Winter 2010/2011

Facebook.com Page for Items of Preterist/Idealist Interest is where most of the action is going on these days with Idealist studies.   Also, see Preterist Idealism at PreteristArchive.com

Summer 2010: Administrative Classification: "Idealist Judaism"

"Idealist Judaism" flourished under King David, as evidenced in the Psalms of his composition.   This form of Idealism recognizes that even David's glorious earthly kingdom was only a pale reflection of the Lord's heavenly kingdom: which is believed to be a "present" reality (FROM everlasting TO everlasting).

• Rev. Alfred Bryant (1852) “The spiritual government which Christ exercises over the people of God commenced with the first believer on earth, and has never since been intermitted, and never will be.  Over Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and the tens of thousands who died in the faith, and went home to heaven before His first advent, the Great Mediator reigned as effectually by His word and Spirit, and dwelt in them by faith and love, as over Paul, or the millions who have lived since” (Millennarian Views: With Reasons For Receiving Them, pg. 86).

Jeremiah 29:11-14 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
 

2/17/10:

• Mike Vinson "All Dispensational or Preterist interpretations of scripture deny the ever relevant character of scripture. What Mr. Manalo was doing when he said the four angels were four specific men at a specific time in history, was to deny that this part of this prophecy had any relevance to the men who read this book in the days of the apostle John. He was denying that those words had any relevance to any generation but his own and those who were living when those four world leaders were living.  What the Dispensational or Preterist approach to God's word does is to say that no one but the first generation at the time of Christ, as the Preterists teach, or the last generation just before the return of Christ, as dispensationalists teach, must "keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book." Considering the warning at the end of the book, this is not a very good doctrine. This book is addressed to "the seven churches." Read our study on The Spiritual Significance of The Number Seven. The use of the number seven tells us that this book is addressed to the complete church of God down through the past two thousand years. As this book clearly tells us, this prophecy is for "he that hath an ear" in every generation since Christ. The book of Revelation is but the capstone to God's Word. It cannot be separated from the rest of the Bible. "Man must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" not just the words of the book of Revelation. But the book of Revelation makes it clear that this is a book whose words are always "at hand," and it is a book which is to be "kept" and the things in this book must all "shortly come to pass." As mentioned earlier, this is stated at its very beginning and at its very ending:  Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand."
  http://d.scribd.com/docs/1fla3exn7aabcvb2x9h0.pdf

1/28/10: 

• Eliz. Cunningham - The End is (Always) Near (2008) "The word apocalypse does not actually mean the end time or disaster but revelation. It comes from the Greek apokaluptein, to uncover. As a storyteller, I can relate. The end of the story is when all is revealed. As a reader, I confess, I often sneak a peek at the last page. As a human being living out her life, I can't know my own end. Yet, like everyone, I have faced many endings."

1/8/10: 10th Century B.C. Evidence of Idealist Judaism Discovered in Israel

• Israeli Prof. Deciphers Earliest Hebrew Text It is the earliest known Hebrew writing, dating to David's reign in the 10th century B.C. - "This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans" ! (Text reflects Idealist Judaism cf. James 1:27)

  • "The present inscription provides social elements similar to those found in the biblical prophecies and [are] very different from the prophecies written by other cultures postulating glorification of the gods and taking care of their physical needs"
     

  • Prof. Galil also said the artifact proves that Hebrew was a written language as early as the 10th century B.C. and may mean that portions of the Old Testament were written centuries earlier than scholars generally believe.

  1: You shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
  2: Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow], judge the orph[an]
  3: [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for he infant / plead for the po[or and]
  4: the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
  5: Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.
   

Escape From Tribulation: Pella/Jerusalem as a Type
Jerusalem as a Picture of the Heart

• Todd Dennis - The figure used in Hebrews 9 is the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, not Herod's Temple in Jerusalem (2009)  Seeking to represent for the author of Hebrews, in the face of the proposition that Hebrews 9:8 refers to one of Jerusalem's temples.  "Futurist commentators who wish to mystically make Paul's figure in Hebrews 9 refer to a temple in Jerusalem (such as a supposed future “third temple”) are misreading the passage as well as those who wish to make Paul's figure refer to the fall of Jerusalem by the armies of Titus in AD70."

