This doctrine is rapidly gaining momentum and capturing some of the brightest minds in the Christian community. Its basic thrust, as noted above, is that Jesus will not be personally and visibly returning again, because, as per the affirmation, His second personal appearance occurred in A. D. 70. Many of you probably have never heard of this belief system. If not, you will, for within the last three or four decades it has spread into most segments of the Christian community. Many Websites are now devoted to this teaching.

As we proceed, let us remember that any portion of scripture introduced by Preterists that collides with other specific and clearly-spoken portions of scripture, they blunder and the foundation of their major premise collapses.

In 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verses 1-12, Paul addressed the “coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him.” He admonished believers “not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.”

Paul reminded them that that “day” will not come until the rebellion (apostasy) occurs and the “man of lawlessness is revealed.” This man will “oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple [place], proclaiming himself to be God.”

This satanic system was already at work in Paul’s time, but the mighty Roman Empire was temporarily holding it back or preventing it from developing. At that time the lawless one—an apostate system—will have Satan behind him and will be able to display all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders.

Needless to say, there was no apostate system within the Christian movement prior to A. D. 70. There were local pockets of apostasy, but no general apostasy until 2-3 hundred years later. It was at that time that Roman Catholicism bloomed to stardom. These passages do not refer to Nero and the Judiazers, as Preterists claim, because this apostate system was to develop from within the redeemed community. In other words, we’re not concerned about apostasies within Judaism. We’re talking about a “falling away” within the community of believers, which Paul predicted would happen (Acts 20:29-30).

Note the marks of this apostate system, as recorded in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, and then tell me which ecclesiastical institution bears these marks.

1) He will exalt himself over God.
2) He will set himself up in God’s place.
3) He will claim to be God.
4) He’ll do counterfeit miracles and every sort of evil.
5) He’ll continue his dirty work until the Lord comes again.

No apostate system in history bears these marks except the Roman Papacy. Keep in mind there was no general apostasy from the Christian faith, and no widespread abandonment of heaven’s new arrangement, during the first century. This being factual, the counterfeit system Paul described—Roman Catholicism—still exists for Jesus has not returned and “overthrown it with the breath of his mouth and destroyed it by the splendor of his coming” (v. 8).

When the Roman Empire lost its grip upon the nations, Catholicism bloomed to stardom. From then on, its leaders sat in “God’s temple [place], proclaiming [themselves] to be God” (v. 4). That’s why this system’s popes expect to be called “Holy Father” or God himself. Again, no system, prior to or following A. D. 70, fits the description Paul gives except Catholicism. If this is correct, the “day of the Lord,” His second personal advent, is pending.

Considering all of the above, the idea that Jesus made His second personal coming in A. D. 70 is faulty and based upon distorted biblical exegesis. Paul penned the letter in about A. D. 53-55, long before the Roman/Jewish war.

Preterists claim that the apostasy Paul prophesied of involved the Jewish people under the leadership of the wicked John Levi. True, during the upheaval associated with the Jewish calamity, many Jewish criminals, including the wicked John Levi, caused havoc among the Jewish nation, particularly at Jerusalem. Matters all over were in an uproar. God’s terrible judgment was about to be poured out upon His favorite (past) people. But to ascribe this, or any part of it, to the apostasy Paul foretold, would be missing Paul’s main thrusts. The “falling away” was to be within the Christian community. Paul told the Christian leaders at Ephesus:

Paul repeated this warning of an apostasy to Timothy and said this apostate system would adopt the “teachings of demons, forbid marriage, and require abstinence from [certain] foods” (1 Timothy 4:1-3). This description fits the Roman papacy exactly. This is the same apostasy Paul addressed in his letter to the Thessalonians (above). Inasmuch as this demonic system of religion still exists and is thriving, and is not to be destroyed until our Lord makes His second personal arrival, it is safe to conclude that the day of His personal arrival did not occur in A. D. 70.

Some Preterists affirm that Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2 are related, or that they compliment each other. The claim, however, won’t float. Matthew 24 foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish State. Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2, warns believers about a general apostasy. The two are not compatible.

But another dilemma for Preterists. If Paul in II Thessalonians 2 actually alluded to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish State, instead of to a future general apostasy, why would anyone assume that the “day of the Lord” had already come when, in fact, it had not? The destruction of Jerusalem was pending, so apparently no one thought it had already happened.

Consequently, it seems to me that the “day of the Lord” pointed to His second personal advent, not to His coming in judgment upon the disobedient Jewish nation. Surely no one to whom Paul wrote thought the destruction of Jerusalem had occurred when, in fact, everyone knew it had not!

