Preterism

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Preterism (from English preterism , from Latin praeter = over; past; see preterite ) or contemporary historical interpretation is a rather unusual term in German for eschatological directions that assume that the eschatological prophecies (e.g. arrival of the Messiah , end of the world , second coming of Christ ) either with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD or with the fall of Rome in the 5th century AD and the expected end times (e.g. the kingdom of God ) have already begun is.

Biblical basis of preterism

The New Testament assumes that the second coming of Christ is at hand. This near expectation is further specified by Jesus and the apostles in several places in the Gospels and the Apostles' letters:

"Truly I say to you: there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming into his kingdom."

- ( Mt 16.28  ELB )

When asked by his disciples about the time of the end of the world (of the age) (cf. Matt 24: 3), Jesus replied:

"Truly I say to you: this generation will not perish until all of this happens."

- ( Mt 24.34  ELB )

“The only possible interpretation that Jesus' own words allow, therefore, is that He spoke of the destruction of the temple that stood then in Jerusalem and which His disciples were contemplating at that particular point in history. The temple Jesus spoke of was destroyed when Jerusalem fell victim to the Roman army in 1970. This is the only permissible reading of the prophecy in this chapter. The Great Tribulation ended with the destruction of the temple in AD 70 "

- David Chilton : The Great Tribulation

Paul also saw his generation as the one "to whom the end of times has come."

"But all of this happened as a model and was written as an admonition for us, upon whom the end of the ages has come."

- ( 1 Cor 10.11  ELB )

School of thought

According to the preterist school of thought, these specifications are to be interpreted in such a way that the physical return of Christ will occur in the same generation in which Jesus lived, i.e. H. had arrived during the 1st century AD. Usually the Second Coming is then set for the year 70 AD, when the second Jerusalem temple was destroyed by the Romans and ancient Israel perished. This view is called full preterism and is considered to be under the influence of Gnosticism . The reformed theologian RC Sproul sees a misunderstanding in the fully preterist view of ( 1 Cor 15.51  ELB ). This is based on the assumption that the generation of the first disciples could not die before the return of Christ. The background is the gnostic view that there is no spiritual resurrection of the believers. According to the biblical text, at the return of Christ the believers who are still alive in the world would be transformed. In the Bible, this does not mean that Paul and the other Christians of the day would not physically die until the return of Christ.

Partial preterism assumes that the return of Christ, which they consider to be in the year 70, is only one of the later returns.

According to the preterist school of thought, chapters 5 to 11 of Revelation report on the victory of the Christian community over Judaism, chapters 12 to 19 the victory of the community over Rome and chapters 20 to 22 the glory of the community. The preterism is differentiated from the historical, the idealistic and the futuristic interpretation tradition. The historical direction sees the history of the church as a precedent in Revelation, the idealistic direction recognizes spiritual principles in the revelation and the futuristic direction recognizes future events that have not yet occurred today.

The editors of the preterist online archive propose a division of today's preterism into the directions progressive full preterism and modern preterism .

history

The preterist school of thought has a long history: One of the earliest representatives was Eusebius of Caesarea (approx. 260 - approx. 339), who laid down his opinions in this regard in Theophania . Another representative was the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar during the Counter-Reformation, in contrast to the Protestant historians . Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) is considered the first Protestant representative of preterism , in England it was Thomas Hayne (1582–1645). The French scholar and Geneva librarian Firmin Abauzit (1679–1767) represented his preterist view in the Essai sur l'Apocalypse of 1730. He is said to have distanced himself from it again later. In America, the view was best known through Robert Townley (1822–1888) through his work The Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ: A Past Event and the Bible translation he published, Young's Literal Translation from 1862.

See also

literature

  • Kenneth GC Newport: Apocalypse and Millennium: Studies in Biblical Eisegesis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, ISBN 0-521-77334-2
  • C. Marvin Pate (ed.): Four Views on the Book of Revelation . (Preterist: Kenneth L. Gentry; Idealist: Sam Hamstra; Progressive dispensionalist: C. Marvin Pate; Classical dispensionalist: Robert L. Thomas.) Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI 2001, ISBN 0-310-21080-1 ( Google Books )
  • Robert Charles Sproul: The Last Days According to Jesus. Baker, Grand Rapids 1998, v. a. P. 24ff. ISBN 080101171X ( Google Books )
  • Steve Wohlberg: End Time Delusions: The Rapture, the Antichrist, Israel, and the End of the World. Treasure House, Shippensburg, PA 2004, ISBN 0768429609 ( Google Books )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. z. B. Revelation 1,1; Romans 13: 11-12; Romans 16:20
  2. David Chilton: The Great Tribulation. Reformatorischer Verlag Beese, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-928936-12-3 , p. 12.
  3. Sproul RC: The Last Days According to Jesus - The Rapture s. l., s. a.
  4. Charles C. Ryrie : Understanding the Revelation. Perspective and clarity about the most fascinating book in the Bible. Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-89436-875-3 , pp. 8-10.
  5. http://www.preteristarchive.com/Preterism/Progressive/index.html (accessed on: April 13, 2012).
  6. http://www.preteristarchive.com/Modern/index.html (accessed on: April 13, 2012)
  7. http://www.preteristarchive.com/Preterism/Progressive/index.html (accessed on: April 13, 2012).
  8. Friedrich Bleek: Lectures on the Apocalypse. Reimer, Berlin 1862, p. 56.Digitized version (accessed on: April 13, 2012).
  9. Johann Samuelansch: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Wissenschaft und Künste. Second section HN. Twenty-second part. Johanne - Jonian portal. FW Brockhaus, Leipzig 1843, p. 93. Digitized version (accessed on: April 13, 2012).