Posted on 07/31/2010 10:28:25 AM PDT by GiovannaNicoletta
Recognizing that the Christian Church has historically been the greatest resistor to the gospel of Marxism, the subversive forces of the left are working hard to devour their greatest enemy from the inside out. It is essential that the methods through which Marxist ideas are taking root in the Churches are exposed.
I am truly grateful to TV and radio host Glenn Beck for highlighting the Marxist foundations of the “social justice” movement. There is a vast difference between “social justice” and genuine Biblical justice. Christians that swallow this poison pill are quickly transformed into little socialists for Jesus.
But beyond “social justice”, there is another foundational theological element to this equation that must be exposed. But first, it is important to briefly review the primary hope, expectation and message of the Bible. From start to finish, the unified, cohesive message that every Biblical prophet and apostle proclaimed is the coming of the messianic kingdom of God on the earth. Whether Jewish or Christian, the pole star of hope for every believer has always been the Messianic Kingdom. This vision of heaven and earth fully redeemed together as one, has always been the ultimate hope of the people of God. This message is most often called “the Gospel”. Proclaiming this message, in word and deed, has always been the primary calling and mission of the Church.
Why then are so many Christians now abandoning this mission? The answer lies in the ongoing infiltration of the Church with Marxist wolves-in-sheep’s clothing. And one of the Marxist’s greatest theological tools is found in a heretical system of interpretation known as “Preterism”.
Preterism seeks to neuter the primary message of the Church by arguing that all or most Biblical prophecy has already been fulfilled in history. Thus all of the primary eschatological expectations of the gospel message are no longer to be watched for, hoped for, longed for… or proclaimed.
When examining the various Messianic expectations that have been trumpeted by the prophets and apostles from ancient times, Preterism emasculates the Christian faith of nearly every essential future expectation. In its most extreme forms, Preterism holds that Jesus Christ has already returned, (spiritually), that the Antichrist has already come, that the resurrection of the dead has already taken place (again, spiritually), and that what we are seeing and experiencing now; that’s all there is folks.
So why is this system of interpretation being pushed so heavily by men like Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis and other prominent pseudo-Christian lefties? The answer is simple: These men are Marxists in their political orientation and they have an agenda.
History shows that Marxist regimes have always made efforts to crush Christian movements. This was primarily due to the fact that the Biblical-messianic-utopian hopes of the Christian faith were in conflict with the Marxist-humanist-utopian vision. Marxism is not so much threatened by what Christians believe about Jesus dying on the cross for their sins, but rather what they believe with regard to the future–their eschatological messianic expectations.
This time around however, the Marxists are trying an entirely new tactic. They are attempting to infiltrate the Churches, and by altering a few key eschatological doctrines, they believe that they can reconcile Christianity with Marxism. Why the need to eradicate Christians when they can just as easily be converted and utilized as useful idiots for the Marxist cause? It’s far less bloody after all.
But in order for the Marxist conversion to take place, Christians must first abandon their traditional messianic hopes through the deconstructive vehicle of Preterism. In my latest DVD set, Understanding the Times, I discuss this issue in detail. Consider the implications:
First, the belief that a charismatic and populist leader (the Antichrist) will emerge in the last-days pretending to vindicate the poor is eliminated. Marxists need the people to trust them and their populist, collectivist, nanny-state ideas.
Second, the Bible teaches that the Messiah is literally coming back in the future to slay the Antichrist and his followers. Obviously such expectations also must be eliminated. Dictators with messiah complexes cannot tolerate competition.
Third, the enemies of Israel will be decisively judged while Israel will be vindicated. This drives Marxists bonkers. Israel, as the outpost of Democracy in the Middle East can only be demonized. Marxists simply cannot have Israel, or any democracy for that matter, viewed in a positive light.
Fourth, the Messiah will rule the earth from Jerusalem. Again, Marxists hate competition. And of course, they certainly would not wish to offend their Muslim collectivist brethren.
Fifth, the corrupt and exploitative leaders of the earth will be crushed. The conclusion of Psalm 110 actually says that when the Messiah comes, he will literally slay the corrupt leaders of the earth. Enough said.