• Todd Dennis - Hyper Preterism's AD70 Focal Point is Fundamentally Different From Christianity's Focal Point of the Cross (2009) "When the life of Jesus was draining away on the cross, He Himself noted that the redemptive work had been accomplished, in saying "it is finished". Finished (Tetelestai, from the verb teleo) means “to complete, to accomplish".  Though some HyPs may try to diminish the meaning of the cross and Jesus' declaration prior to His sacrificial death (which diminishment in itself serves as a litmus test for error), it was of the utmost significance. In fact, in order to maintain continuity with Christianity, it must remain the central focus. To diminish the centrality of the cross for redemptive accomplishment is to fundamentally alter the message that has been handed down and delivered throughout all generations. To diminish the cross event is not just a small matter of end times disagreement; Rather, it is an attack on the very foundations of Christianity."

• On Leaving Full Preterism After A Decade - And The Doctrinal Advancement Which Comes From Properly Seeing AD70 As Symbol, Not Substance  (2008) "Though full preterist systems don't dispute that spiritual truths can be taken as applications of AD70, this idealist hybrid takes exactly the opposite view -- that AD70 was the application of the spiritual realities.   ..The most common complaint against the full preterist view is its inability to answer the "what now?" questions... but there is a concern that runs much deeper.  By identifying  the corporate "consummation of the ages" as having been settled for all time in AD70, the individual believers' "transition period" is removed from today, being made a first century reality alone.  This error neglects the importance of the "glory to glory" process at work in the life of the believer, and chooses rather to accept that there is no sin, death, or devil to be contended with today.  In short, full preterist doctrine chooses the corporate over the individual, and this betrayal results in much suffering."

• Hyper Preterism's AD70 Focal Point for Redemption and the New Covenant is Fundamentally Different From Christianity's Focal Point of the Cross (2009) "When the life of Jesus was draining away on the cross, He Himself noted that the redemptive work had been accomplished, in saying "it is finished". Finished (Tetelestai, from the verb teleo) means “to complete, to accomplish".  Though some HyPs may try to diminish the meaning of the cross and Jesus' declaration prior to His sacrificial death (which diminishment in itself serves as a litmus test for error), it was of the utmost significance. In fact, in order to maintain continuity with Christianity, it must remain the central focus. To diminish the centrality of the cross for redemptive accomplishment is to fundamentally alter the message that has been handed down and delivered throughout all generations. To diminish the cross event is not just a small matter of end times disagreement; Rather, it is an attack on the very foundations of Christianity.

Volume 1‎ About this book - Add to my library - More editions

Volume 2‎ About this book - Add to my library - More editions

12/31/9:

• Website progress: none. Check out my Facebook page though.. there is something happening there.   I realize now that getting bogged down in classifying Philosophical Idealism turned me off to the project.   Philosophical Idealism is clearly a major player in the overall Idealist discussion, dating back to, at least, the days of Plato as it does ; However, as it turns out, these dimly lit insights into reality are not nearly as gratifying as that form of Idealism which arises out of direct consideration of the person and work of Jesus Christ.   The Christological Idealism in the Old Testament will be where I pick up the study.  Accordingly, I will start with Hengstenberg's "Christology of the Old Testament" to be posted next.   Thanks for your patience.  

10/13/9:

9/28/9:

• J. Preston Eby Kingdom Bible Studies - #94 / "when you see all these cataclysmic upheavals it means that because of the raising up of Christ in our lives there is a brand new king upon the throne! "

  Just as our old heavens are rolled together as a scroll, so are the new heavens unrolled and unfurled over us as a scroll! The firstborn Son of God has revealed to us the wonder and the glory of this reality! It was at the Jordan River when Jesus was thirty years of age that He was baptized by John the Baptist, and following His baptism He went straightway up out of the water and at that precise moment the record states that “lo, the heavens were opened unto Him.” The heavens were opened, unrolled as a scroll, unto Jesus!

9/1/9:

• F.E. Marsh (1970) "A minister who was talking with a Christian worker said: "Christ came again twenty years ago, when He came into my heart." Whereupon the Christian worker replied: "I read in my Bible that certain things are to happen when Christ returns, and among them the dead in Christ shall be raised and the living believers in Him will be changed. Have either of these taken place?" The question non-plussed the minister!" (1000 Bible Study Outlines, p. 91)

8/31/9:

• Facebook Page - Random idealist points of personal interest.

8/30/9:

• Frederic W. Farrar: Christ Wails Over Jerusalem (1899) "This incident is an allegory. The soul of each one amongst us is such a Jerusalem. The soul has its history of shame or of faithfulness, and its prophecy of triumph or of doom, just as Jerusalem had. Jerusalem had warnings..  Jerusalem found that it was so, and so shall all men who persist in defying the mercy of God which calleth us to repentance."

