As you reading this are probably aware, I have been in a season where my study of God's Word has… intensified, to put it in one word. In this and through discussion on message boards elsewhere, the doctrine of Preterism has arisen, so I thought it might make an interesting blog. If you're not familiar with preterism, click the link to the forums below where there are a few links.
I have created a discussion on my own forums [click here to go directly to discussion] that I would be quite pleased if you were willing to chip in your opinion, if you have one.
First off, I must claim ignorance in the area of eschatology, it's only something I've been studying over the last couple of years, there are many that have much more authority in the subject, some of whom are probably in the Preterist camp. This is my current observations and opinions, I'm not speaking with any authority of my own.
Without getting into specifics, I currently am of the opinion that the claim of Preterism is certainly not one that is in alignment with overall Scripture. The reading applied to come out with a preterist interpretation seem to be in error at the very beginning (by that I'm referring to Matthew 24), although it is oft argued that a more literal reading of Matthew 24 leads one to a preterist conclusion. That assertion is not only presumptuous, but assumes that the hermeneutics employed to reach such a conclusion are in themselves flawless.
I actually started writing a paper on Preterism today, but, acknowledging my own ignorance of the subject, decided against it, at least until a later time. I would like to examine the doctrine in the light of other doctrines (even some that Jesus clearly taught, such as the Bride Of Christ) to which it seems to be contradictory in nature.
Anyways, that's what I've been doing the entire day. My gut-feeling, though, is that Preterism seems to fail miserably when it comes to the overall context of Scripture, but this, of course, is a statement made from my narrow, ignorant understanding of the latter.
I will say, that the doctrine disturbs me, though, and deeply. Oddly enough, the approach used to justify Preterism is the same which I employed (although it was unknowingly) to justify my stance in Open Theism previously: using the subjective judgement of man to overlay an idea on Scripture and then conjugating various passages in the Bible to demonstrate the validity of the doctrine. I learned the hard way that this is a very dangerous way to approach the Bible.
So… maybe not as exciting as my last few posts, but my friends, this is so important, that we approach the Word of God without preconceived notions and are careful to weigh what we glean from it's pages against all of Scripture. We are warned many times about false doctrines, and I believe that Preterism is one of those, treat it very carefully.
