O
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No, I don't believe Jesus came in 70 AD. Jesus ascended, and as St. Peter says in Acts 3, "heaven must receive Him until the time for the restoration of all things", that's the Eschaton, the End, the Last Day, etc.
And unlike many Preterists I accept the usual date of authorship for St. John's Apocalypse, around 90-95 AD most likely during the reign of Domitian as Eusebius argues.
But I believe the Apocalypse is chiefly concerned about the events of John's period. It's not a series of predictions concerning the end of the world, but rather deals with the persecutions, trials, and sufferings of the Church under Roman oppression with the intent to preach the victory of Christ over and against all worldly power. The Beast of the Apocalypse isn't a future antichrist, but Roman imperial power; Babylon the Harlot is Rome itself, and the crimson beast she rides is the imperial power based in Rome. Thus the point of the text isn't to give us an "end times" chronology, but to proclaim the victory of God in Christ for the sake of His Church in all ages, consummated at the end when Christ comes in judgment and God makes all things new.
So I'm not much of a Futurist when it comes to the Apocalypse.
I also don't believe that the "last days" mentioned at various places, Acts 2, 2 Timothy, etc refers to some specific "end times" period, but rather the general scope of time between Christ's first advent--His death, resurrection and ascension--and His coming at the end of this age, on the last day, in judgment. Because Christ has come, God's Messiah has come, and He has overthrown the sin, death, hell, and the devil, this age is a dying one that will finally be put to ruin when He returns at the End. We are, therefore, living in the last days, but so were the Apostles, all Christians have been living in these last days, because the coming of the Messiah meant and means these are the final days.
So when it comes to the end of the world, I generally keep it sweet and simple, by confessing the Creeds: "He will come again to judge the living and the dead". For He shall come, the dead will rise, there will be Last Judgment, and then God shall make all things new, life everlasting in the World to Come.
Is there going to be an ultimate "end times" antichrist? I don't know. On the basis of Scripture I believe there have been many antichrists, and there will likely be many more before the End. Is there going to be a Tribulation? Sure, but there's always been Tribulation, it's not a uniquely future thing, it's been going on for two thousand years.
Where I believe lines are crossed is when instead of relying upon Scripture and looking to Scripture entire eschatological systems are developed either entirely out from whole cloth (e.g. Dispensationalism), or otherwise attempt to take current events, scramble them up in a big blender, and then yank out of context passages of Scripture to try and construct the whole thing like a puzzle.
Anyone who claims to have more knowledge than the Lord Jesus Himself, or His Apostles, or the Christian Church generally of the last two thousand years isn't to be believed. Period. It's somewhat that simple for me. And calling it "Bible prophecy" doesn't make it biblical or prophecy. So I find the entire business of "Bible prophecy" to be little more than a marketing campaign to sell books to gullible Christians who have been improperly catechized by their churches to buy books, tapes, and diagrams that aren't worth the paper and plastic they're printed or recorded on.
But "prophecy" is big business. And that is, as far as I'm concerned, all it is. Scripture, to be sure, does contain prophecy; but the difference between what Scripture contains and what "prophecy" peddlers offer is the difference between night and day. Biblical prophecy isn't about finding out X and Y events and trying to match them to de-contextualized bits and pieces of Scripture; but rather about the proclaimed and revealed truth of God for the people of God.
-CryptoLutheran
Well, as mentioned.. if you actually do believe that the scriptures you referenced pertain to the future coming of Christ.. and you also don't believe that Christ came in 70AD..
Then you're pretty much a futurist.
Sorry..
But you didn't actually want to be a preterist anyway..
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