Joseph Wood (1906) "Inspiration is that which is of universal application. If any utterance is only for an age, and local in its interpretation, we do not regard it as inspired. The Psalms, for instance, were mostly suggested by local considerations, the trials, the joys, the experiences of David and others, under peculiar circumstances. But, nevertheless, we feel as we read them that they pass beyond the limits of the local and the individual— they belong to humanity—they are true of human nature and life everywhere. Or take Christ's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem. It was spoken at Jerusalem about Jerusalem, and in a manner which seemed limited to Jerusalem. But had the prophecy been true only of that city of sorrows, it would never have been regarded as inspired. Whereas Christ's principle was this : that the doom pronounced on Jerusalem was universally applicable, and that it was but a style and specimen of God's judgment everywhere. The judgment comes wherever there is evil grown ripe for judgment, wherever corruption is complete. And the gathering of the Roman eagles to the carcase is but a specimen of the way in which judgment at last overtakes any city, any country, and any man in whom evil has reached the point where there is no possibility of cure. We who have lived through the last fifty years have seen the eagles gathered together in Naples, in America, in France, in Bulgaria. The Lord's judgment on Jerusalem has been fulfilled many times—it was not simply of local but of universal application." (The Bible, what it is and is not [lects.], p. 97)

5/15/9:

• Donald James Perry: Redirectionalism: Idealism and the Revelation of Jesus Christ (2001)  FREE DOWNLOAD

  "When Christians are tempted to abandon the apostolic hope for a fulfilled apostolic eschatological hope, the Church is faced with dangers. Where man is accountable to know what the second coming means in the Bible, Preterism can move men to question its relevancy. Many questions therefore confront the believer who abandons the apostolic hope. First, men ask themselves: Shall we speak those same words today? Are we still allowed to do so? Were those of days gone by of another age, a different time from ours that is now fulfilled? To what extent are we now in the new Jerusalem? To what extent did Christ accomplish the end of some redemptive age in A.D. 70? Does God Himself or does His way and salvation change?"

3/28/9:

• "Ousia" Study Archive - Ousia (Οuσία) is the Ancient Greek noun formed on the feminine present participle of εναι (to be); it is analogous to the English participle being

3/22/9:

• Rev. Alfred Bryant (1852) “The spiritual government which Christ exercises over the people of God commenced with the first believer on earth, and has never since been intermitted, and never will be.  Over Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and the tens of thousands who died in the faith, and went home to heaven before His first advent, the Great Mediator reigned as effectually by His word and Spirit, and dwelt in them by faith and love, as over Paul, or the millions who have lived since” (Millennarian Views: With Reasons For Receiving Them, pg. 86).

3/8/9:

• Preterist Idealism: A Statement on "Preterist Idealism" in Bennett's Apology (2009) "Dee Dee had mentioned that some FP would run with the pic. when she had posted it, which is why I said "couldn't resist" in my email. At the time they were being very friendly to Pret. Idealism which is "modern" according to TD and still sees the Res. of dead / 2nd Coming etc. as past but ongoing, so really should not be accepted by anyone arguing from the "2000 years of church history" view IMO. I saw it as a way to "kill 2 birds with one stone" so to speak."   [My view is that the eschaton is past, present and future in Jesus Christ.. as in "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever." and "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." The attitude of earnest expectation for the coming of the Lord and resurrection from the dead which refused to wane even during in the Middle Ages is a discipline worth keeping. The Preterist worldview pinches the ability to perceive the entire field of prophetic fulfillment by an unbalanced dedication to that which can be seen.]

2/1/9:

• Historical Idealism: Willibald Beyschlag  "The common error..  of conceiving the parousia as a single historical event instead of the whole course of Christ's victory and triumph over the historical world, dominates also the writer of the Apocalypse. But this error marks simply the necessary limits of prophecy, which Paul describes in the words (1 Cor. xiii. 12): "Now we see (in our prophecy) through a glass in a riddle, but then face to face." To see the things of the future face to face is granted only to the after life ; to him who looks forward the future appears only in the mirror of the present ; the symbol of the future hovers before him in the signs of his time. Hence the conflict of Christian history and the hope of eternal victory were to the writer of the Apocalypse symbolically reflected in the confusions of his time ; and if he saw close at hand the eternal triumph of the kingdom of God, he simply erred in the same way as Isaiah or his greater post-Exilic successor, the former of whom expected that the Assyrian oppression and deliverance from it, and the latter that the Babylonian captivity and deliverance, alone separated them from the Messianic salvation."  (He is probably a good representative of "German Idealism", but all of that will be dissected here in due time.  IdealistArchive.com has a great future ahead!)

