During the beginning of groups such as the Muslims, Mormons, & Jehovah’s Witnesses there were people that were part of those groups that at some moment realized what a dismal lie those ideologies actually are.

From Islam there was Abdullah bin Ubayy who did all he could to stop Islam in its tracks.  From Mormonism there was Oliver Cowdery who actually said Joseph Smith Jr. (the founder of Mormonism) was the leader of a gang of "scoundrels of the deepest degree!".  From the Jehovah’s Witnesses there was Maria Ackley (the very wife of Charles Taze Russell – Russell founded the JWs) who divorced him after 18 years of marriage, alleging his on-going affairs with other women & his molestation of a young female house-border.

I am now feeling like one these people who at some pivotal moment in time realized they have been part of a bogus & destructive ideology.

So, here I openly & honestly disclose over 15 years of my entrenched experience with the group known as “Full Preterists” (FP) – Let this be a warning for those who come after.

I know this will perhaps upset some of my friends that are still part of preterism & perhaps they will feel betrayed – I am sorry, but I cannot continue to try to justify this away.  I can no longer claim, “Well, even if most preterists are liberal, licientious, speculators…that doesn’t make preterism itself untrue.”  Indeed, it is logically possible that something can be true even though it’s main representatives are “scoundrels of the deepest degree” – but at this point I have no desire to continue making excuses for the lack of fruit from the preterist tree.

DEFINING PRETERISM

Let me pause here for a moment to give a brief definition to the readers unfamiliar with the term “preterism”.  In summary, this term means a belief that the Bible teaches that Jesus’ so-called “Second Coming” occurred somewhere during the first-century surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem & the Jewish Temple.  Preterism especially draws on chapters 24 of Matthew, 13 of Mark, & 21 of Luke – commonly called “The Olivet Discourse” because it was a discussion Jesus had with His disciples while seated on Mt. Olive, which overlooks Jerusalem. In the discourse, Jesus answers questions about the “endtimes” & He provides “signs” by which His disciples would know the endtimes would be about to come.  Along with & among the discourse passages are what is termed as “time-texts” which according to Preterism limit the scope of the events to a specific time (such as “about to come”, shortly, at hand, soon).

It is not my intention at this juncture to attempt to refute these conclusions, especially since many of them I still hold but it is the effects & speculative conclusions of Preterism & the actions of many Preterists themselves that has turned me from it.

Again, keep in mind I have identified as a Full Preterist for over 15 years.  I have been tenaciously active in the “preterist community” – so what I am rejecting I do not do so out of novice.  I have known others who have left the perspective but almost always it is obvious as to why.  Typically they gain some other status by doing so or they do so to start an equally innovative group (such as the so-called “Preterist Idealists”).  I assure you I will gain nothing by rejecting preterism (except perhaps some peace from the constant frustration with trying to interact with speculators & scoundrels) nor do I intend to join or start any other innovative group.  I’m simply tired of what I once saw as a group solidly focused on the Bible having become nothing but a front group for liars, unethical, licentious, antinomian, syncretistic, profane, often jelly-spine people who now seem to desire unity over truth – even unity around falsehoods & speculations.

There have been preterists for whom I have had great respect but even many of them are now a discouragement.  Of such, some pretend to push propositions & prove all things but in the next breath are praising & placating those same front-group preterists.  I can only assume the motivation is to have their preterist peers speak well of them, as it makes no sense for otherwise godly men to call “evil good & good evil” (Isa 5:20)  There are also those preterists who while they may be good at going about debating the attributes of preterism, when called upon to actually speak up about these matters, they remain silent.  What good is all their proselytizing through one door while filth & corruption is allowed to seep through the other door? Again, how discouraging.  Perhaps their motivation to remain silent is so as not to offend their book-market base.

The last group of discouraging preterists is often the violent & often extremely lawless ones.  They are always ready to pat one another on the back, even repeating their beloved mantra; “we’re all in this together” – yet dare not to oppose any of their favored leaders or you will certainly get a tongue lashing that is not even common among the heathens.  But it goes beyond mere words.  I have actually had a prominent preterist run vampire scripts against my website in attempt to overload it.  They have repeatedly publicly lied about doing so though they had been caught red-handed.  Further, these same people will concoct all sorts of filthy implications from claiming I need mental medical attention, to claiming I talk about them because I am secretly homosexually in love with them (I’ve been married for over 18 years & am solidly heterosexual).  But perhaps worse is when one of these pretended “loving & merciful” individuals who actually fancies himself a Bible teacher actually sent me an email threatening to harm my wife & daughter unless I be quiet.

All of this, yet most of these preterists cronies look the other way – be they so-called “scholars”, “debaters”, “pastors” or just an average guy.  They justify within themselves that I somehow deserve this for “personally attacking” when no such personal attack can ever be attributed to me.

So, what more can I do?  I am a strong believer that a person’s ideology affects their behavior & since most of the preterists I have experienced have either this violent unethical behavior or have a lack of concern over to actually compromising & wink-winking at this behavior – at the present time I can no longer in good faith help promote preterism in anyway.  I know in the past I have tried to pull back from openly promoting it but now I have decided to completely renounce it.  I have already removed most mention of it from this website & will continue to do so until a search of the words preterist or preterism on this site will only return this article.  I have also withdrawn from all exclusively preterist forums & have resigned from a co-authored book project that was due to defend the preterist view.

Until & unless I can ever determine what is causing this debased behavior among this group, for all intents & purposes I am no longer a Full Preterist & will not be supporting or promoting anything related to preterism.

UPDATED (Dec 26, 2007)

Some people have been asking me if I am saying that I am returning to "Futurism" (belief that Jesus is coming in the future & most prophecies are still unfulfilled) -- No I am not, it is not possible for me to honestly return to futurism.  Some people have asked me if I am turning to "Partial-Preterism" (belief that AD70 did mark "a coming" of Jesus in judgment but that there will still be a future coming of Christ) -- No, I don't see that as viable either, especially how partial-preterist often handle the Olivet Discourse, specifically how they tend to split up Mt 24 at verse 36 as being some past & some future.  What then?  Shall I turn to "Preterist Idealism"? (a new invention by Todd Dennis, of preteristachive.com which seems little more than over-application, hyper-individualism with a huge dose of personal/private interpretative hermeneutics, having Christ constantly returning to each individual) -- No, I have no intention leaving one man's bandwagon for another man's bandwagon.  Besides, I have not seen much better character from the founder of PretIdealism as I have seen from the main proponents & would-be trademark holders of "Full Preterism"  -- that is a red-flag right there.

I've asked for some time to work through some things that have I been mulling & then I'll attempt to answer the question: "If not preterism then what?"  But I still want to conduct that process AWAY from this website.  With that consideration, I will post the process at http://unpreterist.blogspot.com/ -- where I will attempt to retrace my (& other people's) steps into Full Preterism & show people how to avoid that error.  I have no intention on starting some sub-group (like PretIdealism) & rather am trying to help people remain in &/or return to historic Christianity.

So, if you are interested in that process -- keep checking back on http://unpreterist.blogspot.com/ as I post there.

God Bless & keep you.

--Roderick