The End of All Things: A Defense of the Future

by C. Jonathin Seraiah

The easiest way to deal with false doctrine is to affirm its absolute opposite. Unfortunately, this opposite affirmation is often no less erroneous than the false doctrine against which it reacts-sometimes, it is worse. Most conservative Christians in the twentieth century have been obsessed with "the last days." An absolute opposite answer has recently emerged in the form of what C. Jonathin Seraiah terms "pantelism," the view that all final events had taken place by the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70. With one feel swoop, this viewpoint eviscerates dispensationalism. Unfortunately, it also undermines orthodox Christianity. This book by Seaiah shows that "consistent preterism" is far from consistent with the Biblical evidence and that the Second Coming of Christ is still in the future. Anyone interested in the larger questions of eschatology and hermeneutics will benefit from this book.

Genres: Theology, Christianity

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the plus side of good. I don’t know that I have ever truly considered myself a partial-preterist, but certainly am one to some extent. Yet the term partial is used to distinguish itself from full-preterist because there is a marked difference. At the time of this book’s writing, many were considering themselves full or hyper-preterists which is an affirmation that all prophecy has been fulfilled by 70 AD, including the second advent of Christ which is held to be a spiritual return of Christ rather than a physical return. Another name for this view is Pantelism (which is not referring to that cringy joke about being a pan-millennialist because things will all “pan” out in the end), which is what our author uses throughout the book.

Today, we are seeing a resurgence of this Pantelism from men like Gary DeMar who have shifted from that partial view to a hyper view. At the same time, many who were once hyper have shifted back to a partial view. Our author unpacks the various defenses of partial-preterism and shows how it is the consistent view vs the hyper, full, or Pantelist viewpoint. Some of his arguments are clunky and hard to follow - to borrow a friend’s phrasing - not because of the depth of argument but because of the lack of clarity and thought. Still, there is much here that the Pantelist must deal with because if these arguments are consistent and true, not only are these views heretical, they are damning.

[Jason Garwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Completely demolishes the erroneous pantelist view.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

R.C. Sproul, Jr. wrote the introduction to this book - and I could not say it better!!! I grew up a dispensationalist - and it never made much sense - but it was the only thing I knew for a long time. I hope to read more books about this subject in the future.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid, biblical refutation of hyper-preterism.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good. It is written to save pantelists from their heresy. Being "not a Pantelist", I really felt left out and like the author was not talking to me. If you are a Pantelist-Heretic, you should read this book. If you are not a Pantelist-Heretic, recently learned about partial preterism and are questioning things, this book is a great contribution, but there are better books for the task.

Short read. Covers many texts pertaining to the 2nd coming of Christ from a Postmillennial perspective.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exegetical look at the heretical claims of the Pantilists (hyper-preterists). Seraiah does a really good job. He patiently and fairly works through most of the relevant passages and shows the huge problems with a Pantalist reading. But, and it is a big enough but, he is not a great writer. In fact, his prose is rather dull and tedious. Only the interest I have in the subject kept me going.

Liked it.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It made me really think about eschatology. The author does not spend a lot of time explaining his opponents positions, so I plan on reading more about pantelism and then re-read this book to check arguments. A great resource.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

good and thorough