The Apostles' Creed is Mistaken
Towards A Protestant Eschatology

• we have all sinned against God
• and deserve punishment.
• Jesus took our punishment upon Himself.
• We are justified (declared righteous) by faith in the work of Christ, through which Christ's perfect righteousness is imputed to our account.
• It was a once-for-all transaction (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 9:26-28; 10:10; etc.).

Roman Catholics believe

• The Crucifixion of Christ is re-enacted every Sunday during Mass.
• The sin question has not been fully and finally dealt with.
• "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs."

These are two mutually exclusive views of Justification. There is no salvation outside the right one (though in our day it is politically incorrect to say this, and so it is not said as often as both sides said it in the past).

The Protestant Reformers said we should not trust "the institutional Church" -- clergy -- to safeguard even the most important of Biblical doctrines. Not even Justification.

Not even Justification.

If the institutional Church showed itself incapable of safeguarding the essential doctrine of Justification (soteriology), why should we assume that it has safeguarded the Biblical doctrine of Eschatology?

The Protestant Reformers said that our theological doctrines should come from the Bible alone, not from clergy.

• "sola scriptura!"

If we apply this thinking to Eschatology, what will be the result?

Let's start at the beginning.

The "Apostles' Creed" is Mistaken

I realize that's an almost obscene claim. I would never have said this years ago.

The Apostles Creed says

I believe in ... the holy catholic church

The Roman Catholic "Baltimore Catechism" asks and answers:

Q. 561. Must we ourselves seek in the Scriptures and traditions for what we are to believe?
A. We ourselves need not seek in the Scriptures and traditions for what we are to believe. God has appointed the Church to be our guide to salvation and we must accept its teaching us our infallible rule of faith.

"Rule of faith" is a common expression in the writings of Irenaeus for creeds like the "Apostles' Creed." (Along with other odd beliefs, Iraneaus believed that Jesus lived to be 50 years old.) The earliest version of "The Apostles' Creed" is the "Old Roman Creed."

It is possible, perhaps likely, that the author(s) of "The Apostles Creed" (there's no evidence that the Apostles themselves actually wrote that creed) believed that Rome was "the Holy See" of the "Holy Catholic Church." The word "See" comes from the Latin word sedes, meaning 'seat', which refers to the papal throne (cathedra).

There is little question that the writers of the Nicene Creed believed that Rome was the "Holy See" of the "Holy Catholic Church."

No Protestant believes this.

Thus, no Protestant believes in "the holy catholic church" the way the authors of The Old Roman Creed or the "Apostles' Creed" believed in it.

Protestants believe that the "Holy [Roman] Catholic Church" got one of the most important of all Christian doctrines wrong: Justification. So in those Protestant churches which honor and recite the Apostles' Creed, and have it printed in their hymnals and church bulletins for congregational recital, they either change the word "catholic" to "universal" or leave the word "catholic" in and add "universal" in parentheses, to make sure everyone understands that when they say "I believe in ... the holy catholic church," they're not saying "I believe in the Roman Catholic Church." Because . . . we're Protestants not Catholics. Even though some Protestants (e.g., in the "Federal Vision" camp) claim they are more "truly catholic."

What if it could be proven that everyone who had a hand in framing the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed would have sided with the Holy Catholic Church's Council of Trent against the Protestant Reformers?

"The Apostles Creed" is also wrong about "the second coming."

It says about Jesus:

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

"Ascended" is true, and is taught in the Bible. "Seated" is true, and also taught in the Bible.

But there is no verse in the Bible which supports a claim made by anyone after AD 70 that Jesus would "come again" in their future. Even if the one making that claim calls himself a "Pope" or is called by others a "church father."

That doesn't mean everything in "The Apostles' Creed" is wrong. It just means not everything in creeds is correct.

If we apply this thinking to Eschatology, what will be the result?

It is my conclusion that I saw the answer to this question in the life of David Chilton.

Chilton and I were both Chalcedon Scholars, and each of us penned a regular column in The Chalcedon Report. We shared the pulpit at Reformation Bible Church in Anaheim, CA. He and I both came to the conclusion that there are no verses in the New Testament which were intended by the author and understood by their original audience to be prophesying an event in our future, thousands of years in their future: a Third Coming of Christ after His Second Coming in AD 70. Chilton came to this conclusion after a lot more study than I gave it. He wrote several books on Eschatology. But the last time I spoke with him on the phone before he died, he said he still believed in a future eschatological event ("The Second Coming" he called it) because (and these were his words) "Holy Mother the Church has taught that doctrine for two thousand years."

"Holy Mother the Church."

Not the Bible.

Clergymen.

I had no such confidence in "Holy Mother the Church." Some years earlier I had been excommunicated from the institutional church by Greg Bahnsen.

Sometime thereafter, Chilton renounced the eschatology of the institutional church, and said "Here I stand" on a Bible-only eschatology.

This eschatology is called "Preterism," by which is meant "consistent" or "full" preterism, rather than "partial" preterism. "Partial" preterism is partial Bible preterism and partial church futurism.

(I never heard whether Chilton, in renouncing the eschatology of the institutional church, also renounced the ecclesiology of the institutional church. He should have.)

(There are three kinds of "preterists": (1) "Partial preterists," (2) "Full preterists," and what I call (3) "Ecclesiastical preterists." Chilton was, for a time, an "ecclesiastical preterist." He was Biblically/exegetically a full preterist, and therefore a "heretic," but could not be convicted of being a "heretical" preterist by any ecclesiastical court because Chilton believed (or professed) a doctrine taught by the Institutional Church, even though Chilton admitted that the Church had no Biblical basis for teaching this doctrine. Chilton, at that time, believed that the Holy Spirit guided "Holy Mother the Church" to conclude there would be a Third Coming of Christ in our future, and so Chilton stood by that doctrine. Then, at some point, he did not. He no longer put the Institutional Church ahead of the Scriptures, as he understood the Scriptures. This is the "Berean Spirit" [Acts 17:11].)

Old Testament prophets predicted the coming of the Messiah. New Testament prophets in the first century A.D. said these predictions concerned Jesus, and Jesus is the Christ (Messiah). This is the "first" coming of Christ (though the Bible never uses the term "first coming.")

New Testament writers in the first century A.D. said that Jesus would come again to take vengeance on those who murdered Him. More than 100 verses say this "second" coming (Hebrews 9:28) would occur before that murderous generation died out. Preterists (both "partial" and "full") believe these predictions were fulfilled in A.D. 70.

The idea of a third coming originated not in the Bible, but with "the Church Fathers."

Eschatologically Un-Reformed

The vast overwhelming majority of Christians -- even Protestants -- have an un-reformed eschatology. It is an interesting irony that one of the most important, dominant themes in the New Testament is one of the most ignored and unknown by most church-goers, while a doctrine that arguably has no Scriptural support at all, or at least is not mentioned very often, and in any case should have absolutely no impact on our life or thinking anyway, is one that is preached on with the most passion the most frequently in many churches, and nearly every televangelist program on TV.

One of the most important doctrines most frequently articulated in the pages of the New Testament is Christ's imminent coming in judgment against the generation that rejected Him as Messiah and murdered Him.

Read every verse in the Bible that talks about this event. Verses like these:

Luke 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. ²³ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. ²⁴ And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Matthew 21:40-41,43,45: When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers? '....He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.' ....Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.' ....When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

Matthew 22:7: But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Matthew 24:1-3: Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

This prophesied destruction is one of the biggest themes in the New Testament, yet most church-goers have never heard of it, or know what happened in AD 70. (But who knows, these same church-goers might be able to tell you what color shoes "the Antichrist" will be wearing during "The Great Tribulation.")

