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A Reformed / Preterist Webpage

"Men occassionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened" (Winston Churchill)

I'm not one of those people who have remembered tons of sayings from historical people, but in my life, and as it relates to two major theological changes I have experienced, this quote from Winston Churchill stands alone as so true that it's almost scary in its accuracy of how many people in the church today deal with the Bible, and the truths contained therein.

I'm no different than any other person in this world. I was born into a typical Arminian/Dispensational church attending family. From the moment of birth, and just like a baby born into a Muslim or Jewish househould is taught those traditions, I was spoonfed the Arminian/Dispensational party line. Remember, I was an infant. Infant's don't think theologically. Toddlers don't think theologically. Most children, and for that matter, most adults today don't think theologically. All you know is what Mom and Dad believe and that is simply good enough.

The problem is that it's not good enough. Most people today are like the people in the middle (dark) ages who were held in theological darkness by the Catholic church who would not allow the scriptures in the hands of the common person. Those people were ignorant because of situations beyond their control. The darkness that covers our land today is much worse because unlike the people in the middle ages who did not have the Bible in their own language, Bibles are everywhere today and most go unstudied. If a darkness that comes from things outside your control is bad enough, then how much worse is a self inflicted darkness?

There should come a time in each person's life where they step back and say "Am I sure what I've always been taught is right?" It's a noble and Godly thing to study the scriptures in order to know "what" you believe, and also "why" you believe it. I would encourage you to be like the Bereans mentioned in Acts 17. It says, "Now these [Bereans] were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so". Do you see that? They examined the scriptures daily to see if what Paul was telling them was in fact true.

I do not think it is much of a stretch to say that the vast majority of professing Christians DON'T do that. They are content to be theological couch potatoes, and allow their pastor or televangelists to tell them what the scriptures mean. After all, they went to seminary right? They should be more than able to expound the scriptures for us, right? Baloney! Trinity Broadcasting Company is full of false teachers. Just because you can speak elequantly, and move a crowd to tears does not make you a teacher of Biblical truth.

Say it with me now, "It's o.k. if what you were taught by your parents and pastors was wrong". Believe me, it really is! It's not o.k. in the sense that to believe it is o.k. It's o.k. in the sense that it doesn't need to shatter your foundations by thinking that many of your beliefs are unbiblical. You should be thankful that you've been shown the light. What a great thing to walk out of darkness into light. To go from false to true.

That is what happened for me! I remember walking that long road out of the false beliefs of Arminianism into the truths of the Reformed (Calvinistic) faith. That was shocking for me to see that those two belief systems are not sister faiths only deviating at some minor points. No! They are radical theological opposites. Enemies if you will.

Arminianism is humanistic. It exhaults man by giving him abilities he simply does not have. Reformed theology (Calvinism), on the other hand, strips man of every hope of salvation, and puts the onus of whether or not a man will be saved only in the hands of God himself.

Arminianism says, "Oh sinner! You're not really spiritually dead as the Bible says. That's more of a trivial point since God was gracious enough to restore you to semi-spiritual death. Now being semi-restored spiritually you can be saved if you make the right decision". Calvinism says, "Oh Sinner! You are most certainly spiritually dead, and under the wrath of God. If you are to be saved it is because God has graciously elected and adopted you specifically from the foundations of the world to be saved. If you are to be saved it will come only at the hands of a gracious God who supernaturally causes you to believe the gospel of Christ". Contrary to what many people believe, those are two radically different gospels. I was born and raised Arminian. I am now, by the grace of God, a card carrying Calvinist.

Now, on to our second topic. Eschatology. I was raised Dispensational. By that I mean that I believed that the contents of the book of Revelation, and all other New Testament scriptures concerning Christ's second coming were all still future events to us here in 21st century. I no longer do.

I am now a Preterist in my eschatology. What is Preterism? It's no shocker that you haven't heard of that word. I hadn't until just 3-4 years ago, but I'm one now. A Preterist is one who believes that the 2nd coming of Christ has already occured. "What?" I can almost hear the horror and shock (and laughter) in your voice right now. I know you're thinking, "You've got to be kidding me!" I'm not kidding you, and with careful attention to study you might just find that Preterism isn't really wacky at all. In fact, it's the most Biblically sound eschatological position out there.

Let me ask you this. You believe the Bible don't you? I'm sure you say that you do. In Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27 Christ clearly told his disciples that not all of them would die before he returned again in judgment to reward people and set up his Kingdom. Do you believe him? I do! In Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 Christ clearly told the disciples that "this generation (i.e. the generation he was speaking to) would not pass away until all of the things in the Olivet Discourse had been fulfilled. That would include his second coming. Do you believe him? I do!

The problem is that people simply don't believe the word. They don't study it for themselves so in lazyness they choose to believe their parents, their pastor, some televangelist, or all of church history which says that Christ still hasn't returned some 2,000+ years later, when in the book of Revelation, written specifically to 7 churches in the first century clearly states that the events of Revelation would "shortly" come to pass. The word "shortly" 2,000 years ago means the same as "shortly" today.

If you are an Arminian, I know that I cannot convince you of Calvinism. I can only present you with solid materials for your consideration. If you're not a Preterist, and chances are pretty darn that you're not, I'm fully convinced that unless God opens your eyes you'll never believe it. So again I can only give you solid materials to read. If you have absolutely no idea what the heck Arminianism, Calvinism, Dispensationalism, or Preterism are that's just fine. Maybe you'll enjoy some of the articles below.

That is the point of this webpage. I'm not a writer. I'm not that skilled. I created this website strictly to give you links to solid reading materials. My hope is that you'll be a "Berean", read some of the articles you can link to below, and then study scripture till you're blue in the face to "see if these things be so". Remember, having the Bible is one thing. Studying it is another. You'll be amazed at what you'll find!!

David

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Email: daniel4v35@yahoo.com