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Preterism
Preterism is a view of Christian eschatology which holds that some
or all of the biblical prophecies concerning the Last Days (or End
Times) refer primarily to events which happened in the first century
after Christ's birth. The term "preterism" comes from the Latin
praeter, meaning "past". Adherents of Preterism are known as Preterists.
According to the preterist perspective, the the New Testament's
predictions of "the end of the age" and the coming of Christ refer
primarily to the cataclysmic events leading up to and including
the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple at AD 70, at the consummation
of the Old Testamental period. These events correspond to the Roman
Jewish War, also known as The Great Revolt:
Preteristic Quotes
St.
Thomas Aquinas (AD 1225-1274)
"The signs of which we read in the gospels, as Augustine says,
writing to Hesychius about the end of the world, refer not only
to Christ's coming to judgment, but also to the time of the sack
of Jerusalem, and to the coming of Christ in ceaselessly visiting
His Church. So that, perhaps, if we consider them carefully, we
shall find that none of them refers to the coming advent, as he
remarks: because these signs that are mentioned in the gospels,
such as wars, fears, and so forth, have been from the beginning
of the human race" (Thomas Aquinas; Summa Theologica, Supplement
Question 73, Article 1)
St.
Eusebius (AD 260-341)
"The Holy Scriptures foretell that there will be unmistakable signs
of the Coming of Christ. Now there were among the Hebrews three
outstanding offices of dignity, which made the nation famous, firstly
the kingship, secondly that of prophet, and lastly the high priesthood.
The prophecies said that the abolition and complete destruction
of all these three together would be the sign of the presence of
the Christ. And that the proofs that the times had come, would lie
in the ceasing of the Mosaic worship, the desolation of Jerusalem
and its Temple, and the subjection of the whole Jewish race to its
enemies...The holy oracles foretold that all these changes, which
had not been made in the days of the prophets of old, would take
place at the coming of the Christ, which I will presently shew to
have been fulfilled as never before in accordance with the predictions."
(St. Eusebius; Demonstratio Evangelica [Proof of the Gospel];Book
VIII)
You have then in this prophecy of the Descent of the Lord among
men from heaven, many other things foretold at the same time, the
rejection of the Jews, the judgment on their impiety, the destruction
of their royal city, the abolition of the worship practised by them
of old according to the Law of Moses; and on the other hand, promises
of good for the nations, the knowledge of God, a new ideal of holiness,
a new law and teaching coming forth from the land of the Jews. I
leave you to see, how wonderful a fulfilment, how wonderful a completion,
the prophecy has reached after the Coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ."
(St. Eusebius: Demonstratio Evangelica [Proof of the Gospel]; Book
VI - Chapter 13)
"I have already considered this prophecy among the passages. And
I have pointed out that only from the date of our Saviour Jesus
Christ's Coming among men have the objects of Jewish reverence,
the hill called Zion and Jerusalem, the buildings there, that is
to say, the Temple, the Holy of Holies, the Altar, and whatever
else was there dedicated to the glory of God, been utterly removed
or shaken, in fulfilment of the Word which said: "Behold the Lord,
the Lord comes forth from his place, and he shall descend on the
high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be shaken under
him." (St. Eusebius; Demonstratio Evangelica [Proof of the Gospel];
Book VIII - Chapter 3)
"When, then, we see what was of old foretold for the nations fulfilled
in our own day, and when the lamentation and wailing that was predicted
for the Jews, and the burning of the Temple and its utter desolation,
can also be seen even now to have occurred according to the prediction,
surely we must also agree that the King who was prophesied, the
Christ of God, has come, since the signs of His coming have been
shewn in each instance I have treated to have been clearly fulfilled."
(St. Eusebius; Demonstratio Evangelica [Proof of the Gospel]; Book
VIII)
St.
