I’m in the midst of reading Christianity’s Great Dilemma – Is Jesus Coming Again or Is He Not? Glenn L. Hill is a pastor who changed his mind regarding what the Bible teaches about the Second Coming of Jesus and the related happenings foretold in Scripture. After many years of preaching and teaching the mainstream view of eschatology, Hill was convinced the Bible actually teaches Jesus returned in the first century A.D. just as He said he would and just as his Apostles clearly expected based on their New Testament writings. Hill lays out his argument in an easy-to-read and friendly format.
Whether you believe preterism or covenant eschatology is true, it is worth the time to consider that there are other ways to understand the Biblical passages about the Last Days, the Last Hour, the Second Coming of Jesus, the End of the Age, the Judgement, etc. Preterism and partial-preterism are quickly gaining in the American church. At the very least, it is important to understand the arguments for this view. It is easy for Christians to dismiss the idea out of hand as preposterous. However, it’s much more difficult to refute than one might expect because preterists rely on taking Jesus and the Apostles at their word.
Chapter 6 focuses on The Judgement and contains this thought-provoking passage on pages 97-98.
We associate the Last Days and the End of the World with the time of the Second Coming of Jesus.
(snip)
We also associate the Judgement with the time of the coming of the Lord…
(snip)
The church teaches that at some point yet in our future, Jesus will finally make His second appearance. At that time, all people who have ever lived on Earth will stand before God to be judged. Judgement will be based not on what God knows about us, but on what is found written about us in a record book of our lives. The good people will be there and the bad too! Those of us still living at that time will be there. The multiplied billions of people who have lived and died since creation, will be resurrected back to life and they will be there as well. Somewhere I have read that if everyone who ever lived was alive at one time, we would all be standing seven persons deep, one of top of the other and covering the whole planet. I cannot say whether that is a true assessment of the situation. However, the number of people who have lived on Earth staggers my wildest imagination.
How many thousands of years do you supposed it would take to read from the record book all the deeds everybody has ever done? And can you even imagine how huge such a record book would be? How long would it take to make individual decisions on whether each person is innocent or guilty? But the Christian church teaches that this is what will happen at the Judgement and we are all going to be there to hear our fate! God will decide whether we are saved or lost. The lost He will send into eternal, never-ending torture in a place called hell. The saved He will welcome to heaven for eternity. This is all very bizarre! It is a wonder we can get any thinking person to believe and convert to Christianity!
But that that is not all! The church teaches that when we die, immediately our “immortal soul” (a term not found in the Bible) goes to heaven if we have believed in Jesus. It goes to hell if we did not believe in him. Then, in the future, at Jesus’ Second Coming, our long decayed natural bodies will be resurrected. Our “immortal souls” will leave heaven and hell, and enter our bodies again. Then the judging described in the preceding paragraph begins. How can Christians believe such a scenario? Our God is a reasonable God, and this totally lacks sanity! Think about this! A person who died and went to heaven 500 years before Christ returns, has now got to come back from heaven, stand before God and be judged. Why? Was he sent to heaven in error? Could he end up in the other place? This makes absolutely no sense at all! It appears that a person who has been in hell for 1,000 years will get a break! He will come back to stand and be judged. Why? Was some mistake made when he died? Should he not have been sent to hell? Might he now get to go to heaven, instead of being sent back to hell? What a dilemma Christianity has created for itself!
I have readily admitted to being wrong about many things, but thank God I never did believe these totally unreasonable and unbiblical Judgement Day doctrines taught by the Christian church! How can anyone believe such? It is probably because most Christians have never stopped and really thought about it. Any reasonable, thinking person can easily see real problems here! Let us see if we can find some plausible answers.
This book makes so much more sense than a lot of what I’ve read or heard about the Second Coming of Jesus, the Last Days, the Last Hour, the End of the Age, etc. throughout my life. I think every American Christian should read this book (and a few others) to challenge their beliefs about eschatology.