Jesus predicted that His Coming in judgment would occur before that generation died out:

Matthew 16:27-28  The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. There are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (cf. Mark. 8:38 - 9:1; Luke 9:26-27)

Matthew 24:34: This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

There are more than 100 verses in the New Testament which say that the Second Coming would occur within 40 years (one generation).

These verses are very clear.

Read them all.

Basic rules of interpreting Scripture include
     (1) put the verse in context
     (2) interpret unclear verses in light of clearer verses

The context of the New Testament is the "any moment" return of Christ. The timing is so clear as to be inescapable: Jesus was coming again at "any moment" against that wicked generation. These verses are so clear and forceful that they should form the "default" setting. Any verse which speaks of the Second Coming of Christ which is not as clear in stating the timing should be interpreted in light of the many verses which more clearly state the timing. Postponing a prophesied event for thousands of years should only be done with express Biblical warrant. No such warrant exists.

Following these rules, it becomes clear (to me, anyway) that there is not a single verse in the New Testament which was intended by its author and understood by its original audience to be prophesying an event thousands of years in the future (in our future).

Let me repeat that:

The New Testament writers were focused on events that would take place in their generation.

Negating a preterist interpretation by appeals to "the ecumenical creeds" or "the church fathers" is un-reformed, and a violation of the Protestant principle of sola Scriptura.

Is it God's Truth or merely man's claim that someone who believes all the eschatological verses in the Bible were fulfilled by AD70 is not a genuine believer in Christ?

I've heard that claim.

I've heard it said that if someone embraces "full preterism," that person has "denied the orthodox faith" and is no longer a Christian.

Not a Christian.

Damned to hell for eternity.

Even if that person affirms the deity of Christ and His substitutionary atonement.

He's not a Christian.

Even if he's a six-day creationist and a five-point Calvinist.

Not a true Christian.

Even if that person affirms and defends the first 30 chapters of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Dammed to hell.

Even if his behavior is characterized by moral purity and the spirit of Christ.

He denies one of the teachings of "the Church," and has therefore denied the "orthodox faith," and is therefore not a genuine believer.

He's not a real Christian because he's a "full preterist."

I'm not making this up.

I strenuously disagree with the claim.

Matthew 24:30 says,

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the land lament, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

A "preterist" interpretation of this verse says it predicts events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
A "futurist" interpretation says this verse concerns events to take place thousands of years after Matthew recorded these words.

Leading Christian Reconstructionists take a "preterist" interpretation of Matthew 24. In fact, this way of viewing the verse is now considered "Eschatology 101" in Reconstructionist circles. Failure to interpret this verse in a preterist manner is a gateway drug to becoming a dispensational premillennialist.

I exaggerate slightly, but I'm being serious.

A few Reconstructionists, like Ken Gentry, have said that the second part of Matthew 24 is about a future second coming, but the first part (including verse 30) is talking about the fall of Jerusalem, and hence is to be understood preteristically. Everyone in the Reconstructionist camp agrees that verse 30 is a preterist verse.

But . . .

The Westminster Confession of Faith takes a "futurist" interpretation of this verse.

This is an exegetical error, according to nearly every Christian Reconstructionist.

In fact, all of the credal statements about the "Second Coming" (in our future) are based on this exegetical error.

The formulations of eschatology in the creeds are hermeneutically premillennial.

Against a Premillennial Hermeneutic

Premillennialism is a fundamental error.

It is based on statism. defeatism, and escapism.

• Statism: worship of the State in the place of God.
  • Socialism rather than a Freed Market (anarcho-capitalism)
  • The desire for a visible, earthly king is a rejection of God as King
    • 1 Samuel 8
    • Isaiah 33:22
  • The State brings the eschaton
  • Premillennialism's Faith in A Police State, by Gary North
• Defeatism
  • Efforts to bring in the millennium (a Christian society) are doomed to fail.
  • Jesus will come again first and hand the millennium to believers on a silver platter. Hence
• Escapism
  • We do not have to exercise dominion and work to build the New Jerusalem, the City of God.
  • Entertainment and feelings are more important than work and law.

The premillennial (futurist) hermeneutic is profoundly significant and influential.

It poisons one's entire Biblical Worldview.

Watch here for a link defending those claims.

Consistently Purging Premillennialism

Nobody in his right mind would say that Gary DeMar or Gary North are not Christians because they take a preterist interpretation of Matthew 24:30, even though they disagree with "the creeds" by doing so.

But there are many futurists who say that "Full Preterists" have denied the Christian faith and are not real Christians.

This is because "the faith" is defined for futurists by ecclesiastical promulgations, and not the Bible alone ("sola Scriptura").

They believe that the Holy Spirit has guided "the institutional church," and even if the Bible doesn't teach a future (for us) Second Coming, "Holy Mother the Church" does.

Let's just say for illustration that there are 13 verses related to "the Second Coming."
"Full Preterists" believe all these prophecies came to pass in the years leading up to AD70 (because the writers of the Bible said they would, not because we have any "secular" evidence from The New Rome Times that confirms the fulfillment of these prophecies).
"Partial Preterists" believe at least one of these 13 verses is referring to an event that is still in our future.

But here's the interesting thing: partial preterists disagree among themselves as to which verse is which: "Is this verse AD70 or yet-future?"

Let's consider a dozen or so great Christian commentators, whom all would regard as genuine Christians.

Let's map out their interpretations of the various passages that are up for grabs in this debate.
  

 
Though these commentators may differ (contradict) on their interpretations of the relevant texts, we would still grant that they are "rational," even though contradiction violates the laws of rational thought.

In addition to being "rational," we would agree that they are "faithful." Nobody would say that John Calvin was not a real Christian because he took a "preterist" interpretation of some of those passages. Nobody would say that R.J. Rushdoony was not a Christian because he took a "preterist" interpretation of some of those verses.

(A scholar may take a preterist position on all the verses, but may also take the position that at least one prophecy will have a "double fulfillment." That is, the original author intended to convey an imminent first-century event, but the prophecy will nevertheless have a second fulfillment thousands of years in his future, some time in our future, which the original author may not have even contemplated when he wrote the words to a generation he believed would see the fulfillment of his prophecy. Such a past-and-present interpretation is listed in the chart above as "both." As long as you believe at least one verse teaches a future (for us) second coming, you have the Seal of Approval from the anti-full-preterist crowd, even if you believe that all of the verses were originally preterist [prophesying events in the immediate future {"this generation"}] in the mind of the New Testament author.)

(Ultimately, such a person is relying on church authority rather than being strictly limited to the text, and using standard hermeneutics to interpret the text. If you say that Paul (for example) intended his original audience to interpret his words as referring to an event in their generation, but that his words will have a "double fulfillment" -- even if there is no textual evidence in the Bible itself that Paul intended his original audience to make that inference, and no other Scripture speaks of Paul's words with reference to events thousands of years after Paul wrote his words, you are relying on church authority to impose that meaning on Paul's words.)

But when it comes to exegeting the Bible, if you just happen to agree with Godly Christian scholars on just the right combination of verses (in the chart above, the interpretations indicated by bold brown typeface), there are some who will boldly say that you are not a Christian at all and are going to hell.

If you agree with Calvin's interpretation of verse #1, DeMar on verse #2, Rushdoony on verse #3, etc., you are a "Full Preterist" and you are not a real Christian.

