Yesterday we were introduced to Preterism and it’s variant, Partial-Preterism. Preterism (commonly referred to as full-Preterism) denies that there is a future bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason full-Preterism is considered a dangerous false teaching and rejected by the majority of Christian churches. Partial-Preterism teaches that many prophecies were fulfilled by A.D. 70, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Partial-Preterists believe that Jesus Christ came in the sky and judged the old Jewish religious system. While sharing many common beliefs with full-Preterism, Partial-Preterism does believe in a future bodily return of the Lord, followed by the eternal state.
Today we are going to take a look at the Historicism. Historicism views many of the prophecies in the book of Daniel and Revelation as being literally fulfilled during the church age. It teaches that the true church has been in an ongoing war with evil, whether it be satanic attack or apostasy within the church. Another view of Historicism is that it views the Roman Catholic Church, and specifically the Pope, as being the anti-Christ or Man of Sin. Historicism has been a popular and dominant version of Christian Eschatology from the time of the early fathers, through the mid-19th century when it began to be replaced by Dispensationalism and it’s eschatological view — Futurism. Historicism does believe in a literal and bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an orthodox view that was held by Martin Luther and many of the Protestant Reformers. It is still popular today within Reformed Christianity.
Tomorrow, Idealism.
