The Parousia: Past, Present, or Future?

By Gordon Coulson

Introduction

The Parousia, or Coming of Christ, is central to the minds of believers. All Christians have wanted to know when their Lord would return to bring this present evil age to an end, and to begin a new age of righteousness and justice under his kingship. For centuries, Christians have been praying that “…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” The Parousia, or Coming of Christ, is the answer to this prayer.

The Parousia is connected to the many prophecies regarding the coming of the Messianic age and the destruction of this wicked system. We cannot discuss the Parousia apart from these prophecies, especially those in Daniel, Revelation and the Gospels, for it is these very prophecies that point to Christ’s eventual coming and the conclusion of the present age.

There are several sometimes conflicting ideas regarding the outworking of prophecy and the Parousia. Some believe it has already occurred. Others believe it is yet future. We will examine the main schools of interpretation and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, we will present what we believe to be the strongest view based on scripture. Only then can we attempt to answer whether the Parousia is past, present or future.

Parousia: the Meaning of the Word

According to Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, parousia has two meanings: presence, and the presence of one coming, hence the coming, arrival, or advent. The following scriptures illustrate all the uses of the word in the New Testament, apart from the Coming of Christ. Considering these instances of parousia apart from Christ’s coming will help us to understand the use of parousia with respect to his coming. All quotations are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.

¹⁷I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived (PAROUSIA), because they have supplied what was lacking from you. (1 Cor 16:17)

⁶But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming (PAROUSIA) of Titus, ⁷and not only by his coming (PAROUSIA) but also by the comfort you had given him. (2 Cor 7:6)

¹⁰For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person (PAROUSIA) he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." (2 Cor 10:10)

²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶so that through my being with you again (PAROUSIA) your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. (Phil 1:26)

¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence (PAROUSIA), but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12)

⁹The coming (PAROUSIA) of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, ¹⁰and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. (2 Th 2:9)

In all cases parousia refers to a personal presence or arrival of a particular individual or individuals. In the last case (2 Th 2:9), parousia refers to the manifestation of the “lawless one”, who Christ will do away with. Many commentators believe this was at least initially fulfilled in the wicked popes of the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, the apostle John states that there was, even during his time, “many antichrists”—individuals who where subverting the faith. So again, we have a personal presence or arrival.

Reviewing the use of parousia in these instances gives us insight into the use of the word with respect to our Lord’s return. We read in Luke 21:

⁵ When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” ⁷ They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” ⁸ (Luke 21:5-7, NRSV)

The disciples knew from previous discussions that he, as king of God’s kingdom, would rule over the earth at some future time, and that they would rule with him under his headship. They wanted to know when they could expect his return. To the disciples, the Parousia meant the coming arrival of Christ at the consummation of the age. He would return to establish the dominion of the Kingdom of God over the earth.

The word parousia also has another connotation. According to Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, parousia is used at times in secular Greek literature to refer to the “visit of a royal or official personage.” The coming of Christ, therefore, describes the arrival of a king. And this is exactly how he is described in Revelation 19: a king whose eyes are a fiery flame, riding a white horse, with a sword protruding from his mouth to shepherd the nations, accompanied by a heavenly army. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He comes in his father’s name to battle God’s enemies. The nations wage war against this great king, but are soundly defeated. In chapter 20 Satan is thrown into a prison for 1000 years, and God’s righteous reign, through His son Jesus Christ, begins. Jesus Christ has returned, and now he reigns supreme over the earth.

In the bible, then, parousia refers to the personal coming or arrival of an individual or individuals. The Parousia of Jesus Christ, therefore, is the personal arrival of Christ as King of God’s Kingdom, with the objective of establishing his reign over the earth. In this way, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven, and our prayers are finally answered.

The Main Schools of Prophetic Interpretation

End-time prophecy is closely linked to the Parousia. The prophecies in Daniel and Revelation and other bible books, as well as our Lord’s own prophecies in the Gospels, present signs and patterns that would alert true Christians to the time they were living in, with respect to God’s purposes and the return of Christ. The Lord himself, after prophesying of the destruction of Jerusalem and his eventual return at the end of the age, told his disciples:

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:28, NIV)

It is important, then, to watch for the fulfillment of these prophetic signs. Only in this way will we be able to lift up our heads, as we see our redemption is near. There are several different views respecting these end-time prophecies, especially the book of Revelation, which is the most difficult. They are the Preterist, Futurist and Historical schools of prophetic interpretation.

