Partial-Preterism Part 1 (The Prophet Daniel & Jesus’ Olivet Discourse)
This article shifts our eschatology series from critique to construction, beginning a two-part look at our church’s partial-preterist convictions. Part one examines Daniel’s prophecies and the Olivet Discourse; part two will focus on Revelation.
This article is the latest installment in a series of articles I’ve been writing concerning eschatology, or the doctrines of “last things.” While previous articles have delved into doctrinal errors regarding eschatology, or provided more context around these conversations, this article will begin a two-part series on our church’s eschatological views - specifically, on the topic of partial-preterism. This article will focus on the prophecies of Daniel and the Olivet Discourse, while part 2 will focus on the Book of Revelation.
The vast majority of the prophetic events mentioned in the apocalyptic literature of the Bible were fulfilled in the past (specifically the first century) and concerned the incarnation of Christ into human history
What is Partial-Preterism?
Our church’s views contrast with that of the futurists, who hold that prophetic literature in the Old and New Testaments has not yet been fulfilled, but will be at an unknown future date. Our position is called partial-preterism: “preterism” is derived from the Latin word preter, meaning “past.” This view believes that the vast majority of the prophetic events mentioned in the apocalyptic literature of the Bible were fulfilled in the past (specifically the first century) and concerned the incarnation of Christ into human history and the ways in which his ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension inaugurated a new age, namely, the New Covenant. At the same time, partial-preterism maintains that Jesus’ ascension as King of kings and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on the early church were the beginning of the “last days” of the Old Covenant, which culminated with the promised destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, the Levitical priesthood, and its sacrificial system, exactly on the timetable that the prophet Daniel and Jesus foretold. This brought to an end the age of Old Testament Judaism and its identity as the true Israel – and the Church continued its mission to fill the world with the Good News that Christ rules over all things.
“Why Partial?”
Partial-preterism, the position our church holds to, is a view which believes that the vast majority of prophetic events was fulfilled in the first century… but not all. The Second Advent of Christ, where he will return to judge the living and the dead and usher in the new heavens and the new earth, has not yet occurred. Our church’s position is called “partial” due to this, and also to distinguish this orthodox view from the heretical position commonly known as “full” preterism. Full preterism teaches that all of the prophetic events of the Bible were fulfilled by AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem, including Christ’s resurrection, and purports that we are already living in the new heavens and the new earth. These false doctrines are incredibly destructive in that they purport to present a “consistent” interpretation of biblical prophecy, all while teaching a view that directly contradicts the creeds and confessions of the Church, namely that there is no future resurrection or future return of Christ. For full preterists, death is never defeated, pain and suffering will never end, evil will continue, and Christ’s rule and reign is merely spiritual. Many former Christians who embrace full preterism walk away from Christ completely, due to the utter hopelessness of this position. Partial-preterism correctly interprets much of the prophecies of the Bible as pointing to the events of the first century, but stands within orthodox Christianity in that it believes in the future hope of Christ’s Second Coming, and his complete victory over Satan, sin and death.
A full treatment of the prophetic literature of the Bible would fill an entire book, so here I will first briefly summarize how partial-preterists understand Daniel 9-11, and then briefly examine the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24.
Understanding Daniel 9-11
Approximately 500 years before Christ’s birth, the prophet Daniel wrote down apocalyptic visions of coming judgment on the people of Israel. Interestingly, the vision that Daniel received in Daniel 9 provided a precise timetable for when the coming Messiah would arrive, bringing about the end of sacrifices in the temple and the fate of Jerusalem. This prophetic vision is commonly known as the Seventy Weeks prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27 reads:
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. And for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
These “weeks” are understood to be weeks of years (1 week = 7 years) so seventy weeks is 490 years. In other words, according to Daniel 9:24, 490 years from the beginning of this prophecy is when transgression would be finished, sin would be atoned for, and everlasting righteousness would begin. This was finished in Christ’s first coming, symbolizing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Daniel 9:25 states that this 490 timetable would begin with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. The Persian emperor Artaxerxes fulfilled this in 457 BC (Ezra 7) when he gave Ezra permission to lead the exiles back to Jerusalem. This leads to a period of seven weeks (49 years) when an anointed one would complete this work of rebuilding Jerusalem. This was fulfilled during the time of Nehemiah when the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt and the temple sacrifices were restored under Ezra and Joshua the High Priest. The first seven weeks and the 62 following are a total of 483 years, which brings us to AD 27, when Christ began his ministry.