Augustine (AD 354-430)
"Many passages I omit, because, though they seem to refer to the
last judgment, yet on a closer examination they are found to be
ambiguous, or to allude rather to some other event -- whether to
that coming of the Saviour which continually occurs in His Church,
that is, in His members, in which comes little by little, and piece
by piece, since the whole Church is His body, or to the destruction
of the earthly Jerusalem. For when He speaks even of this, He often
uses language which is applicable to the end of the world and that
last and great day of judgment" (St. Augustine - City of God - Book
XX)
Jonathan
Edwards (1703-1758)
"And the dissolution of the Jewish state was often spoken of in
the Old Testament as the end of the world. But we who belong to
the gospel-church, belong to the new creation; and therefore there
seems to be at least as much reason, that we should commemorate
the work of this creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish
church should commemorate the work of the old creation." (Jonathan
Edwards; The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2 - "The Perpetuity
and Change of the Sabbath" )
'Tis evident that when Christ speaks of his coming; his being
revealed; his coming in his Kingdom; or his Kingdom's coming; He
has respect to his appearing in those great works of his Power Justice
and Grace, which should be in the Destruction of Jerusalem and other
extraordinary Providences which should attend it." (Jonathan Edwards;
Miscellany #1199)
John
Chrysostom (AD 349-407)
"Having in remembrance, therefore, this saving commandment
and all those things which have come to pass for us: the Cross,
the Grave, the Resurrection on the third day, the Ascension into
heaven, the Sitting at the right hand, and the second and glorious
Coming" (St. John Chrysostom; excerpt from the Divine Liturgy
of St. John Chrysostom)
"For I will ask them, Did He send the prophets and wise men? Did
they slay them in their synagogue? Was their house left desolate?
Did all the vengeance come upon that generation? It is quite plain
that it was so, and no man gainsays it." (St. John Chrysostom; Homily
LXXIV on Matt. XXIII. 29, 30.)
St.
Athanasius (AD 293-373)
When did prophet and vision cease from Israel? Was it not when
Christ came, the Holy One of holies? It is, in fact, a sign and
notable proof of the coming of the Word that Jerusalem no longer
stands, neither is prophet raised up nor vision revealed among them.
And it is natural that it should be so, for when He that was signified
had come, what need was there any longer of any to signify Him?
And when the Truth had come, what further need was there of the
shadow? On His account only they prophesied continually, until such
time as Essential Righteousness has come, Who was made the Ransom
for the sins of all. For the same reason Jerusalem stood until the
same time, in order that there men might premeditate the types before
the Truth was known. So, of course, once the Holy One of holies
had come, both vision and prophecy were sealed. And the kingdom
of Jerusalem ceased at the same time, because kings were to be anointed
among them only until the Holy of holies had been anointed. Moses
also prophesies that the kingdom of the Jews shall stand until His
time, saying, "A ruler shall not fail from Judah nor a prince from
his loins, until the things laid up for him shall come and the Expectation
of the nations Himself." And that is why the Savior Himself was
always proclaiming "The law and the prophets prophesied until John."
So if there is still king or prophet or vision among the Jews, they
do well to deny that Christ is come; but if there is neither king
nor vision, and since that time all prophecy has been sealed and
city and temple taken, how can they be so irreligious, how can they
so flaunt the facts, as to deny Christ Who has brought it all about?..
What more is there for their Expected One to do when he comes? To
call the heathen? But they are called already. To put an end to
prophet and king and vision? But this too has already happened.
To expose the Goddenyingness of idols? It is already exposed and
condemned. Or to destroy death? It is already destroyed. What then
has not come to pass that the Christ must do? What is there left
out or unfulfilled that the Jews should disbelieve so light-heartedly?
The plain fact is, as I say, that there is no longer any king or
prophet nor Jerusalem nor sacrifice nor vision among them; yet the
whole earth is filled with the knowledge of God, and the Gentiles,
forsaking atheism, are now taking refuge with the God of Abraham
through the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. (St. Athanasius; Incarnation,
Ch. VI )
St.