Because you disagree with the teaching of "the church."

I think this is insane. 

Some would say that we are logically forced to postulate a "double fulfillment" of many passages of Scripture because those passages could not possibly have been fulfilled in the past. We have to save the Scripture from itself, rescuing its authors, bailing them out of their errors by claiming that their prophesy will in fact be fulfilled in the future, even though it was not fulfilled when the authors said it would be fulfilled: in their generation.

For example, consider this passage from the "Olivet Discourse:"

But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and all of the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to another (Matthew 24:29-31).

Some would say it is obvious that the astronomical phenomena described in this passage did not occur in the first century. Therefore, in order to be rational, "historical," and approved by the University-Industrial Complex, we must hold to a future fulfillment of this passage.

This predicament is caused by a failure to understand the rhetoric of the Hebrew prophets. If you're already a partial preterist, and understand how Matthew 24:29-30 was fulfilled in AD 70, you can keep reading. If you have no clue how any rational person can maintain that the sun was darkened and the stars fell from heaven in AD 70, then click here and then return and keep reading.

A preterist interpretation of this passage is "Eschatology 101" for Christian Reconstructionists. If you're a Christian Reconstructionist, you should be tracking perfectly with me at this point.

People who converted to Christianity from the various Greco-Roman religions did not become immediately and instantly sanctified. They brought into Christian circles their Greco-Roman baggage. They needed to learn the Old Testament Scriptures just as we do. We should not rely on "the Church Fathers" if Scripture is clearly to the contrary.

I know some folks who need to are not going to click that link above. So here is the excerpt from the page linked above, from David Chilton: [skip it]

So there's the whole-Bible Hebrew "context" in which a verse should be interpreted, there's the pervasive "that generation" context in the New Testament, and then there's the immediate context of the passage itself. Verses which are used by theologians to support a coming of Christ in our future ignore the context: a first-century admonition to a local congregation of believers who faced persecution by those who murdered the Messiah.

For example, Paul opens his second letter to the believers in Thessalonica with these words, usually taken to be a reference to a coming of Christ in our future:

...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, ⁸ in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

But here are the words that immediately precede the words just quoted, which set the context:

³ We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, ⁴ so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, ⁵ which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; ⁶ since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, ⁷ and to give you who are troubled rest with us...

Paul was comforting Christians in a city in Greece, many of whom were Jews who had been kicked out of the local synagogue. The overall context is the New Testament teaching of the "any moment" return of Christ.  Verses which don't clearly state the timing of Christ's coming should be interpreted in light of those that clearly state the timing, because that imminent coming was of prime importance to first-century believers, both authors and readers.

"The Church Fathers"

The phrase "Holy Mother the Church" refers to interpreters of Scripture which I would place at the very bottom of an expanded version of the chart above. This would include the names of Popes and Bishops you've probably never heard of. Many of them were "premillennial," which I would regard as a Jewish heresy. But they are called "the Church Fathers."

And, of course, Luther pointed out that "Holy Mother the Church" failed in her responsibility to safeguard one of the most precious and important doctrines of the entire Christian faith: Justification. (But we're to rest assured in their earliest conclusions regarding eschatology?)

The "church fathers" were infected with Jewish premillennialism and Greco-Roman statism. Premillennialists -- and most amillennialists and post-millennialists are infected with the basic error of premillennialism -- deny that building the City of God, the New Jerusalem, is the responsibility of the Body of Christ in this age. It's like premils believe that Christ will hand the fulfillment of the Great Commission to the saints on a silver platter in the future.

(I would also note that many of those who do accept our responsibility to build the City of God in this current age deny that this work of building is accomplished solely by living and preaching the Gospel, not by the sword. To deny the use of the sword is, for them, the heresies of "pacifism" or "anarchism." I have said elsewhere that "anarcho-preterism" is the Gospel. The "good news" is that the entire planet will increasingly "obey the Gospel" and be blessed [(Galatians 3:8].)

Cornelius Van Til dissected "the Church Fathers," and found them deeply compromised philosophically and Biblically. Van Til's festschrift is entitled Jerusalem & Athens. The "Church Fathers" were generally Greeks, from "Athens," not Hebrews from "Jerusalem." This is important. Preterists and Futurists understand Matthew 24 differently based on their familiarity with the symbolic rhetoric of the Hebrew prophets. The "Church Fathers" generally did not think like Hebrews, but like Greeks. This affected their eschatology.

These men, despite great faith and accomplishments in some areas, should be called "the Church Babies" because they lived in the infancy of Christendom. That's the conclusion of James B. Jordan, who writes:

The true Fathers of the Church are Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jeremiah, Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John, and the other Fathers in the Bible. These men, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, created the apostolic deposit from which the Church always grows.

The men who came after them, in the first and second and third centuries, are not Church Fathers but Church Babies. This is how we should regard Ignatius, Irenaeus, Basil, the Gregories, and yes, even Augustine. [I]n terms of the corporate biography of the Church, they lived in the infant stage and their great accomplishments were only the beginning of that corporate biography. We appreciate what the Holy Spirit did with them, and the theological accomplishments they made, but to say that they understood everything and laid everything out definitively would be grotesque, ludicrous, and idiotic.

We actually have a better understanding of the Christian faith today than "the Church Fathers" did. Jordan continues:

We may think that because these men lived right after the apostles, they must have known a lot. Remarkably, this is not the case. Anyone who reads the Bible, climaxing in the New Testament, and then turns to the "apostolic fathers" of the second century, is amazed at how little these men seem to have known. The Epistle of Barnabas, for instance, comments on the laws in Leviticus, but completely misinterprets them, following not Paul but the Jewish Letter of Aristeas. It is clear that there is some significant break in continuity between the apostles and these men. What accounts for this? I can only suggest that the harvest of the first-fruit saints in the years before AD 70, which seems to be spoken of in Revelation 14, created this historical discontinuity.

"But didn't some of the earliest church fathers study at the feet of the Apostles?"

Maybe. But at what point in time? And what did they learn from the Apostles as the Apostles spoke outside of Scripture (which, unlike everything else the Apostles said, was "breathed out" by God [2 Timothy 3:16])? Even the Apostles, like Peter, were fallible, and even at times, in grave error:

But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Matthew 16:23

Yikes! How would you like Jesus Himself to say something like that about you?

Even after Christ's resurrection, the Apostle Paul said of Peter:

¹¹ Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;
¹³ And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
¹⁴ they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel
Galatians 2

Wow, that's a heavy charge against "the first Pope." Not an auspicious beginning for "church authority."

The Apostles were preserved from error when they wrote the Scriptures, but not at all times. There's no telling what a "church father" picked up from conversations with an apostle.

Gary North's son-in-law, who once headed Gary DeMar's American Vision organization, has repudiated capital punishment for blasphemy and other "first table" violations. You may not agree with that conclusion, but he's a smart guy, and well-read.

He writes:

Under Justinian’s Code all heretics were to be suppressed, their buildings taken from them, and their books banned, confiscated, and burned. If they met in private houses, their houses would be confiscated and given to the Catholic Church. Teachers of false doctrines were given the death penalty. One important law (as we shall see later) specifically aimed at the enduring Donatists decreed that anyone merely rebaptizing a person (and the one inducing him to do so) would receive the death penalty.

This is evil.

The Donatists were accused of raising -- not lowering -- moral standards. They said that sacraments — performed by clergy who capitulated under the persecution of Diocletian (303-305) and handed over copies of the Bible to be burned — copies that would be cherished today — were invalid.