This points to the truth that Paul did not address Jerusalem’s destruction in Thessalonians, but rather an apostasy that was in the making at the time he penned his words. And that apostasy did not begin to formally develop until after A. D. 70. That apostate system will be “overthrown with the breath of His mouth and destroyed it by the splendor of his coming” (v. 8). That day has not yet arrived.

The deciding point of this theme will revolve around the following two passages of scripture. Both passages strike at the very taproot of the A. D. 70 scenario. As we continue, remember that if any important postulation prescribed by the disciples of this belief system is found to be in direct conflict with heaven’s testimony, the major premise collapses—that major premise being that Jesus personally returned in A. D. 70 and will not be coming back.

It is apparent that a glorified body, such as the one our Lord has, is not subject to aging, diseases, deterioration, or death. The two writers above inform us that we too will have glorified bodies. Our future change or transformation, which all of God’s elect will experience, will reach a state of fruition when Jesus appears again.

Not all Preterists explain Philippians 3:20-21 in the same light. You will find a diversity of interpretations among them. As examples, brother Jim Hopkins, a strong 70 A. D. proponent, contends that Paul is speaking about a collective body of believers—commonly referred to as “the church”—by his usage of “lowly body.”

Brother Brian E. Kimball, a hard-ball promoter of Realized Eschatology, says of glorified bodies, “When Jesus came back circa A. D. 70, He did take all of the Christians with him [into heaven], and they did receive their glorified bodies at that rapture.”

This view, of course, is Hyper-Eschatology, for it has zero basis in scripture. Additionally, there is nothing on record of missing persons, perhaps hundreds of thousands of them, in that span of time. If hundreds of thousands of believers suddenly disappeared by being “raptured,” Josephus, the Jewish historian, surely would have touched upon it, as he chronicled his documents in great detail. So, yes, if Jesus made His second personal appearance at that time and “raptured” hundreds of thousands of believers—taking them with Him into heaven—someone would have recorded that illustrious occasion.

Don Preston, a Preterist noted for distorting the meaning of certain passages of scripture when they seem to contradict his doctrinal platform (as is true of many of them), says Philippians 3:21 refers to the resurrection, which, according to him, is history. Even a child can see the futility of his contention, for there is nothing in the passage that speaks of a resurrection. This is the same brother who teaches that one of the reasons behind the transfiguration of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah was to show a “vision of His parousia” or coming in 70 A. D. Again, there is nothing in the transfiguration scene that comes close to communicating an advent of Jesus.

It is interesting that a few versions, such as the NIV and The Christian Bible, render “bodies” instead of “body” in Philippians 3:21, and Thayer seems to indicate that the Greek term may be translated either way. But was Paul speaking of a collective body of believers instead of individuals when he used “lowly body”? To assert this view is to take the passage completely out of context.

Secondly, “lowly body” is employed in the same vein as our Lord’s “glorified body.” So if one “body” refers to a collective group of people, so does the other “body.” There is no escaping this fact. To put it a different way, if Paul individualized our Lord’s “glorified body,” and he did, he also individualized our “lowly body.” There is nothing in either term that denotes a collective body of people.

Here is where we stand with this: If Jesus returned personally for the second time in A. D. 70, where are our glorified bodies? Why are we aging, getting sick, breaking bones, contracting cancer, falling apart, and dying? After all, glorified bodies do not experience any of these physical negatives. Here is something to think about:

On the “Mt. of Transfiguration,” Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were transformed and appeared in their glorified bodies before Peter, James, and John. The three disciples were supernaturally permitted to look upon them. Peter became so excited he lost his composure (as usual) and suggested they build three monuments to commemorate this majestic occasion. The glorified forms shown on that memorable occasion no doubt depicts the imposing forms we will some day have—bodies that will not be subject to earthly frailties.

Paul and John say we will be the recipients of those bodies when the Lord appears again! Yet we do not now have them. Why? Because Jesus has not personally appeared the second time.

One of my A. D. 70 advocates wrote, “I do not see how Jesus, Paul, and all the writers of the New Testament could be telling the truth unless all things were fulfilled in that generation” [as per Matthew 24 and Luke 21]. There is no problem here when we consider that all things prophesied to be fulfilled in that generation, were. The exception seems to be that Jesus’ second personal coming was not prophesied to be fulfilled in A. D. 70. The prophecy entails His coming, yes; but only in judgment upon the rebellious Jewish nation.

But on this question, let’s switch channels. If Jesus did make His second personal appearance in A. D. 70, the apostle Paul did not tell the truth in Philippians 3:21, for we have not yet received our glorified bodies. We’re still contracting diseases and dying. So, just who is falsifying, Jesus or Paul? Neither. When we decipher both messages in their appropriate contexts, we discover that both Jesus and Paul spoke heaven’s truth.