Sixth, the Messiah will cleanse and rebuild the earth. The only hope that the Marxists have of passing their various environmental control policies is by instilling in the people a sense of fear and hopelessness. They cannot allow any external hope, particularly of a future divine intervention to heal the earth.
And finally, the day will come when all of the righteous dead will be resurrected and come to life. The unrighteous dead, on the other hand, will be resurrected to eternal judgment. This of course is a two-edged sword for the Marxist. The Marxist is both jealous of this future hope instilled in the people and also terrified that all of their hypocrisy and corruption has been caught on divine videotape to someday be played back in front of everyone. Not surprisingly, many of these subversives are also staunch enemies of the Biblical concept of judgment and hell.
In the end, Preterism is a decidedly acidic theological position that guts the Christian gospel of any eschatological hope. And while not all Preterists are necessarily Marxists, all of these Christo-Marxists are Preterists. Alert and discerning believers need to be aware of the tactics of these men. If a preacher stood in most pulpits and openly preached naked Communism, most of the people would rightly rise up and run the bugger out. So also must the people rise up and run the subversive influences of Preterism out of the Church.
This is a very good summation of how the false doctrine of preterism plays right into the hands of totalitarians and is actually a "theology" of Marxists.
Good article.
from the frying pan and into the fire :>)
Red Flag Alert.
Preterism is part of the Calvinists. I have acquaintances who are preterists and they are Calvinists. I would be happy if the Calvinist belief system would disappear.
It's time to break out those old "Don't Let them Immanentize the Eschaton" buttons from the 60's. Eric Voegelin had all these gnostic heretics trapped & exposed!
Some hide behind their FAMILIES, but in reality they are about THEIR legacy.
Others, kindof a Kumbahya thingy, and dominionship...I/WE are going to change the world for GOD!!!!!!!... and live happily ever after.
But in the end it really is about THEIR living happily ever after.
Then there is the person, again who lives happily ever after by "LOVING" everybody. Giving to all with need (even if it ain't theirs to give) and denying all who have.
None of these are people living with a sense of urgency. None are looking at Gods kingdom, but life on earth as they see...OR-WANT TO see it.
I have never understood the logic of preterism. It defies common sense.
Hitler was a Catholic.
Therefore, all Catholics hate Jews.
Obvious, isn't it?
Seriously, though, let's look at what a few preterists actually do teach about Marxism.
Gary North became a serious anti-Communist while still a teenager. As a young man, he mastered the works of Marx, and wrote a book on the religious dimensions of Marxism entitled Marx and his Religion of Revolution. North demonstrated how Karl Marx was driven by a hatred for God, and preached a tarted-up version of the ancient chaos cults. North has consecrated around 10 hours / week over the last four decades to writing an economics commentary on the Bible. North preaches that Marxism violates the commands against theft and covetousness, and has stated many times that "Christian" socialists are actually useful idiots who enable mass-murder.
On one memorable occasion, Gary North actually debated the leading "evangelical" soft-sell socialist, Ron Sider, author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. He showed up for the debate with several boxes of a recently published book that he'd commission, Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators. Point by point, this book used the Bible to demolish Sider's claims to speak for Christ, and the Bible. Productive Christians is an excellent book, BTW. I need to read it to my girls. Very lively, very Biblical, very well-grounded in historical and factual information.
Did I mention that the author of Productive Christians was a preterist? Sadly, after a major heart attack, David Chilton toppled over the edge into the lunatic fringe of this movement, and denied the hope of our future bodily resurrection. In God's mercies, this once-brilliant writer died soon thereafter.
George Grant preaches biblical understandings of poverty, and its cures. He is not a socialist.
One of the most personable and approachable present-day preterists is Gary DeMar, founder and president of American Vision. This worthy organization produces excellent educational material dealing with such disciplines as history, literature, and economics. I invite you to listen to his 10-minute discussion Does Prophetic Speculation Hurt the Gospel? The answer, of course, is yes. Folks who are obsessed with proclaiming the implacable certainty of the worldwide victory of Satan do not sufficiently fear, or trust, in the God of the Bible.
Gary DeMar, with his passion for God and liberty, is not a Marxist. One of the writers on his staff, in fact, grew up in Bulgaria.