12/4/8:

• Been adding a bunch of stuff... I'll line the out here as time allows (moving to Alaska shortly, so its been a super busy fall.. thanks for your patience) // In the meantime, check out Preterist-Idealism Study Archive

10/6/8:

• Audio/Video: Rod Edwards: The History of HyperPreterism - (Interesting and Good video, although I haven't left Idealism.   I am more convinced than ever that Jesus Himself is the telos and eschaton, and that this honor does not belong to some singular day in history (which results in Universalism whether it is a past day or future day in continuing history).   If any be "in Christ" (not "in history") old things pass away and become new.  [Also note from 2007: The (New) History of Full Preterism (Part Two) (WMV File) Big file.])

8/28/8:

• Historical: G.K. Beale Study Archive "He’s an idealist and he’s an evangelical. Almost all idealists used to be liberal, but now you want to be a scholar and all this kind of stuff." (Tommy Ice)  | "Idealist G. K. Beale characterizes Revelation as “a symbolic portrayal of the conflict between good and evil, between the forces of God and of Satan. . . . a timeless depiction of this struggle.”  (John Noe)  

7/24/8:

• Early Church Idealism: The Shepherd of Hermas "Who then is she?" I say. "The Church," saith he. I said unto him, "Wherefore then is she aged?" "Because," saith he, "she was created before all things; therefore is she aged; and for her sake the world was framed."

7/18/7:

• B.F. Westcott: Thoughts on Revelation and Life "NOW when we read the apostolic words, and picture to ourselves the sorrows which they illuminated — when we feel that in the portraiture of the perils of early believers we have the record of true struggles, and know that the essential elements of human discipline must always be the same — we cannot, I think, fail to recognise in the trials of the Hebrews of the first age an image of the peculiar trials by which we are beset ; and so by their experience we may gain the assurance that for us also there is the promise of larger wisdom where they found it in wider views of Christ's Person and Work, that the removal of those things that are shaken is brought about in order that those things which are not shaken may remain in serener and simpler beauty.

7/10/8:

• Critical: David Field: Why idealist readings of Revelation which appeal to "double fulfillment" or "multiple fulfillment" don't work (2007) They ramble back and forth and you'd have to be pretty committed to reading them slowly a couple of times at least for them to make much sense but here are some thoughts on why idealist readings of Revelation which appeal to "double fulfillment" or "multiple fulfillment" don't work.

Response: It is truly the macro scale that is the focal point of all Bible prophecy, and seen as such there is only one substance - the profound redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  As in Matthew 5:17, Christ is the fulfillment of the law.  However, for the individual, this must be personally received, and is not receivable in history alone.  To say that the law is fulfilled for all in history is nothing short of Universalism -- which is the ultimate hurdle that all "single referent" systems must overcome... regardless of the number of "associations" or "applications."

5/22/8:

• Historical: Kim Riddlebarger: What About the "Great" Tribulation? "A second reason why this question is important has to do with the rise of various forms of preterism (full-preterism, which is considered a heresy; and so-called “partial” preterism, which is not) which contend that Christ returned in A.D. 70 to execute judgment upon apostate Israel, the city of Jerusalem, and the Jewish temple and its sacrificial system.  Those who hold to the various forms of preterism believe that this great tribulation spoken of by Jesus (Matthew 24:21) has come and gone with the events associated with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans.  In light of the tendency to relegate a time of "great" tribulation to the distant past or imminent future, it is important to survey the biblical teaching in this regard.  As we will see, this time of “great tribulation” cannot be tied exclusively to the events of A.D. 70, or to the very end.  God’s people may face such tribulation throughout the entire time from Christ’s redemptive tribulation on the cross, until the end of the age."

4/24/8:

• Modern: Todd Dennis - Israel's History a Type - From Beginning to End "Sometimes, however, in an attempt to "confirm" a prophecy, a rush to judgment is made, whereby a mistake brings disrepute upon the supposed author. This happens often regarding supposed prophecies about "the end of the world." For almost 2,000 years, futurist Christians have predicted the end of the world in their near futures, only to have their expectations crushed when the earth did not blow up on cue. Repeated failures have brought an odium of shame to the Bible and the Lord, even though the fault was entirely with those who mistook the prophecies for something they were not. With Hyper Preterism, the miscues usually accrue in the other direction -- declaring something as completed when in fact it was not."

