy, is the
thirty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, which is not a direct and simple
delineation of the judgments that were destined to alight upon Idumea,
but rather an ideal representation of the judgments preparing to alight
on the enemies generally of God's people, founded upon the approaching
desolations of Edom, which it contemplates as the type of the
destruction which awaits all the adversaries." (The
Typology of Scripture - Two Volumes in One
2nd., 1854; pp. 125-126)
George Fox
"And as Daniel's windows were opened towards outward
Jerusalem
, in the time of the informers, when he prayed to his God,
as he did before in the time when they were not. And therefore should
not all your windows and doors be open towards heavenly
Jerusalem
, your mother, that God may come in and help you against the
false mother and her children. And therefore keep your meetings in the
time of sufferings, as you did before, and preach the word in season,
and out of season; the word, I say, that commands the clouds and storms,
and was before they were. And therefore blessed are those eyes that see
the sun of righteousness that never sets, the sun of righteousness that
changes not; for the prophet speaks of a sun and moon that shall be
turned into darkness, before the notable day of the Lord come; and where
this notable day of the Lord is seen, and by whom it is seen, they see
the glorious son of God, the son of righteousness, by whom were all
things, who is over all things, who is the head of his people, and
dwells in them, who is present with them, and who was, and will be, to
all eternity; of whose kingdom there is no end, who is God over all,
blessed for ever." ("Collection Of Many Select And
Christian Epistles, Letters And Testimonies")
Ernest Hengstenberg
"The great variety of
these references (preterist, historicist, futurist) has
arisen solely from the circumstance, that the prophecy
has not been reduced to its fundamental idea. This
fundamental idea is, the manifestation of God's punitive
justice upon all which is hostile to His kingdom, which runs
parallel with the manifestation of His grace towards the
subjects of His kingdom. This idea appears here, in
all its generality, without any temporal limitation
whatsoever. Not one of these interpretations,
therefore, can be absolutely right. They differ only
in this, that some of them are altogether false, inasmuch as
they assume a reference to events which do not at all fall
under the fundamental idea ; while others are only limited
and partial views of the truth." (Christology of the Old
Testament, p. 251)
Johnathan Edwards
Typological Connection Between Sodom and Jerusalem
"Jerusalem was like Sodom, in that it was devoted to
destruction by special divine wrath; and indeed to a
more terrible destruction than that of Sodom. Therefore
the like direction is given concerning fleeing out of it
with the utmost haste, without looking behind, as the
angel gave to Lot, when he bid him flee out of Sodom.
If it be inquired why Christ gave this
direction to his people to flee out of Jerusalem, in
such exceeding haste, at the first notice of the signal
of her approaching destruction; I answer, it seems to
be, because fleeing out of Jerusalem was a type of
fleeing out of a state of sin. Escaping out of that
unbelieving city typified an escape out of a state of
unbelief. Therefore they were directed to flee without
staying to take anything out of their houses, to signify
with what haste and concern we should flee out of a
natural condition, that no respect to any worldly
enjoyment should prevent us one moment, and that we
should flee to Jesus Christ, the refuge of souls, our
strong rock, and the mount of our defense, so as, in
fleeing to him, to leave and forsake heartily all
earthly things." (Folly
of Looking Back in Fleeing Out of Sodom)
Isaac Penington
"To the Jews, who were an outward people,
there was an outward rule given, a law of commandments,
statutes, judgments, and ordinances, proper to that
state wherein they were, and to that thing to which the
ministry was: but all this was to be done away, and to
end in that which all this represented. So that to
Christians, Christ the substance being come, which is
the end of all these shadows, the true Jew being raised
in the immediate life, now there is a necessity for the
immediate life for the rule." (Axe
Laid to the Root of the OLD CORRUPT TREE; and the Spirit
of Deceit struck at in its Nature)
"But doth not the apostle tell you, ‘The veil is over their hearts when
Moses is read?’ And the old testament and vail are done away by Christ
in his new testament and new covenant of light, life, and grace. And
they that do not believe it, the vail is over them, and their glory is
no glory; and they are under the ministration of death and condemnation,
and not under the ministration of the new testament of life; for the
veil remains untaken away in reading of the old testament. ‘And even to
this day, whilst Moses is read, the veil is over their hearts,’ as the
apostle saith."

