That’d include me.
My view of the End Times is preterist—meaning most of the prophecies in Daniel, Revelation, and the Olivet Discourse were fulfilled by the second century of the Christian Era. Obviously Jesus has yet to return, the millennium hasn’t yet started, and New Heaven and New Earth have not yet replaced the current heavens and earth. So not everything has been fulfilled; duh. But just about everything else has.
And when I tell certain Christians this, they’re horrified. Horrified. It’s like I sprouted horns and a tail right in front of ’em, and suddenly I have a pitchfork in my hand, and the flames of hell burst forth behind me as I laugh evilly.
’Cause somehow it got in their heads that if you believe any differently than they about the End Times—or believe any variant other than “premillennial dispensationalism”—generally meaning the various Darbyist End Times timelines proposed by Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, John Hagee, or your favorite prognosticating TV and internet preachers—you don’t believe the bible. Because all their beliefs come from bible. True, they had to massage, finesse, tweak, ditch the historical context, overlay a whole new context, bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate it till it finally means what their favorite “prophecy scholars” insist it means.
Interpreting it in its actual interpretive context, like I do… well their “prophecy scholars” have regularly told them any systems of interpretation other than theirs, are flat-out wrong. They’ve never even heard of “apocalyptic literature,” or think “apocalypse” only means “the very End.” And if they haven’t heard of it, surely it must be wrong. Surely I must be wrong.
And if I’m teaching people wrongly about the End Times… well that’s just extra wrong, in their minds. Why, I might convince people to not watch out for evil. To ignore all the signs of the times. To dismiss the Beast when he finally appears; maybe even convince people to follow him! To not look for Jesus’s second coming, like we’re supposed to.
In short, they think I’m heretic. Worse—that I’m deliberately interpreting bible wrong, deliberately leading people astray, deliberately working for the devil. They think I’m going to hell. When I tell ’em I’m preterist, some of them physically back away, as if at any second the fire and sulfur will fall from heaven to consume me, and maybe scorch them a little if they’re too close.
Their favorite “prophecy scholars” don’t discourage this attitude and behavior at all. They kinda share it. They’re entirely sure they’re right and every non-Darbyist is wrong; they’re helping lead people to Jesus, and every non-Darbyist is hindering, and that’s as good as following Satan.
Okay. Lemme first of all remind you heretic is simply the opposite of “orthodox.” There are certain non-negotiable things every Christian oughta believe. We oughta believe in God; we oughta follow Jesus; we oughta believe he’s alive not dead; we oughta believe he’s returning. These basics are spelled out in the creeds. Some churches add to the creeds, but no churches should be taking doctrines away from them. And the creeds expect us to only believe the following five things about the End:
- Jesus is coming again in glory.
- There’s a bodily resurrection of the dead.
- Jesus will judge the living and the dead.
- There’s eternal life in the world to come.
- Jesus’s kingdom will have no end.
Those are non-negotiable. Everything else is negotiable.
But, like I said, plenty of Darbyists are entirely sure their beliefs are just as non-negotiable as the creedal, orthodox stuff. And if you don’t believe as they do, you’re not Christian, and going to hell.
Yep, they think I’m going to hell. And if I convince you Darbyism is all wet, they think I’m dragging you to hell with me.
Is there any grace in this viewpoint?
Second, lemme remind you how you and I got saved from sin and death. What’re we saved by, believing and doing all the right things, or God’s grace? I would hope you recognize it’s his grace, and only his grace. Sola grazia, “grace alone.” We’re not saved by anything else.
Now yeah, there are a number of Christians who insist we’re saved by faith. They’ve mixed up the solas, and think sola fide, “faith alone,” is about salvation. It’s not; it’s about righteousness. God considers us right with him when we trust him, and saves us by his grace when he considers us right with him. That’s why Paul described it as “by grace are ye saved through faith,” Ep 2.8 KJV —it’s by grace, but faith is a necessary prerequisite. We gotta trust God to do the saving. We can’t save ourselves!