4/23/8:

• INsignificance of AD70: Todd Dennis - Matthew 26:64 is NOT a "Preterist Time Indicator" Pointing to AD70 "In short, the usage of "Apo Arti" in Matthew 26:64 [Apo ("from" - Strongs 575) and Arti ("now on" - Strong's 737)] is highly suggestive of the themes that have been previously offered at this blog ; that is, a series of revelatory recognitions of the power and glory of Jesus Christ's dominance by friend and foe alike. Though the typically pret-friendly Weymouth translation would like to make Jesus say "later on, you will see.." this is not really honest. I would rather say that it was simply a mistake, but I find it impossible to believe that neither Richard Francis Weymouth ("If this belief ever obtains general acceptance the earlier date of the Apocalypse will also be regarded as fully established. For it will then be seen that the book describes beforehand events which took place in 70 A.D.") nor Earnest Hampden-Cook (co-editor and author of "The Christ Has Come") were aware of the importance of this passage regarding their Preterist assumptions. However, not only is there no sense of futurity in this very emphatic Greek phrase, but rather we see quite the opposite. "

4/20/8:

• INsignificance of AD70: Todd Dennis - Matthew 10:23 is NOT a "Preterist Time Indicator" pointing to AD70 (2008) "It has become a working assumption of Hyper Preterism that the "coming" passages in the New Testament refer to AD70. And the eisegetical presupposition that Matthew 10:23 is a "(Hyper) Preterist time indicator" is considered to be unassailable, even though there is not a hint of reference to AD70 in the text or context of the chapter from which to support this conclusion."

4/16/8:

• INsignificance of AD70: Todd Dennis - Matthew 16:27-28 is Not About AD70 (2008) "Why would we expect the Lord to perform his acts of power and glory just once — be it in the past or the future? What good does that do all the other generations?  It seems to me that all prophecy ultimately finds its accomplishment in Christ internally and personally, as opposed to externally and historically. Even the cross must be received, and each follower must bear it as Jesus said."

4/10/8:

• HYPERpreteristarchive.com - This is my new blog.  woot.  Hope you enjoy it.  It will be taking a critical look at all forms of Preterism from a Modern Idealist point of view

4/4/8:

• Philosophical/Gnostic: The Gospel According to Pagels "Dealing with each topic in her book, Ms. Pagels does not mention crucial evidence concerning Gnostics and Catholics, and distorts what she does mention. She falsely maintains that Catholics insisted upon a physical view of resurrection (as compared to the Gnostics), when a spiritual view is clearly represented from Paul in the first century until Origen in the third century. She asserts that Gnostics did not concern themselves with authority, when in fact they often branded those who disagreed with them as corrupt materialists who were constitutionally incapable of understanding the world of spirit. Attempting to say that the Gnostics were feminists, she ignores texts from Nag Hammadi, as well as Gnostic sources that had been known for centuries before the library's discovery, that portray "Wisdom" (Sophia), the feminine counterpart of the true, masculine God, as literally hysterical — jealous of divine power, but unable to create life on her own, and therefore vindictive. Martyrdom was a common threat to Gnostics and Catholics, and not at all a fate that the Fathers of the Church wanted Christians generally to seek; Gnostics could be as ferocious as Catholics in claiming unique insight, and the knowledge that transcends this world was every bit as much a Catholic as a Gnostic quest.

  Appearing in a book as well written as Ms. Pagels's, her anachronisms have undermined public understanding of early Christianity. Gnosticism proved to be the most powerful philosophical and religious movement of its time because it insisted without compromise that the only truth that matters transcends this corrupt world. Gnostics often denigrated women as creatures of corruption, condemned any disagreement with their teaching as materialist fantasy, and denied that sexuality had any place in the realm of spirit. Trying to turn this orientation into existentialism, or feminism, or an embrace of the world's physicality, will only work with an extremely selective handling of the evidence, and deploys a laundered view of its subject.

3/5/8:

• Symbols/Temple: Alan R. Kerr The Temple of Jesus' Body: The Temple Theme in the Gospel of John (2002) "This book is a study of the Johannine Christian response to the fall of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 ce. A crucial text in this investigation is Jn 2.13-22 and its context, which provide a lens through which other texts in John are viewed. Kerr's examination of the Temple festivals of Passover, Tabernacles, Dedication suggests that in Jesus fulfils and replaces these, while in the case of the Sabbath he effects a transformation. The overall conclusion is that the Johannine Jesus replaces and fulfils the Jerusalem Temple."