Prophetic & Typological Imagery Pointing to Personal
Realities in Christ
Ludwig Eichrodt
"But while in prophecy the messenger of God
proclaims the future which has been opened to him and
seen by him, a type possesses its significance, pointing
into the future, independently of any human medium and
purely through its objective factual reality; and in
many cases its function is still hidden for contemporary
people and is disclosed only when the gaze is turned
backward from the New Testament time of salvation. From
this point of view one might designate typology as "objectivized
prophecy." It differentiates it, first from allegory,
which has often been lumped together with typology, so
that the latter has often had to bear the burden of the
former's errors. Yet it is quite impossible to confuse
the two if we look at them closely. For typology, the
historical value of the text to be interpreted forms the
essential presupposition for the use of it. For
allegory, on the contrary, this is indifferent or even
offensive, and must be pushed to one side to make room
for the 'spiritual' sense which lies behind." (EOTH:
229)
J. Nelson Kraybill
"Because Revelation is poetry and metaphor,
it is inappropriate to "nail down" a precise meaning for
every image. It is possible, though, to discern overall
contours of what the book meant to the first readers.
Then we listen to what the Spirit is saying to the
church today through the same images." (Christianity
Today, 10/25/99)
M. Guyon
"When Jesus Christ directs us in the “Lord’s prayer” to
ask for “His kingdom to come,” He desires us next to
say: “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” In
other words, He asks us to say this: That you might
reign, O God, we must make such a complete renunciation
of self that, having no longer a will of our own, we do
“your will” only, never our own, and do it as perfectly
as the blessed “in heaven.” They do it the more
perfectly as they are most completely free from the
encumbrances of self. That the kingdom of Jesus Christ
must come is beyond question: this takes place by the
loss of our will in God’s after the gospel of the
kingdom has been preached. The Gospel has been preached
in all the world, but the gospel of the kingdom has been
welcomed in but few hearts. When men learn, however,
what it means to let Jesus Christ be King by complete
self-renunciation, then they will endeavor to enter this
kingdom. Then will the “Dragon” be chained. The Dragon
is none other than self-love." (OF
THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD BY THE INWARD LIFE)
William Edward Painter
(1858)
"The real point and full force of the apostle Paul's
argument is seldom apprehended : it is not that the
Jewish symbols and service typified Christ and the
service of the Christian Church ; this they did, but
this is not the argument. The argument is, that
the whole Jewish economy, though upon earth,
prefigured an economy not confined to the earth ;
and that although the correspondency between the
different parts of the Jewish economy prefigured a
relationship which should subsist between the analogous
ordinances in the Christian Church, yet the sphere and
the locality being enlarged to heaven, by the
ascension thither of the Head of the Church, this
enlargement and transference rendered our service
toto coelo different from that of the Jewish
economy." ("Church
of England Quarterly Review", vol. xi., p. 277)

Total fulfillment of all shadows, which are but applications
of eternal realities in Christ
Todd
Dennis
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Matthew 16:27-28 is Not About AD70
(2008) "Why would we expect the Lord to perform his acts
of power and glory just once — be it in the past or the
future? What good does that do all the other
generations? It seems to me that all prophecy
ultimately finds its accomplishment in Christ internally
and personally, as opposed to externally and
historically. Even the cross must be received, and each
follower must bear it as Jesus said." -
On Leaving
Full Preterism After a Decade
(2006)
-
An Interview with Virgil Vaduva on
Preterist Terminology and Hybrids
(2006)
-
Hebrews 12:25-29: Jerusalem as the
Heart (2006)
"Looking closer at the
"promised land," we can see how the spiritual intent was
revealed through fulfilled prophecy in Israel's day.
