Why Not Full-Preterism?: A Partial-Preterist Response to a Novel Theological Innovation

by Steve Gregg

Did Jesus already return, as He predicted He would? For 2,000 years, the Church has always said, "Not yet!" Since the 1970's, some writers have been claiming that Christ returned at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Romans, in A.D.70. They believe there are no more biblical prophecies to be fulfilled in the future. This is the view called Full-Preterism. It is currently held by a tiny minority of Christians, but it is gaining adherents through the influence of articulate advocates-especially on the Internet. Why Not Full-Preterism examines the arguments of this camp and demonstrates its errors. Steve Gregg is a national talk-show host, author of several books and international lecturer on the Bible, theology and discipleship. His radio talk show, The Narrow Path, is heard weekdays on stations across USA and is streamed to the Internet on the website www.thenarrowpath.com. There is a free mobile app by the same name, from which the program can be heard as well. His full-bio can be found at the website.

392 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2022

Reviews

[Marco Pompili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full-Preterism is a theological innovation from the 1970s according to which all Bible prophecies have already been fulfilled in the past, that is in A.D. 70. The system is mainly based on the so-called time-texts (for instance Matt. 24:34, 1 Cor. 10:11, Rev. 1:1) around which a paradigm is established that forces all prophetic pronouncements into a first-century fulfilment. Although Hyper-Preterism (the preferred term for Full-Preterism by its critics) is a niche movement, it has gained some ground in more recent times and is confusing not a few.
The author, a popular radio talk show host who has been in Bible-teaching ministry for over fifty years, does a marvellous job in examining the claims and espousing the fallacies of this system. Interestingly, Gregg shows that certain passages like the Olivet Discourse, that popularly are often interpreted futuristically, on close examination may indeed better fit a first-century fulfilment. With this approach the author holds a view called Partial-Preterism that does justice to what the Bible actually says in a certain passage, without superimposing the peculiar teachings of one passage on other (unrelated) parts of the scriptures. Although similar in name, Partial-Preterism differs from Full-Preterism in kind rather than degree; the latter being definitively outside Christian orthodoxy, as Gregg successfully proves in this volume.
The book is highly recommended to anyone interested in the subject.

[Baby Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Gregg does a great job pointing out the fallacies in the arguments full preterist make while a

Steve Gregg does a great job pointing out the fallacies in the arguments full preterist make while at the same time explaining very well many doctrines of the bible, namely the resurrection at the last days and Jewish beliefs on the resurrection, the eternal "home" for believers, the extent of Paul's teachings, and a wonderful expository teaching and explanation on the Olivet Discourse (going over Matthew, Mark, and Luke's accounts), and more. He also points out the differences between Full-Preterism and Partial-Preterism, for those who believe Partial-Preterism leads to Full-Preterism, which answers critics and also gives partial preterist an answer for those who make the same claim. I would recommend this to anyone who may exposed to Full-Preterism, and for those looking for what partial preterist believe.