(Update 2/20/08: From time to time, I feel it necessary to publish comments from those who I do not necessarily agree. For example, I have posted several posts from futurists like Thomas Ice as well as others who I believe make a solid point or raise specific questions against a specific breed of preterism called hyper-preterism. On this particular post, John (who is a atheist) addresses some serious questions that I considered to be valuable for the discussion. IMO, He was speaking directly to a Hyper-Preterist view. I would not agree with him on many topics, but I admit the questions he specifically addressed in this post is deadly to this particular viewpoint which maintains everything changed in 70AD. It really is amazing how a atheist has better eyesight than most Hyper-Preterists to see the fact that nothing changed in 70AD.)
I love this particular blog post because it raises serious questions that should not be ignored. Not only does it minimizes the importance of 70AD but shows how nothing changed after 70ad that was not already present prior to 70AD. And yet, this is the foundation of Preterism. These questions speaks volumes as to how God works and continually manifests himself.
John W. Loftus "In the first place, what was Jesus doing before he returned and inaugurated his kingdom in 70 AD? Was he not already reigning over the believer's hearts? If not, then what was he doing? Was there a time between 33 AD and 70 AD when there was no covenant, no promises, no Christian moral standards to live by? Were Christians still living under the Old Covenant until the temple was destroyed? Was Jesus not yet the King reigning over Christians?"
"In the second place, what is the difference for the Christian in the supposed return of Jesus in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem, if Jesus was already reigning over their lives. Preterists think it made a difference because the temple was destroyed along with their sacrifices, which leads them to say the Kingdom was inaugurated at that time. But according to the book of Hebrews, sacrifices had already ended in Jesus, and the Spirit had already inaugurated the community of Christians by indwelling believers. If Jesus' resurrection is the only proof that Christians needed, then the destruction of Jerusalem should have proved nothing additional to them, as Christians. This would be the case even if Jerusalem hadn't been destroyed! Think about it. If Jerusalem had never been destroyed with the temple and the sacrifices, then what would have changed for the Christian?"
"In the third place, did the destruction of Jerusalem prove anything to the Jews? Hardly. Did they become Christians? It only shows me that the Biblical God is barbaric in that he unmercifully destroys people for whom he hasn't given enough evidence to believe. The Jewish religion did go through a major change, though. But the Jewish religion was already supplanted by Christianity decades earlier, according to the NT. The Jews just changed their views of sacrifices, much like how preterists are changing their eschatology today because Jesus failed to return. But why should any of these Jewish theological changes matter to Christians?"
"Lastly, if the Trinitarian God has always reigned over his world, then what difference did it make to the world in general that Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD? Presumably God (Father, Son, & Spirit) never had to ask anyone for permission to reign over his world. The Bible claims he just does, and that he always has done so. It really doesn't matter to God whether or not people acknowledge that he does--he just does. So if preterists are correct that God-in-Jesus started reigning in 70 AD, then who is Jesus now reigning over that he didn't reign over before then? Since his reign has always been over everyone, then it can only mean that he began reigning specifically over Christians in 70 AD. But ever since the inauguration of the church he was supposedly already their king!"
"So what difference did the destruction of Jerusalem make in the lives of anyone at all with regard to the reign of God-in-Jesus?"
http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2006/11/preterism-is-admission-that-jesus.html
http://preteristheresy.blogspot.com/2008/02/unanswered-questions.html