Ignatius (AD 35-117)
"How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth
in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible,
while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest
of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star,
and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was
agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to
everything else [in the heavens]. Hence every kind of magic was
destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was
removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God Himself being manifested
in human form for the renewal of eternal life. And now that took
a beginning which had been prepared by God. Henceforth all things
were in a state of tumult, because He meditated the abolition of
death." (St. Ignatius, Epistle to the Ephesians, Ch 19)
Origen
(AD 185-254)
"But if 'the children of Israel are to sit many days without a
king, or ruler, or altar, or priesthood, or responses;' and if,
since the temple was destroyed, there exists no longer sacrifice,
nor altar, nor priesthood, it is manifest that the ruler has failed
out of Judah, and the leader from between his thighs. And since
the prediction declares that 'the ruler shall not fail from Judah,
and the leader from between his thighs, until what is reserved for
Him shall come,' it is manifest that He is come to whom (belongs)
what is reserved--the expectation of the Gentiles. And this is clear
from the multitude of the heathen who have believed on God through
Jesus Christ. (Origen, Principles, 4:1:3)
Lactantius
(AD 240-320)
"But when He had made arrangements with His disciples for the preaching
of the Gospel and His name, a cloud suddenly surrounded Him, and
carried Him up into heaven, on the fortieth day after His passion,
as Daniel had shown that it would be, saying: "And, behold, one
like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to
the Ancient of days." But the disciples, being dispersed through
the provinces, everywhere laid the foundations of the Church, themselves
also in the name of their divine Master doing many and almost incredible
miracles; for at His departure He had endowed them with power and
strength, by which the system of their new announcement might be
founded and confirmed. But He also opened to them all things which
were about to happen, which Peter and Paul preached at Rome; and
this preaching being written for the sake of remembrance, became
permanent, in which they both declared other wonderful things, and
also said that it was about to come to pass, that after a short
time God would send against them a king who would subdue the Jews,
and level their cities to the ground, and besiege the people themselves,
worn out with hunger and thirst. Then it should come to pass that
they should feed on the bodies of their own children, and consume
one another. Lastly, that they should be taken captive, and come
into the hands of their enemies, and should see their wives most
cruelly harassed before their eyes, their virgins ravished and polluted,
their sons torn in pieces, their little ones dashed to the ground;
and lastly, everything laid waste with fire and sword, the captives
banished for ever from their own lands, because they had exulted
over the well-beloved and most approved Son of God. And so, after
their decease, when Nero had put them to death, Vespasian destroyed
the name and nation of the Jews, and did all things which they had
foretold as about to come to pass." (Lactantius: Divine Institutes,
Book IV)
"And the prophets had predicted that all these things would
thus come to pass. Isaiah thus speaks: "I am not rebellious, nor
do I oppose: I gave my back to the scourge, and my cheeks to the
hand: I turned not away my face from the foulness of spitting."
The same prophet says respecting His silence: "I was brought as
a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearers is dumb,
so He opened not His mouth." David also, in the xxxivth Psalm: "The
abjects were gathered together against me, and they knew me not:
they were scattered, yet felt no remorse: they tempted me, and gnashed
upon me with their teeth." The same also says respecting food and
drink in the lxviiith Psalm: "They gave me also gall for my meat,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Also respecting
the cross of Christ: "And they pierced my hands and my feet, they
numbered all my bones: they themselves have looked and stared upon
me; they parted my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture."
Moses also says in Deuteronomy: " And thy life shall hang in doubt
before thine eyes, and thou shall fear day and night, and shall
have none assurance of thy life." Also in Numbers: "God is not in
doubt as a man, nor does He suffer threats as the son of man." Also
Zechariah says: "And they shall look on me whom they pierced." Amos
thus speaks of the obscuring of the sun: "In that day, saith the
Lord, the sun shall go down at noon, and the clear day shall be
dark; and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and your songs
into lamentation." Jeremiah also speaks of the city of Jerusalem,
in which He suffered: "Her sun is gone down while it was yet day;
she hath been confounded and reviled, and the residue of them will
I deliver to the sword." Nor were these things spoken in vain. For
after a short time the Emperor Vespasian subdued the Jews, and laid
waste their lands with the sword and fire, besieged and reduced
them by famine, overthrew Jerusalem, led the captives in triumph,
and prohibited the others who were left from ever returning to their
native land. And these things were done by God on account of that
crucifixion of Christ, as He before declared this to Solomon in
their Scriptures, saying, "And Israel shall be for perdition and
a reproach to the people, and this house shall be desolate; and
every one that shall pass by shall be astonished, and shall say,
Why hath God done these evils to this land, and to this house? And
they shall say, Because they forsook the Lord their God, and persecuted
their. King, who was dearly beloved by God, and crucified Him with
great degradation, therefore hath God brought upon them these evils."