"The holy catholic church" has stood for confiscating property and even the killing of those who wanted to raise the moral standards of the church.  That does not sound like an organization I want to follow. How many optimillennialist anarchists did the "holy catholic church" suppress in the earliest years of Christian history? Is the "institutional church" any more friendly to anarcho-capitalism today?  

The "church fathers" were infected with Jewish premillennialism and Greco-Roman statism. Premillennialists -- and most amillennialists and post-millennialists are infected with the basic error of premillennialism -- deny that building the City of God, the New Jerusalem, is the responsibility of the Body of Christ in this age -- not something that Christ will hand to the saints on a silver platter in the future. And this work of building is accomplished by living and preaching the Gospel, not by the sword. The "good news" is that the entire planet will increasingly "obey the Gospel" and be blessed (Galatians 3:8).

Opponents of Full Preterism put their loyalty and allegiance to the "church" fathers ahead of the Bible fathers, whose canonical writings were breathed out by God. I would say that condemning a preterist who believes in the deity and substitutionary atonement of Christ, but denies that the New Testament predicts any eschatological events thousands of years in the future, is the height of ecclesiastical authoritarian arrogance.

And it is "authoritarian," because it seeks to subsume the authority of the Scriptures under the authority of "Holy Mother the Church." Such authoritarians likely have created an institution of their own ("the local church") which they seek to buttress. They are saying a person is not a genuine Christian because he puts the Bible ahead of Popes and Bishops and "the local church."

I've decided to follow Jesus and the Bible rather than popes and bishops 1800 years ago.

The Creeds

The reason people believe in the doctrine of a future second coming  is because "Holy Mother the Church" teaches the idea. Not because the Bible does. It doesn't It ultimately and always boils down to the Bible vs. the Institutional Church.

Futurists believe the Holy Spirit has led the Church to this position.

By "Church" they really mean "clergy."

They point most specifically to the "creeds." 

The creeds are not only against full preterism, they are against partial preterism.

Every partial preterist agrees that Matthew 24:30 was fulfilled in the past (hence "preterist"), but the creeds -- including the Westminster Standards -- rule out this interpretation by saying it speaks of a future (for us) second coming.

This violates Partial Preterism 101. No partial preterist believes that Jesus was speaking about our future in Matthew 24:30. He was speaking about the immediate future of that generation. The Creeds are in error.

The Westminster Confession says this:

As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, ... to deter all men from sin ... so will He have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly, Amen

The Creeds exhibit a premillennial hermeneutic, which partial preterists should oppose. 

Therefore a truly Protestant (sola Scriptura) eschatology is Preterism. Full Preterism.

God's Law, Not Man's Law

Reformation must take place not only in the church, but also in the State. We looked at the  reformation in the church and the church's eschatology, above; see also here.

When the average church-goer hears the claim  that the "Second Coming" already happened (when Jesus said it would, before that generation died out, in AD 70) and that Jesus is not going to return again to earth any time in our future, the average church-goer is flummoxed.

How can that be?

For many Christians, "The Second Coming" ushers in "the Messianic Age," "the Millennium," or "The New Heavens and the New Earth." They say we can't possibly be living in those ages, so the Second Coming cannot possibly have already occurred.

For amillennialists, I understand that "the Second Coming" ends earth history and inaugurates "the eternal state" (or whatever phrase might be used to describe that).

The problem here, in my not-yet-finalized-and-set-in-concrete opinion, is a misunderstanding of another concept that dominates the pages of the New Testament, "The Kingdom of God" or "The Kingdom of Heaven." Stated another way, the problem is a misunderstanding of how the Messiah governs.

Premillennialists believe that after the Second Coming, Jesus remains on earth for 1000 years, physically seated on a literal throne in Jerusalem. The Messiah is not in Moscow, He is not in London, He is not in New York, He is not in Rio de Janeiro. He's physically located in Jerusalem.

Premils might say, "If the Messiah is not here on earth, how does he govern the earth?"

To which I would respond by asking, "If Jesus is physically located in Jerusalem rather than at the Right Hand of the Father in Heaven (Acts 2), how does He govern the entire planet, including Russia, the UK, the USA, and Brazil?

The preterist says that Christians are priests and kings (Revelation 1:6; 5:10) and we reign on earth under the Messiah in heaven.

I would add to those verses in Revelation (and other verses which speak of "The Priesthood of All Believers") that while every believer is a priest, no believer is a priest.
That is, while every believer is a priest in the Protestant sense, no believer is a priest in the Roman Catholic sense.

I would also add that while every believer is a king under King Jesus, no believer is a king.
That is, every believer is a king in a capitalistic sense, and no believer is a king in a socialist sense.
That is, every believer is king in a sense that makes earthly kings nervous, and no believer is a king in a sense that makes earthly kings confident of anything other than their duty to abdicate their throne, abolish their office (to prevent the accession of any successor to the throne), and get a real job, performing a service that customers voluntarily pay you for.

Therefore, according to the Preterist view, earthly kings violate God's Law and impose the law of man.

God's Law ("Theonomy") requires what earthly kings, despots, and tyrants call "anarchy." Proof.

Jesus the Messiah governs the earth through "The Invisible Hand" of "Divine Providence." Study the idea of "Providence" here, and "The Invisible Hand" here. "Invisible" means there is no visible, physical "ruler" on earth. And, of course, all visible, physical rulers and bureaucrats on earth insult this idea as "anarchy."

A vindication of God's Plan to place human beings on planet earth to govern it under our King, Lawgiver, Judge, and Savior in heaven is found here.

Rushdoony wrote the following:

Adams' purpose was to praise the Bible.

Rushdoony authored a book called Institutes of Biblical Law, explaining how the Bible had been used as a law book in John Adams' day, and how it could be used today. Rushdoony's "law book" is not the same kind of "law book" as those found in a law library, containing statutes and decrees of government, enforced by violent earthly enforcers. Adams wasn't literally advocating the abolition of "civil government," but I believe the Bible does. Visible, physical, earthly kings are false gods, since only God is our King.

Every legitimate, non-sinful "service" provided by "civil government" is a service that can be provided by entrepreneurs in a Freed Market at a lower cost, in greater supply, and with higher quality. Nothing in the Bible prohibits businessmen from providing consumers with these services, in competition with those who claim to be "kings," and consumers are not prohibited by anything in Biblical Law from choosing a non-State service provider in a Freed Market. Eventually, the goal is the elimination of all visible, earthly, physical kings, as they all repent and join the Freed Market under King Jesus.

As long as they remain in power, all earthly, visible, physical kings eventually ban the Bible, because they (correctly) see the Bible as an "Anarchist Manifesto." Even once-called "Christian nations," like the U.S.A., have now banned the Bible. A Christian society does not need a secular Washington D.C., or even a Washington D.C. that purports to be "Christian" or "Theonomic." A purportedly Theonomic "civil government" must use violence to suppress competition, or it is no longer a "civil government." By definition, a "government" has a monopoly on the use of violence, even as it uses violence to perform otherwise good deeds like "helping the poor." Good deeds which could be better performed by a Freed Market without violence.

Today, in our age, Jesus is fulfilling all "Messianic prophecies." Including those foretelling a "New Heavens and New Earth." Jesus the Christ reigns without earthly christs.

www.JesusisTheChrist.today

Who Murdered Christ?

No Jew

• alive today or
• alive in Jesus' day

should be blamed for the murder of Christ

• unless that Jew wants to accept the blame (or take "credit") for that murder.
• And some Jews do.

