The subject here is eschatology, which is the study of end-time events, as illustrated by the book of Revelation. The end-time events include the coming of the antichrist, the 7 year tribulation, the Second Coming, and Christ ruling during the 1000 years of peace...if you are a Premillennialist. But if you are a Preterist or Historist you don't believe in any of these prophesied events. The Main Schools of Eschatology Are: Futurist/Premillennialists . Historist/Postmillennialists Preterist/Amillennialists . (with many variations of each) Pardon me if I'm wrong, but you probably don't have a clue as to what most…if not ALL of the above "eschatological teaching" are. But, if I'm right, then I think you would appreciate a teaching that will inform and protect you from error you are unaware of, and lead you to Biblical truth.
This subject is rarely heard from the pulpits...but it will encourage you to take your Bible study very seriously. For the first 55 years of my life the only end-time teaching I knew anything about was the pre-tribulation-rapture view. I was ignorant, docile, and naďve, and I think that is where most of us are today. It never occurred to me to ask if there were other teachings to consider (or shun) before deciding what to believe about end-time events. I am not criticizing the pre-tribulation-rapture view, I'm just saying that is the only one I knew, I didn't know there were any others...period. Keep in mind that most eschatologies make the identical statement of faith, saying that they derive their eschatology straight from the Bible. All claim to stand squarely on the Word. All are supported by brilliant scholars who claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ equally as much, and are often found in our own denomination...and then they ride off into a dozen different directions. But God is not the author of confusion, and they all obviously can't be right, and time will test them all.
These four are the only schools of eschatology, but as if to further confuse the situation, there are several variations of each. The idealist view has more to do with the book of Revelation than with the rest of Scripture. For that reason the idealist view gets absorbed, more-or-less, into the preterist and Historist view, and tends to lose its identity as an eschatology. At least, that is how I see it. One variation on the idealist view is the liberal, humanist, agnostic attitude, and is of no interest to Bible believers. Therefore the liberal view is disregarded in this discourse. Why Such Division Over Eschatology
We see through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12). We are subject to sin and error, even when studying the Bible, and the hundreds of Bible believing denominations out there demonstrate that to be true. Picture an old-time wagon wheel for a moment. Think of the eschatological teaching of any congregation as being the hub or axel of the wheel, and the spokes as being all the doctrines that emanate and revolve around that wheel. If this be true, then if there is error in the eschatological teachings of a congregation, then all their other doctrines are going to be tainted because they all revolve around and emanate from the eschatological hub.
Since Satan does not have any truth to build even one true doctrine upon, he is free to have a thousand false doctrines, many of which are made up of a palatable mixture of God's truths and Satan's lies. This, of course, demonstrates how any eschatology can be both in error, and in truth--all at the same time!
SCHOLARS WHO WEAR BLINDERS Many scholars make it a rule to never study any eschatology but the one they believe; and even if they do, they read only what scholars of their school of eschatology have written about other eschatologies. It turns out that most Bible scholars have not honestly and methodically studied any eschatology other than the one he/she was required to study while in seminary--no alternatives offered. We all understand the power of peer pressure and the loyalty we all have to our family, alumni, and denomination. It can easily become more important to be warmly accepted than to be painfully right. WHERE MY WIFE AND I STAND We are decidedly pre-millennial and are somewhere between the mid-tribulation-rapture and the pre-wrath-rapture doctrines. We believe the following doctrines are in serious error: the replacement theology, and preterism. We feel that only pre-millennial views can be accurate, and all other views (post-millennial and a-millennial) are in serious error, and sometimes heretical. Most old line Protestant denominations came out Catholicism and are still a lot more Catholic than they would like to think. Even the most Evangelical and Charismatic churches have the rudiments of Catholicism in them, so it should not be surprising that a form of Catholic Preterism would be found in some of them. A history book that documents those Roman roots is titled: Pagan