Jesus said he was “coming soon” multiple times. He said he was coming before that generation standing in front of him would pass away. The Apostles believed Jesus was coming soon and clearly instructed the early church in that belief. Were they deceived? Did they lie?
In 1 John, John told them it was not only the Last Days but that it was the Last Hour. He told this to the readers who received his letter. Did he lie to them? Was he a false prophet? How in the world do we think the Last Hour is now, over 2,000 years later?
The Bible is for us, but it was not written to us as I wrote in The Bible Was Written For Us, But Not To Us. How many interpretation mistakes do we make today because we insist on inserting ourselves into the narrative? And not just us. Every generation does this. We all have grandparents and great-grandparents who were convinced they were living in the “end times” and it was the Last Hour. They have all since passed away without seeing the fulfillment of that.
Do we honestly think John telling the recipients of his letter that it was the Last Hour still somehow applies to us today? That makes no sense at all.
So if we get that part of the timing wrong, what are the odds that we’re getting The Judgement completely wrong as well?
I do know one thing. I don’t believe Jesus was a liar or a false prophet. I don’t believe the Apostles were liars or false prophets. Sadly, some of the End Times views basically teach that. Not explicitly. But if you take them to their logical conclusion, that is what you end up with.
Christianity’s Great Dilemma: Is Jesus Coming Again or Is He Not?
Conspiracy Theories & Weird Stories
A secular estimate for the all-time world population is in the area of 100 billion. A young-Earth creationist could easily believe it is much lower than that.
If 100 billion people were placed evenly over the entire land area of the Earth, there would be over 1400 square meters per person. No stacking required, and Rev. 20:11 says the judgment won’t happen on the Earth we know anyway.
There’s a book called The Rapture Exposed, which I haven’t read, where the author has criticized some of the same theology, only from a progressive Christian position rather than a preterist one.
https://pres-outlook.org/2005/11/the-rapture-exposed-the-message-of-hope-in-the-revelation-to-john/
I think the judgment of Rev. 20 may include the testing and rewarding of works described in 1 Cor. 3:12-15.
I only have a minute, but this is a good look at the idea of the end of the world from a preterist perspective. They would argue that there is nothing in the Bible that indicates this earth will be destroyed. (There is loads more out there, but this one popped up when I looked. Gary Demar is very good on preterism.)
https://americanvision.org/1706/why-its-not-end-of-world
Preterism is a complete paradigm shift. It honestly took me a number of months of listening and reading just to wrap my head around the concept and how they look at things. It’s one of those things that can’t be understood unless you immerse yourself in it for some time. Partial preterism makes complete sense to me. Making the jump to full preterism is pretty significant.
I’m not sure where I land, but partial-preterism makes more sense than anything. Once I understood the paradigm shift, the rest fell into place rather quickly. But it took me many months of reading and watching videos to get to that point. Now when I read a book like the one I quoted it seems so obvious as he goes through the various passages and such. But it was never presented as an option that I remember in my life so I operated in the framework given to me.
I Peter 3
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Hi Karen,
Here is something to ponder. I mean to put this in a post, but didn’t want to ignore your comment. The first century Christians (especially those who came out of Judaism) would not have read that passage you quoted from 1 Peter as we have been conditioned to, especially the part about the heavens and earth and elements. That’s another post, but here is also another point that addresses the idea of everything burning up doesn’t make sense.
From this lengthy article:
https://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/eschatology/what_is_the_preterist_view.htm
From the article you linked:
“One of the things I appreciate most is how clearly and forcefully she articulates her critique of the Left Behind movement. Her opening paragraph sets the tone for the whole book: “THE RAPTURE IS A RACKET. Whether prescribing a violent script for Israel or survivalism in the United States, this theology distorts God’s vision for the world. In place of healing, the Rapture proclaims escape. In place of Jesus’ blessing of peacemakers, the Rapture voyeuristically glorifies violence and war. …We are not raptured off the earth, nor is God. God has come to live in the world through Jesus Christ. God created the world, God loves the world, and God will never leave the world behind.””
“The rapture is a racket.” I like that. I think she’s correct.