Preterism vs. Futurism: Engaging the Critics

Consistent with the way my luck usually goes, now that I am over my longer-than-usual writer's block I have had some difficulty in choosing topics to discuss for this Preterism vs. Futurism series. Until now. Thank you, Craig Chilton, for your "devastating" article.

I simply typed "Preterism refuted" into Google and came across this link: http://www.egalitarian.biz/Preterism-Refuted.html. Chilton writes:

"Those who believe that the prophecies pertaining to the Tribulation were fulfilled in 70 A.D. are known as 'preterists,' and they couldn't be more wrong if they worked 24/7 at it. We'll explore why."

Let's explore his explorations.


The Facts that Devastate Preterism

1. Several Prophesied Circumstances still were Impossible back then.

Chilton's first argument comes from using Matthew 24:33-34. He writes:

"It's noteworthy that Jesus used the phrase, 'all these things,' twice in those two short sentences. Because never before our current day have all of those signs ever occurred concurrently, and some of them not only never happened before, but could not have happened until recently."

Notice that Chilton provides no proof for his claim. He tells us, the readers, that these things haven't happened. Yet, if he took the time to study a little bit of history, he'd find that these things did occur. I'd like to recommend the works by first century historian Flavius Josephus, called, The War of the Jews. If you want a complete history of Jerusalem's destruction from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes IV to Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, read this work.

We can also note that Chilton believes Christ was a false prophet, a liar, a fraud--however one wishes to word it. Notice that Jesus says the generation he was speaking to--his own generation--would NOT pass away before all those things in the discourse occurred. If they did not, Christ was a false prophet, plain and simple. And how foolish of Chilton to use a time text to make a point.

2. Many events prophesied by Jesus to happen when he returns have never yet taken place.

Chilton begins to get a little more specific in this section. As we will see, Chilton will once again shoot himself in the foot. His first proof in this section is Matthew 24:14. He writes:

"Only since the advent of communication satellites has this been possible. 'Sputnik,' the first satellite ever, was launched only 52 years ago."

Chilton is under the impression that "whole world," or "all the world," should actually be understood in terms of the globe. This is not correct, however. The word translated as "world" in Matthew 24:14 is "oikoumene," which simply means the inhabited earth from the perspective of the writer or speaker. In other words, the Roman empire. If the globe as a whole was to be addressed, then "kosmos" would have been used. Simply put, the apostles needed only preach to the "inhabited earth" at that time. Paul affirmed the fulfillment of the great commission given by Christ:

23If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; (Colossians 1:23)

In essence, not only should Chilton find Christ to be a false prophet, but he should also find Paul to be a liar. Apparently Paul, an inspired apostle, had no clue what he was talking about. And if we can't trust Paul's words here, can we trust them anywhere? Likewise, can we trust Christ? After all, Christ apparently had no clue when the signs of the end would occur (as believed by the "great" Christian theologian, C. S. Lewis).

The next argument he makes comes from Matthew 24:21, in which we read of Christ's warning of distress like never seen before. Jesus was actually quoting Daniel:

1And at that time Michael the great prince shall stand up, that stands over the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of tribulation, such tribulation as has not been from the time that there was a nation on the earth until that time: at that time thy people shall be delivered, even every one that is written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)

Daniel is told that this would be when the power of the holy people is scattered, or shattered. In A.D. 70 the temple was destroyed, along with Jerusalem, bringing about an end to the old covenant and fulfilling the law and prophets (cf. Luke 21:22-24). Consistency forces Chilton to either maintain his view and subscribe to a binding Mosaic law, or discard his view and accept its fulfillment. Implications, implications, implications; so little often do we consider them.

To end this section, Chilton uses Matthew 24:22,27,29-31 as proof of a yet future tribulation. For this, I recommend reading my article on the coming of the son of man (http://fulfilledfocus.blogspot.com/2013/02/understanding-matthew-24-coming-of-son.html).

3. The Final Preceptible Warning Sign

Chilton writes:

"As mentioned above, all of the foretold prerequisites for Jesus' return -- to trigger the Rapture -- after which the seven-year Tribulation Period will immediately get under way, have already happened, except one. (Interestingly, the Tribulation will begin when the Anti-Christ negotiates and finalizes the seven-year long peace pact with Israel that he later will violate. At which time the world will learn his identity. So those who don't miss the Rapture will (according to the Bible) miss out on learning who that mysterious person is!) Now -- notice the wording of this passage:"

He then proceeds to offer Matthew 24:7-8 as unfulfilled. Jesus tells his disciples that nation would rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There would aso be famines and earthquakes in various places. These, however, are just the beginning of birth pains. Chilton conveniently leaves out verse 6:

6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (Matthew 24:6)

Nation rising against nation is no doubt a slight elaboration of "wars and rumours of wars." Thus, the verses are connected. Notice that Christ tells them not to be troubled, for these things would happen, but the end is NOT yet! So, not only are these things not necessarily signs of the end, Chilton has disregarded audience relevance completely!

He writes, "Almost everyone will almost surely drift blisfully [sic] unaware right into the moment when this happens." Chilton proceeds to offer Matthew 24:37-44 and Luke 21:34-36 as proof. These verses depict how the days leading up to the coming of the Son of man would be as the days of Noah were, in which people were eating and drinking, giving in marriage, etc., up to the day the flood came. In other words, they did not heed Noah's warnings, just as the Jews of Jesus' day would not heed his or the apostles' warnings. Again, audience relevance relates this to those living in that generation (Matthew 24:34).

4. The Rapture Generation Nears Its Fulfillment

All I have to say is this: http://fulfilledfocus.blogspot.com/2013/05/preterism-vs-futurism-disarming-rapture.html


Conclusion

Craig Chilton's article (and I say this as kindly as possible) lacks the kind of scholarship necessary to even put a dent in the Preterist view. I will be the first to admit that Preterists have some work to do in assembling a more consistent theology. However, while Preterists have some holes here and there to fix up, the arguments in this article certainly aren't among them.



Blessings,

Jason Watt