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Prophecy Paradox: The Case for a First Century End Time
It's time for the paradox. We've all heard biblical predictions of the end wars, cataclysm, apocalypse. You've heard predictions of the future, but the paradox is in the past. "PROPHECY The Case for a First Century End Time" shows these prophecies were ancient predictions for the first century. Here is evidence the historical "end time" took place in the first century; and that's the paradox. "PROPHECY The Case for a First Century End Time" offers a well organized and documented case for first century fulfillment of prophecy. The first Christians 2000 years ago lived in the "last days," and the "end of all things" was at hand in their immediate future. The origin of "end of the world" prophecies was a series of signs meant for those who lived 2000 years ago. Although we are popularly inclined to look for these signs today, this approach is out of context with original intent. "PROPHECY The Case for a First Century End Time" uses source material from the Bible and original Roman Empire histories to show that all the signs were seen in the first century within the generation of the apostles. "PROPHECY The Case for a First Century End Time" provides valuable resource material for those interested in the subject. The book includes detailed historical documentation, as well as an index, Table of Contents, chronological table, listing of time statements, table of Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled, bibliography, and various maps, charts and illustrations.
370 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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April 17, 2026
In his book *About Preterism*, Roderick Edwards recommends reading this book, and so I did. And I’m glad I did! Edwards claims this book is well researched and indeed that does appear to be the case. Like most preterists, Schuldt relies heavily on Josephus, but because of her unusual view that Jesus returned in A.D. 79, she also cites a number of Roman historians about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in that year. I also appreciated her citing Whiston's footnotes to Josephus which provided valuable insights into Whiston's thoughts. For example, Whiston thought that the period of the Jewish war from February 66 to June 70 was the fulfillment of Daniel 9.27 (footnote to wars 6.2.1).
As part of her description of the events of AD 79, Schuldt cites two medium length letters: Pliny the younger to Cornelius Tacitus (pp. 88-91), and Tacitus' reply (91-94). In his letter, Pliny the younger describes the death of his uncle, Pliny the elder as a result of the eruption. Strangely, Schuldt suggests later that perhaps Pliny the elder was a Christian, and his death was a part of the general taking away of Christians in A.D. 79 (one is "taken," one is left). She suggests that since "taken" can be used to describe being taken in death, at the time of Christ's Parousia, many Christians who appeared to die were actually taken by Christ at his appearing. "If thousands of people died in the plague during Titus' reign of AD 79-81, then the deaths of a select 144,000 would be dwarfed by the other thousands that died in this same plague."
A significant part of the book was devoted to a description of the horrors of the Jewish War. Most of this I was already familiar with from reading other preterist works, but there were a couple names I need to investigate, such as the Roman general Cestius, who seems to have played an important role in the war. The statement that Jerusalem was divided into three factions: Simon ben Giora, John of Gischala, and Eleazar ben Simon caught my attention. I was aware that the Jews of Jerusalem were divided into factions during the war, but I didn’t know how many. And although I knew of John and Eleazar, I didn’t not know of Simon. Although I bought a cheap Kindle version of Josephus's years ago it is not very readable. So I have put Whiston's translation with notes on my shopping list.
I found the following two paragraphs to be very strange: "From A.D. 73 to 75, a king rose up and subdued three of ten kings. In A.D. 75 authority over every nation in the Empire was given to him for three and one half years. … This person was the false Nero who appeared, gained many followers, and was believed by many to be Nero. The number of his name was 666.
"Another wicked ruler with equal authority, also called the false prophet, gave the false Nero authority, and made everybody worship him. He told them to make a statue of Nero and worship it. This huge statue was Colossus. He deceived the people on earth by performing great signs and forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand or forehead so that no one could buy or sell without the mark. This wicked ruler may have been Artabanus, king of Parthia in the east, who had made preparations to restore the false Nero to the throne. He might even have been Vespasian or Titus, or perhaps someone who will remain forever unnamed."