2/22/8:

• Philosophical: Terminology - Ousia "Essence / Being"

2/17/8:

• HI: Kim Riddlebarger - Interview with A-Team, Part Three "I do see the events of A. D. 70 as marking that time when Israel became desolate which led to Israel’s diaspora into the nations (Matthew 23:37-39).  As I understand it, all forms of preterism (whether that be the heretical hyper-preterists who deny the bodily resurrection and Christ’s second advent, or the orthodox partial-preterists who affirm the bodily resurrection and Christ’s second advent) tend to agree in terms of seeing the end of the age as occurring in 70 A.D., as well as believing that Jesus truly returned in the heavens at that time.  Many of these writers also reject the distinction between the two ages (as Reformed amillennarians would define it) along with the distinction between the already and the not yet."

2/2/8:

• HI: G.K. Beale - Peace and Mercy Upon the Israel of God: The OT Background in Galatians 6:16 (1999) "This essay has contended that Paul’s reference to "new creation" and the pronouncement of "peace and mercy" on the readers in Gal 6,15-16 is best understood against the background of Isa 54,10 and the surrounding context of similar new creation themes elsewhere in Isa 32–66, which are echoed also earlier in Galatians, especially in 5,22-26. The analysis confirms those prior studies which have concluded that "the Israel of God" refers to all Christians in Galatia, whether Jewish or Christian."

2/2/8:

• G.K. Beale - "Babylon the Great'' is the entire corrupt economic-religious system.. Though most past commentators have tended to identify Babylon solely with ungodly Roman culture, or the apostate Church, or Apostate Israel, it is better to see these identifications as not mutually exclusive" (The Book of Revelation p. 885-886)

1/29/8:

• Ideablogging: Why I am not a Dispensationalist (and why you should not be either)  "I don’t know how anyone could be a dispensationalist [be that of the Futurist or Preterist variety] after taking a look at this. I think this image makes it clear that the Bible is a unified book with a unified message about the Kingdom of God, culminating in the person and work of Jesus Christ."

1/27/8:

• FREE ONLINE BOOKS :  Edgar Whitaker Work - "Biblical Idealism in Literature" (From The Bible in English Literature) "THE ultimate test of any literature lies in its power to awaken the mind and heart of man to great thoughts and important endeavors. If literature cannot thus announce a new day of life and service to us, it has failed to attain the highest function of literature. It may inform and instruct, it may prove itself to be in many ways a literature of knowledge, but if it be not also a literature of power, calculated to stir the being of man with a new vision of life, it has fallen far short in its usefulness. It is literature, perhaps, but it is not creative literature. It does not permeate the deep places of life: it does not help to build the Temple of the Soul. Judged in this way the Bible is preeminently a literature of power. " (1917)

1/26/8:

• FREE ONLINE BOOKS :  Paul Levertoff - Love and the Messianic Age - In Hitherto Untranslated Hasidic Writings with Special Reference to the Fourth Gospel (1923) An interesting work which seeks to explain the distinction between objective and subjective, while viewing the Messianic Age as the "time" when both become one.  "He who comprehends the spiritual meaning of the Word of God and receives it into the innermost chambers of his heart is called 'the friend and brother of God, and the holy temple of the Divine Spirit.'"

• Ideablogging: Shadows of the cross |

• Administrative: Added working definition for "Hyper Idealism" -   HYPER IDEALISM  (Personal revelation preferred above strict adherence to the Word of God) - In the future, this will be focused more on Gnosticism, which will be made synonymous with Hyper Idealism

Perhaps THE major driving force behind the creation of this website has been to present a hermeneutical system which appreciates the Christological focus of prophecy and eschatology, without forsaking the Word of God for spiritualism and mysticism -- which so often is the case with "heavenly minded" people.   The likes of Swedenborg bring - in my opinion - disgrace to Christ and Christianity and are to be cautiously avoided.   Universalist Idealists, such as certain Quakers or J. Preston Eby, likewise take whatever benefit their personalizing applications offer, and turn them instead into dangerous lures to what is an overall dangerous system.   In almost all cases, the lack of diligence with hermeneutical study in the manifest Word of God is a clue to this tendency.  Hence, such unfettered systems are classified as "Hyper" Idealism. The likes of Swedenborg bring - in my opinion - disgrace to Christ and Christianity and are to be cautiously avoided.   Universalist Idealists, such as certain Quakers or J. Preston Eby, likewise take whatever benefit their personalizing applications offer, and turn them instead into dangerous lures to what is an overall dangerous system.   In almost all cases, the lack of diligence with hermeneutical study in the Bible is a clue to this tendency.   Ultimately, drifting upon this sea of mysticism shows a disrespect for the Bible as the manifest Word of God.    Hence, such unfettered systems are classified as "Hyper" Idealism.  Though the materials will be archived here, they will be segregated in the "/hyper" category (or on the whatsnew pages)