But if some Jew wants to take credit for killing Jesus, no Christian has any right whatsoever to inflict any harm on that Jew. (See above under "Pacifism")

When Jesus came a second time in AD 70, He was already King. That is to say, He was already Christ, the Messiah. The Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, and therefore rejected Him as their Savior, both because they rejected Jesus as the One who could forgive their sins, and because in the Bible a "savior" is a ruler (Nehemiah 9:27). But Jesus was the Messiah, King of the Jews, whether they voted for Him or not. One of Jesus' first acts as Israel's Messiah was to destroy those of His subjects who rejected Him as Messiah.

John 19

² And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. ³Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.

⁴ Pilate then went out again, and said to them [the Jews], “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

⁶ Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

¹⁴And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

¹⁵ But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Matthew 27

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

²⁵ Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

Matthew 23:31-37
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

Luke 11:47-51
Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Acts 2:23
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Acts 3:15
And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

Acts 4:10
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

Acts 5:28-30
Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.

Acts 7:52
Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

1 Thessalonians 2:15
Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

Why Does it Matter?

Last year in America, over 10,000 people were murdered. We all agree this is a bad thing.
During the 20th century, around the world, about that same number were murdered each and every single day. Even more astonishing, these murders were all "legal." In fact, they were all carried out by various governments around the world. This number does not include abortions, legal or otherwise. Last year around the world, there were about 135,000 abortions each and every single day.

These murders are not necessary. There are about 200,000,000 Americans who call themselves Christians. These are, by and large, the most powerful people in the world. They have enough money to end poverty and illiteracy around the world simply by tithing 10% of their income to groups committed to Christian Reconstruction. But 200,000,000 Christians are not investing in the future of the planet because they believe "Jesus is coming soon."

These murders are not necessary because the governments that perpetrated them are not necessary.

If you're ready to study the Bible and find out what the future really holds, there are several places to go from here.

1. www.ChristianGlobalism.com
   Jesus Christ came to rule the entire world. But not as an earthly king rules.
2. The Christmas Conspiracy
   True Christians are conspiring to make all nations the disciples of Christ.
   When an earthly government becomes Christian, it disappears.
3. Eventually all earthy kings and rulers will be converted to Christ, they will end their earthly governments, and the entire world will become a global Christian Theocracy, or Christocracy. Secular rulers see this as a threat to their governments. They are correct. Jesus commanded His followers to be "anarchists" with respect to earthly governments, and "Theocrats" with respect to the government of Christ.
   The Anarchist Bible Bet.

The message of Christmas -- the first coming of Christ -- is a message of Global Theocracy. This "good news" began at the first Christmas. It does not wait around for a second incarnation of Christ.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulders.
Isaiah 9:6 

No Second Coming? People tell me I'm insane (not rational) for believing this. After I show them my reasons for believing this, they might grant that I'm not irrational, but they say I'm heretical, because even if I have the Bible on my side, I don't have "the Church Fathers" on my side. In fact, some go so far as to say that I'm not a Christian at all for believing this.

When I was younger I did not believe this, and I would have said that anyone who believed this was either non-rational, heretical, or should be excommunicated as a person who cannot possibly be a genuine Christian.

Preterism

The word "preterism" comes from the Latin word for past.

Every Christian that I know of is a "preterist" on at least one verse.

Consider Isaiah 7:14, which says a virgin shall conceive a son. Matthew says this verse was fulfilled in our past (Matthew 1:23). Every Christian agrees with Matthew, so on this verse every Christian is a "preterist."

Matthew says Isaiah was predicting the first coming of Jesus the Christ.

Matthew also said that Jesus would come again -- a "second coming."

Matthew records the words of Jesus predicting that His Coming in judgment would occur before that generation died out:

Matthew 16:27-28  The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. There are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (cf. Mark. 8:38 - 9:1; Luke 9:26-27)

Matthew 24:34: This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

There are more than 100 verses in the New Testament which say that the Second Coming would occur within 40 years (one generation).

Based on all these verses, I believe "the Second Coming of Christ" already happened. In the past, not in our future.

Virtually every Christian I meet says this is insane. Unhinged. Looney. Not rational.

They'll tell me, "Open your eyes! Just look around! Seriously??"

Believe me, I know that my views are considered "out there." And this view is the most "out there" of all. Most church-goers are aware that some Christians are "pacifists." That can be tolerated. Some of these Christians, because they oppose killing and extortion, want to have nothing whatever to do with "government," and they are called "anarchists" or "anabaptists" and other insults. They're considered kooky (unlike the violent revolutionary assassins who are called "anarchists" even though they are actually "archists" who want to set up their own new government).

But the claim that the Second Coming of Christ already happened is either dangerously heretical or flat out insane.

How To Interpret the Bible

In order to convince you that I am not insane, I need you to read a couple hundred verses of Scripture (found below). If you're willing to make the effort to get inside the mind of the authors of Scripture, by taking a couple of hours to read a lot of verses you haven't thought about before, you will say something to me like, "OK, you're not insane. I can see why you would come to that conclusion."

But even though you might admit that I'm not insane, you won't be able to admit that the Bible does not teach that Jesus will return in our future.

"If you don't believe in a future coming of Christ," you'll tell me, "you've denied The Faith and you're not even a Christian."

Even though I'm making a rational attempt to follow the teachings of the Bible

The Faith" means "the doctrines of the catholic church." The doctrines of "the church fathers."

Many people have told me I'm not a Christian because of the way I interpret the Bible on the issue of "eschatology." They believe this very strongly and dogmatically.

But their passion is matched by their ignorance of the Bible.

If you're willing to read a couple hundred verses of the Bible and re-think what you've been taught since Sunday School, keep reading. If you're not willing to be a "Berean" and "search the Scriptures," then click here to skip this section.

When I present my case for Preterism, they can't refute it. They can't give me a single verse to support their view or to refute an idea which they furiously believe is a damnable heresy.

I believe the New Testament says that Christ's Second Coming was a coming in judgment against the same generation that witnessed His First Coming.

That judgment happened in the year 70 A.D.

The New Testament has a great deal to say about this event. It is a major theme. Yet most church-goers have never heard of it, and certainly haven't heard about it as often as it is talked about in the pages of the New Testament.

In a sentence, this is my view:

Jesus is the Christ.

When you first hear it, you might think that the juxtaposition of "Jesus" and "Christ" is obvious and not at all controversial. But when you dig deeper, it appears that this is the most controversial proposition on planet earth.

• Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Christ ("Christ" means "Messiah").
• Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah, fulfilling Old Testament prophets who voiced the Word of our Creator-God.
• Atheists don't believe anyone is or ever will be a "messiah."

And -- most surprisingly -- the vast, overwhelming majority of professing, church-going (or non-churching) Christians do not believe that Jesus  is  the Christ today.

• Maybe they believe that Jesus has the "right" to be the Christ
• Maybe they believe that Jesus offered to be the Messiah, but the Jews rejected His offer, so He settled for offering them a ticket to heaven when they die ("Savior," but not "King"). (An offer they also reject, because who wants to spend eternity hanging out with a deluded con-man who falsely claimed to be the Messiah and rejected the Law and the Prophets [held dear by the Jews]?)
• Most likely they believe that Jesus will someday ("soon") become the Messiah, when He comes again, a second time, and then He will begin His reign on earth.
• But they all agree that Jesus is not -- today -- reigning as Messiah (exercising His rightful powers at full level, high-octane, from a throne in Jerusalem). The Messianic reign is for tomorrow, not today.

