Category Archives: Preterism

IS PRETERISM ANTI-SEMITIC? (1)

Ethics, History, Preterism January 11, 2022 Comments: 6

PMW 2022-003 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Anti semitismPreterism is anti-Semitic. Pure and simple. To the core, through-and-through. It denounces Jews and Israel. And it must do so to maintain its distinctive theology. It involves a persecutional mindset.

At least that is what prophecy populists maintain, and what a number of scholars (who should know better) argue. But why do they make this charge?

Preteristm teaches that several New Testament prophecies apply to the AD 70 destruction of the temple. Is preterism’s focus on the Jewish judgment in AD 70 anti-Semtic? This is a serious moral charge. How does the preterist postmillennialist answer it? Are we guilty of such a sin? Continue reading →

SATAN’S “SYNAGOGUE” IN REVELATION

Israel, Preterism December 28, 2021 Comments: 3

Syn SatanPMW 2021-094 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In Rev 2:9 (cp. 3:9) we read Jesus saying to Pergamum: “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Evangelical commentator Ramsey Michaels argues that the false Jews of “the synagogue of Satan” are actually non-Jews, just like the “false apostles” in the letter to the church at Ephesus were not actual apostles. In fact, this is the majority view among Rev commentators.

Against this position I would urge the following

First, why would anyone in the first-century Roman empire other than a racial Jew claim to be a Jew? Continue reading →

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR PRETERISM

History, Preterism, Revelation June 28, 2021 Comments: 5

PMW 2021-050 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Evangelical preterism is virtually the opposite of dispensational futurism. Because of this, dispensationalists are alarmed at the spread of orthodox preterism among some of its claimants. One means by which they try to dissuade their followers from adopting preterism is by charging that it was a late creation by a Jesuit priest named Luis Alcázar around 1600. Continue reading →

MATTHEW 23:39, DISPENSATIONALISM & PRETERISM

AD 70, Dispensationalism, Israel, Preterism June 18, 2021 Comments: 3

PMW 2021-047 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Matt. 23:39 is a favorite statement by Jesus that dispensationalism cling to as evidence of the future conversion of Israel. Read through their lens, it seems to state that Israel will one day be converted, and only then will the great tribulation begin (according to the order of verses following Matt 23:39). They hold that this would confirm dispensationalism and undermine preterism and postmillennialism.

Matthew 23:39 read:

“For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Continue reading →

REVELATION AND DOUBLE FULFILLMENT

Preterism, Revelation April 27, 2021 Comments: 9

PMW 2021-108 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Double image

I frequently have folks respond to my presentation of the preterist argument for Revelation in an unusual way. They see the strength of the preterist analysis of Revelation. They recognize that it is difficult to get around Revelation’s opening and closely comments regarding the temporal nearness of its prophecies. After all, Revelation 1:1 states rather clearly:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place.

And Revelation 22:6 closes the book on the same note:

These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

Since these statements are so clear and compelling, some believers attempt an end-run around them. Continue reading →

PRETERISM GROWING IN POPULARITY

Interpretation, Preterism, Revelation March 29, 2021 Comments: 4

preterism surprisePMW 2021-078 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Preterism is getting traction in the modern evangelical world. Dispensationalism, though still a behemoth, is on its last legs. All proposed rapture dates have failed; all identifications of the Antichrist have been exhausted. What is there to do? Evangelicalism is now living in a gap period: between dispensationalism’s heyday and its total demise. This is one gap theory I love.

But why is preterism gaining a footing? In this introductory article, I will summarily list the leading indicators, as they apply to the book of Revelation. Then in the next articles I will flesh them out. Continue reading →

EDITING MILTON TERRY’S COMMENTARY

Preterism, Revelation March 23, 2021 Comments: 6

PMW 2021-024 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In my previous three postings I have been noting the significance of Milton Terry’s commentary as I plan to bring it back into print. Thankfully, Biblical Apocalyptics has remained in print over the years and has included “The Apocalypse of John” as a major portion of it. But the published versions have been created by merely scanning the original text, then printing it “as is.” No attempt at resetting the type was engaged. Thus, the quality of reproduction was quite low.

Though we are not changing any of Terry’s positions, we are editing it for a modern readership. In our newly typeset version of Terry’s The Apocalypse of John the reader will find the following improvements. Continue reading →