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IF Jesus’ Parousia Was in AD 70, Why is There No Written Record of It?

Charles Meek

This is an excerpt from my book CHRISTIAN HOPE THROUGH FULFILLED PROPHECY: IS YOUR CHURCH TEACHING ERROR ABOUT THE LAST DAYS AND SECOND COMING? AN EXPOSITION OF EVANGELICAL PRETERISM

It is a significant question. If Jesus returned in AD 70, why didn’t the ancient writers record this event? First of all, when this question is asked, there is usually an assumption that the Second Coming would be a bodily physical coming. So, the question is something of an exercise in question begging. In the earlier chapters of my book, I labored to show that the Second Coming was a non-physical coming. Rather, it was the Effectual Divine Presence of Jesus in judgment against old covenant Israel (Matthew 23:29-24:2; Luke 21:22), like YHWH came in judgment against nations in the Old Testament. So, the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple in AD 70 is adequate evidence.

And yet, there is a written record. Here is how five ancient writers reported the event:

Josephus (first century Jewish historian): “On the twenty-first day of the month of Artemisius [the last day of the second Passover season in AD 66], a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sunsetting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.” (Wars of the Jews, 6.5.3.297-299)

Tacitus (first/second century pagan historian): “In the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armor. A sudden lightening flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure.” (Histories, Book 5.13)

Eusebius (fourth century Christian historian): “And not many days after the feast, on the twenty-first of the month Artemisium, a certain marvelous vision was seen which passes belief. The prodigy might seem fabulous were it not related by those who saw it, and were not the calamities which followed deserving such signs. For before the setting of the sun chariots and armed troops were seen throughout the whole region in mid-air, wheeling through the clouds and encircling the cities.” (Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 8, Section 5)

Pseudo-Hegesippus (anonymous fourth century author) also describes the coming of Christ on the clouds with His mighty angels at that time when he writes: “A certain figure appeared of tremendous size, which many saw, just as the books of the Jews have disclosed, and before the setting of the sun there were suddenly seen in the clouds chariots in the clouds and armed battle arrays by which the cities of all Judea and its territories were invaded.” (Blocker translation, Chapter 44)

Sepher Yosippon (medieval Jewish historian) Described an Angelic Army of Fire in the sky in A.D. 66: “Now it happened after this that there was seen from above over the Holy of Holies for the whole night the outline of a man’s face, the like of whose beauty had never been seen in all the land, and his appearance was quite awesome. Moreover, in those days were seen chariots of fire and horsemen, a great force flying across the sky near to the ground coming against Jerusalem and all the land of Judah, all of them horses of fire and riders of fire.” (A Mediaeval History of Ancient Israel, Chapter 87, Bowman translation)

For more detail, see these articles by Daniel Morais: Jesus Seen in the Clouds and by John Keyser: Chariots in the Sky

However, the question of why the early church did not speak more about the preterist perspective of the Parousia remains a valid question. We discussed this question briefly in Chapters 1 and 8, but here are some other considerations, summarized from author Don K. Preston’s and others’ writings: 1

“You have then in this prophecy of the Descent of the Lord among men from heaven, many other things foretold at the same time, the rejection of the Jews, the judgment on their impiety, the destruction of their royal city, the abolition of the worship practiced by them of old, according to the Law of Moses; and on the other hand, promises of good for the nations, the knowledge of God, a new ideal of holiness, a new law and teaching coming forth from the land of the Jews. I leave you to see, how wonderful a fulfillment, how wonderful a completion; the prophecy has reached after the Coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.”

“When, then, we see what was of old foretold for the nations fulfilled in our own day, and when the lamentation and wailing that was predicted for the Jews, and the burning of the Temple and its utter desolation, can also be seen even now to have occurred, according to the prediction, surely we must also agree that the King, who was prophesied, the Christ of God, has come, since the signs of His coming have been shown in each instance I have treated to have been clearly fulfilled.” 3

By tracking the thread of eschatological comments throughout his writings, we can reasonably conclude that Eusebius believed that at least all of the following things were fulfilled by AD 70:

In addition to the above, I would add some other considerations:

So, people ask, “Why isn’t there more agreement among Christians today about preterism?” Our response is: Are you kidding? While Christians are in broad agreement on central doctrines, they are, and historically have been, in disagreement over many things! Confusion and disagreement on issues tracks from the early church. A study of the theological views of the early church shows various beliefs that demonstrate gross misunderstandings of the faith. There was disagreement among the early church fathers on crucially important issues such as the nature of God as well as justification.