Schuldt frequently refers to things that may have happened or probably happened, but were not recorded in history. No pseudo-Neros are known from the period 73-73. The first false Nero appeared around AD 69, and the second, Terentius Maximus, appeared during the reign of Titus, from 79-81. I suppose it’s not impossible that a false Nero appeared between these two, but if he subdued three kings and authority over every nation was given to him, wouldn’t we have heard something about him. But she is definitely confused about the Colossus of Nero, which construction was ordered by Nero, not a false Nero, and was completed by A.D. 68.
Of course, a significant part of the book explained why the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius fulfilled prophecy. She explains how stars could be said to fall from the sky: "On windy evenings when shadowy clouds drift past the moon, the moon *appears* to move and the clouds *appear* stationary. When the shadowy clouds drift past clouds, sometimes the stars *appear* to move. This happens because our mind does not see any stationary reference in the depth of the heavens. On a dark windy night when a single massive dark cloud bank sweeps over a clear starry sky, all the stars appear to move, the nearly invisible cloud bank appears stationary, and the stars as they are obscured by the cloud bank appear to fall from the sky. In this case, the cloud was volcanic ash from Mt. Vesuvius moving south-east. The stars being obscured by the ash cloud do not just 'blink out' because the leading edge of the ash cloud is thin and gradually thickens. The stars actually appear as shooting stars, or falling stars. … the stars literally appeared to fall from the sky."
Since lightning is common with volcanic eruptions, the prediction that Christ's coming would be like lighting flashing from one end of the sky to the other, may have been literally fulfilled. Revelation 16.12 may have been literally fulfilled: "Dio Cassius said that the eruption was followed by fearful droughts. Perhaps the Euphrates did dry up enough to prepare the way for the kings of the east (Parthia); and perhaps the armies of the habitable earth gathered at a place called Har-Magedon. Simply because these events are not found in recorded history, does not mean they did not happen."
Unlike most preterists, Schuldt propounds a literal 1000 year (or approximately so) millennium. "The beginning of the Crusades [1095] marked the end of the thousand years."
The book had a very nice appendix of fulfilled Old Testament prophecies that I had trouble reading on my iPad because the layout switched from portrait to landscape. So I may purchase the print edition of this book to have in my library. I only skimmed this appendix but a couple items drew my attention. I did not know that after 70 AD Vespasian ordered a search for all those that were of the family of David, which Schuldt claims implies a continuous Davidic rule up to that time; citing Jeremiah 30.9; 33.17; and 2 Samuel 7.12-16. Also, citing Jeremiah 31.35-37; 33.19-26, she claims that the covenant would be broken, and that it was in the first century.
This book is a very nice exposition of the unusual view that Jesus returned in A.D. 79. The only other book I can find that espouses this view is *The fire fell from heaven: Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and the awesome day of the Lord*, by Alf Hutchison
As part of her description of the events of AD 79, Schuldt cites two medium length letters: Pliny the younger to Cornelius Tacitus (pp. 88-91), and Tacitus' reply (91-94). In his letter, Pliny the younger describes the death of his uncle, Pliny the elder as a result of the eruption. Strangely, Schuldt suggests later that perhaps Pliny the elder was a Christian, and his death was a part of the general taking away of Christians in A.D. 79 (one is "taken," one is left). She suggests that since "taken" can be used to describe being taken in death, at the time of Christ's Parousia, many Christians who appeared to die were actually taken by Christ at his appearing. "If thousands of people died in the plague during Titus' reign of AD 79-81, then the deaths of a select 144,000 would be dwarfed by the other thousands that died in this same plague."
A significant part of the book was devoted to a description of the horrors of the Jewish War. Most of this I was already familiar with from reading other preterist works, but there were a couple names I need to investigate, such as the Roman general Cestius, who seems to have played an important role in the war. The statement that Jerusalem was divided into three factions: Simon ben Giora, John of Gischala, and Eleazar ben Simon caught my attention. I was aware that the Jews of Jerusalem were divided into factions during the war, but I didn’t know how many. And although I knew of John and Eleazar, I didn’t not know of Simon. Although I bought a cheap Kindle version of Josephus's years ago it is not very readable. So I have put Whiston's translation with notes on my shopping list.
