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Home , Prewrath

FOURFOUR TRADITIONALTRADITIONAL INTERPRETATIONSINTERPRETATIONS OFOF REVELATIONREVELATION

HISTORICISTHISTORICIST PRETERISTPRETERIST FUTURISTFUTURIST SPIRITUALSPIRITUAL

The Historicist approach, The Preterist approach sees the The Futurist approach The Spiritual approach (often called fulfillment of Revelation’s the idealist or symbolic approach. which is the historic postulates that the ma- Shares common theme's with the prophecies as already having Protestant interpretation Allegorical View in that they must occurred in what is now the jority of the prophecies deny a literal interpretation) to Rev- of the book, sees the ancient past, not long after the of the Book of Revela- elation does not attempt to find indi- vidual fulfillments of the visions but as a author’s own time. Thus the tion have never yet fulfillment was in the future takes Revelation to be a great drama prewritten record of the depicting transcendent spiritual real- from the point of view of the been fulfilled and course of history from ities, such as the spiritual conflict inspired author, but it is in the await future fulfill- between Christ and Satan, between the time of the apostle to past from our vantage point in ment. Futurist inter- the saints and the antichristian world the end of the world. Ful- history. Some Preterists be- powers, and depicting the heavenly lieve that the final chapters of preters usually apply vindication and final victory of fillment is thus consid- Christ and his saints. Fulfillment is Revelation look forward to the ered to be in progress at everything after chap- seen either as entirely spiritual or as of Christ. Oth- ter four to a relatively recurrent, finding representative present and has been un- ers think that everything in the expression in historical events folding for nearly two book reached its culmination brief period before the throughout the age, rather than in in the past. one-time, specific fulfillments. The thousand years. return of Christ. prophecy is thus rendered applicable to Christians in any age. TWOTWO NEWERNEWER INTERPRETATIONSINTERPRETATIONS OFOF REVELATIONREVELATION

FUTURISTFUTURIST PRETERISTPRETERIST FUTURISTFUTURIST

TheThe PREWRATHPREWRATH RaptureRapture PositionPosition PARTIALPARTIAL PRETERISTPRETERIST RobertRobert VanVan KampenKampen HankHank HanegraaffHanegraaff

The Prewrath position is really quite simple: the true and Partial is a form of Christian that faithful church will be raptured (or rescued) when Anti- places the events of most of the Book of Revelation as oc- christ's (persecution) against God's elect is curring during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (and/ cut short by Christ's coming (Matt. 24:22, 29-31). First He or the Fall of Rome several centuries later) yet still affirms will rescue the faithful who will be undergoing Satan's an orthodox future bodily return of Christ to earth at an un- wrath, and then He will destroy the wicked who remain on known day and hour. Partial preterism sees , earth during , God's wrath. The wrath Matthew 25:31-46, the and most of the of God is never equated with the persecution of God's Book of Revelation (besides its last 2 or 3 chapters) as elect! It can be demonstrated from church history that the speaking about events no later than the 1st century AD, and prewrath view on the timing of the , as it relates to about a coming of Christ in judgment, not the (second, fi- , has been the most common position of biblical nal and bodily) coming of Christ and . Par- Christianity since the days of the early church fathers. tial Preterism is distinct from Full preterism, which holds that “all” biblical prophecy was fulfilled in the past.