1/25/8:

• Added the "Parable" Chart:

1/24/8:

• Redirectionalism.com (Donald James Perry)

1/23/8:

• Back to action!  Thanks for your patience.. been a LOT of progress this fall.  Mostly, I reformatted the entire PreteristArchive.com website to reflect my reclassification of ALL full preterism as "Hyper Preterism" -- Also, there have been amazing advances in the  Preterist Movement (particularly in the hyper preterist splinter), and a little in the Futurist one.  Details will be forthcoming.  2008 is going to be a very exciting year!

12/10/7:

• Kim Riddlebarger : Eschatology Q & A: What Are the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Different Millennial Views? (2008) "As for weaknesses, there are many.  One is that the presuppositions of dispensationalism (which, despite protests to the contrary, is a hermeneutic) cannot be sustained.  The belief that God has distinct redemptive purposes for Israel and for the Gentiles is highly problematic in light of a text like Ephesians 2:11-22.   Another serious problem with dispensationalism is the way in which the "literal interpretation" of Scripture is worked out in practice.  The dispensational stress upon "literalism" actually amounts to an Israel-centered hermeneutic, largely taken from the Old Testament prophets which then predetermines what the New Testament authors can tell us about Israel. "

11/1/7:

• StudyArchive: The INsignificance of AD70 - "Many are careful, however, not to overstate the importance of the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, recognizing how easily some are led astray by overestimating what that event accomplished.   This page will archive such comments, seeking to show where a reasonable line may be drawn between appreciation and overappreciation."

10/5/7:

• Adding a bunch of stuff to round out the Philosophical Idealism Study Archive, like The Evolution of Theology in the Greek Philosophers by Edward Caird (absolutist)

10/2/7:

• Book by Modern Idealist!   Donald James Perry - Redirectionalism: Absolute Orthodoxy and the Revelation of Jesus Christ (2004)  "Our interpretation of eschatology rests on Christ's coming, as defined by His coming to His Firstfruits. Our conclusions result in an interpretation that salvation is a process for each individual and the church the exact same way it was for those who lived during the generation of Jesus Christ. We understand that we today must live and think just as the apostles and Jesus Christ, if we, too, are to meet Christ. We cannot depart from the sanctification and way of the Firstfruits (2 Cor. 11:4), for if we could, that would then make us unorthodox, and leave us without a claim to orthodoxy."

9/30/7:

• Administrative: Website Doctrinal Classifications and Color Key

  • Philosophical Idealism - Primarily Concerned with Epistemology ("Theory of Knowledge")

  • Theological Idealism - Primarily Concerned with Theology ("Theory of God")

    • Historical Idealism - End of Jewish State as Type of Historical "Parousia of Christ at the End of the World" - Prophetic Substance Found in Both Jesus Christ and the Natural Realm

    • Modern Idealism - End of Jewish State as Type of Timeless Work) - Prophetic Substance Found in Jesus Christ, NOT in the Natural Realm

    • Incidental Idealism - Idealist Applications Within a Preterist or Futurist Paradigm

9/27/7:

• Saint Bonaventure Study Archive - Student of both Theological and Philosophical Idealism ""From memory and intelligence is breathed forth love, which is the tie between the two. These three--the generating mind, the word, and love--are in the soul as memory, intelligence, and will, which are consubstantial, coequal, and coeval, mutually immanent. If "

9/26/7:

• Philosophical Idealism Study Archive "St. Augustine developed the Platonic teaching, and in his philosophy is idealism in the genuine meaning of the term. "

• Willmann, Otto : Philosophical Idealism | Kant Critique of Pure Reason (pdf) | Epistemology | Platonism

9/25/7:

• Hermeneutics: Interaction on David Field's article "Idealism and Double Fulfillment"  "The idealist’s desire to be inclusive and general results in incoherence. And, funnily enough, you’ve lost coherence in an attempt to gain something which you think the preterist/futurist lacks when in fact they (so long as they do their association/application thing seriously) not only have it but are the only ones who have grounds for having it and holding it stably and securely."