Though there was an appearance in the promises to
Abraham of an ultimate fulfillment in reference to the
everlasting possession of a particular tract of land
in history, we know from New Testament revelation
that the intent was regarding spiritual things in
Christ. Though the promise found natural
fulfillment in "Preterist Israel", it was given to
signify the true, greater fulfillment in "Ideal Israel"
-- with actual participants from all nations, throughout
all generations (including ours).
Gen 18:18
Seeing that Abraham shall surely
become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him
That is not to say, again,
that the land promises weren't
totally fulfilled in typological fulfillment of
the promise to Israel (Joshua 11.23; Joshua 21.43,45;
Joshua 23.14; 1 Kings 4.21; 1 Kings 8.56)... just that
this possession of the natural land only looked to
something eternal in nature.
Heb 11:9,16 9
By faith he sojourned in the land
of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.. But now
they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly.
This same principle is true of all visible,
historical signs.. such as circumcision (which was a
physical sign of spiritual things, Ro 4:11), the
resurrection of Christ (which was a physical sign of
spiritual things, Mt 12:39) and the fall of Jerusalem
(which was also a physical sign of spiritual things, Mt
24:30)."
"We should
not, however, bypass the shadows and only focus on the
ultimate fulfillments, as though the accomplishment of
the outward show is irrelevant. Likewise, we
should not consider the accomplishment of the natural to
be the substance of what is being revealed, as though
the giving of the sign is the substance of the sign...
after all, symbols do not symbolize themselves."
Nathan DuBois
-
Scripture Interprets Scripture:
Part One - The Covenants, The Jerusalems, The Flesh and
The Spirit "Since most preterists agree
that the kingdom is within and written on the heart and
that the Spirit brought us to life and into an eternal
covenant (the new covenant on the heart), then isn't the
description of the Jerusalem from above warranted and
accurate as a portrayal of our heart in Christ vs. the
Jerusalem from below as our heart under the law?"
-
The Nature of the Christ: The
Dilemma of Chronology
"Jesus was Messiah from the foundation, He did not become the Messiah
only after He did the work. He did the work to reveal
Himself as Messiah..
Are we really putting the "Type" as being the purpose
and fulfillment over the "anti-type" to which they
pointed?
-
Why I Needed to Repent: A Letter
to a Friend... Among Friends
(2006)
"Am I saying full
preterists are the Pharisees of today?
NO! But I am saying I
AM ONE! I was so caught up in the system
of things that I could SEE that I was missing, and
causing others to miss, the things that can only be seen
by the heart. I saw the purpose and will of God in AD
70, the "new" (though very old) law of God being
advented, but I missed the heart behind it. I have been
guilty of Phariseeism."
-
God, The Judge of the Heart
(2006) "The gospel is
living, it is active. Today men are judged righteous or
unrighteous by being "in Christ" or not. Judgment
accompanied the kingdom because it was at the
"revelation of Christ" in AD 70, to the world, that men
were judged by the gospel vs. the law. "
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My Thoughts and Understanding of
Preterist Idealism
(2006) "Any theology which looks to the temporal things
as its finality, any theology which takes ANY scripture
and applies them to the temporal realm, and does not
apply them to the spiritual truth behind it for which it
was written, is an incorrect theology."
-
Blog:
Nate4OneNation -
"Where do we
put the value of the truth. In the event? Or the
pre-existing fact, kept in secret, from the very
beginning. Is it us in AD 2006 seeing the cross made of
wood, and the temple made of stone that crumbled, that
can boast, because of those events (AD 30-70), that our
salvation is true? Or was it true, because God declared
it before the foundation of the world ever existed."
John Hedges
-
The Preterist Train
(2005) "Instead of being “TIMING” people, let us rather be known as the ones
who proclaim the NATURE of our present kingdom. Lets go back to the parables
of the kingdom once again, concentrating on what the Bible really says about
the NATURE of the kingdom in which we NOW RESIDE."