Christianity, The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices, by Frank Viola. This is just speculation on our part, but it becomes more clear to us all the time that end-time events are not going to happen like any of the professional eschatologists think it will. The fiction books have been written, the movies have been made, and multitudes believes these scenarios, these fiction accounts, these theories...God help us. We all need to continue and press into the intimate relationship that Jesus requires of us in order to discern the times. Then being in tune with the Holy Spirit, we will have spiritual eyes to see, and spiritual ears to hear, what is REALLY coming down. Most importantly...we love the brethren and do not disregard the fellowship of those who are not of our particular persuasion concerning end-time events. Since the Holy Spirit indwells all true born again Christians, how dare we place ourselves above the Holy Spirit by not receiving whom He indwells. When pondering why there is so much diversity, confusion, error, and reproach among those called Christians, one may wonder why the Bible doesn't speak quite so clearly on this subject of eschatology. We propose that God wants this to be a mystery so as to keep Satan from knowing with exactness, not us. We have the Holy Spirit to show us when prophecy is being fulfilled, Satan doesn't. But that also means that we need to know the Lord's voice so that we can hear Him telling us what He is doing. So many Christians either do not know His voice, or are so sold out to a particular doctrine (of men) that they won't/can't listen to any other message from God or man (He who has ears to hear). In our definition and discourse on many of the schools of eschatology, we are very critical of some mainline denominations, as well as the Charismatic movement, that are not pre-millennial. Yet, as my book and articles clearly show, we are ourselves Charismatic. We believe that the Acts model, the Ephesians 4:11 ministries of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher, and the 1 Corinthians 12 gifts of the Holy Spirit have been in the church since the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is now bringing the church into more maturity and preparing us for the time we find ourselves in...the days just prior to the Second Coming. TAKE A CAREFUL LOOK AT THE BELOW DIRECTORY TO READ A DESCRIPTION OF EACH OF THESE POINTS OF VIEW IN ORDER TO BE INFORMED AND PROTECTED FROM ANY OF THE POSTMILLENNIAL AND AMILLENNIAL VIEWS.
DIRECTORY TO THE DIFFERENT ESCHATOLOGICAL GROUPS MENTIONED ON THIS PAGE
Futurist/Premillennialists
Premillennialism in Christian eschatology is the belief that Christ will literally reign on the earth for 1,000 years at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it views the current age as prior to Christ’s kingdom. It is distinct from the other forms of Christian eschatology such as amillennialism or postmillennialism, which view the millennial rule as either figurative and non-temporal, or as occurring prior to the second coming. Premillennialism is largely based upon a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:1-6 in the New Testament which describes Christ’s coming to the earth and subsequent reign at the end of an apocalyptic period of tribulation. It views this future age as a time of fulfillment for the prophetic hope of God’s people as given in the Old Testament.
Historically Christian premillennialism has also been referred to as "chiliasm" or "millenarianism". The "Chiliad" ("ch" is pronounced as "k") is another term we are not familiar with, but it is the Greek word for 1,000. The theological term "premillennialism" did not come into general use until the mid-nineteenth century, the modern period in which premillennialism was revived. [Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premillennialism]
Pre-Tribulational Rapture: The pre-trib view holds that the church will be "raptured" before the entire seventieth week of Daniel. This is a prevalent view in countries that have never experienced widespread persecution, such as the United States. Jesus then comes back bodily at the end of the seventieth week of Daniel to rule and judge.
Mid-Tribulational Rapture: The church will escape the last half of the seventieth week, also known as the Great Tribulation. Jesus then comes back bodily at the end of the Tribulation to rule and judge.
Pre-Wrath Rapture: The basic aspects of the pre-wrath view are that the "rapture" is distinct from the "second coming" and the "rapture" will take place between the sixth and seventh seals. Jesus then comes back bodily at the end of the seventieth week of Daniel to rule and judge.
Post-Tribulational Second Coming: In most versions of post-tribulationism, the "rapture" and the "second coming" are at the same time. Post-Trib people do not consider themselves to be Pre-Wrath. Jesus Christ comes back for His elect, they meet Him in the air and He comes bodily to earth immediately to rule and reign.
