DENOMINATIONAL DOCTRINES: “Realized Eschatology” (Or, “One of the Craziest Doctrines Known to Man”)

Jesus said, “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you” (Matthew 11:21-24).

Now what if I told you that when Jesus said it would be more tolerable for the cities of Tyre and Sidon “on judgment day” than for Korazin and Bethsaida, and that it would be better for Sodom than for Capernaum “on judgment day,” he was talking about the fall of Jerusalem? Huh?

Let me ask it again and think of this carefully: what if I told you that Jesus was saying that it will be more tolerable for Sodom, Tyre and Sidon when the city of Jerusalem and the temple falls than it will be for Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. What would your reaction be? That I must be a complete idiot? Good for you. For what in the world would the fall of Jerusalem have to do with “judgment day” on the people of cities that had been gone for centuries?

Now why would I ask such a ridiculous question? Because there are actually people who believe that judgment day for everyone was when the temple in Jerusalem fell in AD 70. That when the New Testament talks about the day of judgment, it is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This doctrine is known as “realized eschatology,” “radical preterism,” “full preterism” or you can simply call it “sheer stupidity.”

Yes, there is a pesky group of extremists scattered throughout various denominations who have discovered the truth that the first half of Matthew 24 and the Book of Revelation are primarily about the fall of Jerusalem. That was a real, historical occurrence when Roman General Titus attacked and overthrew the city and destroyed the temple—an event that Jesus predicted a generation before it happened. They recognize, and rightly so, that the fall of the temple in AD 70 was the judgment of God, and therefore was a “coming of the Lord” in judgment. They also recognize that since the fall of Jerusalem was imminent at the time of the New Testament writings, there are verses which speak of the “coming of Christ” that are referring to that event rather than to his final coming.

But as extremists are wont to do, they take these truths and build ridiculous, manmade doctrines around them. Rather than recognizing the obvious fact that the fall of Jerusalem was a “type” of the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world—and for that reason it is sometimes even difficult to know whether the Bible is describing the fall of the temple or the literal Second Coming of Christ—these geniuses have concluded that the fall of Jerusalem was actually the Second Coming of Christ, the Resurrection of the Dead and the Final Judgment. All of those things, in other words, have already taken place.

What? you say. Yes, you heard me correctly. They don’t believe that Jesus is really going to return. And even though I know some good men who believe this garbage, just as I know of good people caught up in every denominational, man-made concept imaginable, this view is not only silly, it is sick. The ramifications of “preterism” are far worse than even those preposterous systems known as postmillennialism and premillennialism.

Fortunately, this is a minuscule sect that few pay any attention to. This system of Bible interpretation is so bizarre and ludicrous that all you have to do is just tell the simple truth about what the Bible teaches without referring to “preterism” at all. The testimony of the Bible reveals that the Lord himself (1 Thes. 4:16) will return bodily, literally (Acts 1:9-11). on the last day. But the “preterist” says no. Jesus is not coming back.

They say this is talking about the fall of Jerusalem: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead”  (Acts 17:30-31). The preterists actually believe that Paul was talking to Gentiles in Acts 17 about the fall of Jerusalem, not a real final judgment.

Believe me, if you don’t know what preterism is, good for you. It is incredible that anyone could believe it. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad”  (2 Cor. 5:10). These people say that Paul was talking in that verse and verses like it about the fall of Jerusalem in the first century. Paul was talking to Gentile Corinthians in that verse about the fall of Jerusalem? And he described it as all of us appearing before the judgment seat of Christ?ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Could anything be any more ridiculous than such a doctrine?

Nothing could be clearer than the fact and certainty of the final judgment. “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). But remember, every time these brethren see a verse that talks about the final judgment, the return of Christ or the resurrection of the dead, they believe it is talking about the fall of the city of Jerusalem in AD 70. The. Fall. Of. Jerusalem. Can you even wrap your head around such foolishness?

Picture the Roman attack on Jerusalem as you read these words: “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28-29). Jesus said that, and the “preterists” say he was talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century.

Is calling this doctrine stupid not being too kind? What it really is, is a doctrine of demons from the pits of hell. When Jesus spoke of the day when “all the nations” will be gathered before him and he will separate the “sheep” from the “goats” (Matt. 25:31-46), he was talking about the fall of Jerusalem???! Yes, a doctrine straight from hell.

And then there is the great resurrection chapter in 1 Corinthians 15. Surely they don’t apply the fall of Jerusalem to that do they? They most certainly do. The preterists believe that Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, is talking about the fall of the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70 to the Corinthians.

Now just take a modern translation and read that chapter and ask yourself how anyone could possibly believe such nonsense. Why would anyone even bother to study the Bible if they believe this kind of thing? Words mean nothing if Paul’s “plain language” in 1 Corinthians 15 is talking about anything other than the literal, bodily resurrection of the dead when Christ returns.

And now consider this great Pauline text to Gentiles about the “fall of Jerusalem”: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Comfort one another with these words, brethren, concerning your loved ones who have died: the city of Jerusalem is going to be destroyed by the Romans. Sheer. Stupidity. For those of you who think I am joking, I am not. “Realized eschatology”—preterism—teaches that Paul in that passage was talking about the Roman siege against Jerusalem.

People have asked me which I consider worse—since I agree with preterists on some things—premillennialism or preterism. Preterism! Hands down. Radical, full preterism is as stupid as any eschatological doctrine I personally have ever heard. Any. Jehovah’s Witnesses included.

At least with premillennialism, you can see how people get confused by religious teachers who should know better. To those whose minds have been poisoned by premillennialism, it takes time to explain how to interpret Old Testament prophecies. Yes, it, too, is silly and it’s unbelievable that anyone could take it seriously and miss the point that God’s chosen people are Jew and Gentile believers in Christ and have always been only those with the faith of Abraham. But the basis of the deception is easy to see. It takes time to deal with premillennialism once it is taught.

With preterism, all you have to do is read the New Testament. No explanation is needed. I can see how people fall for premillennialism. But no matter how much you like the teacher, or how “knowledgeable” he seems to be, there is no excuse for anyone ever falling for preterism.

It is a sick approach to Scripture. It robs Christians of the hope of Christ’s final return or the seriousness of being ready for judgment. Of course they will claim it doesn’t. Of course they will. But it does.

I consider sincere preterist Jesus lovers to be my brothers and sisters in Christ, but I freely admit that is difficult. “Brothers and sisters,” seriously. Please stop this. This garbage is absolute, sick, demonic nonsense.

Dewayne Dunaway