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Preterism

What follows is excerpted from a paper entitled

A Case for the Futurist Interpretation of the Book of Revelation
by Dr. Andrew Woods

“Revelation’s ‘Time Texts’

“The argument most relied upon by preterists to contend for a first century fulfillment is Revelation’s so called ‘time texts.’

“Because Revelation makes use of the words ‘shortly’ or ‘quickly’ or tavcos (Rev 1:1; 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:6, 7, 12, 20), ‘near’ or ‘at hand’ or ejgguvs (Rev 1:3; 22:10), and ‘about to’ or mevllw (1:19; 3:10), preterists believe that they have the literary license to locate the fulfillment of most of John’s prophecies in A.D. 70.

“However, the preterist errs in assuming that these words are technical expressions that always have the same definition every time they are used.

In fact, each of these terms has a broad semantic range and therefore its meaning must be determined by its context rather than through the imposition of an artificial ‘one size fits all’ grid.

“For example, besides always understanding these words chronologically indicating when Christ will return, it is also possible to understand them adverbially or qualitatively indicating the manner of Christ’s return.

“In other words, when the action comes it will come suddenly or with great rapidity. The New Testament allows for such a usage. For example, while it is true that Scripture often uses ‘shortly’ or ‘quickly’ (tacos) in a chronological sense to indicate ‘when’ (1 Timothy 3:14), Scripture also uses the same word in a qualitative sense to indicate ‘how.’

“For instance, Acts 22:18 uses tacos to indicate manner when it says, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

“The LXX also displays an adverbial use of these expressions by using them in prophetic contexts that would not be fulfilled for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years or more into the future (Isa 13:22; 51:5; Zeph 1:7, 14; Obad 15; cf. Isa 5:26; 13:6; 58:8; Joel 1:15; 2:1; 3:14).

“Given the broad semantic range of these terms, ‘context is king’ in determining whether the chronological or adverbial meaning is applicable.

“Because the context of Revelation involves global events that have not yet come to pass, an adverbial rather than a chronological meaning should be assigned to these words.

“While Revelation’s ‘timing texts’ pose no obstacle to the futurist interpretation, these texts pose considerable problems for the preterist interpreter.

“Partial preterist interpretive problems are created by the fact that Revelation’s ‘timing texts’ are found at the end of the Book of Revelation as well as the beginning (Rev 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20).

“The partial preterist system still wants to hold to a future bodily appearing and final judgment (Rev 20:7-15).

However,the use of tavcos and ejgguvs in Revelation 22 is injurious to the partial preterist system, because the existence of these words at the end of the book logically leads to the conclusion that the entire Book of Revelation was fulfilled in A.D. 70 rather than just most of it.

“If the use of tavcos and ejgguvs in the early chapters of Revelation lead partial preterists to conclude that most of the book’s prophecies were fulfilled in A.D. 70, then surely these identical words found at the end of the book should also lead to the conclusion that the entire book was fulfilled in A.D. 70...”

https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/a-case-for-the-futurist-interpretation-of-the-book-of-revelation/read
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Here are additional resources debunking the false teachings of Preterism and partial Preterism:

Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/has-bible-prophecy-already-been-fulfilled/read

Preterism
by Dr. Randall Price
https://www.raptureready.com/2015/08/07/preterism-by-randall-price-pdf/

Gary Demar’s End Times Fiction
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/dr-thomas-ice/message/gary-demar-s-end-times-fiction/read

A Review of Hank Hanegraaff’s The Apocalypse Code
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/a-review-of-hank-hanegraaff-s-the-apocalypse-code/read

An Assessment of Kenneth L. Gentry’s Internal Evidence for Dating Revelation
by Dr. Robert Thomas
https://pre-trib.org/dr-robert-thomas/message/an-assessment-of-kenneth-l-gentry-s-internal-evidence-for-dating-revelation/read