Preterist

The Preterist school originated with the Jesuit Alcasar in 1604 in reaction to the Protestant view of the Papacy as the Antichrist. It was adopted by Grotius and Hammonds, improved by Bossuet, the great Papal champion, and then Hernnschneider, Eichhorn and others of the German critical school, followed by Heinrichs and Moses Stuart of the United States. In our time Preterism is seeing a revival of sorts.

According to Preterism, the end-time prophecies, with the exception of perhaps the last two chapters of Revelation, were fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem and the experiences of the early church. The kingdom of God, according to many Preterists, is moving forward through the actions of the visible Church in the world today. Eventually, they say, the Church’s influence will be universal, and Christ can return to claim his bride and establish God’s kingdom.

Note the disciples questions to Jesus in Matthew 24:

¹Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ²"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:1-3, NIV)

To the Preterist, the disciples’ question regarding the temple’s destruction had only one application—to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in 70 CE. Indeed, much of the prophecy describes this destruction and events surrounding it in detail: false Christs, rumors of war, earthquakes, food shortages, persecution, the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel, who Luke identifies as armies encamped around Jerusalem (Lk 21:20). The preterist view of Revelation is similar. All the prophecies and symbols are interpreted as events, for the most part completed, of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.

There are two main schools of Preterism—The German Rationalist and the Roman Catholic. We will consider the German rationalist school. The Roman Catholic approach was probably more of an attempt to cast doubt on the Protestant idea of the Pope as Antichrist rather than a serious theory of interpretation.

German Preterist View of Revelation

In the German school, the 144,000 of Rev. 7 are Christians converted from among the Jews. The unsealed Jews, then, are the objects of God’s wrath. This idea appears to be supported in Rev. 11, where the inner temple, representing the good things of Judaism, is preserved in Christianity, while the outer temple, representing the mere external parts of Jewish worship, along with the Holy City Jerusalem, are abandoned; trampled by the Gentiles as it were. In the German Preterist School, the various seals and trumpets are warning signs and symbols in the general sense only. When Rome destroyed Jerusalem in the first century, all these things were fulfilled, according to the Preterist view.

The woman riding the seven-headed beast in Rev. 17:3-6 is the seven-hilled imperial city of Rome, and the beast ridden is the persecuting empire. The five kings that had fallen are Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. The one present was Nero, the emperor the Preterists believe was alive during the writing of Revelation. Galba is the seventh, and a revived Nero (one head was mortally wounded, but lived), the eighth.

Analysis

Is the temple in Revelation really the Jewish temple at Jerusalem? Is the object of God’s wrath the Jews opposed to Christ exclusively? In Rev. 1:12-13, there is a Jewish lamp-stand, composed of seven candlesticks, and a high priest is present among them. It certainly has all the appearances of the Jewish temple. However, the priest is identified as none other than Jesus Christ, so it cannot be.

In Rev. 6:9 there is a description of an altar. Could this be the brazen altar found in the Jewish temple-court? We note that under the altar are the souls of those slain for the Word of God, and for their testimony. They are given white robes and told to wait a little while longer until the number of their fellow slaves are filled. Now clearly these are Christian martyrs, since these are the only martyrs after Christ God would approve of. Therefore, the altar here must mean the altar of Christian sacrifice, not the altar in the Jewish temple. The martyrs under the altar are a reference to the ashes of the sacrifice in the original altar in the Jewish temple, but in this case, the meaning is Christian.

In Rev. 8:3 there is a reference to an altar, a golden censer and incense--all articles of the Jewish temple. Yet, we are informed that the smoke of the incense was added to the prayers of the saints, meaning the Christian saints. So again, the symbolism is of the Jewish temple, but the meaning is Christian. Similarly in Rev. 11:2, even leading Preterists, like Professor Moses Stuart understand that the inner temple, which was measured by John, has a Christian, not a Jewish significance.

