Preterism is a view in Christian
eschatology which holds that some or all of the biblical prophecies concerning the
Last Days refer to events which took place in the first century after Christ's birth, especially associated with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The term preterism comes from the Latin
praeter, meaning
past, since this view deems certain biblical prophecies as
past, or already fulfilled.
Preterism is most dramatically contrasted with
Futurism, the view that most prophecies regarding the
End times, and passages referring to
Last Days,
Great Tribulation, and
Judgment are still future and will immediately precede the
return of Christ. Proponents of preterist views generally fall in one of two categories:
PartialPreterism or
Full Preterism.
Partial Preterists
Partial Preterism, the older of the two views, holds that prophecies such as the destruction of Jerusalem, the
Antichrist, the Great Tribulation, and the advent of the Day of the Lord as a "judgment-coming" of Christ were fulfilled circa 70 AD when the Roman general (and future Emperor) Titus sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish Temple, putting a permanent stop to the daily animal sacrifices. It identifies "Babylon the great" (Revelation 17-18) with the ancient pagan City of Rome or Jerusalem...
...[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... Nearly all Partial Preterists hold to
amillennialism or
postmillennialism. Many postmillennial Partial Preterists are also
theonomists in their outlook....
Full Preterism
Full Preterism differs from Partial Preterism in that it sees all prophecy fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem, including the resurrection of the dead and Jesus' Second Coming or Parousia. Full Preterism is also known by other names, such as Consistent Preterism or Hyper-Preterism (a somewhat derogatory term). A related but more recent term is
Pantelism, which some regard as an extension of Full Preterism rather than the same thing...
Full Preterism holds that Jesus'
Second Coming is to be viewed not as a future-to-us bodily return, but rather a "return" manifested by the physical destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple in AD 70 by foreign armies in a manner similar to various Old Testament descriptions of God coming to destroy other nations in righteous judgment. Full Preterism also holds that the Resurrection of the dead did not entail the raising of the physical body, but rather the resurrection of the soul from the "place of the dead," known as Sheol (Hebrew) or Hades (Greek). As such, the righteous dead obtained a spiritual and substantial body for use in the heavenly realm, and the unrighteous dead were cast into the Lake of Fire. Some Full Preterists believe this judgment is ongoing and takes effect upon the death of each individual (Heb. 9:27). The New Heavens and the New Earth are also equated with the fulfillment of the Law in AD 70 and are to be viewed in the same manner by which a Christian is considered a "new creation" upon his or her conversion...Full Preterists reject the authority of the Creeds to condemn their view, stating that the Creeds were written by uninspired and fallible men and are simply in error on this point and need to be reformed....