The problem with Christians who think we’re saved by faith, is they usually don’t define “faith” correctly. They think we’re saved by the Christian faith—meaning orthodoxy. We’re saved by believing all the right doctrines. Get any of the doctrines wrong, and the house of cards falls over, and we’re doomed. “Whoops,” Jesus will say at the judgment; “you think I’m a separate being than the Father… so nevermind all the things you believe right, nevermind all your obedience to me, nevermind your absolute trust in me when things got challenging; you can go straight to hell.” Ain’t no grace in their belief system. Jesus is strict. As strict, y’might notice, as they. It’s no coincidence.
No surprise, a lot of these “saved by faith” folks require Christians to believe a lot of doctrines. Way more than we find in the creeds. All of them non-negotiable, and if you miss any of them you’re not Christian and not saved. You gotta believe the very same things they do about the bible, about men and women’s roles in society, about politics, about whether to follow or ignore the Law and the Sermon on the Mount… and about every little thing in their favorite End Times timelines.
For these people, a whole lot of little disagreements will send you to hell.
Now. Considering how utterly unlike their Lord their attitudes are, can we say they’re legitimately producing the Holy Spirit’s fruit? Can we say they know Jesus? Can we say, more importantly, Jesus knows them, and identifies them as his?
Well… he’s really gracious, so he might. But, same as he said about fake prophets, you’ll know his people by their fruits. They got any fruit?
All this stuff is negotiable.
When the Lord Jesus showed the End to John, he deliberately used apocalypses—visions in which nothing is literal. Everything represents something else. Sometimes the representation is ridiculously obvious, like the Lamb who looks like he’s been killed, Rv 5.6 who’s clearly meant to be Jesus. Yet Jesus is not a lamb with seven eyes and seven horns. When we see him take his throne, he’s not gonna be a weird mutant sheep; he’s gonna be human. ’Cause he’s human. The seven horns and eyes represent stuff—namely the Holy Spirit’s power in him to see everything and do anything.
But you might think the seven horns and eyes mean something other than that. And that’s okay. Feel free to pitch your theory. Some Christians might think, “Oh, you’re on to something.” Others will say, “Nah, that doesn’t sound right.” And we’re free to disagree about this. We can discuss it. We can debate it. So long that we don’t get rude or insulting or angry, it’s fine.
Yeah, I know—plenty of Christians are gonna insist it’s not fine. Especially those of ’em who claim the Holy Spirit told them what it means, and since they heard from God Himself, how dare anyone disagree; why, that just exposes the fact such people don’t listen to the Spirit. But this kind of prideful arrogance is precisely what the Spirit does not wanna see in the people he talks with, which is why he avoids talking to such fruitless people. Feel free to doubt anything they claim the Spirit told them.
Feel free to doubt fruitless teachers too. If a person can’t teach the bible without being a dick about it, they have no business teaching anyway.
I teach preterism because I’m pretty sure it’s the correct way to understand the End Times stuff in the bible. I also allow for the fact I might be wrong. I’m wrong about lots of stuff!—and this might be one of ’em. Obviously I don’t think I’m wrong, or I wouldn’t bother picking a side; I’d just say, “Preterism is one way people have interpreted the End Times,” and point out the other theories while I’m at it, and otherwise stay pan-millennial. But preterism answers my doubts better than the other theories, so I picked a side, and promote that. Now, you might’ve picked a different theory, and have no doubts about that. We’ll disagree.
And we’re free to disagree. We only have to agree about those five creedal things. Everything else is up for grabs, and I don’t get to redefine orthodoxy and heresy so I can threaten you if you don’t agree with me.
Jesus doesn’t require us to believe thousands of little doctrines anyway. He only requires that we follow him, and love one another. Jn 13.34 Not in that passive-aggressive “tough love” way, where I gotta fight you till you cave in and accept my view, and I get to damn you if you won’t. In that actual patient, kind, not-seeking-its-own kind of love. Even if we disagree.
So if you’re one of those donkeys who’s been telling people they’re going to hell for their End Times views: Stop it. Repent. Produce better fruit. And stop sending me email.