What about the references to the 12 tribes? Are these Jews or Christians? In Rev. 21, we see the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God to the earth. The Holy City is prepared as a bride for her husband, Jesus Christ. Therefore, the names of the 12 tribes associated with the city in verse 12 are Christians. This is further confirmed in verse 14, where the twelve foundation stones had the names of the 12 apostles, not the 12 Patriarchs. If these 12 tribes are Christians, then surely the 12 tribes of Rev. 7 are as well, especially considering their names do not match to the 12 tribes of Israel—Dan is not mentioned, the tribe of Manasseh is added and Joseph replaces Ephraim. In addition, at the time of the writing of Revelation, the northern 10 tribes had long been conquered and deported by foreign powers. Those that remained or returned no longer viewed tribal separation as important, and it is very likely that intermarriage with non-Jews was common. It would not have been possible, therefore, to find 12,000 from each of these northern 10 tribes.

Another problem for the German Preterist view of Revelation is the religious profession of those who were to suffer through the plagues mentioned therein. In Rev. 9:20, they are specifically described as idolaters, those that “…do not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood…” This does not describe the Jews of the late first century. It is well know that they regarded idols as an abomination. In fact, they were willing to bare their necks to Roman swords rather than have Roman idols in their temple.

Then there is the problem of the two witnesses in Rev. 11:3-12. Who are they? They cannot be Jews, because Jesus grants authority to them so they can prophesy. He would not grant authority to those that do not recognize his Messiah-ship. Yet they cannot be Christians either, because it is a known fact of history that Christians escaped from Jerusalem and survived its destruction. The Two Witnesses, according to Revelation, are killed. In addition, there are no 2 individuals in history that would meet the description of the Two Witnesses. The Preterists have no satisfactory answer to these problems.

There is also a problem with the view of the woman sitting atop the seven-headed beast as Rome. First, the seven heads, referred to by Preterists as seven Roman emperors, does not follow the precedent in Daniel, where heads of beasts refer to successive kingdoms, not kings. Secondly, the revival of Nero as an eighth king has no historical support. The Preterists refer to a rumor circulating in Rome at the time; hardly an historical fact to base prophetic interpretation on!

The German Preterist view of Revelation depends on the various temple symbols, worshippers, and objects of God’s wrath being the Jewish temple and the Jews respectively. It must be so if the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. fulfilled these prophecies. However, as we have seen, this perspective has serious flaws. A more satisfactory approach is to view these symbols as having Christian meanings, which puts the time of the fulfillment of Revelation beyond the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.

When Was Revelation Written?

The Preterist view depends on the writing of Revelation being prior to 70 C.E. Otherwise, the Apostle John is prophesying about events that have already passed, which is no prophesy at all! However, what does the historical record say? If it can be established that John wrote the Revelation after 70 C.E., then the argument for Preterism falls flat.

Iranaeus (130-202 C.E.), in Against Heresies:

We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. For that was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian's reign.

Since Domitian reigned from 81–96 C.E., and Iranaeus says John was given the Revelation ‘…towards the end of Domitian’s reign’, then this puts the date of its writing clearly after 70 C.E., probably in the 90’s C.E.

Other early Christians who confirm a Domitian date for Revelation are Eusebius Pamphili (260-341 C.E.), known as the “Father of Church History”, Hippolytis, who wrote around 236 C.E., Victorinus (270 C.E.), Jerome (340 – 420 C.E.) and Sulpitius Severus (360 – 420 or 425 C.E.). All these sources agree on the Domitian date for Revelation, which means it was written after the destruction of Jersusalem in 70 C.E. In addition to the many previously-mentioned problems for Preterism, this is really the nail in the coffin in my view.

Examining the Gospel Accounts (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)

It certainly appears that much of what Jesus prophesied in the Gospels regarding his return was fulfilled. There were false Christs. There were wars and reports of wars. There were plagues and famines and terrors. The temple indeed was destroyed—not a stone was left upon a stone. There was persecution of Christians. Those in Judea did flee to the mountains when the first Roman force withdrew.

However, several items in this prophecy were not fulfilled. There were no reported signs in the sun, moon and stars and the nations of the earth were not dismayed at the roaring of the sea (Lk 21:25). Men (of these nations) were not fainting out of fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world. They did not see the powers of the heavens shaken (Lk 21:26), and certainly there was no report of anyone, believers or unbelievers, seeing the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and glory (:27) at that time.

Certainly the destruction of Jerusalem was a tribulation, but was it a “great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now” (Mt. 24:21)? Certainly not! The flood of Noah’s time was surely greater, encompassing the entire known world of that time. In fact, we are explicitly warned not to believe those that would say “here is the Christ, or there he is, for false Christs and false prophets would arise” (Mt. 24:23,24). And yet this is exactly what the Preterist have done. They point to 70 C.E. and say “here he is—he has returned.”