For example, the doctrines of grace were almost unknown in the writing of the early church fathers. The early church fathers were, at least according to available writings, either semi-Pelagian (salvation by works plus grace) or even full Pelagian (salvation by works alone). There is precious little glimmer of any understanding that salvation (regeneration) is by grace through faith (belief) alone and not by any works or actions—as most modern Protestants understand justification. But even today, Christians, from sect to sect, are all over the map on justification. Other important topics on which Christians have misinterpreted (or disingenuously twisted) the Bible include slavery, abortion, homosexuality, evolution and other aspects of science such as geocentricity.5

Some other examples that reveal interesting beliefs of the early church fathers include: Origen believed in the pre-existence of souls and castrated himself due to a literal reading of Matthew 19:12. Tertullian succumbed to Montanism, a prophetic movement with Gnostic overtones that was declared a heresy. Ignatius, writing around AD 100 made the same mistake as countless other Christians after AD 70, thinking that the time of the end was imminent. (He said, “The last times are come upon us.”) Over-literalizing Scripture, Justin Martyr (AD 100-165) expected a literal temple to come down from heaven and set itself up in Jerusalem. These men were great contributors to the faith but were clearly wrong on some pretty major issues. Even today, there are wide-ranging and virulent disagreements among Christians on many, many issues.

Ultimately, it does not matter what the early Christian writers said. What matters is what the Bible says.

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See also: Preterism and the Early Church and Revelation and the First Century

Eusebius of Caesarea

 FOOTNOTES:

  1. Don K. Preston, We Shall Meet Him in the Air: The Wedding of the King of Kings (Ardmore, OK: JaDon Management, Inc., 2010,) pages 274ff. ↩︎
  2. James B. Jordan, Biblical Chronology, “Problems with New Testament History, “Vol. 5, No. 1, Jan. 1993, p. 1. Quoted by Edward E. Stevens in this article “What if the Creeds Are Wrong. ↩︎
  3. First quote from: Proof of the Gospel, Book VI, Chapter 13, paragraph 18. Second quote from: Proof of the Gospel, Book VIII, Chapter 4, paragraph 147). Eusebius’ works are laborious. He may have been lumping Jesus’ first and second advents together to affirm fulfillment, in particular, of the events of the Olivet Discourse. Eusebius did affirm the Nicene Creed, but was apparently concerned primarily with the Divinity of Christ aspect of the Creed rather than the Parousia. (See http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/eusebius_letter_to_his_church_about_nicaea.htm). But we can confidently conclude that his numerous statements throughout his writings about a first century fulfillment of prophesied events confirm his preterist orientation. The reader is also referred back to Chapter 1, endnote number 25 for more places in Eusebius’ writings that confirm his preterist views. ↩︎
  4. Don K. Preston, We Shall Meet Him in The Air: The Wedding of the King of Kings (Ardmore, Oklahoma: JaDon Management Inc., 2010), pages 286-295. See also these various references: (1) David Green, Michael Sullivan, Edward Hassertt, Samuel Frost, House Divided: Bridging the Gap in Reformed Eschatology, A Response to When Shall These Things Be? (Romana, CA: Vision Publishing, 2009), pages 38-43. (2) Gary DeMar and Francis X. Gumerlock, The Early Church and the End of the World (Powder Springs, Georgia: American Vision, 2006). (3) Samuel M. Frost, Misplaced Hope: The Origins of First and Second Century Eschatology (Colorado Springs, CO: Bimillennial Press, 2006), page 151.   ↩︎
  5. See Covenant Theological Seminary online course “Ancient and Medieval Church History” at this link: http://www.worldwide-classroom.com/. Another source is David Green, Michael Sullivan, Edward Hassertt, Samuel Frost, House Divided: Bridging the Gap in Reformed Eschatology, A Response to When Shall These Things Be? (Romana, CA: Vision Publishing, 2009), pages 45-47. ↩︎

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