The second coming of Christ is a cornerstone of Biblical doctrine. Our Lord promised it, the apostles confirmed it, and the entire book of Revelation celebrates it. Below are just a few examples of the verses that establish this fact.
The return of Christ will be visible. He will not come in secret; He will not come "mystically," or only to those with eyes to see Him. All humanity will witness His coming, and those who do not belong to Him will be terrified.
The Second Coming of Christ will be Bodily. He will not come "spiritually," He will not return "in His Body" the Church. He has a body now, a glorious body, witnessed by the apostle John (Rev 1:12-16), and when He comes in clouds of glory, it will be in that glorious body.
He will come in Power and Glory--unlike His first coming, His true nature will not be concealed. He will come at the head of a heavenly army, as the conquering Sovereign that He is.
Christ is Returning!
Pre-millennial Historicism--The Classic Form of "Historic-Premillennialism" Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Spurgeon, Francis Schaeffer, George Eldon Ladd, and many of Christianity's greatest theologians held the pre-millennial Historist position. Historic premillennialism: Like dispensational-pre-millennialism, historic-pre-millennialists holds to the premillennial return of Christ. Jesus will reign on Earth over all nations after the tribulation, anti-Christ, etc. Many historic-pre-millennialists hold to a “post-tribulational rapture,” unlike most dispensational-pre-millennialists who believe in the “pre-trib-rapture.” This refers to the timing in relation to the "tribulation” of God taking His chosen out of the world. Unlike dispensational-pre-millennialism, historic-pre-millennialism does not see a prominent place for physical Israel but holds to what dispensational-pre-millennialism call "replacement” theology"—the idea that Gentiles are grafted into the covenant as partakers of God’s promises and blessings to Israel in the Old Testament. Similar to dispensational-pre-millennialism, historic-pre-millennialism is pessimistic about the present era that will culminate in increased depravity, the rise of the antichrist, and the tribulation—only to be later followed by the glorious millennium.
Replacement Theology essentially teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. Adherents of Replacement Theology believe the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel. All the different views of the relationship between the church and Israel can be divided into two camps: either the Church is a continuation of Israel (Replacement Theology / Covenant Theology), or the Church is completely different and distinct from Israel (Dispensationalism / Premillennialism). Replacement Theology teaches that the Church is the replacement for Israel and that the many promises made to Israel in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian Church, not in Israel. So, the prophecies in Scripture concerning the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are "spiritualized" or “allegorized” into promises of God's blessing for the Church. Major problems exist with this view, such as the continuing existence of the Jewish people throughout the centuries and especially with the revival of the modern state of Israel. If Israel has been condemned by God, and there is no future for the Jewish nation, how do we explain the supernatural survival of the Jewish people over the past 2000 years despite the many attempts to destroy them? How do we explain why and how Israel reappeared as a nation in the 20th century after not existing for 1900 years? The view that Israel and the Church are different is clearly taught in the New Testament. In this view, the Church is completely different and distinct from Israel, and the two are never to be confused or used interchangeably. We are taught from Scripture that the Church is an entirely new creation, that came into being on the Day of Pentecost, and will continue until it is translated to heaven at the Rapture (Ephesians 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). The Church has no relationship to the curses and blessings for Israel. The covenants, promises, and warnings are valid only for Israel. Israel has been temporarily set aside in God's program during these past 2,000 years of dispersion.