I defend the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah right now, and has fulfilled or is fulfilling all the "messianic prophecies" -- even those prophecies most Christians reserve for "the millennium" or "the New Heavens and New Earth."

And I respect the fact that you think I'm a dangerous looney for claiming that the Second Coming already happened. I used to think that way too. Here are thee verses on "this generation" and the "any moment return of Christ."

I believe "The Gospel"

What is "the gospel?"

The word "Gospel" = "Good News"
The Greek word is εὐαγγέλιον, euangélion or
εὐαγγελίζω, euangelízō
eu = good
angelizō = bring a message, from
ἄγγελος, ángelos, "angel," "messenger"

"Angel" is an interesting word:

Matthew 11:10
For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold,
I send my *messenger* [angelos] before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee.

2 Corinthians 12:7
And lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,
the *messenger* [angelos] of Satan to buffet me,
lest I should be exalted above measure.

Matthew 24:31
And he shall send his *messengers* [angelos]
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other.

So what is the "message," the "good news?"

Galatians 3:8

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying,

That's "good news!"

What is "blessed?"
People who heard the Gospel in New Testament times knew their Bibles.
See Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Leviticus 26:3ff.

"All nations shall be blessed."

Not many people today believe that "good news."

Seems like most churches have a gloomy message:

Things are getting worse and worse, sin is multiplying in these "last days," the "Great Tribulation" and "Armageddon" are just around the corner.
But if you believe "the gospel," you can escape this wretched planet and go to heaven.

Is that really "good news?"

Why did God put us human beings on this planet in the first place?
Was that a mistake?
Should God have just left us in heaven instead of putting us on earth?

Galatians 3:8 says the gospel -- the "good news" -- is:

"All nations shall be blessed."

What is "blessed?"

Leviticus 26 ties "blessing" to the point I made above, regarding "capitalism" and "socialism."

Some churches teach that "blessing" is "spiritual." But the Bible says that to be "blessed" means to live in a "capitalistic" society, free from socialists, "brown shirts," and tribute collectors.

Leviticus 26:3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments,
and perform them, ... you shall ... dwell in your land safely.
6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down,
and none will make you afraid;
I will rid the land of evil beasts,
and the sword will not go through your land.

"None will make you afraid" reminds me of Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy (Micah 4:1-7).

"The sword" = armed agents of "The State"

"The sword" is not "good news." See the verses here.

Our goal is to turn the entire planet into the City of God, so that God's will is done in earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10)

"The Gospel" is the "good news" that if we let God be our governor, there will be "Peace on Earth" (Luke 2:14).

God is your governor if you are governed by His Word.

Jesus is your Messiah if you obey Him as King.

Jesus is not your King if you vote for another king (1 Samuel 8).

Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus is the Messiah

Jesus is the King.

The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."

 
Most church-going Christians believe that Jesus will become the Messiah at a future Christmas, a future advent, a future "Second Coming." But the word "IS" -- present tense -- is the wrong word to use about Jesus being the Messiah. To say that Jesus "is" the Messiah is to say that He already became the Messiah and began reigning in the past. The word "preterit" is from the Latin word for "past," and the idea that Jesus began reigning as Messiah in the past is called "the heresy of preterism." 
 

 
The word "Christ" also has many meanings. The basic meaning is "anointed," as in "king" (Matthew 21:5 ), e.g., "King of Israel" (John 1:49). Jesus is also called a "Ruler" (Micah 5:2), a "Potentate" (1 Timothy 6:15 ), a "Governor" (Matthew 2:6 ), a "Captain" (Hebrews 2:10 ), a "Prince" (Isaiah 9:6 ), and many other words (some of which we aren't familiar with in our day, like "Horn" [Luke 1:69 ]) which are political in nature.

Many political terms can be inferred:

• Jesus is a "servant," which is another word for "minister," and Jesus is surely the "Prime Minister."
• In his inaugural address, George Washington spoke of "that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations." The one who "presides" is the "president."
• Jesus is our King, our Lawgiver, and our Judge (Isaiah 33:22) -- all three branches of government under the U.S. Constitution.

My point is that Jesus is the -- THE -- the ONLY -- legitimate king, prince, ruler, president, prime minister, governor, legislator, judge, and potentate. If we simply practice what we preach -- by obeying His commandments -- we will have a peaceful, orderly, and prosperous society. All other earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates are illegitimate usurpers and anti-Christ.

When I say that Jesus is the only legitimate ruler, and the Bible our only law book, people think. "What are you, some kind of ANARCHIST?" That suspicion is the kind of thing we were all taught in schools run by earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates. We are never taught what Jesus taught. It is illegal in the U.S.A. to teach in government-run schools what Jesus taught. Eventually, all "archists" ban the Bible. They have to. The Bible is their biggest enemy.

If we put the Bible into practice, we will have what John Adams called (above) a "utopia" or "paradise." If someone does not follow the Bible, and does evil, we respond to evil as pacifists, and do not vote for politicians to take vengeance against the evil-doer. The cost of voting for politicians to prevent crime is greater than the cost of crime. Jesus set out the steps to follow when someone wrongs us in Matthew 18. Here's how that would work if Jesus were the King instead of Donald Trump and millions of policemen, wardens, and bureaucrats -- who prohibit your local public school teachers from telling students that God says not to kill and not to steal, and that everyone should treat the Bible as a communication from our Creator.

Jesus said the kings of the gentiles love to impose their will on other people by political and military force, but Christ's followers are not to do these things (Mark 10:42-45). Mark uses the Greek word from which we get our English word "anarchist." He says the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists." But Jesus says His followers are NOT to be "archists." The desire for an earthly "archist" is a rejection of God (1 Samuel 8). So some folks will say all this talk about Jesus being THE Ruler -- the only legitimate Ruler -- will lead to "anarchy." Obeying Jesus as the Christ will certainly lead to the elimination of bloodthirsty empires and their Caesars, Pharaohs, and Führers. But it will certainly not lead to chaos and lawlessness (which is what most people have been trained to think of when they hear the word "anarchism" or contemplate the absence of "archists" in the swordless Kingdom of Christ).

So what is my view in a nutshell?

Taken together, the two words "IS" and "THE" are branded as the heresy of "anarcho-preterism."

Anarcho-Preterism

I maintain that "anarcho-preterism" is "the Gospel."

Freedom from archists is the Gospel ("good news").

Galatians 3:8
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed."

The Scripture preached "the Gospel" to Abraham.

Q.: What is the good news?
A.: World-wide blessing.
Q.: What is "blessing?"
A.: Salvation: Being delivered from our enemies and living securely in peace and prosperity, free from archists in a  “Vine & Fig Tree”  world.
Q.: How do we obtain God's blessing?
A.: By faithfully obeying His commandments.
Q.: But is universal obedience even possible before the Second Coming?
A.: That is the promise of the New Covenant.

Jeremiah 31

³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” ³² not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My tôrâh in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Ezekiel 11:19-20

¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
²⁰ That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 36:27

²⁷ And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Jeremiah 31:33 + Galatians 3:8
New Covenant = obedience to God's Law
New Covenant = blessing throughout the world
New Covenant = salvation/peace/safety
New Covenant = freedom from archists

Anarcho-Preterism is not tangential to the Faith. It is central.

