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HandWiki. Preterism. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/28866 (accessed on 18 September 2026).
HandWiki. Preterism. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/28866. Accessed September 18, 2026.
HandWiki. "Preterism" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/28866 (accessed September 18, 2026).
HandWiki. (2022, October 11). Preterism. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/28866
HandWiki. "Preterism." Encyclopedia. Web. 11 October, 2022.
Preterism
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Preterism, a Christian eschatological view, interprets some (partial preterism) or all (full preterism) prophecies of the Bible as events which have already happened. This school of thought interprets the Book of Daniel as referring to events that happened from the 7th century BC until the first century AD, while seeing the prophecies of the Book of Revelation as events that happened in the first century AD. Preterism holds that Ancient Israel finds its continuation or fulfillment in the Christian church at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The term preterism comes from the Latin praeter, which is a prefix denoting that something is "past" or "beyond". Adherents of preterism are known as preterists. Preterism teaches that either all (full preterism) or a majority (partial preterism) of the Olivet discourse had come to pass by AD 70. Historically, preterists and non-preterists have generally agreed that the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar (1554–1613) wrote the first systematic preterist exposition of prophecy Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalypsi (published in 1614) during the Counter-Reformation.

counter-reformation prophecy preterism

References

  1. Farrar 1882, It has been usual to say that the Spanish Jesuit Alcasar, in his Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalpysi (1614), was the founder of the Præterist School'.
  2. Froom 1954, p. 509, Alcazar was the first to apply preterism to the Apocalypse with anything like completeness, though it had previously been applied somewhat to Daniel'
  3. Stuart 1845, p. 464 "It might be expected, that a commentary which thus freed the Romish church from the assaults of Protestants, would be popular among the advocates of the papacy. Alcassar met, of course, with general approbation and reception among the Romish community"
  4. Newport 2000, p. 74 "It is hardly surprising, given this general context, that the relatively few English Catholic commentators who turned their hands to the interpretation of these same passages should be concerned to counter this widely held, if somewhat variously presented, Protestant view. The response came in three basic forms: preterism, futurism, and 'counter historicism' – a term that has been created for the purposes of this discussion"
  5. Cressener, Drue (1689), "Preface", The Judgments of God Upon The Roman Catholic Church, &c 
  6. Froom 1954, p. 510, "The Preterist view was soon adopted and taught, with various modifications, by the Protestant Hugo Grotius of Holland in his Annotationes (1644)"
  7. Newport 2000, p. 74.
  8. Hammond 1655, "all that this very learned man was guilty of in this matter, was but this, his passionate desire of the unity of the Church in the bands of peace and truth, and a full dislike of all uncharitable distempers, and impious doctrines"
  9. Froom 1954, p. 510, "When Grotius' authorship of the book was detected, it turned all orthodox theologians against him"
  10. Brady, David (1983), The Contribution of British Writers Between 1560 and 1830 to the Interpretation of Revelation 13.16–18, p. 158, "But those who argued for the preterist interpretation of the Book of Revelation, and for that matter the futurist interpretation also, were playing to empty galleries, until at least the fourth decade of the nineteenth century. Their views were anything but popular and those who followed them could soon find themselves branded with the infamous mark of the papal beast" .
  11. Hayne, Thomas (1645). Christs Kingdome on Earth, opened according to the Scriptures. Herein is examined what Mr. Th. Brightman, Dr. J. Alstede, Mr. I. Mede, Mr. H. Archer, The Glympse of Sions Glory, and such as concurre in opinion with them, hold concerning the thousand years of the Saints Reign with Christ, and of Satans binding. London. 
  12. Hall, Joseph (1650). The Revelation Unrevealed. Concerning The Thousand-Yeares Reigne of the Saints with Christ Upon Earth. Laying Forth the Weak Grounds, and Strange Consequences of that Plausible, and Too- Much Received Opinion. R.L.. https://books.google.com/books?id=4qZBwwEACAAJ. 
  13. Hammond 1655.
  14. Hammond, Henry (1653), "Introduction to Revelation", Paraphrase and Annotations, "…appeared to me to be the meaning of this prophecie, hath, for this main of it, in the same manner represented it self to several persons of great piety and learning (as since I have discerned) none taking it from the other, but all from the same light shining in the Prophecie it self. Among which number I now also find the most learned Hugo Grotius, in those posthumous notes of his on the Apocalypse, lately publish'd" .
  15. Brady 1983, p. 158: This volume contained a brave but lonely attempt to introduce the preterist interpretation of the Book of Revelation to English soil
  16. Van Der Wall, Ernestine (1994), "Between Grotius And Cocceius: The 'Theologica Prophetica' of Campegius Vitringa (1659–1722)", Hugo Grotius, Theologian: Essays in Honour of GHM Posthumous Meyjer, Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 55, p. 202, "For most divines in the (early) Enlightenment the choice between the preterist approach of Grotius and the historicist approach of Cocceius was not a difficult one: there was a strong predilection for the latter" .