Timothy James
-
Preterist Eschatology in the
Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries "Within
the Catholic tradition, the only other scholar of note
was Bossuet, bishop of Meaux. Bossuet saw
the Preterist position more as a new weapon to
antagonize the Protestants with than a discovery of new
truths forgotten as Alcazar did. Educated in the Jesuit
tradition, Bossuet (1627-1704) held that since pagan
Rome and Judaism had long since fulfilled the
predictions, the Protestants were besieging the New
Jerusalem. (Froom, Prophetic Faith, vol. 2, p.636).
Bossuet sadly lacked the insight to see that the first
century fulfillments were divine examples to all ages of
any system that raises itself above God's truth; whether
Protestant or Catholic."
John Noē -
Preterist-Idealist
-
He Never Left
"..if you insist on limiting the comings of Jesus to only
two times, then this second time occurred, chronologically, when
Jesus came and appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:4-5)
or to John on the isle of Patmos (Rev. 1). How do you count or
discount those comings of Jesus?—and there are more." My
working definition for “a coming of Jesus” is this: it’s a personal
and bodily intervention and/or manifestation of Jesus into the life
of an individual, a group, or a nation on this earth. As we shall
see, there are many different types of comings for different
purposes, and they occur at different times and places. Some are
visible appearances; some are invisible interventions."
-
An Exegetical Basis for a Preterist-Idealist Understanding of the
Book of Revelation (2007)
“The revelation of Jesus
Christ” (Rev 1:1) has a fuller significance and deeper character
beyond its AD 70 eschatological fulfillment.
Consequently, the preterist notion that it only applies to AD
70 when Christ supposedly came in “finality” is a weakness to be
amended. And in a preterist-idealist synthesis, the strength
of idealism remains that it “secures its relevance for all periods
of the church’s history.” But its major weakness—i.e. “its
refusal to see a firm historical anchorage”— is removed. That
missing anchorage is supplied by Revelation’s A.D-70 fulfillment."
SHADOW VS. SUBSTANCE OF
PROPHECY ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS
Is the Ultimate Focus of
Bible Prophecy on Natural/External or
Heavenly/Internal
Things?
BY FOCUSING ON THE
SPIRITUAL/INTERNAL TRANSFORMATION
PRETERIST IDEALISM ANSWERS:
|
ALL FORMS OF
PARTIAL PRETERISM:
"HISTORICAL TYPES POINT TO HISTORICAL REALITIES"
|
"HORIZONTAL" OR "VERTICAL" ?
A good many partial
preterists have rightly recognized the typological nature of
the fall of Jerusalem in AD70. Unfortunately, what
good could come from this is sabotaged by the belief that
the
historical shadows and types of that period point
"horizontally" to
even more historical events (al a the
"personal return of Christ" at "the end of the world").
If they were to, rather, apply the historical signs
"vertically" to higher, eternal realities in Christ, then
they would find their insight to be more profitable.
This also applies to futurist systems which see some
fulfillment of prophecy in AD70 yet more in the future.
|
POPULAR FULL
PRETERISM:
"EXTERNAL, UNIVERSAL TRANSFORMATION IN AD70"
|
IN
HISTORY OR IN CHRIST?
Full Preterists do not
recognize the events of the Roman-Jewish war as being
typological in nature. Of ALL the imagery in the
history of Old Testament Israel, the events of the first
century are remarkably seen as the
only events exempt from typological employment!
This is due to the conviction that all previous typology
generally points "horizontally" to that fall -- and to
nothing beyond. Though some recognize that spiritual
realities are to be associated with that event, they are
treated as either "moral applications" of fulfillment, or
are considered to be spiritual events which took place
within the natural realm "in AD70." A few believe that
eternity follows the same track as time does, and that AD70
in the natural realm is also AD70 in the eternal realm...
when events (such as the gathering of the previously living
saints into the kingdom) are supposed to have taken place.
By focusing on AD70 as
the critical turning point for the world, the ultimate
fulfillment of eschatology is seen as being accomplished "in
history" as opposed to finding their consummation "in
Christ." The secondary place generally given to the
crucifixion and resurrection of Christ in this system is
also unfortunate. This tendency leads to many
debatable conclusions, such as the destruction of the law,
sin, death and devil as being a historical reality for all
humanity in the post AD70 era.
