Whose Interpretation Is Correct? Yours or Mine?

 

Dennis Edwards

The question is not whose interpretation is correct, but which interpretation is most in-line with Scripture, history, logic, and has less supporting arbitrary assumptions. Generally there are four views or ways to interpret Bible Prophecy. Thomas Ice in his article Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled? explains the views clearly.

“The Preterist (Latin for “past”) believes that most, if not all prophecy has already been fulfilled, usually in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The Historicist (present) sees much of the current church age as equal to the tribulation period. Thus, prophecy has been and will be fulfilled during the current church age. Futurists (future) usually believe that almost no prophetic events are occurring in the current church age, but will take place in the following future events: the tribulation of seven years, the second coming, the 1,000 year millennium, and the eternal state… The idealist (timeless) does not believe either that the Bible indicates the timing of events or that we can determine their timing in advance. Therefore, idealists see prophetic passages as teaching great truths about God to be applied to our present lives.

"Idealism, as an approach to Bible prophecy, is rarely followed outside of liberal scholarship and thus is not a significant factor in the mainstream of current evangelical debate over when prophecy will be fulfilled. Historicism, once the dominate view of Protestants from the Reformation until the middle of last century, appears to exert little attraction as a system of prophetic interpretation to conservative Christians, outside of Seventh-Day Adventist circles. However, it must be noted that most historicists take a preterist view of the Olivet Discourse, but disassociate it from the tribulation as found in Revelation and some New Testament Epistles. During the last 150 years, within evangelicalism, futurism has grown to dominate and overcome historicism. At the turn of the millennium, we see an attempt to challenge futurism arising from evangelical preterism...But the last five to ten years have seen an increase in the ranks of preterism, from hundreds to thousands, as someone as well-known as R.C. Sproul has adopted this view.

"Preterists argue that major prophetic portions of Scripture such as the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Revelation were fulfilled in events surrounding the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Preterists believe that they are compelled to take such a view because Matthew 24:34 and its parallel passages say that “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” This means it had to take place in the first century, they argue. Revelation, they advocate, says something similar in the passages that say Christ is coming “quickly” or that His return is “at hand.” Having settled in their mind that these prophecies had to take place in the first century, they believe they are justified in making the rest of the language fit into a local (Jerusalem), instead of a worldwide fulfillment. Most preterists believe that we are currently living in at least an inaugurated new heavens and new earth, since all the Book of Revelation had to have a first century fulfillment."

Ice goes on to explain that the Preterists can generally be divided into three catagories: mild, moderate and extreme depending upon how strongly someone may hold to the view. Generally speaking, the mild Preterists believe the book of Revelation was mostly completed by 300 AD: first through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and afterward through the conversion of Constantine and the Christianization of Rome. The moderate Preterist believe that most Bible prophecy was fulfilled at 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem and the crucifixion of some million Jews by the Romans. However, they also still look for the Rapture event of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and the resurrection of believers at the bodily return of Christ spoken of in Acts 1:9-11. The extreme or consistent Preterist believe that all Bible prophecy was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Christ came in the spirit to rescue his own at that time. They do not look for a bodily return of Christ or bodily resurrection. 

Under the Preterist view the great tribulation of Matthew 24 already took place. The great apostacy spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2 also took place before Jerusalem's destruction. The expression "last days" used with Bible prophecy was specifically for the state of Israel and was fulfilled in 70 AD. No future Antichrist will arise.

The Futurist interpretation of "this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled," differs from the Preterist who believe that Jesus literally meant that the generation He was speaking to, His disciples, would not pass until His prophecy came to pass. By taking such a "literal" interpretation the Preterist force themselves to believe that Bible Prophecy was generally completed in 70 AD. However, the Futurist believe that Jesus was saying that the generation that sees the signs or events Jesus mentions will see the fulfillment of those events. Dr. Darrel Bock explains it in the following quote:

"What Jesus is saying is that the generation that sees the beginning of the end, also sees its end. When the signs come, they will proceed quickly; they will not drag on for many generations. It will happen within a generation. . . . The tradition reflected in Revelation shows that the consummation comes very quickly once it comes. . . . Nonetheless, in the discourse's prophetic context, the remark comes after making comments about the nearness of the end to certain signs. As such it is the issue of the signs that controls the passage's force, making this view likely. If this view is correct, Jesus says that when the signs of the beginning of the end come, then the end will come relatively quickly, within a generation."[Taken from Thomas Ice's article]

If you would like to read more on the difference between the Preterist and the Futurist interpretations, I suggest you go to the following link for a short scholarly study on the subject from a Futuristic viewpoint by Thomas Ice. I take a Futuristic view of Bible Prophecy similar to his, but not including a pre-tribulation rapture, etc.

 https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&context=pretrib_arch

One of the objections I have with the interpretations of those that are called Preterists (past) or Historicists (present) is that they reject all the writings of the Church Fathers and put all or most of Bible Prophecy in the past. The Church Fathers from the time of Justin Martyr and Ireneaus, who were writing after the destruction of Jerusalem, supported the idea of a future coming of Christ that would be preceded by the period of Antichrist. The Church Fathers put much of Daniel, the New Testament prophecies of Jesus, Apostle Paul, Peter and John in the future and were therefore, futuristic. Much of prophecy according to them had not been fulfilled.

The writings’ of the Church Fathers support the idea that the last seven years are yet to come and that the "Church" will pass through the great tribulation period spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24. I have written on the ideas of the Church Fathers and how they relate to a Futuristic interpretation of Bible Prophecy and how I personally interpret the Scriptures at the following link:

http://fightforyourfaith.blogspot.com/2019/10/complilation-on-church-fathers-and.html

At the time of the Reformation many of the Protestant Reformers regected off-hand the writings of the Church Fathers and re-evaluated every doctrine of the Church. Until that time, doctrine and tradition had been dominated in the West by the Catholic Church. The Reformers saw Rome and its Popes as "antichrist." Their ideas about Rome affected how they interpreted Bible Prophecy. The ideas of the Preterists and the Historicists generally come from the time of the Reformation. You may meet someone who will confront you with the Preterist or Historicist viewpoint, therefore, it may be good to learn about what they believe. 

The Preterist may tell you that it was a Jesuit Priest at the time of the Reformation who invented the Futurist view of Bible Prophecy.  He may tell you that the priest did so because all the Godly Reformers like Martin Luther believed that the "Whore" of the book of Revelation was a depiction of the Roman Church. He may say that all the Reformers with one voice rejected the Biblical interpretation of the Catholic Church and embraced the Preterist or Historicist ideas. 

It may very well be that a Jesuit Priest during the time of the Reformation, as a rebuttle to the Preterist and Historicist ideas, went through the prophecies of Daniel and of Revelation, combined with the writings of the Church Fathers, and “invented” or “formulated” the Futuristic view. That priest was the first to clearly articulate the idea that the seven last years were futuristic, an idea we find among the writings of most of the Church Fathers who wrote about Bible Prophecy. Benjamin Wills Newton and John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren in southern England in the 1800s later refined these ideas. However, Darby incorporated the new revelation of the "Pre-Tribulation Rapture" into his theology, while Newton rejected it as unscriptural. 

Some modern Protestant churches that are Preterist and/or Historicist put all or most of the prophecies of Daniel and Matthew 24/ Mark 13/ Luke 21 in the past. The Preterists even believe that Jesus has already come back in the spirit and His Church was gathered unto Him in 70 AD in a spiritual event. Some famous and influencial present day Christian writers and speakers including C R Sproul believe these things. Some believers have a mixture of Preterist and Historicist ideas which may even include a futuristic coming of Christ.