Well, this representative sample demonstrates that your accusation against preterists, your assertion that they are in bed with Karl Marx, is a lie from the pit of some nasty place. Your obsession with fortune-telling is leading you into ever-stranger pathways. I pray God will enlighten you, as He did me, and thousands of other Christians around the world. Fortune-telling is a loser's game. Proclaiming as inevitable the global triumph of evil is a sin against God's name and reputation and people.
Thats an ENTIRELY in accurate statement.
Click my screen name and scroll down over 1/2 way. :)
Fundie kooks aren’t to be “reasoned” with. :)
Watch your logic.
Some preterists are Calvinists.
Therefore all Calvinists are preterists.
Does not compute.
***
Because you have Calvinist friends who are Preterists this means Preterism is part of Calvinism?
Don't think so. Maybe your friends are out to lunch.
If a person can get Jesus Christ out of the way, in the form of denying those portions of the Bible which are prophetic, then that leaves them free to elevate themselves to the position they feel they are destined for: Savior of the World.
Narcissism is a distorted view of one's own worth and abilities. You won't find a much better example of narcissism than the belief that all prophetic Scripture, none of which can be found in any history book anywhere as having already taken place, is done and over with and now it's OUR TIME to shine and save the world and take Jesus' rightful place as Lord.
Preterism is simply man doing what fallen man has always done: attempted to rid himself of Jesus Christ and be the Master of his own universe.
A bright, shining display of what Jesus said man in his natural state really is.
Good article.
The best way to defeat marxism is on God’s word. Listen to what God tells us.
Trusting in God and what he tells us is an impenetrable barrier that marxism and its demons cannot break.
With all due respect, baloney. I’m a Calvinist and a historic premillenialist, just like Charles Spurgeon, another Calvinist. Nothing, not a thing, in Calvinism requires or infers preterism per se. Amillenialism, the belief that the church age constitutes the 1000 years, is something believed by many Calvinists, but even classical amillenialism ends with the glorious and quite literal return of Jesus in the clouds, no “hidden” or “spiritual” return subversions, no “Latter Rain” we-save-the-earth-first nonsense.
Calvinism is about God’s unstoppable grace lifting man from his hopelessly fallen condition. Calvinism’s pessimism about the sin nature in man is precisely the bedrock upon which our own system of checks and balances was built. Without Calvinism, the whole notion of a constitutional form of government may never have taken shape the way it did, for it was in the tidal wave of the Reformation, largely Calvinistic, that we began to have broad success in setting good laws above both kings and popes and trade man-centered forms of government for governments built on universal, uniform laws that have their authority, not by the armies of earthly powers, but by the appeal to conscience for the God-given rights of each *individual* person, not “the Collective.” Therefore Calvinism, rightly understood, is the true Anti-Communism antidote.
“Calvinism, rightly understood, is the true Anti-Communism antidote.”
Respectfully, I disagree.
The antidote is simply God’s word. Anyone who reads and believes it can escape the curse of marxism.
“This is a very good summation of how the false doctrine of preterism plays right into the hands of totalitarians and is actually a “theology” of Marxists.”
This is just one man’s opinion, it has no actual discussion of doctrine based on scripture.
Sad, but true.
When your eschatology makes you an unpaid cheerleader for the other team, isn’t it time to stop and give thought about just what it is you’ve given your heart to?
What makes Christians root for the global triumph of evil, when they claim to serve a God who “so loved the world?” Why wish that kind of sorrow, heartache, and suffering upon one’s neighbor?
“Preterism is part of the Calvinists”
Nope, totally separate.
It is in opposition to Dispensationalism, though, which has been a popular theology for a number of years.
Great material. Thanks.
“If a person can get Jesus Christ out of the way, in the form of denying those portions of the Bible which are prophetic, then that leaves them free to elevate themselves to the position they feel they are destined for: Savior of the World.”
You have no clue what preterism is.
It’s not a denial of the prophetic parts of the Bible, it’s the opposite. Preterists believe that the prophecies were fulfilled exactly as they were foretold, and not twisted around into a bunch of goofy ideas as the Left Behind series does with them.
