Refuting the Full-Preterist AD 70 Doctrine and Understanding Biblical Eschatology
These are days calling for truth, love, prayer, patience, and much more. Solid Biblical preaching continues to be needed, and therefore Biblical messages need to be prepared from the Word of God. As a worker, we must take time to discern the truth in the text depending on the Holy Spirit. There is no substitute for study and prayer!
Core Tenets of Biblical Eschatology
Today, Christians await the second coming of Christ. The future second coming is the END, and we must be prepared for the scriptural reality of future events:
- The dead will be raised immortal spirit bodies.
- The living will be changed into immortal spirit bodies.
- The physical universe will be "uncreated" into non-existence.
- All men will stand before God in Judgement.
| Eschatological Event | Biblical Description |
|---|---|
| The Second Coming | The future second coming is the END. |
| The Wicked | The wicked will be cast into the lake of fire with the Devil and his angels. |
| The Righteous | The righteous will join God who creates a new heavens and earth. |
The Defined Branches of Preterism
Preterism is generally defined by two main branches. First: The Collective Body View (CBV) tends to be theological liberals who set the date of the second coming of Christ in AD 70 when the Jerusalem temple was destroyed. The CBV spiritualizes the second coming, resurrection, judgement, new heavens/Earth, water baptism and the Lord’s Supper into non-literal events. Second: The Individual Body View (IBV) tends to be theological conservatives who believe in a literal bodily resurrection and judgement but spiritualize the new heavens/Earth into a non-literal event.
By contrast, all Partial-Preterists await the future second coming of Jesus and general resurrection of the dead at the end of time. Some Partial-Preterists date the book of Revelation to c. AD 66 and view Revelation as a warning to flee Jerusalem before it was destroyed in AD 70, while others date it to c. AD 96 and view Revelation as a message of victory.
The Major Failings of the AD 70 Doctrine
The Full-Preterist view violates the justice principle of God and misinterprets key scriptural teachings. For Full-Preterists, THE END never ends, but the following points demonstrate the errors in their doctrine:
- Full-Preterists have no Hell for wicked men who die after AD 70.
- Full-Preterists say there is no resurrection of the dead after AD 70.
- Lord’s Supper and weekly Sunday worship is extinct after AD 70.
- Full-Preterists do not believe in the Devil or demons exists today.
- Full-Preterists say the physical world will last forever.
- The entire first century church went extinct on Pentecost Sunday, 22nd June AD 66.
The Importance of Biblical Preparation
The Institute for Biblical Preaching was established to provide resources and training in the art and practice of Expository Preaching. These sermon outlines, such as those featuring 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18, are designed to assist in the development of expository messages concerning The Signs of The New Life. We certainly encourage personal preparation for preaching, rightly dividing the Word of truth, as the message needs to be God’s message to us as well as to the audience.