• HI: Johannes Oecolampadius Study Archive "Observe here, whoever acts as a preacher, [the nature of] your office.  For the task is, that with Isaiah you may first be a disciple rather than a teacher, and may be among those who have seen God, whom Scripture calls θεοδιδάκτους [taught by God].  May you also be called by God, as was Aaron, and not like Nadab and Abihu, and Korah, and others.  May the desire of Uzziah first die to you, who intruded into sacred things from his own audacity.  [Such desire] dies, however, if you do not receive glory from people.  For from arrogance is born in the mind the contagious disease of leprosy, which is a symbol of heresy.         In the Scriptures, however, if you search them, you will see God.  And when Uzziah has died, you may at once declare God fullest and best.  This is not a perceptible unction to you, or a rite consisting in ceremonies, nor were bishop's hands furnishing [it].  But the sincere heart will be fit for the Holy Spirit and heavenly unction."

9/24/7:

• EC: St. Cyril Study Archive "Although Christ is but one, yet he is understood by us under a variety of forms : He is the tabernacle on account of the human body in which he dwelt. He is the table, because he is our bread of life. He is the ark, which has the law of God inclosed within, because he is the word of the Father. He is the candlestick, because he is our spiritual light. He is the altar of incense, because he is a sweet-smelling odor of sanctification. He is the altar of burnt sacrifice, because he is the victim, by death upon the cross, for the sins of the whole world."

9/23/7:

• MI: Scott Thompson How Heaven and Earth Pass Away (2007) "The way into the "new" : Jerusalem, age, birth, man, heavens and earth, etc., all were very much open long before AD70. The translation from "old" to "new" was, however, waiting to be revealed in a most overt way for all to see. As the Word of God says in Hebrews 9, "the way into the holiest of all was "not made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.""

9/18/7:

• HI: Gregory K. Beale Study Archive "The kingdom ending is, of course, Israel, but this time it is her definitive end. Rome would destroy Jerusalem and her temple in AD 70. Joel’s language of the earth’s destruction in Acts 2 is also appropriate as a figurative portrayal of the temple’s destruction, since, as we have seen so often earlier, the temple itself and its parts symbolized the cosmos.”

• HI: Idealist Quakers Study Archive "We see no need of directing men to the type for the antitype, neither to the outward temple, nor yet to Jerusalem, neither to Jesus Christ or his blood [outwardly], knowing that neither the righteousness of faith, nor the word of it doth so direct.’”

9/17/7:

• Website Introduction Posted - "The basic method at IdealistArchive.com will be to display "Idealistic" methods and interpretations -- regardless of the Christian source from which it comes  (be it from a Calvinist, Universalist, Arminian, etc).  This is the same methodology used at the other "archives," where it is demonstrated how Christians throughout the ages have endorsed a particular interpretation, even if their fundamental method is different from the position able to be advocated by their quote.  The goal in this is not to misrepresent the author at all here... but to show how they are in agreement with an Idealist interpretation with the subject at hand."

• MI: Todd Dennis - Eternal Ship with Historical Anchors

9/16/7:

• Added Chart "The Pathway of Revelation"

9/14/7:

• Administrative: "Philosophical Idealism" (aka "Theory of Knowledge") Added as New Classification - Covering the Epistemological Views of Deist and non-Christian Idealists (Such as Plato and Bertrand Russell) // Distinguished from "Theological Idealism" -- Represented by the Classifications "Historical" and "Modern" Idealism

9/13/7:

• II: Jewish Idealism: Destruction in Jerusalem: The Spirit vs. the Letter "Yet, before we point fingers at that generation we should remember the old rabbinic dictum, "each generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt should count itself as being among those who brought its destruction."

• II: Jonathan Edwards The Folly of Looking Back in Fleeing Out of Sodom

9/12/7:

• Free Online Books: II: Harvey Marriott - A Fourth Course of Practical Sermons (1829) "May we, my brethren, take heed lest our prayers be tainted with that worldly character which shall show us to Him, before whom "all hearts be open, and all desires known," as hoping for things temporal while we use words significant of things spiritual. "

• II: C.S. Lewis: "Our spiritual life manifests itself through our physical life. Spiritual things must be spiritually understood. There will always be people who say that religion is nothing but psychological need, justice nothing but self-protection, love nothing but lust, and thought nothing but twitching of grey matter in the brain. People who think this way are like a dog that looks at the pointing finger instead of what the finger is point at. They miss the meaning of everything." (quoted in Surprised by C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald & Dante By Kathryn Ann Lindskoog, p. 130)