This is the current strategy employed in the Campus Compact movement toward student Christian associations. On most major campuses, and increasing numbers of private schools in fact, religious groups would have difficulty remaining officially active without acknowledging basic tenets of Social and Environmental “justice”. To Hell, as it were, with scripture.
You’re welcome!
“What makes Christians root for the global triumph of evil, when they claim to serve a God who “so loved the world?” Why wish that kind of sorrow, heartache, and suffering upon one’s neighbor?”
Well said.
Well, being a historic premil myself, in the shadow of Spurgeon, I think the reason we view “global evil” differently than preterists is because it’s what a premil reading of the gospels leads one to expect. So we’re really not “cheering” for it, but we do see it as foreshadowing the inevitable return of Christ, and that should make any Christian heart cheerful, despite the sorrows of the time.
Anyone who has the slightest familiarity with the lie of preterism knows how the lie steals away from Christians the promises of Jesus Christ and attempts to make God into a liar by trying to claim that all of prophecy has already happened with blatant nonsense such as the Armageddon Campaign, which God tells us Jesus Christ Himself will put an end to, has already happened.
Preterism serves the purposes of Marxism quite well: by denying the hope that Christ has given to Christians, it gives those who buy into the lie the recourse of looking to man for sustenance and salvation.
Read the article. It speaks for itself.
Yeah, I’m inclined to subscribe to the preterist POV and I am the hardest fighter against Marxism you’ll find this side of your favorite large river.
The fact is that eschatological issues are going to be debated until they’re fully resolved by the Almighty Himself.
So let’s agree on the core issues: Salvation through Christ Alone, the primacy of the Scripture, and fulfilling the Great Commission. Evangelicals, Catholics, and Orthodox all adhere to these basic ideas (I know Catholics also lend great authority to the Church and tradition)...and let’s keep the “fringe” ideas—e.g. eschatology—on the fringe.
:)
LOL!!!! Exactly! Thanks for making my point!
Now that all the prophetic Scripture has already happened, Jesus Christ is out of the way, and MAN can finally take over and fulfill his destiny as Savior of the World!
Thanks for reiterating what I said!
Russell's Bible reading lends strong creedence to the idea of preterism. He is NOT a "full preterist", however.
Full Preterism is very distinct from Partial Preterism, and one ought to distinguish the two. "Full" seems to lend itself to heresy, whereas "Partial" still acknowledges some future coming judgement.
Modern evangelicals (I include myself) have been so imbued with the "futurist" position on Revelation, we have to at least acknowledge Christians of good conscience have other reasonable positions.
Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (Mark 13:35-37)
Christ commands Christians to watch for His return.
You can keep what you consider to be the "fringe ideas" of Scripture on the "fringe" - but there are those of us who take literally and seriously what Christ commanded, among those commandments to watch for His return, and that's exactly what we will do.
Buddygirl: Preterism is part of the Calvinists. I have acquaintances who are preterists and they are Calvinists. I would be happy if the Calvinist belief system would disappear.
Clearly you don't understand even the most basic things of Church History, the Reformation, Calvinism, the Doctrines of Grace, or the faith of our fathers. For example, Amillennialism, rather than Preterism from the days of the Olivet Discourse, til even now, has dominated the Gospel faith. Calvin has not been attributed to any particular eschatology, but facts don't matter - just go make them up - that is the "new" Christian way - attack the saints of God. (sigh)
mountn man: Thats an ENTIRELY in accurate statement.
And here we have it. Two representatives of modern day biblically illiterate "evangelicalism" taking the side of Nero, Stalin and an endless list of atheists, muslims, jews and garden variety misotheists fantasizing about the death and destruction of the Gospel, Christians and the traditional, orthodox faith. It is even more disturbing that buddygirl wants to see her "acquaintances" eradicated. Are you simply going to lead the authorities to their door, or will you help load them onto the boxcars?
You two are such a blessing. Go back to your big boxes, sing secular pop-music to yourself while your "pastor" sails down a zip line to the stage so he can deliver your next "me me me" sermonette dressed in a Batman costume. We all know that is pleasing to your god.
What I mean is this: you can be wrong about your eschatology and still make it into the Kingdom of God. On the other hand, you cannot be wrong about Christ's work on the cross and be considered a Christian.