We have thus far introduced three counter-arguments to the idea that Jesus personally returned in A. D. 70 and will not be coming back. This is the fourth one. You are encouraged to keep in mind that if some major doctrinal feature of the A. D. 70 persuasion clashes with some clearly-taught biblical truth, the major premise falls by the wayside. In this Theme, I will interject an additional major stumbling block to the 70 A. D. belief system.

The Preterist’s script goes something like this: The “last days” came to an end when God’s wrath was poured out upon the rebellious Jewish nation during or immediately following the Roman/Jewish war of A. D. 67-70, at which time the Kingdom of God was ushered in and a new age began. They claim that the Old Law of Moses, or the Age of Judaism, did not end at the cross, and that Hebrews 8:13 shows that it had not ended, but was in the process of ending. The passage reads:

“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

The deduction drawn by Preterists is that “is ready to vanish away” demonstrates that it was still in effect at the time the Hebrew letter was penned. And, of course, that letter was written many years after the Christian movement began. Just here, the Preterist needs to reconcile this Hebrew passage with the apostle Paul, for Paul made it crystal clear that the Law of Commandments and Ordinances was invalidated in Jesus’ flesh on the cross.

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made us [Jews & Gentiles] both one and has broken down in His flesh [on the cross] the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances [Old Covenant], that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace” (Eph. 2:14-15).

True, the Old Covenant or Old Age had not become obsolete in the eyes of the Jewish populace, but when the Jewish Temple, Jerusalem, and the Jewish State were destroyed in A. D. 67-70, the old covenant officially ended in the eyes of unbelieving Jews. There was nothing else left for them to fall back on. Everything was gone—their Temple, their rituals, their ceremonies, their regulations. But in the eyes of knowledgeable believers, these matters had already ended, for Jesus had made the ultimate sacrifice.

Preterists are burdened to supply plain truth for their premises, so they tangle with passages that speak of the “last days” in an effort to bolster their claims. However, on the birthday of the redeemed community, Peter quoted the prophet Joel to show that the final era of human existence had begun. “In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” This refers to our current era, which is now 2,000 years old. The “last days” encompasses the entire course of the new order. The “last days” or New Age began when the New Order was ushered in, according to Peter in Acts 2.

Preterists manipulate Joel’s prophecy to mean that the last days were completed at the Parousia—that is, Jesus’ arrival or advent in 70 A. D. And since the last days ended in A. D. 70, the new age began. Translation: Jesus made His final personal appearance in A. D. 70, at which time the last days ended and a new age began—an age, as per the Preterist’s doctrinal platform, where Jesus will no longer return, where death is no more, where resurrection is history, and where judgment has been executed. According to them, we are currently experiencing such an age or era.

There are many flaws in their rationale, most of which we do not have time to address here, but the following flaw is the most serious of them all. It is one they cannot logically handle. It strikes at the very taproot of their central doctrine.

If the Old Covenant or Old Age did not end until A. D. 70, all believers leading up to A. D. 70 lived under two mediators—Moses and Jesus. This means that the apostle Paul was unaware of the Old Law’s status when he wrote to Timothy, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

There is no getting around this dilemma. Either the Preterist is wrong or the apostle is wrong. If Moses’ Law and mediatory commission continued until A. D. 70, and it did if, as Preterists affirm, the Old Age continued that long, Paul committed a grave error when he told Timothy, “There is one mediator between God and man.” But if Paul told the truth, the Preterist is gravely wrong. His major premise becomes futile.

The intricacies of this belief system are numerous and mind-boggling. A whole catalogue of long, drawn-out books, containing myriads of particulars, have been written and published to validate it. I’m always a little suspicious when it takes volumes and volumes of manuscripts to establish and confirm a biblical perspective—a doctrinal persuasion that is alleged to be plainly revealed in heaven’s testimony, the scriptures.

The diversity of views on this subject among Preterists are overwhelming. Many of them teach that the Kingdom (reign) of Christ existed until A. D. 70, at which time His Kingdom (reign) was handed back to the Father and the Kingdom (reign) of God was ushered in and a New Age began.

The biblical testimony, however, has the Kingdom (reign) of God existing long before A. D. 70. Certain converts of Philip were immersed after Philip told them the “good news of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12). Here the acceptance of the Good News and the Kingdom of God are aligned. Paul argued persuasively about the kingdom of God for three months (Acts 19:8). The context places everything current at the time and in the present tense.

The apostle Paul synthesized the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of God when he wrote, “No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5). The ESV says “Kingdom of Christ and God.” Here the Kingdom is credited to belonging to both God the Father and Jesus the Son—in other words, one and the same Kingdom or reign. And this was prior to A. D. 70! Paul spoke of certain Jews who were “workers for the Kingdom of God” (Col. 4:11) . This is set in the present tense, and before A. D. 70.

