Beware. This site may be challenging to some Christians who have blindly accepted what you have been taught about Bible prophecy without checking it against God’s Word. Remember: We are instructed to search the Scriptures to find out whether the things we have been taught are so (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). But, if you are ready to search the Scriptures about Bible prophecy, you have come to the right place!

At this site you will find over 100 articles covering every aspect of Bible prophecy. Many of the articles are taken 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.

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Bible Prophecy Confusion

Eschatology—the study of prophetic “last things” or “end times”— is an area in which there is remarkable disagreement among Christians. It is a complicated area for several reasons. One reason is that there are so many passages of Scripture on the topic that must be reconciled. Over one-fourth of the New Testament is about this, and includes such topics as: a new heaven and new earth, the Day of the Lord, a Great Tribulation, the “rapture,” the Second Coming of Jesus, and more.

There are several different views of this subject. These views include:

What is Futurism? The futurist believes that most last-days eschatological events of the Bible are still in our future.

What is Historicism? The historicist view seeks parallels between Bible prophecy and major events or people in history, especially those in church history.

What is Idealism? The idealist views prophecies as timeless promises of hope, equally applicable to all generations.

What is Preterism? Preterism is essentially a time perspective, the opposite of futurism. The preterist view is that most (partial preterism), if not all (full preterism) prophetic events have already been fulfilled. The preterist believes that the Bible offers numerous time-reference statements that definitively tie fulfillment of prophesied events to the first century, in particular to the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. This is the view that we will argue as having the strongest biblical foundation.

The four eschatological views listed above have variously waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries. Today, the majority view is futurism. However, there is great disagreement even among futurists on the details. There are three primary camps within futurism: premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. The millennium terminology has to do with how one views the “thousand years” mentioned in Revelation 20.

What is Premillennialism? Premillennialists believe that Jesus will return before a literal thousand-year utopian period on earth.

What is Postmillennialism? Postmillennialists believe that Jesus will return at the end of a millennial period, which may be literal or figurative for a long time. Postmillennialists expect the gospel to be effective in Christianizing the world before the end of time, i.e. the end of the millennium.

What is Amillennialism? Amillennialists believe that Jesus returns at the end of a figurative millennium (an indeterminant period of time), but think that man’s sinful nature will keep the world from ever reaching utopian perfection.

What is Dispensationalism? Dispensationalism is a type of premillennialism that adds certain things such as a rapture of the church (to heaven) before a world-wide period of distress called the Great Tribulation. We have an entire section on this troubling view on this website.

Biblical eschatology appears to be undergoing another radical revision among modern scholars. R. C. Sproul (1929-2017), for example, perhaps the most influential modern theologian, said that his views on eschatology had changed to a version of “preterism. Hank Hanegraaff (the popular Bible Answer Man) has adopted a similar view. Christians seem to be ready to take a fresh look at what the Bible actually teaches.

GET RID OF GLOOM AND DOOM ESCHATOLOGY.

THE WORLD IS NOT ABOUT TO END!

I also have a section on this website about Revelation, covering such topics as: When was Revelation written? What is the millennium? Who was the beast of Revelation? What is the Mark of the Beast? Who was the harlot Babylon? What is the New Heaven and New Earth? What is the New Jerusalem?

Surprisingly, the church has never had a serious and concluding discussion on eschatology. The continued failed predictions of the Second Coming and the end of the world have been embarrassingly wrong. Much clarity is needed. The photo below is one I took in 2011 on a billboard near our Texas home. Christian prognosticator Harold Camping predicted the soon end of the world. Indeed, “the Bible Guaranteed It.” This provided just another opportunity for the world to ridicule Christians. Sadly this was not an isolated instance. See a History of False Prophets.

When Is (or Was) Jesus’ Second Coming?

Are you aware that there are over 100 passages in the New Testament that declared the radical nearness of the prophesied events? It is clear that Jesus and his disciples expected his return while some of them were still alive—in their own generation. They used words and phrases such as soon, near, about to happen, must shortly take place, at hand, and before some standing here taste death. The preterist view is that Jesus and the writers of the New Testament were telling the truth about the timing of his Second Coming. Many Christians have simply failed to understand the nature of the Second Coming of Christ. (See Preterism 101 for a list of imminence passages.)

Are We in the Last Days/End Times?

There are 19 primary mentions of the “last days/end times” in the New Testament. Every mention of them, without exception, limits them to the first century. Examples include: Acts 2:14-20; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; 9:26 1 Peter 1:20. Indeed, in 1 Peter 4:7, Peter said that “the end of all things” was at hand for him and his contemporaries. In 1 John 2:18, John insisted that it was the “last hour.” So we cannot be living in the last days now in the 21st century. The only conclusion, being faithful to Scripture, is that the “last days” were the end of the old covenant world (and the beginning of the new covenant world), not the end of the physical universe or the end of history. I go into detail in the articles you can access here or at the “Last Days/End Times” tab at the top of the page.

What’s at Stake?