Does that make sense?
Denials of Scripture, at least those that have real effect, are seldom direct. Go back to the garden of Eden and hear the insinuation of doubt as Satan hisses “has God said?” A question, mind you, not a direct denial on the lines of “God didn’t say that!”, but more as in “did you perhaps misunderstand what God said.” Oh how gentle and soothing that must have sounded in Eve’s ears. “I’m not really fighting God, I’m advancing in my understanding by listening to this kindly serpent.”
Preterism, fully gone to seed, is not the way a child’s heart comes to the teaching that “Jesus is coming back, just the way you see him go to Heaven in the clouds, in the same way he will return.” No, full preterism artfully weaves all the difficult passages together, “transforming” them into a narrative of human futurism, basking in the glow of allowing God to be part of the conversation, but without imposing upon him to do any of that archaic miracle-working or showing up in the person of the resurrected Jesus. Surely *that* is too much to expect. “Did God say?...” Ask a child.
However, there are many people, having been told of the soon return of Christ and the events and judgments which will occur before His return, will be saved as a result of being apprised of this Scriptural truth.
The fact that prophecies Christ gave us to look for that would occur right before His return are all happening in our generation, all at the same time, is a great motivator for examining one's relationship with Jesus Christ, or lack thereof.
Prophetic Scripture is a wonderful motivator that leads people to salvation - just as God intended it to be and is one of the reasons why He gave us such details about what to look for.
Actually, escatological themes appear in the majority of the books of the Bible; I would hardly call that a "fringe" idea!
I do believe the Scriptures and history show that Jerusalem's fall and the ensuing Diaspora were fulfilling much of what Christ predicted.
After reading Russell's book, the Bible's prophecies in that regard seem to be at least partially fulfilled.
And I certainly take exception to someone declaring the idea "Marxist". Look, Satan can take ANY idea/philosophy/technology/advancement and use it to advance his evil agenda.
Look at what evil has been done through the motivating medium of: music, sex, religion, politics, education, medicine. You get the point.
To pick out a particular doctrinal point of view in an area as diverse as eschatology and label it as essentially the work of the DEVIL is a bit over the top. Have there been abuses by preterists? No doubt.
There have also been people who are willing to die on the hill of "pre tribulation rapture" or "post trib" or "mid-trib", etc. etc. and all the while the world and their neighborhood is still dying from lack of knowledge of Christ. Focus in the extreme on questions like this makes for very interesting "in family debates", but it doesn't do a whole lot for bringing people into the Shepherd's Fold.
I don't know if you remember in the 70s and 80s...the Gog/Magog fearmongering about the Soviet Union and China...and the "Late Great Planet Earth" books and films...and "Chariots of the Gods"....all of these were enormously popular and generated a lot of heat, but very little light.
Better for us to demonstrate Christ's love by speaking the truth to our fellow man, helping them when we can, and adhering to the His command to make disciples. :) And we can always agree to disagree about the end times.
JMHO.
see post 37.
Are there abuses? Of course, just as there are when teaching the principles of justification or sanctification. And all these have a large number of abusers out there. But eschatology can bring people into the fold when taught in the right spirit; the end of the world WILL come and people need to be reminded of that in order to prepare and not be tied only to this world...just as Christ Himself said.
Also, see post 30. I have a good link to a reasonable source on preterism there.
If you really want a dialogue about the debate between futurism and preterism, you should start there.
thanks.
Although I don't agree with your idea that eschatology is a "fringe" issue and I do think that teaching on Jesus' coming is vital, I'm not sure I would disagree entirely with your POV, though I find it difficult on this thread to know what that is.
I tend to take the reformers' amillenial stance. I think that much of prophecy has been fulfilled and that there is currently a lot of wacky stuff taught in the name of eschatology that does not line up with the Bible.
The fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jewish people fulfilled a couple of the prophecies; however, God also said that He would bring His people back into their own land from among the nations and that the nation of Israel would not only be re-established, but be reborn in one day. Those prophecies were not fulfilled in 70AD, but have been fulfilled in our generation. And they have been fulfilled down to the tiniest detail.
After reading Russell's book, the Bible's prophecies in that regard seem to be at least partially fulfilled.