Jesus further says that his coming would be just like lightning from the east flashing to the west (Mt. 24:27). Anyone who has ever been in a lightning storm knows it is frightening and awesome—the sky is lit up from the power of it—there is no mistake about what is happening. Additionally, he says in verse 30 that “all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” None of these things occurred in 70 C.E. There are no reports of the nations seeing any such phenomena. Finally, Jesus states that after this tribulation, he would send forth his angels to gather his elect. History shows that over 1900 years later, his elect has still not been gathered. Although many religious organizations have claimed that only they are the true religion and are performing the gathering work, these claims have all proven false. We are still awaiting Christ’s return to gather us, his elect, to himself.

But what of the fulfillments of Jesus’ prophecy in the Gospels with respect to the destruction of Jerusalem? Surely these are striking fulfillments are they not?

Note that the disciples appear to ask two questions of their master: when will the temple be destroyed, and what is the sign of your return? In Matthew we read:

"Tell us," they said, "when will this happen [temple’s destruction], and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Similarly, Luke reports:

They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”

The Holy Spirit may be making a distinction here between the two events, even if the disciples were not aware of it. In his answer, then, Jesus addresses both questions. He prophecies the destruction of Jerusalem, and at the same time, gives them signs which would indicate his imminent return, well beyond 70 C.E. There would be an initial and a final fulfillment of this famous prophecy on the Mount of Olives. The first fulfillment was striking. The second will be awe-inspiring.

Conclusion

Preterism asserts that all, or most, of the prophecies concerning Christ’s return were fulfilled in 70 C.E. with the destruction of Jerusalem by Roman armies. However, we have seen that interpreting Revelation in terms of this event alone is unsatisfactory, because it forces us to view temple symbols and references to the various worshippers as Jews, not Christians. As well, there is little support for a Neronic date for the writing of Revelation. Most historic references cite a Domitian date, which puts the writing after 70 C.E. And finally, not all the various signs and wonders accompanying Jesus’ return were present in 70 C.E. Interpreting them as “spiritual signs” is unsatisfactory because they were not generally acknowledged as having occurred by believers or unbelievers. Therefore, we must reject full Preterism and look for a date for Christ’s return after 70 C.E., where a more complete fulfillment of Jesus prophecies in the Gospels, as well as those in Daniel and Revelation will be fulfilled.

Futurist

In 1585 the Jesuit Ribera propounded a Futurist view of end-time prophecy, and like the Roman Catholic Preterist School, was a reaction against the Protestant view of the Pope as Antichrist. In our time the Futurist school among Protestants in many respects is a reaction against the failed date-setting by such groups as Miller’s Adventist movement in the 1800’s and others. Because of so much failed prophetic interpretation by so many groups in our time, Futurists conclude that the Lord’s prophecies in the Gospels, as well as those in Revelation and Daniel must refer to a time future.

The Futurist view can be summarized as follows. The two witnesses in Revelation will be raised up in the future to prophecy for 3 ½ years, but be killed by the beast, or Antichrist, who is generally viewed as an evil individual yet to be revealed. The Antichrist will reign for 3 ½ literal years, at which point Christ returns and destroys him and the false prophet. Israel in Revelation generally refers to the nation of Israel and the temple a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. The first 6 seals in Revelation represent signs alerting us to Christ’s imminent return, as the signs in Matthew 24 do.

Analysis

The first problem with this view is that it requires a gap in prophetic fulfillment of over 1900 years, while we await the future events described in Revelation and other books to be fulfilled. Is this assumption warranted? Is this how God has dealt with His people and this world in the past?

Consider the first prophecy in the bible, Genesis 3:15. After Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God promises to “…put enmity between you [Satan, in the form of the serpent] and the woman [God’s faithful worshippers]. He [the promised seed] will bruise you [Satan] in the head, you will bruise him in the heel.” God promises to provide a seed that would destroy Satan’s power and right Adam’s wrong. How is this prophecy being fulfilled? What is God’s method?

