Preterism Is Heresy
There are many who call themselves Christian but nevertheless maintain a preterist worldview. This is entirely incompatible with Christian orthodoxy. Preterists themselves recognized this truth in their history, which is why you have some who call themselves partial preterists. Full preterism actually denies bodily resurrection and the physical return of Christ to the earth. The latter may not seem like a big deal, but it is intimately connected to the former, which is an essential part of the Christian faith. Preterists believe that all of Revelation, and all eschatological matters were fulfilled in the past, with the events of 70 AD being the culmination of all the things discussed in the book of Revelation. To get there, they have to spiritualize the entire book, and thus things like the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead are symbolic only.
Partial preterism doesn’t make any sense at all, and again was developed as a way to get around the obvious heresy of full preterism. It teaches that most of Revelation was accomplished with the events of 70 AD, but that things like the resurrection are still to come. That’s convenient, but it faces the same problem as historians in that it claims to know which events fulfill which parts of Revelation while claiming others are yet to come. Pure speculation and opinion. The Bible clearly tells us NOT to have private opinions about Scripture, specifically prophecy. However, at least partial preterists and historists are not heretics.
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I do not call preterists heretics because their belief is outside Christian orthodoxy. Any look at the ancient Christian creeds will tell you this. I do so because those creeds come from what the Apostles taught and wrote, and you can find it in the Bible!
Galatians 1:8-12 – But even if we, or an angel from heaven, PREACH ANY OTHER GOSPEL [euangelizō] to you than what we have preached to you, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. But I make known to you, brethren, THAT THE GOSPEL [euangelizō] which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It is very clear that if anyone preach a different gospel than the one committed to us by the Apostles, he is to be considered accursed, ANATHEMA! This is no light matter. The resurrection is a crucial part of the gospel message. It is what Paul preached everywhere he went. Look at this exchange with the philosophers in Athens.
Acts 17:18 – Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached [euangelizō] to them Jesus and the resurrection.
It was the preaching of the resurrection that set the people at Mars Hill off! This part of the Gospel is the most essential part! Paul makes that clear in 1 Corinthians 15.
1 Corinthians 15:1-19 – Moreover, brethren, I DECLARE TO YOU THE GOSPEL [euangelion] WHICH I PREACHED [euangelizō] to you, which also you received and in which you stand, BY WHICH ALSO YOU ARE SAVED if you hold fast that word which I PREACHED [euangelizō] to you—UNLESS YOU BELEIVED IN VAIN. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now IF CHRIST IS PREACHED THAT HE HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, HOW DO SOME AMONG YOU SAY THERE IS NO RESRRECTION OF THE DEAD? BUT IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, THEN CHRIST IS NOT RISEN. AND IF CHRIST IS NOT RISEN, THEN OUR PREACHING IS EMPTY AND YOUR FAITH IS ALSO EMPTY. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
The Apostle Paul couldn’t make this any clearer: if you reject the resurrection of the dead, you are not a believer in Christ! In fact, you have made Christ and the Apostles LIARS. The Gospel demands a future resurrection of the dead. To allegorize this, to make it all symbolic, is to promote rank heresy. This is why I condemn preterists as heretics. It is not a pejorative line. It is an immutable, biblical fact.