What Jesus said would happen in 70AD was extremely limited and indeed did happen. But, undoubtedly, the vast majority of the prophetic Scripture was for a future time, and, the regathering of the Jews into Israel was only the beginning of a future fulfillment of the prophecies Christ gave us.
And I certainly take exception to someone declaring the idea "Marxist". Look, Satan can take ANY idea/philosophy/technology/advancement and use it to advance his evil agenda.
Well, unfortunately, the false doctrine of preterism is the perfect tool for Satan in leading those who buy into it to the belief that Jesus is not coming back as He said He is going to, that the hope that Christ gave us is a lie since all of the things He said would happen have already come to pass, and therefore the only hope one has is in the rule of man.
Preterism is the perfect tool for Marxists to use to substitute themselves for Jesus Christ.
Look at what evil has been done through the motivating medium of: music, sex, religion, politics, education, medicine. You get the point.
But those things have always been provided by Satan as an alternative to God's way. Preterism is different because it joins with Satan in claiming that God does not mean what He says and cannot be trusted. It fits in with Marxism in that it is a denial of the truth of the Word of God - after all, if what God tells us will happen - His physical return to earth to conquer evil and rule and reign - has already happened thousands of years ago, then the hope that Christ tells us we have is phony and false and needs to be discarded.
It's a gift on a silver platter to those who would enslave human beings.
There have also been people who are willing to die on the hill of "pre tribulation rapture" or "post trib" or "mid-trib", etc. etc. and all the while the world and their neighborhood is still dying from lack of knowledge of Christ. Focus in the extreme on questions like this makes for very interesting "in family debates", but it doesn't do a whole lot for bringing people into the Shepherd's Fold.
The actions of foolish people have never stopped Jesus Christ from getting the Gospel out to a lost world. There have been many missionaries who have been murdered in the service of leading people to salvation and that never interfered with Jesus getting His message out.
What human beings do based on their own wisdom has no bearing on Jesus making sure that the truth of His gift of salvation is spread to this fallen world.
I don't know if you remember in the 70s and 80s...the Gog/Magog fearmongering about the Soviet Union and China...and the "Late Great Planet Earth" books and films...and "Chariots of the Gods"....all of these were enormously popular and generated a lot of heat, but very little light.
There have always been and will always be fads, and movements and movies - some will be enlightening and beneficial and some will be destructive. That doesn't change the message of the Gospel and it doesn't change the absolute, inerrant truth of the Word of God.
After all of the man-made distractions have faded from popularity, God's Scripture and the truth contained in that Scripture will still be standing. It is foolish and dangerous to let men and their choices lead a person away from what God has clearly told us in His Word.
The fact that Christ will literally and physically return to this earth has not changed nor have any of the facts about the events surrounding His return changed. God doesn't operate according to what man does or doesn't do; His plan for this earth will be carried out no matter what, and those who allow temporal fads and crazes to cause them to doubt what God has said will happen will be left befuddled and reduced to denying reality as these prophecies are literally fulfilled.
Better for us to demonstrate Christ's love by speaking the truth to our fellow man, helping them when we can, and adhering to the His command to make disciples. :)
Yes, we are to do that according to what Christ told us, but we also have a responsibility to warn those who are perishing of the fact that Christ is returning soon and what they see happening around them that has so many people alarmed and fearful is exactly what Jesus said would occur before His return and these events are evidence that time is running short to come to Christ for salvation.
We have a duty, according to God, to be "watchmen on the wall" - to be the salt of the earth, and to let as many people as possible know that this present age is coming to a close and time is running out to accept Christ as Savior and be "counted as worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass".
And we can always agree to disagree about the end times.
Amen.
Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators.
Available for free online reading from Gary North's website.
David Chilton toppled over the edge into the lunatic fringe of this movement, and denied the hope of our future bodily resurrection.
The difference between orthodox and Hymenean preterism is one that (in my observation) dispensationalists, even good ones like Barry Horner, are oblivious to.