For what would they not deserve who put to death their Lord, who
had come for their salvation?" (Lactantius: Epitome of the
Divine Institutes, Ch. 46)
John
Lightfoot (1602-1675)
"The destruction of Jerusalem is phrased in Scripture as the destruction
of the whole world; and Christ's coming to her in judgment, as his
coming to the last judgment. Therefore, those dreadful things, spoken
of in Matt. 24:29,30 and 31, are but borrowed expressions, to set
forth the terms of that judgment the more.. v.30 - "then shall they
see" - not any visible appearance of Christ, or of the cross, in
the clouds (as some have imagined); but, whereas Jews would not
own Christ before for the Son of Man, or for the Messias, then by
the vengeance that he should execute upon them, they and all the
world should see an evident sign, and it was so. This, therefore,
is called "his coming," and his coming in his kingdom." [A Commentary
on the Acts of the Apostles, ed. Rev. John Rogers Pitman (London:
J.F. Dove, 1825), p.141]
"That Christ's taking vengeance on that exceeding wicked nation
is called Christ's 'coming in glory,' and his 'coming in the clouds,'
Dan. vii. It is also called, 'the day of the Lord.' See Psalm i.4;
Mal. iii. I,2,&c; Joel ii.31; Matt xvi.28; Rev. i.7, &c....This
generation shall not pass, &c. Hence it appears plain enough, that
the foregoing verses are not to be understood of the last judgment
but, as we said, of the destruction of Jerusalem. There were some
among the disciples (particularly John), who lived to see these
things come to pass. With Matt. xvi.28, compare John xxi.22. And
there were some Rabbis alive at the time when Christ spoke these
things, that lived till the city was destroyed, viz. Rabban Simeon,
who perished with the city, R. Jochanan Ben Zaccai, who outlived
it, R. Zadoch, R. Ishmael, and others." (John Lightfoot, A Commentary
of the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, vol. 2, pp. 319-20
- Comments On Matthew 24:27; 24:34)
"That the destruction of Jerusalem is very frequently expressed
in Scripture as if it were the destruction of the whole world, Deut.
32:22; "A fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the
lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and
set on fire the foundations of the mountains.' Jer. 4:23; 'I beheld
the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens,
and they had no light,' &c. The discourse there also is concerning
the destruction of that nation, Isa. 65:17; 'Behold, I create new
heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered,'
&c. And more passages of this sort among the prophets. According
to this sens, Christ speaks in this place; and Peter speaks in his
Second Epistle, third chapter; and John, in the sixth of the Revelation;
and Paul, 2 Cor. 5:17, &c. (John Lightfoot, A Commentary of the
New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, vol. 2, pp. 18-19)
"That the destruction of Jerusalem and the whole Jewish state is
described as if the whole frame of the world were to be dissolved.
Nor is it strange, when God destroyed his habitation and city, places
once so dear to him, with so direful and sad an overthrow; his own
people, whom he accounted of as much or more than the whole world
beside, by so dreadful and amazing plagues. Matt. 24:29,30, 'The
sun shall be darkened &c. Then shall appear the 'sign of the Son
of man,' &c; which yet are said to fall out within that generation,
ver. 34. 2 Pet. 3:10, 'The heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,' &c. Compare
with this Deut. 32:22, Heb. 12:26: and observe that by elements
are understood the Mosaic elements, Gal 4:9, Coloss. 2:20: and you
will not doubt that St. Peter speaks only of the conflagration of
Jerusalem, the destruction of the nation, and the abolishing the
dispensation of Moses" (John Lightfoot, A Commentary of the New
Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, vol. 3, p. 452).
