Recommended

Wow, that is an attention grabber. And grab your attention, the book certainly does. It advocates the orthodox preterist view of eschatology, in a nutshell, that most [not all] of the prophecies in the New Testament concerning the Coming of Christ were fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. In an earlier review, I examined a book refuting the heretical preterists who claim that ALL prophecy has been fulfilled, and noted that particular work assumed one already had a working knowledge of preterism. In short, it was not a foundational presentation of the view. This book is that foundational presentation and a very well-stated one at that.

This book will seriously challenge any species of futurism. It presents a very well-detailed Biblical case for preterism, shifting the argument from the loaded accusation of whether or not one interprets the Bible literally to whether or not one interprets the Bible Biblically. It is ironic how those who pride themselves on a "literal" interpretation all of sudden aren't quite so literal on those pesky timing verses, i.e. Jesus' solemn declaration that ALL of the events of the Olivet Discourse would take place before the generation that heard his pronouncement passed away. It is hard to give up previously cherished doctrinal views, but they must give way to the Bible. And it is just not Biblical to "literalize" obvious apocalyptic imagery and to allegorize out of meaningful discourse didactic time statements.

Gary has a saying "No Fear of the Text." I love that. I remember the first time I came across Matthew 24:34. It was very obvious what it meant and what it said. It took a lot of effort and self-delusionment to allow me to live with a rationalization that projected those events thousands of years into the future, but now, I have no fear of the text. Yes, God says what He means, and means what He says.