Amillennialism/Preterism: Preter: a prefix, meaning “beyond,” “more than,” “by,” “past,” occurring originally in loanwords from Latin (preterit), and used in the formation of compound words (preterlegal). THE TRAGEDY OF AMILLENNIALISM Excerpts from Pg 256 in Learn The Bible in 24 Hours by Chuck Missler
The great tragedy for the church has been amillennialism, an attempt to explain away the idea that Jesus will literally come back to rule. This started with Origen (185-254 AD), an early church man whose hermeneutics encouraged the allegorization of Scripture. Augustine (354-430 AD) relied on this allegorical method to formulate an amillennial eschatology, which claimed that the thousand-year rule revealed in the book of Revelation was merely figurative. Subsequently this view was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church and remains their eschatologic view to this day. Tragically, although the reformers did a diligent job shedding the shackles of tradition by returning to the authority of the Bible, especially with regards to salvation, they didn't adequately reexamine the eschatological doctrines of the Church Most Protestant denominations today, therefore, remain amillennial in their interpret of end-time prophecy. Several tragic ideas or logical assumptions are derived from amillennialism. First, all of the Messianic promises throughout the Old Testament are at risk, promises that point to the dynasty of David ruling the earth through Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Second, amillenialism allowed the early church to become extremely anti-Semitic. Jews have suffered through nineteen hundred years of persecution, much under the banner of Christ, because of these views. Third, it caused the Church to lose its moorings, its roots. We serve a Jewish King. We serve a church founded by Jewish leaders. And we venerate a Jewish Scripture. God through with Israel, yet the destiny of Israel is denigrated by amillennialism. Fourth, the promise given to Mary by the angel Gabriel is rendered indeterminate. She was specifically told that her child would rule on the throne of David. The throne of David did not exist during those days. It has yet to be reestablished.
It is the discovery that God says what He means, and means what He says, that raises the fog of diffidence and energizes the most exciting adventure of anyone's lifetime! Preterists say that everything in Revelation has already taken place and is all past history. Reconstructionists claim the Church has replaced Israel and has inherited the promises that I were given to her. Neither of these are Scriptural doctrines.
There are at least four kinds of preterism. For lack of better terms we will call them mild, moderate, partial, and extreme. · MILD preterism teaches that the Book of Revelation was fulfilled during the first three centuries as God waged war on the two early enemies of the church: Israel and Rome. The first half of Revelation teaches that Israel was defeated in A.D. 70, while the last half of Revelation is about God's conquest of Rome in the fourth century when Constantine declared the Roman Empire Christian. Thus, this earliest form of preterism teaches that Revelation was fulfilled in the first 300 years of the church's history.
· MODERATE preterists believe that almost all prophecy was fulfilled in the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. They do believe that a few passages still teach a yet future second coming (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) and the resurrection of believers at Christ's bodily return.
·
PARTIAL preterism
is a form of
Christian
eschatology that holds much in common with but is
distinct from
Full preterism (or 'consistent' or 'hyper' preterism) in
that it places the events of most of the
Book of Revelation as occurring during the
destruction of Jerusalem in
70
AD (and/or the
Fall of Rome several centuries later) yet still affirms
an orthodox future bodily return of
Christ to earth at an unknown day and hour. Partial
preterism sees
Matthew 24,
Matthew 25:31-46, the
Book of Daniel and most of the
Book of Revelation (besides its last 2 or 3 chapters) as
speaking about events no later than the first century AD,
and about a coming of Christ in judgment, not
the (second, final and bodily) coming of Christ and
Last judgement.
Most Partial
Preterists also believe the term Last Days refers not to the last days of
planet Earth or the last days of humankind, but rather to the last days of
the
Mosaic Covenant which God had exclusively with national
Israel
until the year AD 70, see also
Supersessionism. As God came in
judgment upon various nations in the
Old Testament, Christ also came in judgment against those in Israel
who
rejected him. The "last days," however, are to be distinguished from
the "last day," which is considered still future and entails the
Second Coming of
Jesus, the
Resurrection of the righteous and unrighteous dead physically from the
grave in like-manner to Jesus' physical resurrection, the
Final Judgment, and the creation of a literal (rather than covenantal)
New Heavens and a New Earth free from the curse of sin and death which was
brought about by the fall of
Adam and Eve, also called the
Kingdom of God. Thus partial preterists are in agreement and
conformity with the historic eucemenical
creeds of the Church and articulate the
doctrine of the resurrection held by the early
Church Fathers. Partial preterists hold that the
New Testament predicts and depicts many "comings" of Christ and that
the phrase Second Coming means second of like kind in a series for the
Scriptures record other comings even before the judgment-coming in AD70,
thus eliminating that event as the "second" of any series, let alone the
second of the series in which the example if the earthly, physical
ministry of Christ. Partial Preterists believe that the new creation comes
in redemptive progression as Christ reigns from His heavenly throne,
subjugating His enemies, and will eventually culminate in the destruction
of physical death, the "last enemy" (1 Cor 15:20-24). If there are any
enemies remaining, the resurrection event cannot have occurred.