I found the following two paragraphs to be very strange: "From A.D. 73 to 75, a king rose up and subdued three of ten kings. In A.D. 75 authority over every nation in the Empire was given to him for three and one half years. … This person was the false Nero who appeared, gained many followers, and was believed by many to be Nero. The number of his name was 666.
"Another wicked ruler with equal authority, also called the false prophet, gave the false Nero authority, and made everybody worship him. He told them to make a statue of Nero and worship it. This huge statue was Colossus. He deceived the people on earth by performing great signs and forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand or forehead so that no one could buy or sell without the mark. This wicked ruler may have been Artabanus, king of Parthia in the east, who had made preparations to restore the false Nero to the throne. He might even have been Vespasian or Titus, or perhaps someone who will remain forever unnamed."
Schuldt frequently refers to things that may have happened or probably happened, but were not recorded in history. No pseudo-Neros are known from the period 73-73. The first false Nero appeared around AD 69, and the second, Terentius Maximus, appeared during the reign of Titus, from 79-81. I suppose it’s not impossible that a false Nero appeared between these two, but if he subdued three kings and authority over every nation was given to him, wouldn’t we have heard something about him. But she is definitely confused about the Colossus of Nero, which construction was ordered by Nero, not a false Nero, and was completed by A.D. 68.
Of course, a significant part of the book explained why the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius fulfilled prophecy. She explains how stars could be said to fall from the sky: "On windy evenings when shadowy clouds drift past the moon, the moon *appears* to move and the clouds *appear* stationary. When the shadowy clouds drift past clouds, sometimes the stars *appear* to move. This happens because our mind does not see any stationary reference in the depth of the heavens. On a dark windy night when a single massive dark cloud bank sweeps over a clear starry sky, all the stars appear to move, the nearly invisible cloud bank appears stationary, and the stars as they are obscured by the cloud bank appear to fall from the sky. In this case, the cloud was volcanic ash from Mt. Vesuvius moving south-east. The stars being obscured by the ash cloud do not just 'blink out' because the leading edge of the ash cloud is thin and gradually thickens. The stars actually appear as shooting stars, or falling stars. … the stars literally appeared to fall from the sky."
Since lightning is common with volcanic eruptions, the prediction that Christ's coming would be like lighting flashing from one end of the sky to the other, may have been literally fulfilled. Revelation 16.12 may have been literally fulfilled: "Dio Cassius said that the eruption was followed by fearful droughts. Perhaps the Euphrates did dry up enough to prepare the way for the kings of the east (Parthia); and perhaps the armies of the habitable earth gathered at a place called Har-Magedon. Simply because these events are not found in recorded history, does not mean they did not happen."
Unlike most preterists, Schuldt propounds a literal 1000 year (or approximately so) millennium. "The beginning of the Crusades [1095] marked the end of the thousand years."
The book had a very nice appendix of fulfilled Old Testament prophecies that I had trouble reading on my iPad because the layout switched from portrait to landscape. So I may purchase the print edition of this book to have in my library. I only skimmed this appendix but a couple items drew my attention. I did not know that after 70 AD Vespasian ordered a search for all those that were of the family of David, which Schuldt claims implies a continuous Davidic rule up to that time; citing Jeremiah 30.9; 33.17; and 2 Samuel 7.12-16. Also, citing Jeremiah 31.35-37; 33.19-26, she claims that the covenant would be broken, and that it was in the first century.
This book is a very nice exposition of the unusual view that Jesus returned in A.D. 79. The only other book I can find that espouses this view is *The fire fell from heaven: Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and the awesome day of the Lord*, by Alf Hutchison
August 30, 2021
Thought-provoking! lots of scripture! This book makes you think.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews