I remember reading Nelson's article in JETS when it came out in 1996; and I was convinced that was correct at that time until I started reading DeMar and Gentry and R. C. Sproul's material on partial - Preterism.
It seems to me that Matthew 23:36 -39, especially verse 36 and the way Matthew used "this generation" to speak of the Jewish nation and Jewish leaders - Pharisees and hypocrites, scribes, etc. who lead the people astray with their teachings and actions and rejected the Messiah and killed the prophets, etc. (Matthew 23:1-35) are key as they are connected to the context of Matthew 24:1-3 that clearly point to the wars of the Jews vs. the Romans and the seige of Jerusalem (66 AD - 73 AD, including the suicide of Masada in 73 AD; interesting that 70 AD is in the mid-point of that 7 year war period.) and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
It seems clear that chapter 23 and 24 are to be held together and that 70 AD and the wars of the Romans against them from 66 AD on toward 73 were God's judgment on that generation for rejecting the Messiah and being evil, etc. - all the other points that Nelson makes are valid for describing those Pharisees and hypocrites for the way they treated Jesus, etc. but it still does not change the basic meaning of the word of a contemporary generation living at the same time as the person who is speaking.
I agree with you Alan, that I think DeMar emphasizes this stuff so much, that it is hard to find his affirmation of the future second coming to us; unless he is really pressed hard.
I think his original Appendix/chapter on 2 Peter 3 in his book, "Last Days Madness" was terrible, and I see 2 Peter 3 as about the second coming of Christ, but DeMar, I think, he indicated to me in a short email that he still thinks 2 Peter 3 is about 70 AD, which seems really goofy to me.
Even Sproul was "goofy" in my opinion, to say that Matthew 13:39-42 is about 70 AD, in his otherwise very good book, The Last Days According to Jesus.
The Partial - Preterist guys need to do a better job of affirming up front a believe in the second coming of Jesus future to us; otherwise they won't be able to convince most Evangelicals who are futurists.
I do think there is some of kind of double - fulfillment in Matthew 24:29-31 - hard to see that as only 70 AD, (also Rev. 1:7 - got to be some kind of double fulfillment, both 70 AD and the second coming at the end of time).
Indeed, full Preterism is a blatant heresy and hard to understand - in the light of clear Scripture like
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 John 14:1-3 Acts 1:11 I Corinthians 15:23-28; 51-58 2 Peter 3:8-15 Hebrews 9:28 Titus 2:13 Revelation 19-22 Matthew 24:36 - "of that day" through chapter 25 - seems to be clear that is the second coming of Christ in body at the end of time. Matthew 13:39-42
I remember reading Nelson's article in JETS when it came out in 1996; and I was convinced that was correct at that time until I started reading DeMar and Gentry and R. C. Sproul's material on partial - Preterism.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Matthew 23:36 -39, especially verse 36 and the way Matthew used "this generation" to speak of the Jewish nation and Jewish leaders - Pharisees and hypocrites, scribes, etc. who lead the people astray with their teachings and actions and rejected the Messiah and killed the prophets, etc. (Matthew 23:1-35) are key as they are connected to the context of Matthew 24:1-3 that clearly point to the wars of the Jews vs. the Romans and the seige of Jerusalem (66 AD - 73 AD, including the suicide of Masada in 73 AD; interesting that 70 AD is in the mid-point of that 7 year war period.) and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
It seems clear that chapter 23 and 24 are to be held together and that 70 AD and the wars of the Romans against them from 66 AD on toward 73 were God's judgment on that generation for rejecting the Messiah and being evil, etc. - all the other points that Nelson makes are valid for describing those Pharisees and hypocrites for the way they treated Jesus, etc. but it still does not change the basic meaning of the word of a contemporary generation living at the same time as the person who is speaking.
I agree with you Alan, that I think DeMar emphasizes this stuff so much, that it is hard to find his affirmation of the future second coming to us; unless he is really pressed hard.
I think his original Appendix/chapter on 2 Peter 3 in his book, "Last Days Madness" was terrible, and I see 2 Peter 3 as about the second coming of Christ, but DeMar, I think, he indicated to me in a short email that he still thinks 2 Peter 3 is about 70 AD, which seems really goofy to me.
Even Sproul was "goofy" in my opinion, to say that Matthew 13:39-42 is about 70 AD, in his otherwise very good book, The Last Days According to Jesus.
The Partial - Preterist guys need to do a better job of affirming up front a believe in the second coming of Jesus future to us; otherwise they won't be able to convince most Evangelicals who are futurists.
I do think there is some of kind of double - fulfillment in Matthew 24:29-31 - hard to see that as only 70 AD, (also Rev. 1:7 - got to be some kind of double fulfillment, both 70 AD and the second coming at the end of time).
Indeed, full Preterism is a blatant heresy and hard to understand - in the light of clear Scripture like
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
John 14:1-3
Acts 1:11
I Corinthians 15:23-28; 51-58
2 Peter 3:8-15
Hebrews 9:28
Titus 2:13
Revelation 19-22
Matthew 24:36 - "of that day" through chapter 25 - seems to be clear that is the second coming of Christ in body at the end of time.
Matthew 13:39-42