04/23/08
Prophetic Fulfillment As Shadow
Historical Israel's Prophecy/Fulfillment Model Seen in the "Land Promises"
Almost everyone interested in eschatology is familiar with the relationship between prophecy and fulfillment. Clearly, there is a natural association between a prediction and its accomplishment.
No matter the context, seeing predictions come true can be very exciting. For instance, baseball player Babe Ruth is famous for having pointing his bat over the outfield fence prior to a pitch, and then clouting a home run to the exact location of his gesture.
Some prophecies are not fulfilled nearly so soon after their original declaration. However, when they are finally realized, the one who foretold its accomplishment looks even more impressive, for having been correct so much earlier. For instance, Albert Einstein's prediction of "frame dragging" (which assumed that space/time is pulled out of shape by large rotating objects) took 80 years to be confirmed. Scientists were thrilled to have been able to confirm Einstein's genius (and the fact that neither space nor time are fixed).
Biblical prophecies about Jesus, as well as those uttered by Him, are given much attention in an attempt to prove -- or disprove -- that the Bible and the Lord are superhuman and Divine.
Sometimes, however, in an attempt to "confirm" a prophecy, a rush to judgment is made, whereby a mistake brings disrepute upon the supposed author. This happens often regarding supposed prophecies about "the end of the world." For almost 2,000 years, futurist Christians have predicted the end of the world in their near futures, only to have their expectations crushed when the earth did not blow up on cue. Repeated failures have brought an odium of shame to the Bible and the Lord, even though the fault was entirely with those who mistook the prophecies for something they were not.
With Hyper Preterism (HyP), the miscues usually accrue in the other direction -- declaring something as being completed when in fact it is not.
04/21/08
Hopefully, readers are starting to get the picture that, so far, the best support for the Hyper Preterist (HyP) view of "time indicators" is seriously reading into the text. It was certainly a shock to me once I realized that so much of what had seemed unassailable was now being recognized as the pure fabrication that it was, being based upon a lot of presuppositions and a couple of blind eyes. For those who are willing to see, such has been revealed with Matthew 10:23 and Matthew 16:27-28.
Well, Matthew 26:64 represents the worst HyP'd scholarship yet. After all, it could be understandable to equate the judgment of Matthew 16:27-28 with the undeniable events of AD70. Lightfoot certainly did, although he didn't make the extraordinary leaps with that belief that HyP's do.. as though this one judgment was the final judgment of the Lord!
Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 26:64 is consistently listed among the "preterist time indicators" (PretCoz #13) ; and yet, I would be very surprised if most seasoned Preterists who claim such were not actually aware that there are very serious problems with using this text as an indicator of AD70. If that is so, it hasn't seemed to have effected the promotion of this passage as a support of the HyP'd view! But with this passage, there is just no excuse except (at best) a lamentable inability to see beyond our own assumptions, or (at worst) willful deception of those seeking the truth.
04/20/08
It is very easy to read our ideas into the text of the Bible. In theological terms, this is known as Eisegesis (Greek: eishègeisthai 'to lead in'), which is the process of interpreting in such a way as to introduce one's own ideas into the text or context. With Hyper Preterism's "time texts," eisegesis is the rule rather than the exception, and such is the case when it comes to the "coming of the son of man" reference in Matthew 10:23.
It has become a working assumption of Hyper Preterism that the "coming" passages in the New Testament refer only to AD70. And the eisegetical presupposition that Matthew 10:23 is a "(Hyper) Preterist time indicator" is considered to be unassailable, even though there is not a hint of reference to AD70 in the text or context of the chapter from which to support this conclusion.
The "time indicator" claim is likewise made in reference to Matthew 16:27-28. However, as we have seen, there is not a hint of AD70 in the text or context of Matthew 16:27-28. This exposes a very embarrassing situation for Hyper Preterist scholarship. I have seen my fair share of Hyper Preterist books (including a much heralded book recently released) which lead off with Matthew 16:27-28 as the cornerstone proof of the AD70 narrative. Seeing that Matthew 16:27-28 is not a "preterist time indicator" is a crushing blow to Hyper Preterism, which oftentimes places more emphasis on that passage as a "proof text" than even Matthew 24:34!
04/18/08
The primary focus of this blog is opposing inferior doctrines of Hyper Preterism which focus on AD70. It is the working assumption that, and the purpose of this post to explain why, the most effective way to accomplish this task is by advocating superior doctrines which focus on Jesus Christ.
Others have made the mistake of opposing the historical focus of Hyper Preterism by advocating their historical focus of Futurism -- but this is ineffective. Even though the opposition to the false doctrine of Hyper Preterism may have been effective, that advantage is lost in not successfully completing the circuit by advocating sound doctrine.
False doctrine may end up appearing sound as a result of this ineffective attempt at refutation, and the victory for false doctrine on this technicality often leaves its followers mistakenly believing that the doctrine they advocate is sound!
Both Telos and Eschaton
Eschatology is a theological term used to describe the study of consummation. Others refer to this area of study as being about "final" or "last things." Two primary Greek root words used in reference to eschatology are eschaton ("last" - Strong's 2078) and telos ("end" / "ending" - Strong's 5056).
Some assume that "the end" that is the focus of eschatology is the end of the world. Hyper Preterists assume that "the end" that is the focus of eschatology is the end of the Mosaic sacrificial system in the year 70.
However, the Bible presents a different point of view. The Word of God declares that Jesus Christ Himself and His work in us is the "end" (the "telos" and the "eschaton") to which all prophecy ultimately points.
:: Next >>