So let’s agree on the core issues: Salvation through Christ Alone, the primacy of the Scripture, and fulfilling the Great Commission. Evangelicals, Catholics, and Orthodox all adhere to these basic ideas
An observation I have made regarding modern evangelicalism is that, and I know that this is a general statement, not to be understood as universal, that they have largely through ignorance, arrogance and truly bad teaching do not have much, if anything, in common with the traditional faith that has been understood and practiced by the Church since its inception.
In terms of soteriology, they have largely adopted the Pelagian heresy. In some circles, everyone goes to heaven with the exception of those who have explicitedly denied Christ - that is, to project their [per]version of passion on to God, to excuse "those who have not heard", they have adopted the salvation by default position. There are other variations such as The Age of Accountability granting temporary salvation until a child reaches a certain age to comprehend the Gospel, afterwards the child falls under a different dispensation. Then there is the vast majority that has either redefined or categorically denied the foundational doctrine of Original Sin, declaring by fiat that any man can, without regeneration, voluntarily shed their enmity against Christ and "choose Christ". So modern evangelicalism has rejected biblical soteriology.
The Primacy of Scripture has been replaced by modern pop psychology. No longer is sin rebellion against God, rather it has changed to a simple "mistake". Therefore there is no need for Repentance, at least not in the traditional sense for salvation. If repentance is brought up, it is almost always in the context of improving your position of strength when negotiating quid pro quos with God. This is one of many examples where foundational doctrine has been deconstructed, redefined, or completely rejected because it interfered with competing secular ideological goals of the modern theocrat.
In terms of fulfilling the Great Commission, instead of "going out", they have destroyed the Church so that the Gospel that offends is no longer spoken, rather they now speak the language of the world, this is what they hope to do to "draw them in".
Since modern evangelicalism has largely rejected almost all of the doctrines of the Scriptures (save, perhaps the death and resurrection, and the virginity of Mary - and even that I am not too sure about), I don't think that the Saints have much in common with the sham that is modern evangelicalism
...and let’s keep the “fringe” ideas—e.g. eschatology—on the fringe.
What is so interesting about this article, is that the author is trying to turn the argument completely on its head. Preterism is an invention of the Jesuits because the orthodox understanding of eschatology has been largely that of the Realized Millennium or pejoratively, "Amillenial". They came up with revisionism to combat the prevaling opinion in the Protestant community that the Beast and the Antichrist were the Roman Catholic church and the Pope. Now if the blaspheming liar that wrote the article did even the most basic research, he would have had to know this fact of history. He would also know that the competing view - Dispensational Premillennialism is actualy from the same womb as Marxism and Evolution, coming from the same people within the intellectual social circle of mid 19th century Europe. Dispensationalism, is truly a necessary ingredient in the spirit of Antichrist that is of Evolution and Marxism. Evolution attempts to destroy Original Sin, Origins and Genesis 1-11. Marxism attacks the person of Jesus Christ and places the State as the intemediary between God and Man. Dispensationalism completes the destruction by attacking the doctrines of Redemption. The complete and total lack of scholarship of the author of this article seems to fit perfectly with the lack of discernment that defines the modern evangelical.
I find the war between the Preterists and the Futurists rather amusing in that they both are one dimensional attacks on each other based on both parties incapable of understanding abstract ideas or recognizing the composite fulfillments that have been shown befor in OT prophecy. Also, the furturist view is a product of the Jesuits who attempted to attack the Historicist interpretation of biblical eschatology. In a way, you have a Jesuit teaching attacking another Jesuit teaching - both teachings brought into existence to undermine the true orthodox rendering of biblical eschatology.
Of course, all of this will be lost on the Disepensationalist, because the real Bogey Man they must attack is the Calvinist - not the scoffer. Dispensationalism allows certain segments of the evangelical community the ability to weigh in on any issue declaring that every troop movement, every oil spill, every named storm or natural disaster is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Now they can attack America, decrying our culture as yet another "curse against Abraham" that requires God to throw lightening bolts at all Americans. Modern Dispensationalists suffer the same Anti-American disease of the Progressives - they are itching to find something wrong with this country, and are always eager to find a way to punish the United States.
Dispensationalism, not Preterism, is the doctine of devils
I can’t argue the history you presented—it may be accurate. I do recall reading Augustine was essentially an amilleniest...
