Preston avoids the tough answers that express the hole of Preterism. Even he has questions due to the implications and assumptions that he has made. But those assumptions can't be wrong. What about the ungodly, Mr. Preston? Are they in the Age to Come, New Present Heavens and Earth? Preston SAYS YES!!! How could this be, you might ask? Outside the New Jerusalem you say, in the lake of fire you say? How is this NOT the present heavens and earth which you say passes away in 70ad. Were they found worthy to enter in, to obtain the age to come, Mr. Preston? How about judgment Mr. Preston. "I find that a lot of the passages that I have traditionally applied to an eternal concious torment, do not have that application." Cuase it ends in 70ad!!! I don't care how you white wash Preterism, to say it is ongoing or an application of the destruction of Jerusalem. It is still Universalism.
Don Preston
Are full preterists biblical universalists or do they believe in a traditional hell? What do full Preterists believe about the nature and character of hell - is it literal or symbolic? When are unbelievers judged and when are believers rewarded?
Response: Well, this is an issue (Hell), that I am personally struggling with, and, I might add, so are a lot of other preterists. There are those who do take a hard line on this, but as I have stated to some of them (good friends of mine), until I can be shown that this is an issue of salvation, I am not going to take that hard line. To this date, no one has convinced me that this is an issue of salvific faith, so I am not going to disfellowship those on either side of the issue! I find that a lot of the passages that I have traditionally applied to an eternal concious torment, do not have that application. On the other hand, I am not totally satisfied that there is no merit to that idea either. There are passages that, to me, teach the reality of punishment after death.
Where I am at for the moment (I call this my A-T-T position, because it is where I am at "At This Time"), is that the wicked are punished, without any doubts whatsoever. I think Revelation presents this clearly, for, after the time of the end, there are still nations outside the city, and outside the city are those who reject the Truth, liars, etc.. Those outside the city can, however, enter the city for healing! (RIGHT! ALL THE UNGODLY IN THE NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH. 2 PET 3:13 SAYS ONLY RIGHTEOUS.) That punishment of the wicked is eternal. Permanent, unchangeable. I thus reject the doctrine of universalism, and have written against it in my book on 2 Peter 3. A person is judged today, when they either come into Christ, or reject Him. When they die physically, they receive the results of that judgment.
http://www.eschatology.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=482&Itemid=90