We note that the promised seed is developed gradually and in more detail over the course of the history of God’s people. God makes a covenant with Noah, and brings a flood upon the wicked as a type and pattern of judgment to come. The promised seed would come through Noah, in particular his son Shem. God renews his promise to Abraham, and prophesies that all the families of the earth will be blessed through his seed, and that Abraham’s natural seed would inhabit the land of Canaan. Moses, a type for Christ, is appointed to lead Abraham’s offspring out of Egypt to that Promised Land. The types and patterns instituted by Moses have striking fulfillments in the ministry and work of our Lord, who Moses predicted would be a “prophet like him.” This is followed by the prophecies concerning Israel’s apostasy, and its captivity in Babylon. We have the memorable reign of King David, another type for Christ; a “man after God’s own heart”. We have the prophecies concerning the future messiah, who would come from David’s family, and sit upon his throne.

At the close of the 70 years of Israel’s captivity in Babylon, as predicted by Jeremiah, Daniel prophecies of the 70 weeks, or 490 years, whereby the Messiah should come, be cut off, and the Jewish city and temple destroyed by a Prince that would arise. We note that Jesus then expands on this prophecy when speaking to his disciples on the Mount of Olives, in his prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem. So we see then, the gradual outworking of the prophecy of the promised seed over the course of 4000 years or so of Old Testament history. And its conclusion, when Satan is “bruised in the head”, by Christ, is still future. There are still more events yet to unfold in God’s grand purpose, and we can expect them to unfold continuously as time marches forward.

We see, then, that God’s method is to be involved intimately with the details of His people’s lives and history, as His purpose gradually unfolds over time according to prophecy. Thus, as believers, we can look back and see our Heavenly Father’s care and direction over His worshippers, as well as the related events on this earth, and our understanding of His purposes is refined progressively.

However, when our Lord gave the Apostle John the Revelation, Futurists contend that God had changed His methods. Although John is clearly told to write the “things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things” (Rev. 1:19), Futurists contend that there is a silence of some 1900 years prior to these things taking place. This does not follow the precedents set in prior prophecy. Let us look at Daniel as another case in point.

All the prophecies in Daniel prefigured events that were to commence immediately or very nearly after the vision given. In Daniel 2 we have the statue with the head of gold, silver breasts, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of clay and partly of iron. A stone cut out of a mountain is thrown at the feet of the statue and destroys it. This statue proved to represent the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome respectively. The prophecy continues in its fulfillment, as we await the stone, or God’s Kingdom, to bring an end to worldly powers at Christ’s return. So again, we see a gradual fulfillment of God’s purpose over time, through history. And so it is with the four beasts in Daniel 7, as well as the ram and the goat, representing Medo-Persia and Greece, in chapter 8. As with the prophecy of the promised seed in Genesis, Daniel also presents a prophetic system of gradual and more detailed fulfillment over time. This is at odds with the Futurist’s view of the fulfillment of Revelation.

As to the Futurist’s view that references to Israel in Revelation refer to natural Israel, and the various temple visions to a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, we have already addressed in the discussion of Preterism. In each instance we have shown that the references have a Christian, not a Jewish meaning.

To the Futurist, the seals in Revelation 6 refer to the Gospel preaching, wars, famines, pestilences, persecutions and revolution, similar Christ’s prophecy in Matthew 24. The Futurist sees the seals in Revelation parallel the events in Christ’s prophecy. However, there are many problems with this. The rider on the white horse cannot be confidently identified with Christ or the gospel preaching. For one, the rider carries a bow, often associated with enemies of God’s people. Second, the Greek word for crown that he wears is stephanos, which can mean a wreath or garland an athlete receives for winning a race at the games. It is not the same word used for crowns, diadeemata, or diadems, which is definitely a kingly ornament that Jesus wears in Revelation 19:12. The fact that the horse is white does not mean our Lord must be riding it. There is no mention of the color of the robes of the rider. The contention that he is dressed in white is an assumption only. Jesus referred to the Pharisees as “white washed tombs”, beautiful on the outside but rotten inside. Paul called the hypocritical high priest a “white-washed wall”. Although the color white is generally associated with holiness, it can also mean a false righteousness, or hypocrisy.