  17. Froom 1954, p. 510"…in 1791 JG Eichhorn (1752–1827), the noted German rationalist, revived and republished Alcazar's Preterist interpretation"
  18. Stuart 1845, p. 470: "The great mass of the religious public became, at last, wearied out with the extravagances and the errors of apocalyptic interpreters. This prepared the way for ABAUZIT, in his Essay on the Apocalypse (see p. 443 above), to broach the idea, that the whole book relates to the destruction of Judea and Jerusalem. His starting point was, that the book itself declares that all which it predicts would take place speedily. Hence Rome, in chap. xiii–xix. points figuratively to Jerusalem. Chap. xxi. xxii. relate to the extension of the church, after the destruction of the Jews"
  19. Stuart 1845, pp. 470, 417, 471–72.
  20. Aiken (1799), General Biography, p. 4, https://books.google.com/books?id=rkEBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA4, ""Essay upon the Apocalypse", (was) written to show that the canonical authority of the book of Revelation was doubtful, and to apply the predictions to the destruction of Jerusalem. This work was sent by the author to Dr. Twells, in London, who translated it from French into English, and added a refutation, – with which Abauzit was so well satisfied, that he desired his friend in Holland to stop an intended impression." .
  21. Townley (1852), The Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ: A Past Event, https://books.google.com/books?id=nRkEAAAAQAAJ, "We, on the contrary, fulfil every thing by that magic phrase, 'the destruction of Jerusalem.' But can we really and seriously refer these passages which I have quoted from Paul, to the destruction Jerusalem? Can we truly say that the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles, let that mean what it may, exhausted all their meaning — the meaning which was the thought in Paul's mind when he wrote them? I must confess I cannot" .
  22. Abdul-Malak, Michael (February 2010), The Birth Pangs: An Obstetrician Unveils Jesus' Timeline for Earth's Final Travail, p. 92, ISBN 9781607994039, https://books.google.com/books?id=Po-eEvdQPo8C&pg=PA92 .
  23. Sproul 1998, p. 155. https://books.google.com/books?id=KDVlICMWGCoC&pg=PA155
  24. Allison, DC jr (Winter 1994), "A Plea for Thoroughgoing Eschatology", Journal of Biblical Literature 113 (4): 651–68, doi:10.2307/3266712 . https://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F3266712
  25. Hindson; Caner, Ergun, eds. (May 2008), The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics: Surveying the Evidence for the Truth of Christianity, Harvest House, p. 405, ISBN 9780736936354, https://books.google.com/books?id=yipXIHcteRsC&q=partial+preterism&pg=PA405 .
  26. Cory 2006, p. 61. https://books.google.com/books?id=IzzAFl2ONfAC&pg=PA61
  27. Garrow 1997, p. 86. https://books.google.com/books?id=SkOg-tEYbR4C&pg=PA86
  28. Wright, NT (1994), Jerusalem in the New Testament, http://ntwrightpage.com/files/2016/05/Wright_Jerusalem_New_Testament.pdf, "Finally something must be said, despite its difficulties, concerning the book of Revelation. The above presentation adds some weight to the quite controversial thesis that the city which is to be destroyed (the great whore that has become drunk with the blood of the saints) is to be identified, not with Rome, but with Jerusalem. As with any interpretation of Revelation there are problems with this, but there are also some strong arguments in favour." .
  29. Cory 2006, p. 61
  30. Garrow 1997, p. 86.
  31. The Catholic youth Bible: New American Bible including the revised Psalms and the revised New Testament, translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources (rev ed.). Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-88489-798-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=SnORJqkR7qsC&pg=RA7-PT1423. 
  32. Just, Felix (2002-02-02). "666: The Number of the Beast". Catholic resources. http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/666.htm#Academic. 
  33. Hillers, DR (1963). "Revelation 13:18 and a Scroll from Murabba'at". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 170 (170): 65 es. doi:10.2307/1355990.  https://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F1355990
  34. Brown, Raymond E; Fitzmyer, Joseph A; Murphy, Roland E, eds. (1990), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, p. 1009 
  35. Head, Peter M (2000), "Some Recently Published NT Papyri from Oxyrhynchus: An Overview and Preliminary Assessment" (PDF), Tyndale Bulletin (United Kingdom: CAM) 51: 1–16, http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Tyndale/staff/Head/NTOxyPap.htm#_ftn39, retrieved 2011-12-12 .
