Modern churches are divided between believers who contend that the Biblical prophecies in Revelations, Isaiah, Matthew, Daniel and other books refer to events still to take place in the future, and others who argue that these events have already taken place. The position that all the Bible prophecies have already been fulfilled is known as Preterism.
Have the End Times Already Taken Place?
The idea that the ‘End Times’ have already taken place is a counter-intuitive one for many people. After all, the world continues to go about its business today as it has done for centuries. Nothing has changed since the time when our Lord walked on Earth, in this sense at least. Sin and death still blight the land. Wars, disease, persecution and faithlessness are still real issues affecting millions of people worldwide, so how can the Second Coming and Messianic promises already have been fulfilled?
Preterism Explained
For this reason the Preterist position needs some explanation. While surprising at first, when fully understood, Preterism offers a comprehensive and fully logical explanation of the prophecies in the Bible; one that offers hope and confidence to today’s beleaguered generation of Christians.
First, a word about what Preterism is NOT. Preterism is not a church or a Christian denomination in the same sense as Methodism, Catholicism, Quakerism, Baptistry and so on. Most Preterists belong to mainline American churches and worship alongside Christians of other persuasions. It is not an organized movement. Rather it is a means of interpreting the truths revealed in the Bible in a way that makes sense in the context of what we know about first century history and modern science.
All is fulfilled
Preterism comes from the Latin word praeter which means ‘beyond’ or ‘in the past’. Thus Preterism explicitly refers to the conviction that the eschatological prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled. This is no mere symbolic fulfillment. Preterism shows that the end-times prophecies refer to real, historical events that took place in the first century A.D, just 30 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The judgment, the resurrection of the dead and the second coming have already taken place. All the Biblical prophecies were fulfilled in the Jewish revolt and the final destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 66-70. A careful study of history will show complete concurrence between Biblical prophecy and how events truly did play out.