• It is a way of looking at God and Providence. ("Government")
• It is a way of looking at our duty to serve our neighbors and the world. (service)
• It is a way of looking at prophecy and the future. (civilization)

For more, see www.JesusistheChrist.today

Appendix A

But whereunto shall I liken this generation?
(Matthew 11:16-24)

(Matthew 3:7-12) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? {8} Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: {9} And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. {10} And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. {11} I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: {12} Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

(Matthew 11:16-24) But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, {17} And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. {18} For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. {19} The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. {20} Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: {21} Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. {22} But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. {23} And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. {24} But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

(Matthew 12:24-45) But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. {25} And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: {26} And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? {27} And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. {28} But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. {29} Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. {30} He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. {31} Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. {32} And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. {33} Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. {34} O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. {35} A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. {36} But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. {37} For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. {38} Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. {39} But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: {40} For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. {41} The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. {42} The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. {43} When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. {44} Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. {45} Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

(Matthew 16:1-12) The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. {2} He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. {3} And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? {4} A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. {5} And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. {6} Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. {7} And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. {8} Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? {9} Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? {10} Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? {11} How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? {12} Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

(Matthew 17:12-23) But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. {13} Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. {14} And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, {15} Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. {16} And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. {17} Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. {18} And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. {19} Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? {20} And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. {21} Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. {22} And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: {23} And they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

(Matthew 23:27-39) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. {28} Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. {29} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, {30} And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. {31} Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. {32} Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. {33} Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? {34} Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: {35} That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. {36} Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. {37} O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! {38} Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. {39} For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

(Matthew 24:34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

(Mark 8:11-12) And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. {12} And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

(Mark 8:31-38) And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. {32} And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. {33} But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. {34} And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. {35} For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. {36} For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? {37} Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? {38} Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

(Mark 9:19) He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

(Mark 13:30) Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

(Luke 3:7-9) Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath about to come? {8} Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. {9} And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

(Luke 7:31-35) And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? {32} They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. {33} For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. {34} The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! {35} But wisdom is justified of all her children.

(Luke 9:41) And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.

(Luke 11:29-32) And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. {30} For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. {31} The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. {32} The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

(Luke 11:39-54) And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. {40} Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? {41} But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. {42} But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. {43} Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. {44} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. {45} Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. {46} And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. {47} Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. {48} Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. {49} Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: {50} That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; {51} From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. {52} Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. {53} And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: {54} Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him. {12:1) In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

(Luke 17:25) But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

(Luke 21:32) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

(Acts 2:40) And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Appendix B

The Preterist "Context"

The consistent preterist claims that there isn't a single verse of the New Testament which was intended by its author and understood by its original audience to be speaking of any discontinuous event thousands (or millions) of years in the future.

There are many verses which clearly speak of Christ coming in judgment against His enemies, and this coming is clearly timed as occurring before the generation that rejected Him dies out. This first-century coming is such a dominant theme in the New Testament Scriptures, that a sound application of the “grammatical-historical hermeneutic” would require any verse which is not clear about the timing of Christ's coming in judgment to be interpreted as fitting into that "default" pre-70AD time-frame. Some clear, explicit departure from that dominant context needs to appear in the text before one would conclude that that text breaks the mold and speaks not of an event in "that generation.," but of an event thousands or millions of years in the future.

Here are 101 verses speaking about "that generation."

1. “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)

2. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come?” (Matthew 3:7)

3. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees.” (Matthew 3:10)

4. “His winnowing fork is in His hand.” (Matthew 3:12)

5. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

6. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 10:7)

7. “You shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10:23)

8. “....the age about to come.” (Matthew 12:32)

9. “The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.” (Matthew 16:27; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26)

10. “Verily I say unto you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.” (Matthew 16:28; cf. Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27)

11. “‘When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?’ ‘....He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.’ ‘....Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.’ ....When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.” (Matthew 21:40-41,43,45)

12. “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:34)

13. “Hereafter, you [Caiaphas, the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, the whole Sanhedrin] shall be seeing the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69)

14. “The kingdom of God is at hand.” (Mark 1:15)

15. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. ....They [the chief priests, scribes and elders] understood that He spoke the parable against them.” (Mark 12:9,12)

16. “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Mark 13:30)

17. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come?” (Luke 3:7)

18. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees. “ (Luke 3:9)

19. “His winnowing fork is in His hand.” (Luke 3:17)

20. “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:9)

21. “The kingdom of God has come near.” (Luke 10:11)

22. “What, therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” The scribes and the chief priests understood that He spoke this parable against them.” (Luke 20:15-16,19)

23. “These are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:22)

24. “This generation will not pass away until all things take place.” (Luke 21:32)

25. “Daughters of Jerusalem , stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” (Luke 23:28-30; Compare Revelation 6:14-17)

26. “We were hoping that He was the One who is about to redeem Israel .” (Luke 24:21)

27. “I will come to you. In that Day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.’ ‘Lord, what then has happened that You are about to disclose Yourself to us, and not to the world?’” (John 14:18,20,22)

28. “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:22)

29. “This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days’” (Acts 2:16 -17)

30. “He has fixed a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31 )

31. “There is about to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Acts 24:15)

32. “As he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment about to come” (Acts 24:25)

33. “Not for [Abraham’s] sake only was it written, that [faith] was reckoned to him [as righteousness], but for our sake also, to whom it is about to be reckoned.” ( Rom. 4:23-24)

34. “If you are living according to the flesh, you are about to die.” (Romans 8:13 )

35. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18 )

36. “It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand.” ( Romans 13:11-12)

37. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20 )

38. “The time has been shortened.” (1 Corinthians 7:29)

39. “The form of this world is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:31)

40. “Now these things were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11)

Bonus Verse: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 10:26) [See below]

41. “We shall not all fall sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

42. “Maranatha!” [The Lord comes!] (1 Corinthians 16:22)

43. “...not only in this age, but also in the one about to come.” (Ephesians 1:21)

44. “The Lord is near.” (Phil. 4:5)

45. “The gospel was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” (Colossians 1:23; Compare Matthew 24:14; Romans 10:18 ; 16:26 ; Colossians 1:5-6; 2 Timothy 4:17 ; Revelation 14:6-7; cf. I Clement 5,7)

46. “things which are a shadow of what is about to come.” (Colossians 2:16-17)

47. “we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds You, brethren, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15,17; 5:4)

48. “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

49. “It is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-7)

50. “Godliness holds promise for the present life and that which is about to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)

51. “I charge you that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 6:14)

52. “storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for that which is about to come, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” (1 Timothy 6:19)

53. “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self Avoid these men. For of these are those who enter into households and captivate weak women These also oppose the truth But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all” (2 Timothy 3:1-2,5-6,8-9)

54. “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is about to judge the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1)

55. “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

56. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 )

57. “He did not subject to angels the world about to come.” (Hebrews 2:5)

58. “and have tasted the powers of the age about to come.” (Hebrews 6:5)

59. “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near a curse, and it’s end is for burning.” (Hebrews 6:7-8)

60. “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13)

61. “The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way of the [heavenly] Holy Places has not yet been revealed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.” (Hebrews 9:8-10; Compare Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 2:21-22; 3:17; 4:13)

62. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things about to come” (Hebrews 9:11 )

63. “Now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin.” (Hebrews 9:26)

64. “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things about to come” (Hebrews 10:1)

65. “as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25)

66. “the fury of a fire which is about to consume the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:27)

67. “For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” (Hebrews 10:37)

68. “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one that is about to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

69. “Speak and so act, as those who are about to be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 2:12)

70. “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!” (James 5:1,3)

71. “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” (James 5:7)

72. “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:8)

73. “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5)

74. “He has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” (1 Peter 1:20)

75. “They shall give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:5)

76. “The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” (1 Peter 4:7)

77. “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.” (1 Peter 4:17)