  36. Whose name, written in Aramaic, can be valued at 666, using the Hebrew numerology of gematria), a manner of speaking against the emperor without the Roman authorities knowing. Also "Nero Caesar" in the Hebrew alphabet is נרון קסר NRWN QSR, which when used as numbers represent 50 200 6 50 100 60 200, which add to 666. The Greek term χάραγμα (kharagma, "mark" in Revelation 13:16) was most commonly used for imprints on documents or coins.
  37. Spilsbury, Paul (2002), The throne, the lamb & the dragon: A Reader's Guide to the Book of Revelation, InterVarsity Press, p. 99 .
  38. "Scholars have noted that the Greek form of Neron Caesar transliterated into Hebrew characters is equivalent to 666 and the Latin form of Nero Caesar transliterated into Hebrew script is equivalent to the variant 616. Similarly the Shema of Bar Kochba is 666 and his patronymic that was modified in order to reflect his true nature (that of a deceiver/liar/false messiah)". P. Wyns, The Shema and Bar Kochba: the false messiah and 666, (Biblaridion media, March 2018), p.9
  39. Catholic Encyclopedia, Our Sunday Visitor, 1979, p. 861, ISBN 9780879736699, https://books.google.com/books?id=vJ78Vd4O9d4C&q=book+of+Revelation+95+catholic&pg=PA861 .
  40. LaHaye, Tim (August 2009), Understanding Bible Prophecy for Yourself, p. 126, ISBN 9780736934022, https://books.google.com/books?id=U-BT7qW6mVAC&q=book+of+Revelation+written+after&pg=PA126 .
  41. Berthold-Bond, Daniel (January 1989), Hegel's grand synthesis: a study of being, thought, and history, p. 118, ISBN 9780887069550, https://books.google.com/books?id=gZq2HjvC0_wC&q=book+of+Revelation+written+after&pg=PA118, "notes in consensus that Revelation was written around 95 AD" .
  42. Rhodes, Ron (Feb 2010), The Popular Dictionary of Bible Prophecy, Harvest House, p. 232, ISBN 9780736937504, https://books.google.com/books?id=oMq5m_3hYoEC&q=partial+preterism&pg=PA232 .
  43. Frost, Samuel; Green, David; Hassertt, Ed; Sullivan, Michael, House Divided: Bridging the Gap in Reformed Eschatology. A Preterist Response to When Shall These Things Be? 
  44. Liwanag, Tim (May 2015), Fulfilled Eschatology, CreateSpace, ISBN 978-1512063110 .
  45. Rhodes, Ron (March 2010), 5-Minute Apologetics for Today, Harvest House, p. 316, ISBN 9780736937580, https://books.google.com/books?id=E53TGSIxgyoC&q=partial%20preterism&pg=PA316 .
  46. Wohlberg, Steve (2005), End Time Delusions: The Rapture, the Antichrist, Israel, and the End of the World, Destiny Image, p. 115, ISBN 9780768429602, https://books.google.com/books?id=Ux-X_FFK5i0C&q=partial%20preterism&pg=PA115 .
  47. Clarke (2000), AD 70, KC COFC, http://www.kc-cofc.org/39th/Lectures/2000%20Manuscripts/Clarke%20-%20AD%2070.PDF .
  48. The End Times Controversy edited by Tim F. LaHaye, Thomas Ice 2003 p.24 "..an orthodox view of the resurrection which is associated with Christ's return.33 Dr. Sproul says of full preterist Max King, "For this schema to work, the traditional idea of resurrection must be replaced with a metaphorical idea of resurrection," https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DGKY59jebNUC&pg=PA24
  49. Hindson, Ed; Caner, Ergun (May 2008), The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics: Surveying the Evidence for the Truth of Christianity, p. 405, ISBN 9780736936354, https://books.google.com/books?id=yipXIHcteRsC&q=hyper-preterism&pg=PA405 .
  50. Garland 2007, p. 114.
  51. Anderberg, Roy (2008). The Return of Christ: A Biblical Study. p. 174. 
  52. Sproul 1998, p. 156.
  53. Riemer, Michael (2000). It Was At Hand. p. 12. 
  54. Garland 2007, p. 117.
  55. "The Whore of Babylon". Catholic Answers. http://www.catholic.com/library/Whore_of_Babylon.asp. 
  56. Who Is This Babylon, Don Preston Foreward
  57. Froom 1954, p. 509: Alcazar was the first to apply Preterism to the Apocalypse with anything like completeness, though it had previously been applied somewhat to Daniel
  58. Farrar, Frederic (1882). The Early Days of Christianity (Vol. 2 ed.). NY: E.P Dutton + Co.. p. 228. https://archive.org/details/earlydaysofchri00farr. 
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