As to the second seal, the red horse, it is men that slay one another, implying civil war, where in Matthew, the wars involve nation against nation. The third seal, the black horse, cannot mean famine, as the Futurists suggest. A quart of wheat or three quarts of barley are available for a denarius, or a day’s wages, and there is oil and wine available as well, although perhaps expensive in price. We are simply told “do not damage the oil and the wine”, not that these items were not available. Rather than famine, this seal probably represents economic problems, perhaps including inflation and economic depression, or economic slavery. So we see, then, that the parallels between the seals in Revelation 6 and the signs in our Lord’s prophecy in Matthew 24 break down upon closer examination.

What about the Antichrist thought by Futurists to arise and plague the Saints for 3 ½ years? The problem with this view is that the Antichrist in prophecy is associated with Rome, which suggests a past fulfillment.

First, the hindrance Paul refers to in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, which is preventing the full manifestation of this Antichrist, was generally understood by the early church to be the Roman government. This implies that when that government was out of the way, which happened in the 6^th century, the Antichrist would make his appearance. History shows that when the Roman Empire fell, the Roman Catholic Church arose soon after, and the abuse Popery inflicted on true Christians is well known. The result was a dark period of unconscionable hypocrisy and immorality, gross spiritual idolatry, and excessive persecution of our dear brothers and sisters in Christ, many of who ended up being burned at the stake for offences such as reading the bible and preaching about Christ. This tyranny continued for almost thirteen centuries, and even the European kings were not exempt. The Pope had the power to remove kings and queens. And yet we are to believe that prophecy is silent on this dark period.

Second, the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision, from whose ten-horned head the little horn of Antichrist arose could only refer to Rome, since the fourth beast supplants the third, which is clearly identified as Greece. History shows that it was Rome that replaced Greece as the world power. Furthermore, when Rome fell to the Goths, it was divided into ten kingdoms. Sir Isaac Newton, in his commentary on Daniel, identifies the ten as the Vandals, the Suevians, the Visigoths, the Alans, the Burgundians, the Franks, the Britains, the Hunns, the Lombards and the kingdom of Ravenna. Newton observes that, as three horns in Daniel are rooted out making way for the little horn, exactly three kingdoms--Ravenna, Lombards, and the Senate and Dukedom of Rome--were subdued allowing the Holy Roman Empire to ascend over the rest. The fulfillment is striking.

Third, the city of Antichrist, called the great city and Babylon in Revelation, is identified with Rome by the reference to the seven hills and the supremacy over the kings of the earth in John’s time. Rome began as the center of anti-Christian paganism, and ended up the center of false Christianity under Popery. Since Antichrist is closely associated with Rome in scripture, it is unlikely that Antichrist is exclusively future in manifestatioin. This does not preclude a future, second fulfillment, but the facts of history should not allow us to ignore a fulfillment in the rise of Roman Catholicism and its associated vicious persecution of God’s people. The prophetic fulfillment is too striking to be passed by.

Conclusion

In our day, many religious groups and leaders have made predictions which have failed the test of time. However, this should not cause us to abandon our attempts to understand prophetic fulfillment in history. As we have seen, the Futurist approach has serious problems. It ignores prophetic precedents, namely, that God tends to work out his purposes in history in successively greater detail. The Futurist view forces prophetic fulfillment to be silent during the dark ages, when enormous political, religious and sociological changes were occurring on the earth, in seemingly striking prophetic fulfillment. This view also ignores the fact that Antichrist is closely associated with Rome, and historical events closely fit the prophetic pattern. Like Preterism, Futurism espouses a Jewish temple at Jerusalem, although in this case a rebuilt one, and the nation of Israel as a central prophetic figure, but we have seen that these references in Revelation have Christian meanings. Finally, trying to draw parallels between the signs in Matthew 24 and the seals of Revelation 6 is tenuous.

However, we should not discard the Futurist view completely. There is precedent for multiple fulfillments of prophecy. For example, there were prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the destruction of the Babylonian empire. Babylon was indeed destroyed, yet there is another further fulfillment prophesied in the destruction of mystical Babylon as described in Revelation. The first fulfillment was a type for the second. It is possible then, that many of the prophecies in Daniel, the Gospels and Revelation may have multiple fulfillments as well.