78. “as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is about to be revealed.” (1 Peter 5:1)

79. “We have the prophetic word which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)

80. “Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:3)

81. “In the last days mockers will come. For this they willingly are ignorant of” (2 Peter 3:3,5)

82. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” (2 Peter 3:10-12)

83. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.” (1 John 2:8)

84. “The world is passing away, and its desires.” (1 John 2:17)

85. “It is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18)

86. “Even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18; Compare Matthew 24:23-34)

87. “This is that of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” (1 John 4:3; Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:7)

88. “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation. About these also Enoch prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly’” (Jude 1:4,14-15)

89. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions” (Jude 1:17-19)

90. “to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place.” (Revelation 1:1)

91. “The time is near.” (Revelation 1:3)

92. “Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.” (Revelation 2:25)

93. “I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole land.” (Revelation 3:10; cf. Matthew 2:6,20,21)

94. “I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 3:11)

95. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” (Revelation 12:5)

96. “And in her [the Great City Babylon] was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.” (Revelation 18:24; Compare Matthew 23:35-36; Luke 11:50-51)

97. “to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place.” (Revelation 22:6)

98. “Behold, I am coming quickly. “ (Revelation 22:7)

99. “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” (Revelation 22:10; Compare Daniel 8:26)

100. “Behold, I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 22:12)

101. “Yes, I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 22:20)

All of these verses concerned those who lived in the first century, not those who would live thousands of years later (though we can certainly learn some general principles from every verse of Scripture, even ones that weren't intended directly for us). The imminent destruction of the temple and judgment of those who rejected the Messiah is a dominant theme of the New Testament, and was a top priority in the minds of Christians in those days.

Thanks to David Green for putting together these verses.

He adds:

There are clearly many verses in the New Testament which inescapably point to an event or events that would occur in the first century. Another question which might be raised is this: is there a single verse in the Bible which inescapably predicts an event that would occur in the 21st century or later, and can be interpreted in no other way?

What's At Stake

There are two things at stake.

First is the trustworthiness of Scripture. Atheists have figured this out. Christian apologists need to deal with it. Here is the issue:

It is the pervasive teaching of the New Testament that Jesus was coming soon. On almost every page, we are told that Jesus would end the old age and begin the new before those who were His eye-witnesses were dead:

The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. There are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matthew 16:27-28; cf. Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27)

New Testament readers were anticipating the end of the old and the beginning of "the New Heavens and the New Earth" (2 Peter 3). Incredible, miraculous, unprecedented things

• were "about to" happen.
• To "this generation."
• The end was "at hand."

Either they happened, or the New Testament writers (and those who believed them)

• Were Wrong
• Were Mistaken
• Are Untrustworthy

This is a very serious issue, and many atheists have recognized what's at stake.

Atheist Bertrand Russell, in his book Why I Am Not A Christian, discredits the inspiration of the New Testament based on the failed prediction of Christ and the Apostles:

I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels . . . and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, He certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at the time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come." Then He says, "There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom"; and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His second coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of his earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of his moral teaching. [1] 

Russell is correct when he says that much of the New Testament was based on the belief that the Kingdom and end of the age were "at hand." If Christ and the Apostles were teaching the imminent destruction of planet earth and the inauguration of the "eternal state," then they were clearly mistaken.

There have been various responses by Christians to this criticism of the Christian faith. Among these, one is particularly striking. We get a profound impression of just what a challenge this argument is to the integrity of the Christian faith when we realize that a great Christian thinker and apologist such as C.S. Lewis despaired at finding a solution to it. Lewis surrendered to the assertion of the skeptics that Jesus was wrong. He attributed this to the limited knowledge Jesus had in His incarnate human form. He correctly pointed out that Jesus himself said, in Matthew 24:36, that He did not know the exact time when He would return:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Lewis despairingly wrote,

“He said in so many words, 'this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.' And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else. This is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible."[2]

To this, the skeptic may reply, “If Jesus incorrectly predicted His return within the contemporaneous generation, but actually did not know that He was going to return within that time frame, then why did He so confidently assert that all of the words He had just spoken would come to pass in Matthew 24:35? He said, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’ ”

Recently, Christians like R.C. Sproul have suggested that most -- and maybe even all -- of these "any moment" verses were fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed and the age of the Old Covenant terminated. If this is true, then the Bible can be trusted. If not, then Christians need to come up with an answer for people like Bertrand Russell.

Read these verses. Read them in context in your own Bible if you think we're taking them out of context.

Get the big picture.

Take this issue seriously.

Admit that this is a question that needs to be answered.

Once this issue is dealt with, and we admit that the Scriptures were consistently preterist, then we need to ask how this fact changes the way we live out our lives. I suggest here that any claim that Jesus is not fully reigning and fulfilling "Messianic prophecies" in this age -- before any future "Second Coming" --  is "anti-Christ."  I suggest here that preterism means our duty in this life is to build the City of God, the "New Jerusalem."

Preterism and Sacraments

I don't believe in "sacraments." These Old Testament rituals were dug up and mimicked by what we call "The Roman Catholic Church." Most Protestant churches are only partially-reformed Roman churches.

1 Corinthians 5
⁶ Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Therefore  purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  ⁸ Therefore let us keep the feast,  not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Luke 22
¹³ And they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
¹⁴ And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

1 Corinthians 10
²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Matthew 16
²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. ²⁸ Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

First-century Christians continued to observe Passover until Christ came in the power of His Kingdom, in the lifetime of those who witnessed His First Advent, to take vengeance against those Israelites who rejected Him as their Passover Lamb. Jesus the Death Angel did not pass over Israel in AD 70. The old Israel was destroyed as the new Egypt:

Revelation 11:8
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Jesus came in the power of a new Kingdom. The old kingdom -- the new Egypt -- was destroyed so that the New Israel -- God's Kingdom -- could be built.

Iraneaus has a statement of faith (c. 180 AD) that is remarkably similar to "the Apostles' Creed," but does not mention "The Holy Catholic Church." | Irenaeus and the Apostles’ Creed

Jesus, the Jews, and the Torah

It is a popular myth that

• Jesus threw out the Law in favor of Grace
• The Jews were appalled at Jesus, because the Jews were "legalists" who observed every last detail of Old Testament Law, and were shocked at the idea of deviating from God's Law by one iota.

The Bible says the exact opposite:

• Jesus came to put God's Law into force (Matthew 5:17-20)
• The Jews rejected the Torah in the Scriptures and replaced God's Law with their own man-made customs and traditions (Mark 7:1-16).

For a thorough defense of this contrast, see Jesus and the Law of Moses (Torah). See also Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus.

According to the father of John the Baptist, this is what this Newborn King would do:

How did Jesus save His people from their enemies?

This is actually a long story that begins in the Old Testament and continues through the end of the New Testament.

The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 4: Defeating the Enemies

In a nutshell, the Apostle John says

And those who rejected Jesus as their Messiah turned out to be the "enemies" Zecharias spoke about, and these enemies were destroyed in AD 70. The "way of peace" is still available, and can still conquer today's enemies:

Gifts: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, sobriety

Enemies: Secularism, Humanism, Anti-Family Sex, Hedonism, Autonomy, Totalitarianism, and Mass Death

[1] Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not A Christian (New York: A Touchtone Book by Simon & Schuster, 1957), 16.

[2]. Essay, "The World's Last Night" (1960), found in The Essential C.S. Lewis, p. 385. Lewis' views were pointed out by Marshall "Rusty" Entrekin. http://www.thingstocome.org/whatgen.htm