Well, nothing short of the authority of Scripture and indeed the divinity of Christ. Perhaps the number one charge against Christians over the years is that Jesus promised his return in his own generation—that virtually all of the New Testament writers spoke of this as well—but they were wrong. So, they say, Jesus did not return as he predicted, making him a false prophet, and thus the Bible is unreliable. For example, prominent skeptics Bertrand Russell in his book Why I Am Not a Christian, and Albert Schweitzer in his book The Quest of the Historical Jesus, made this charge. Jewish and Muslim critics make this same attack.

Indeed, even the famous Christian apologist C. S. Lewis recognized the problem. In reference to various passages of Scripture, including the “Olivet Discourse” found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, Lewis said this:

“Say what you like, the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘this generation shall not pass till all these things are done.’ And He was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else. It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible [Matthew 24:34].”

Christians address these challenges by putting their head in the sand. Or they may try to escape the problem by changing the meaning of common words (examples: this generation or soon). Instead of trying to understand how the original audience would have understood these things, they make the mistake of reading prophecy through the lens of modern news stories. This is called “newspaper eschatology.” The fancy theological term is “eisegesis,” which means reading something into the text that is not there. Serious examination of our presuppositions is in order.

For myself, I can accept that my favorite theologian might be wrong, but I cannot accept that Jesus was wrong. In my book I explore the compelling biblical and historical evidence that Jesus (and his disciples) were right all along, proving the opponents of Christianity wrong, and confirming the incredible accuracy of Scripture! The answers provided by the Bible itself are clear and unambiguous for who would accept them. Problematic is that Christians are unschooled in “Hebraic apocalyptic language” about biblical prophecy.

What I and the several contributors to my book explore is the possibility that most, if not all biblical prophecy has already been fulfilled—the preterist view. This is a minority view among Christians today. But author Francis X. Gumerlock in his books (The Early Church and the End of the World, and Revelation and the First Century) argues that forms of preterism were an important, if not the dominant, view in the early and medieval church. It is again gaining ground as Christians return to Scripture for answers.

The torrent of popular books and claims about biblical prophecy in recent decades, aside from taking up lots of shelf space in Christian book stores, seems to have a peculiar appeal to lay believers who, curiously enough, find hope in an expected destruction of the planet and its replacement with a utopia in which even carnivorous animals will take up vegetarianism. It is simply taken for granted that the Bible predicts and explains an end of time, and that there is no number of elapsed centuries spent waiting for it that cannot be called the “end times.”

Every objection to the preterist view is examined in detail in the book and on this website.

There is always much resistance to a challenge to widely held beliefs. We often have very ingrained presuppositions and we have much at stake if most of our neighbors hold to a common (but perhaps incorrect) view of something. There is the problem of what psychiatrists call “cognitive dissonance,” which is “a mental conflict that occurs when . . . confronted with challenging new information, most people seek to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding the new information.”

Charles Meek

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Contact me via email: faithfacts@msn.com

Fear not to be challenged and changed. And check out my Facebook site Evangelical Preterism. See the comments about my book at Amazon and also here:

“I read your book and I think it is the best on the subject.” — R. L.

“Charles, I read your book, ‘Christian Hope Through Fulfilled Prophecy’ as a gift from some close friends of mine, and was amazed at how simple you made the argument for Preterism.” — S. K.

“I have read many books on the full preterist position and up to this time the best is Charles Meek’s book. The book does not treat you as a fool and answers your questions gracefully.”―  J. J.

“You make sense of the Scripture. I just wish more people would get the book.” ― K. D.

“Great book, Charles. It will be in my library for re-read/personal study and small group discussions for many years to come. Again, marvelous work. Thank you again for making it available.” ― M. H.

“You have such a gift in writing things so clear and easy to understand. Clearly, you are the most informative, to the point writer on preterism in our day.” ― M. E.

“It is an excellent book, very clear and concise writing, with scripture backing up everything he states.” ― M. R.

“Charles Meek, and a handful of other authors, is gifted in connecting the dots. Clear, supported and reasoned. ‘Christian Hope through Fulfilled Prophecy’ is my go-to recommendation for people looking at preterism. And his website http://www.ProphecyQuestions.com. Just think of where our nation would be if church attendees abandoned the myths and fairy tales of dispensationalism and futurism.” ― J. D.

“I agree it’s a fantastic book, easy to follow and read. It’s a must have.” ― M. M.

“I absolutely love this book, it’s very thorough, amazing information and easy to follow. I think it’s a must read.” ― S. T.

“This is an excellent book. One of the best I’ve ever read on the subject. Read it a few years back and still use it for references.” ― D. C.

“I love that you have helped me and so many others in our walk into clearer truth and biblical understanding. I just wanted to say thank you.” ― S. K.

“I am presently reading your book for the 2^nd time. So enriching and easy to understand the Biblical concepts. One of the most blessed books I’ve ever read. Why I have not seen these truths for all these years. I am 66 now and feel like I wasted all my ministry years teaching wrong things. Oh well, I am excited to see the truth now. Wishing I had another life to live to get it right. WOW, what could have been. Thank you for writing this book. “ ― B. L.

“Your book is fabulous. I have given away several copies. Thank you very much for writing it.” ― M. B.

“I like you the most of all preterist teachers.” ― M. S.

“Packed full of knowledge. I have read over 100 books on this subject and consider that one to be one of my absolute favorites.” ― D. C.

“Superb book.” ― M. K.