But your description of the heresies of modern evangelicalism doesn’t adhere to the evangelicalism I grew up believing. To be sure, there are denominations (UMC, for instance) that have strayed and are watering down the Gospel.
I do believe J. Stuart Russell’s presentation of the idea was a fair one. Whether he was influenced by Jesuit ideas, I don’t know. I do not believe he was Catholic, but Congregationalist.
Thanks, brother, for the kind words. The truth of the matter is, I have a dissertation that is stubbornly refusing to write itself, and I find it too easy to get distracted into pointless quarrels. I mean, if people are so committed to the triumph of evil, it's kind of hard to "show them the way of the Lord more perfectly." If they are already on the other team's side, and yearning and longing to see the global triumph of evil, it messes with their minds. Makes them hysterical and irrational.
I rejoice to serve the Reigning King, whose ongoing work continues to transform the fallen world one soul, family, and discipline at a time, as all things are brought into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, as a man of good will, I grieve for the unbelieving Jews, who struggle through life without a Savior, and for the fearful, cringing dispensationalists, who struggle through life without a Lord. Their "Jesus" is a personal spiritual adviser, a guru to help them fine-tune their inner/imaginary/religious life, rather than the Majestic One who sits enthroned on high, actively working in the affairs of men.
Discovering that Lord > Guru was a liberating moment in my life. Discovering that Christianity applies to the world around us, not just to the "universe" within us, transformed my life, family, vocation, and witness. When I was an apocalypse-crazed hysteriac, I alienated my family so deeply that many of those wounds have yet to heal, 40 years later. However, once I got on the winning team, my credibility slowly recovered, as I learned to live in terms of a better set of expectations.
Thanks, brother, for the kind words. The truth of the matter is, I have a dissertation that is stubbornly refusing to write itself, and I find it too easy to get distracted into pointless quarrels. I mean, if people are so committed to the triumph of evil, it's kind of hard to "show them the way of the Lord more perfectly." If they are already on the other team's side, and yearning and longing to see the global triumph of evil, it messes with their minds. Makes them hysterical and irrational.
I rejoice to serve the Reigning King, whose ongoing work continues to transform the fallen world one soul, family, and discipline at a time, as all things are brought into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, as a man of good will, I grieve for the unbelieving Jews, who struggle through life without a Savior, and for the fearful, cringing dispensationalists, who struggle through life without a Lord. Their "Jesus" is a personal spiritual adviser, a guru to help them fine-tune their inner/imaginary/religious life, rather than the Majestic One who sits enthroned on high, actively working in the affairs of men.
Discovering that Lord > Guru was a liberating moment in my life. Discovering that Christianity applies to the world around us, not just to the "universe" within us, transformed my life, family, vocation, and witness. When I was an apocalypse-crazed hysteriac, I alienated my family so deeply that many of those wounds have yet to heal, 40 years later. However, once I got on the winning team, my credibility slowly recovered, as I learned to live in terms of a better set of expectations.
I sincerely hope that the "in" is supposed to be a part of "accurate." If that is the case, which I didn't originally see, I owe you a deep, heartfelt apology.
If not, then I mean every word that I wrote ;)
Anyone else on the thread interested in reading a reasonable explanation of preterism (whether you believe it or not, this is a good description of the point of view) can read it at this link:
Some confusion about preterism may result from the divergent views in the movement itself. From the Preterist Archive:
The book clearly teaches the physicality of the resurrection body (whether Christ's body or the body of a resurrected saint).
The book also teaches that Revelation 20:5-10 still hasn't been fulfilled. Therefore, The Parousia isn't stuck with teaching that our sinful and suffering Earth will always remain full of sin and suffering.
In short, I think we need to distinguish between Evangelical full preterism (as taught by Russell in The Parousia) on the one hand, and heretical full preterism (as taught by those denying a physical resurrection body and/or who deny that sin and suffering will someday cease) on the other. "
Huh? Evangelicals by and large would not stand for this. "In some circles"....of course (kind of like the circles that the Catholic Pelosi types travel in).
For the most part evangelicals steer pretty well clear of anything like "everyone goes to Heaven with the exception..." kind of beliefs. Now, mainline Protestant churches (who would not classify themselves as "evangelicals"), that's another story.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.