THE ULTIMATE INTENT OF PROPHETIC IMAGERY... POINTING TO
EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL THINGS?
The Mosaic
Law, for instance, was only the external show of that
greater law of death and condemnation as likewise shown in
Adam. Its passing in history was given to
signify our passing from death to life
in Christ. To focus solely on the Mosaic
institutions themselves as the focus of "the law" is to miss
its schoolmaster role.
|
Full
Pret Teaches That "The Law" Passed Away in AD70
"Since Israel's heaven and
earth would pass when Jerusalem and the temple was
destroyed, and since all things would be fulfilled
when Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed, we
conclude that is the time when the Old Law would
completely pass."
Don Preston,
Heaven and Earth Passed Away
|
Pret
Idealism Teaches That "The Law" Only Passes Away in
Christ
"For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth."
Romans 10:4 |
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new. "
2 Corinthians 5:17 |
|
-
"Old & New Jerusalem"
-
External, Historical Cities
showing
the
Internal
Condition of the Heart (Bondage/Free)
-
Aion =
"Age to Come"
-
External
Material Age for All
showing
Internal
Kingdom "Without End" for Redeemed
-
Eretz = World/ Land
- External
Geographic Locale (Planet or Palestine)
showing
Internal
Locale (The Kingdom Within)
-
"End of the Age"
-
External
Destruction of the Mosaic Law "in AD70"
showing
Internal
Overthrow of Old Things (2 Cor. 5:17)
-
The "New Heavens and
Earth"
- External Material World for All
showing
Internal Spiritual Renewal for Redeemed
-
"The Parousia of Christ"
- An External, Historical Event "in AD70"
showing
Internal, Spiritual Presence of the Word
-
"At Hand"
-
External
Historical Proximity
showing
Internal
Spatial Proximity
-
Mystery Babylon
-
External
Material City
showing
Internal
Spirit of Antichrist
-
"The Temple" / Mt. Zion
- External Center of
Worship in Building
showing
the
Internal Center of Worship in the Heart
-
"the Death", "the Sin" &
"the Devil"
- Externally
Defeated For All "in AD70"
showing
Internal
Spiritual Defeat on Behalf of Redeemed
-
"The Millennium"
- External,
Historical Epoch for All (AD30-70)
showing
Internal
Era of transition for Redeemed
-
"Day of the Lord"
- A Single
Temporal, Historical Period of Judgment
showing
the
Never-Ending
Spiritual
Judgment Seat of Christ
-
"The Return of High
Priest"
-
Externally to those alive "in AD70"
showing
Internally to Each as Kingdom Comes to Them
-
"The Resurrection"
- An
Historical
Event "in AD70"
showing
Internal, Spiritual
Awakening in Christ
-
"The
House of Israel" / Tabernacle of David -
The External, Historical Nation Which
Ceased "in AD70"
showing
Spiritual Nation of Redeemed
-
"The
Gentiles" -
The External, Not Racially Jewish, Nations
showing
Internal "Children of Disobedience" of all
Races/Nations
|
ALL FORMS OF
FUTURISM
"EXTERNAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE FUTURE"
|
Like with
partial preteristm, many futurists have recognized the
typological nature of the fall of Jerusalem in AD70.
Unfortunately, what good could come from this is
likewise wrecked by the approach which considers the
historical shadows and types of that period to be
pointing "horizontally" to more historical events (such
as the "any-day-now rapture of the Church").
If they were to apply the historical signs "vertically"
to higher, eternal realities in Christ, then they would
find their insights to be more profitable.