Henry
Hammond (1605-1660)
Before I had read...to the end of the first verse of the book [of
Revelation], these words, 'which must come to pass presently,' had
such an impression on my mind, offering themselves as a key to the
whole prophecie, (in like manner as, 'this generation shall not
passe till all these things be fulfilled,' Matt. 24.34. have demonstrated
infallibly to what coming of Christ the whole Chapter did belong)
that I could not resist the force of them, but attempted presently
a general survey of the whole Book, to see whether those words might
not probably be extended to all the prophecies of it, and have a
literal truth in them, viz., that the things foretold and represented
in the ensuing vi; were 'presently, speedily, to come to passe,'
one after another, after the writing of them. But before I could
prudently passe this judgment, which was to be founded in understanding
the subject-matter of all the Visions, some other evidences I met
with, concurring with this, and giving me abundant grounds of confidence
of this one thing, that although I should not be able to understand
one period of all these Visions, yet I must be obliged to think
that they belonged to those times that were then immediately ensuing,
and that they had accordingly their completion...The arguments that
induced this conclusion where these: first, that this was again
immediately inculcated, v.3, 'for the time is nigh,' and that rendered
as proof that these seven Churches, to whom the prophecie was written,
were concerned to observe and consider the contents of it, 'Blessed
is he that reads, and he that hears,' &c. (saith Arethas, that so
hears as to practise) 'for the time,' or season, the point of time
'is near at hand.' Secondly, that as here in the front, so c. 22.6,
at the close, or shutting up of all these Visions, and of S. John's
Epistle to the Seven Churches, which contained them, 'tis there
again added, that God 'hath sent his Angel to shew to his servants
the things that must presently, or speedily, or suddenly;' and immediately
upon the back of that are set the words of Christ, the Author of
this prophecie, 'Behold I come quickly,' not in the notion of his
final coming to judgment (which hath been the cause of a great deal
of mistake, see Note on Mat. 24.b.) but of his coming to destroy
his enemies, the Jewes, &c. and then, 'Blessed is he that observes,
or keeps, the prophecies of this book,' parallel to what had been
said at the beginning, c.1.3. Thirdly, that v.10. the command is
given to John, 'not to seal the prophecies of the book,' which that
it signifies that they were of present use to those times, and therefore
to be kept open, and not to be laid up as things that posterity
was only or principally concern'd in, appears by that reason rendered
of it, 'because the time is nigh,' the same which had here at the
beginning been given, as the reason that he that considered the
prophecies was blessed in so doing." (Henry, Hammond, A Paraphrase
and Annotations Upon All the Books of the New Testament)
Prince of the Air
The "prince of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) was a dark power
of the spiritual realm ("the air") that was "working
in the sons of disobedience" (i.e., among the Zealot messianic
revolutionaries) in the lead-up to Israel's Great Revolt in AD 66-70.
In no way does the title designate a satanic prince of weather,
nature, or atmospheric conditions. Scripture assigns power over
all weather (both mild and tempestuous) to God alone and his laws
(see: Genesis 6:17; 7:4,11-12; Exodus 14:21; 15:10-11,19; Deut 11:17;
32:39; 1 Sam 12:17-18; 1 Kings 18:1; Ezra 10:9; Job 28:26; 36:29-32;
37:5-7,9-13; 38:22-26; 40:6; Psalm 24:1-2; 29:2,3,5,8,10; 65:9-10;
74:15; 77:17-19; 78:44-48; 104:5-11; 105:30-36; 107:23-28; 135:6-7;
147:16-17; 148:7-8; Isaiah 28:2; 45:7; Ezekiel 1:4; 13:13; Jeremiah
10:12-13; 51:16; Nahum 1:3; Amos 3:6; Jonah 1:4; Amos 4:7-9,13;
Zechariah 10:1). From these passages we find three basic purposes
of storms (even destructive ones): to water the earth, to cause
men to fear the Almighty, and to execute God's judgments.
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