Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 11:33 (Aug 2007)
Article: Preterism And Matthean Timing Of Prophetic Fulfillment
Author: Ron J. Bigalke, Jr.

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JODT 11:33 (Aug 2007) p. 21

Preterism And Matthean Timing Of Prophetic Fulfillment

Ron J. Bigalke Jr.

Director, Eternal Ministries, Inc.; Pastor, Coastal Bible Chapel;
Professor of Bible & Theology, Tyndale Theological Seminary

The thesis of this article is that preterism, as it relates to the second coming, fails to interpret exegetically and/or historically various time-indicators within the Gospel of Matthew. To support this claim, it is necessary to discuss introductory matters in relation to preterist interpretation, and then finally examine the time-indicators to determine the timing of prophetic fulfillment.

Preterist Interpretation

Preterism (Latin for “past,” in regard to time) is the view that the majority (sometimes all) of Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled. The preterist viewpoint affirms that Titus and the Roman armies already fulfilled major prophetic events, such as the Olivet Discourse and Book of Revelation, when they destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. For instance, Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. wrote:

Revelation has two fundamental purposes relative to its original hearers. In the first, place it was designed to steel the first century Church against the gathering storm of persecution, which was reaching an unnerving crescendo of theretofore unknown proportions and intensity. A new and major feature of that persecution was the entrance of imperial Rome onto the scene. The first historical persecution of the Church by imperial Rome was by Nero Caesar1 from A.D. 64 to A.D. 68. In the second place, it was to brace the Church from a major and fundamental re-orientation in the course of redemptive history, a re-orientation necessitating the destruction of Jerusalem (the center not only of Old Covenant Israel, but of Apostolic Christianity [cp. Acts 1:8; 2:1ff; 15:2] and the Temple [cp. Matt. 24:1–34 with Rev. 11].2

Preterists believe they have adequately interpreted the historical background by relating the fulfillment of major prophetic events to the time of the original audience. For instance, the preterist viewpoint is thought to best interpret Christ’s words in Matthew 24:34 (“Verily I say unto you, This

JODT 11:33 (Aug 2007) p. 22

generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”), and other references to the coming of Christ as “quickly” or “at hand” (

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