To make a distinction between Jesus’ current reign and God’s reign, as Preterists do, is a distinction heaven’s testimony does not make. One Preterist wrote that since Jesus handed His Kingdom back to the Father, “we are no longer under His leadership, ‘so that God may be all in all’ ” (1 Cor. 15:28). Yes, you heard me correctly. This is only one eerie viewpoint among many that accompany this doctrine.

Again, you are encouraged to stay abreast that if some major doctrinal feature of the A. D. 70 persuasion clashes with some clearly-taught biblical truth, the Preterist’s major premise disintegrates.

Can the prophecies of Jesus and Paul be reconciled? Do they even need to be reconciled? Jesus, in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, described the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish State, and Paul, in II Thessalonians 2, foretold the development of an evil, godless system of religion. Do these prophecies allude to the same event? No, they do not. Many in the A. D. 70 camp claim a connection between the two prophecies. This will be the question we hope to answer, this final chapter in this series.

The Preterist strives hard to show that Paul in II Thessalonians 2 is not addressing an apostate system of religion that would develop 2-3 hundred years in the future, but instead declares that he is writing about the destruction of Jerusalem and the calamity surrounding its demise.

But if it can be shown that Paul refers to an apostate belief system that has nothing to do with Jesus’ prophecy about Jerusalem’s death, and if it can further be shown that the Catholic Papacy or “Holy See” in Rome is what Paul describes in detail, the conclusion follows that Jesus has not yet made His second personal advent, for this evil, godless system was to be annihilated only when Jesus returns.

At this point, I want to set up a format from the prophecies of both Jesus and Paul. We may then better make a comparison between the two.

1) He (the lawless one or apostate system) will exalt himself over God.
2) He will set himself up in God’s place.
3) He will claim to be God.
4) He’ll do counterfeit miracles and every sort of evil.
5) He’ll continue his dirty work until the Lord comes again.

1) Jesus addressed the destruction of the Jewish Temple and Jerusalem.
2) Symptoms of birth pains will be false Christs and prophets and turmoil among the provinces within the Roman Empire.
3) Because of weak faith, many will turn or fall away and betray each other.
4) The Good News will be proclaimed throughout the “whole world” of the Roman Empire before Judaism ends.
5) When that moment arrives, the man on his roof must flee immediately, and pregnant women and nursing mothers will have a difficult time escaping.
6) Pray that when this happens, it will not be on the Jewish Sabbath, for then the gates to the city will be closed.
7) Jesus came with power and great glory in judgment upon the rebellious Jews, after which people recognized the awesome judgment as coming from Him or “saw the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky.”
8) The sun will be darkened, the moon will not reflect its light, and the stars will fall from heaven are all representative of great powers falling, both religious and political.
9) Many thousands of Jews will fall by the sword and many others taken as prisoners to all the nations. (History says that about eleven-hundred thousand perished, and another hundred thousand were taken as prisoners to all the nations.)

The comparison has been made, and one prophecy is not equal to the other. Paul implied nothing about pregnant women and nursing mothers, nor did he speak of the Jewish Sabbath, rumors of war, or chaos among the nations, and so forth. As I said in an earlier column, and I’ll repeat it here:

No apostate system in history bears the marks found in II Thessalonians except the Roman Papacy. Keep in mind there was no general apostasy from the Christian faith, and no widespread abandonment of heaven’s new arrangement, during the first century. This being reality, the counterfeit system Paul described still exists for Jesus has not returned and “overthrown it with the breath of his mouth and destroyed it by the splendor of his coming (v. 8).

It would not be fair to leave this series without saying that everything written in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 pertains to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish State. However, within these prophecies are a few verses that need further explanation, lest some of you think I have overlooked a few vital components. Here are the passages under study. Take note, too, of the symbolisms.

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31).

1) The destruction of Jerusalem was such a terrifying example of divine judgment, described in terms like the “clouds of the sky and with power and great glory,” that all the Jewish tribes mourned.

2) “His angels” (messengers) were the apostles and those who followed afterwards.

3) The “trumpet call” was the trumpet call of the Gospel, which was heard throughout the Roman provinces and beyond.

4) The “gathering of His elect” were the Gentiles who had been chosen for salvation, in place of the rebellious Jews.

Another interesting thought is recorded in Luke 21:28, the parallel chapter. Jesus spoke of the believers’ deliverance or liberation—“redemption.” This points to the flight out of Jerusalem and safety from the horrible calamity. This was a warning for believers to flee (see also Matt. 24:15).

I think it is safe to say that Matthew 24 and Luke 21 do not refer to the second personal coming of our Lord, but rather to His coming in judgment upon the stiff-necked and disobedient Jewish nation. In light of all of the evidence presented here, I have no choice but to conclude that Jesus’ second personal coming is pending.