Jesus Christ (the Anointed One, Daniel 9:25) made a strong covenant (the New Covenant, Daniel 9:27) that he would put an end to sacrifice and offerings. This passage describes the anointed one being “cut off, and having nothing (Daniel 9:26).” Jesus would be rejected as king, and executed, “cut off” from his people. This would occur halfway through the 70th week. This rejection of the New Covenant of Christ would lead to the coming judgment, which Jesus said would occur within a generation (40 years) in his Olivet Discourse (more on this below). Daniel 11 further describes the Abomination of Desolation which was promised in Daniel 9, and its dual fulfillments in both Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the coming “prince” (the Roman emperor Titus) who would destroy Jerusalem in AD 70.
The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21):
Near the end of Jesus’ ministry, when he is “cut off” as described by Daniel 9, he teaches regarding the end of the Old Covenant age. In Matthew 24:15, Jesus quotes explicitly from the prophet Daniel, describing the coming judgment on Jerusalem: the Abomination of Desolation. In Matthew 24, Jesus promises that within a generation “not one stone will be left on another,” promising that Daniel’s prophecies would be fulfilled. You can line up Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 24 and see exact quotations from Daniel 9 - 12.
Jesus put a precise timetable on the final 3.5 years of the 70th week in Matthew 24:34 when he said: “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” In other words, the coming destruction of Jerusalem would take place within 40 years. During these 40 years, Jesus promised that there would be wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and false messiahs – and that the Gospel would be preached throughout the Roman world. All of these things took place as described in the book of Acts as well as extra-biblical sources, such as the works of Jewish historian Josephus.
As Christians, we know that the Kingdom of God is already here.
In Matthew 24:15-22, Jesus describes the Abomination of Desolation, when Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies. He states that there would be time for his followers to flee to the mountains - but for those who didn’t listen to his warning, nothing but calamity: the Great Tribulation. The remaining 3.5 years of the 70th week (from AD 67-70) saw destruction unlike any that Jerusalem had seen before. Jewish historian Josephus describes genocidal levels of starvation, cannibalism, and conflict during the siege of Jerusalem, leading to over a million dead. Titus, general of the Roman armies, son of the current emperor Vespasian and future emperor, would set up the Roman standards to be worshiped in the temple, completely profaning it, before tearing down the temple and the entire city of Jerusalem, stone by stone. Recording this history, Josephus writes:
And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator. (Wars 6.6.1.)
The Roman legions heralded Titus as king as he performed sacrifices and worshiped the Roman gods in the temple, desecrating it with the suovetaurilia sacrifices, and then tore it down. The temple has not been rebuilt to this day.
The End of the Old Covenant, the Beginning of the New
In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Jesus fulfilled the Law and Prophets in his life and ministry. He instituted the New Covenant at the Last Supper, and he made the final sacrifice with his crucifixion. Upon Christ’s death, Matthew 27:51 records that the veil in the temple was torn in two. The sacrificial system of the Jews was finished. And yet, the Jews who rejected Christ hung on to the Old Covenant for the next 40 years, continuing to make animal sacrifices.
In Matthew 24, Christ had promised the coming judgment, the end of the Old Covenant age, and that promise was fulfilled. The end of the age had arrived. The old had passed away, and the new had come.
The partial-preterist view that we hold showcases how much we as Christians can trust in the Bible. We only have to read the history of the first century to see how all of these prophecies were fulfilled, just as Daniel and Jesus said they would be. It instills confidence in the believer in what Jesus Christ accomplished for them at his crucifixion, and through his death and resurrection. As Christians, we know that the Kingdom of God is already here, and as the prophet Isaiah says regarding our King, Jesus Christ: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” The Gospel is growing throughout the nations as we proclaim the good news of his rule and reign.
Stay tuned for my next article, where we will examine the book of Revelation from a partial-preterist perspective.