Partial preterism is
consistent with
Covenant theology in that its basis lies in the outworking of the
covenant judgments of
Deuteronomy 28 - 32 and Leviticus 26 and as such opposes
Dispensational
Premillennialism and
Futurism popular in
evangelical circles today with such works as the
Left Behind series. Preterism also is distinct from
Dispensational eschatology in that it does not have specific modern
political directives attached (see Dispensationalism's connection to
Christian Zionism).
Nearly all Partial
Preterists hold to
amillennialism or
postmillennialism. Many postmillennial Partial Preterists are also
theonomic
in their outlook. A variant form of Partial Preterism developed within Catholic tradition that identified the woman in Revelation 12 as Mary rather than being symbolic of Israel and/or the Church in Protestant forms of Partial Preterism. Partial Preterism relies heavily on the account of Flavius Josephus in describing the destruction of Jerusalem as a first hand account of the recorded fulfillment of the Book of Revelation. Because of the widespread acceptance of Dispensational Futurism amongst American evangelicals, Partial Preterism is often considered unorthodox by many. Partial Preterism is also criticised for claiming that the Book of Revelation was written before the destruction of Jerusalem sometime during the reign of Roman emperor Nero in the 60s AD rather than in 95 AD which is the widely held belief among Dispensationalists. Kenneth Gentry, a prominent Partial Preterist, wrote his PhD thesis Before Jerusalem Fell (which has since been made into a book) on a defense of placing the writing of the Book of Revelation during Nero's reign.
· EXTREME preterists, or consistent preterists, as they prefer to be known, hold that all future Bible prophecy was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. If there is a future second coming, they say, the Bible does not talk about it. Extreme preterists believe that there is no future bodily resurrection, which place them outside the realm of Christian orthodoxy.
Catholic Preterism
A variant form is called Partial Preterism which was developed within Catholic tradition that identified the woman in Revelation 12 as Mary rather than being symbolic of Israel and/or the Church in Protestant forms of Partial Preterism.
Most old line Protestant denominations came out Catholicism and are still a lot more Catholic than they would like to think. Even the most Evangelical and Charismatic churches have the rudiments of Catholicism in them, so it should not be surprising that a mild form of Preterism would be found in some of them. There are other assorted views, but we are trying to be brief here.
An Eye Opening Insight Into The Preterist View Here are excerpts from a pamphlet by John Noe entitled: “What is the Preterist View?” "Scores of preterist books, tracts, video and audio tapes have been produced and many more are on the way. It's beginning to capture significant public attention and is 'spreading like wildfire' at the grass roots level." The final events of the redemptive drama came to pass in the first century within the apostles' generation( before A.D. 70). Christ's kingdom is here now. Paradise has been restored in Christ (spiritually speaking). We live in the Garden of Eden now (if we are in Christ)... " "The biblical last days are behind us, not ahead of us. They are in the past, not in the future. Every New Testament reference to the last days or equivalent 'last times, last hour', refers to the time its writers were living in the first century. They weren't the last days of planet Earth, or the end of time. They were the last days of the Old Covenant Jewish system and age. There are no exceptions. " Do you understand what he's saying? Mr. DeMar attempts to defend his view in the following manner:
David Chilton was one of the leading scholars of this movement. He was their leading theologian up until his death. In his book, "Paradise Restored," he summarizes the forty-five major arguments in his book. I'm only going to list a few of these. I'm not trying to shock you. I am trying to paint a picture for you with authenticity, verification and facts. Here are just a few of the forty-five major arguments that he makes in this book.
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