-
"The Millennium"
- External,
Historical Epoch for All (1000 Years)
showing
Internal
Era of Transition for Redeemed
-
Mystery Babylon
-
External
Material City (Rome)
showing
Internal
Spirit of Antichrist
-
"The Temple"
- External Center of
Worship in Building (To Be Rebuilt)
showing
the
Internal Center of
Worship in the Heart
-
"The
House of Israel" -
The External, Historical Nation Which
Ceased "in AD70"
showing
Internal, Spiritual Nation of Redeemed
-
"The
Gentiles" -
The External, Not Racially Jewish, Nations
showing
Internal "Children of Disobedience" of all
Races/Nations
|
POPULAR
"SPIRITUAL IDEALISM" |
|
Typical Futurist
Idealism |
Preterist-Idealism |
|
Never any
external fulfillments but only the "noble
expressions of great principles" |
Ancient
external fulfillment as visible show of invisible
realities affecting all generations |
|
Sees all historical
events (such as AD70) as pointing to a fuller
fulfillment at "the last day" or "end of the world"
(historicism) |
Sees all
historical events as pointing to the person and work
of Jesus Christ (eternalism) |
|
Vague and Moralizing |
Built
upon a particular hermeneutic |

ETERNALITY OF SPIRIT / HISTORICITY OF MANIFESTATION
If I have told you earthly
things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I
tell you of heavenly things?
Jesus in John 3:12
|
While we look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which
are not seen are eternal. |
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but
that which is natural; and afterward that which is
spiritual. |
But the LORD said unto Samuel,
Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his
stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD
seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the
outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the
heart.
1Samuel 16:7 |
In that he saith, A new
covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:13 |
Therefore we don't faint, but
though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward
man is renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16 |
"[God] of the one preserving us,
and having called us, not according to our works, but
according to his own intention and favor, the one
having been given to us in Christ Jesus before times of
eons; and made manifest now through the grandeur of our
deliverer Jesus Christ, the one clearing away indeed
death, and having enlightened life and incorruptibility
through the good news"
(II Timothy 1:9-10, ABP)
There is a difference between the
establishment and the manifestation. That which
existed from before the foundation of the cosmos was
hidden by God from those with hard hearts, and was only
revealed to his people. Therefore, the unveiling
of those realities are not their establishment or
creation, but simply their revelation : apocalypse.
(more
info)
Pseudo Clement
(145)
"Now the Church, being spiritual was manifested in the flesh
of Christ, thereby showing us that if any of us guard her in
the flesh and defile her not, he shall receive her again in
the Holy Spirit: for this flesh is the counterpart and copy
of the spirit. No man therefore, when he hath defiled the
copy, shall receive the original for his portion. This
therefore is what He meaneth, brethren; Guard ye the flesh,
that ye may partake of the spirit."
"For the
Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would
come, replied, "When two shall be one, that which is without
as that which is within, and the male with the female,
neither male nor female." And "that which is without as"
that which is within meaneth this: He calls the soul "that
which is within," and the body "that which is without."
""the Books and the Apostles teach that the church is not of
the present, but from the beginning. For it was spiritual,
as was also our Jesus, and was made manifest
at the end of the days
in order to save us." ("Second
Clement", Chapter 14)
Jewish Sources
``he washed (amle
yrbtad amwym) , "from the
day that the world was created"; who is he? this is
the King Messiah.--It is written (Genesis
1:2) ; "and the Spirit of God"… This is the Spirit of the
King Messiah; and from the day that the world was
created; he washed his garments in wine;'' (Genesis 49:11) (Targum
Jon. & Jerus. & Aben Ezra in Gen. xlix. 11. )
But the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
The book
of Revelation represents the fulfillment of Bible
prophecy using the imagery of the natural
overthrow of the Mosaic institutions in AD70 (preterism)
as a device to present CHRIST'S OVERTHROW of all
idolatrous rebellion within the entire "Body of Christ"
throughout all generations (Idealism). The
conquering of the law of sin and death are only to be
found by regeneration in Christ. This includes all
promises to God's people, including those of the new
heavens and earth, which are shown to be received
individually IN CHRIST -- not collectively in history :
| |
And I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the
first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
..And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God.. the
former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:1-4
ye are the temple
of the living God;
as God hath said, I will dwell in them,
and walk in them; and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. - 2 Cor
6:16 |
For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:4
|