All I can say is "Let every man be fully persuaded in His own mind."[Romans 14:5] We are all speculating on what might happen and use Scripture to support our speculations. It behooves us to be loving and kind and on the other hand to search diligently whether these things are so. We should follow the example of the disciples in Berea and really look into the Scriptures with readiness of mind and intent of heart. [Acts 17:11] We have the promise of Jesus in the Gopsel of John that if we will continue His Word, we will know the "truth." [John 8:31-32] Jesus also said the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth and would show us things to come, if we abided in Him. [John 16:13, John 15:7]

Let me make another point here. We should not get so busy in theological discussion that we forget we are called with a mission to bring the love of Jesus to a lost and dying world. We have both a spiritual Gospel and a social Gospel to complete. They both need our attention. If all our time is spent arguing about Christian doctrine, then we are really on the wrong train. We need to jump off and get busy helping others with the simple love of God. We should get busy bringing physical, emotional, pyschological, and spiritual relief to those that are in need.

My personal goal is to daily keep my heart and mind close to Jesus, to walk close to Him and receive correction from Him and others, daily. I am trying to follow 1st Corinthians 13 to the best of my ability, Lord willing. I realize that I see through a glass darkly right now and could be wrong on how I see things. Therefore, I try not to come across dogmatically in questions of doctrine. We should with patience try to convince others of our views, views we believe are Scriptural. 

As far as Bible Propehcy is concerned, I keep to a partially Historicist and Futuristic interpretation which is in line with the ideas of many Christian writers and thinkers of the past and present. I say partially Historicist because like the Historicist view I believe that some of the prophecies are being fulfilled now and have been in the process of being fulled since the time of the Ascencion of Christ. However, some of the major events of the last seven years I see as Futurist. My partially Historicist and Futurist ideas are not Pre-Tribulation Rapture like many Futurists profess.

If you can show me the faults in my thinking specifically, I will try to listen. Yet, we are all captured by our own bias, our unidentified beliefs, which we do not question but believe by faith. These are called presuppositions, or our basic belief system that we usually do not dare to question. We presuppose these basic ideas to be true and they form the way we think and interpret the world. Our parents usually try to pass on to us their presuppositions. Many of us keep the presuppositions of our parents until they are challenged by other ideas. Many lose their parents presuppositions when they go away to Higher Learning Institutions. Our life experiences can also cause us to re-evaluate our presuppositions.  God has a way of breaking any false ideas and ways in our belief system, if we desperately seek Him and follow Him closely. We can pray, "Lord, open my eyes to Thy Truth." Amen.

The Apostles didn't understand the prophecies of the Old Testament until Jesus opened their eyes and understanding concerning them. [Luke 24:44-45] The prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus and were clearly understood, “as they came to pass,” or as they were fulfilled. Before their fulfillment, they were hidden. Similarly, in the Daniel prophecies, the Lord tells us that Daniel’s prophecies would be "closed" or "shut up" or not understood until the time of the end. [Daniel 12:4] It is difficult for me to believe that the "time of the end" spoken by Daniel is already in the past and all or most of the prophecies in the book of Daniel were fulfilled in 70 AD or before.

Of course, exactly how things will work out concerning our speculations on Bible Prophecy remain to be seen. I try to keep some what abreast to the various speculations that are being made today. But I always go back to see what Scripture says. Some today do not value Scripture as such and believe their "whispers" are sufficient. I think the “whispers” and the Scriptures should both go hand in hand and should not contradict one another. I just believe like Apostle Peter that we have a more sure word of prophecy, that is “as unto a light in a dark place.” [2 Peter 1:19]

I try to keep my head, my mind, my thoughts baptized in His Word as much as possible. I find, if I do that, and try to walk humbly before my God, that then He pours forth His Spirit as living waters, just as Jesus said He would through the power of the Holy Ghost. You can find some of my thoughts on Bible Prophecy in the following link.  http://fightforyourfaith.blogspot.com/.../where-is...