Futurists knows better than anyone that Preterist are known for their historical appeal. Their claims that historical events were really spiritual events really proves the weakness of their system. This post is affirming a core issue that is faced by the Preterist system.
Tim Warner
To help bolster their theory that New Testament prophecy was fulfilled by 70 AD, Preterists at some point usually turn to the historical record for support. We have already pointed out one example of this, the Preterists' appeals to Nero as the antichrist. Another example are the Preterists' desire to use unbelieving historians such as Josephus to back up their claims. (We will go into a more detailed analysis of both of these momentarily.) In this section we will assume Preterists will not retract their appeals to historic events. (However, it should be noted that Preterists are quite fond of appealing to the historical record when it suits them and then using appeals to Luke 17 to deny its relevance whenever it contradicts them.)
Now we will take a comparative look at the history surrounding the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the Biblical details of the antichrist, his empire, and the returning Christ to see if the two match up. We will find two things. First, the two do not match up. There is great discrepancy between the historical events of those days and the Biblical prophecies. These stark differences clearly prevent us from accepting the Preterist theory that these Biblical prophecies came to pass in 70 AD. Second, in attempting to reconcile the two, Preterists completely twist, distort, and even reverse some of the relationships presented in the Biblical passages they claim to be finding fulfilled in the historical record.
As we have mentioned in depth earlier, Preterists will always at some point attempt to use the historical record to prove their theory. We will begin this section by analyzing one specific example of this practice. We will then use that example as a jumping point to demonstrate the clear discrepancies between the historical record and the details of the New Testament prophecies concerning the coming of the antichrist, the mark of the beast, and the return of Jesus Christ. We will start with a quote from II Thessalonians.
By pointing to an actual historical figure, Preterists are conceding that the details of New Testament end time prophecy can and should occur literally in recorded history. As such, they subject the Preterist theory to criticism based on a comparison of history and Biblical prophecy.
http://www.biblestudying.net/studies.html#preterism