Historicist

The Historicist school looks at prophecy as being fulfilled continuously throughout history, as God’s sublime purpose is worked out. We have already seen, in the case of the prophecy of the Promised Seed (Ge 3:15) and Daniel’s prophecies, that this is the precedent. It seems to be the method God has chosen to make His purposes known and to fulfill His will. When we see prophetic figures and symbols in Revelation similar to those in Daniel, it suggests that Revelation also is a prophetic structure which has a continuous fulfillment during the time since Christ’s first advent. But is there, in history, a fulfillment of the various signs and symbols in Revelation? Historicists are not in complete agreement, but the following is a general outline^[1] propounded by leading Historicists like E.B. Elliot, in the Horae Apocalypticae.

First Seal (White Horse) 96 - 180 C.E. -- Rome victorious, becomes world power

Second Seal (Red Horse) 185 - 284 C.E. -- Rome divided by civil wars

Third Seal (Black Horse) 200 – 250 C.E. – Excessive taxation and depression

Fourth Seal (Pale Horse) 250 – 300 C.E. – Death and decay of the empire

Fifth Seal (Martyrs) 303 – 313 C.E. Christian Martyrs under Diocletian

Sixth Seal 313 – 381 C.E. – The True Faith extinguished

Seventh Seal 386 C.E. onwards – The 7 trumpet judgments

At this point Rome becomes a so-called Christian Empire, but it is Christian in profession only. Rome sees itself as the new nation of Israel, even referring to itself as the “Twelve Tribes”. However, it is not practicing the Christianity taught by Jesus and his Apostles, having adopted many pagan and idolatrous practices, and judgment from God is about to fall. But first, God must call His symbolic 144,000 out of Babylon, that is, Rome. These are the true Christians, the minority. Only they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. God then releases the trumpet judgments upon the Roman Empire.

Trumpets 1-4 signal the fall of the Western Empire:

Trumpet 1 – Gothic invasions of Alaric who overran the western empire burning the vegetation

Trumpet 2 – Gothic invasions of Genseric who invaded via sea destroying Roman ships

Trumpet 3 – Gothic invasions of Attila who came via the rivers and waterways pillaging

Trumpet 4 – The Western Empire collapses, and the line of rulers and emperors is broken

Trumpets 5 and 6 signal the collapse of the Eastern Empire. Trumpet 5 signals the rise of Islam. They were not to hurt ‘any green thing’ and so the Muslim armies were under strict orders to respect the land and not burn the vegetation. This was foreign to the usual practice of conquering armies up to that time. They had ‘faces like men’ and ‘hair like women’—that is, they had beards and wore long hair. They had ‘as it were, crowns of gold’. The Muslim invading armies of this time wore golden turbans. They were to last 5 months, or 150 years if we consider a day for a year, and 30 days to a prophetic month. Thus the first Muslim invasions lasted exactly 150 years, after which they were stopped at Baghdad by the Euphrates.

Trumpet 6 signals the invasions of the Turks. The previous Muslim armies had been stopped at the Euphrates, but after a period they regrouped. According to the vision, the four angels that were ‘bound at the Euphrates’ were once again to be unleashed. These had red, yellow, and blue breastplates. The Turkish army’s breastplates bore precisely these three colors. The ‘heads of the horses were as lions heads from which issued fire and smoke and brimstone’. The Turkish armies were the first to use gunpowder in battle. Their cannon mouths were in the shape of lion’s heads. So, as prophesied, the lion heads issued fire and smoke from the gunpowder. Is this not a striking fulfillment of prophecy? The prophetic time element is also quite amazing. It is given as ‘an hour, a day, a month and a year’. E.B. Elliot shows the aggregation to be 396 years and 118 days. It was exactly this amount of time from the unleashing of the Turks at the Euphrates until the fall of Constantinople and the collapse of the eastern empire.

Regarding the 1260 days of the reign of the beast, most Historicists view this as 1260 years. The actual start and end dates vary, but most put it from the mid 500’s to the fall of the Papacy’s temporal power at the hands of the French Revolution in the late 18^th century. Even Catholic scholars admit that the Papacy’s temporal power ran approximately twelve and a half centuries.

Historicists consider the Beasts of Revelation 13 and 17 to be the Papacy. The seven heads are the seven forms of government through which Rome progressed, namely kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs (special commission of 10), military tribunals and emperors. Opinions vary on the seventh and eighth. The ten horns are the ten powers into which the Roman Empire fragmented at its fall. The Two Witnesses are the small band of Christians that maintained their integrity during the Dark Ages. The Two-Horned Beast is considered by some to be the Catholic Priesthood. The image of the beast is viewed as the Roman Empire at the hand of the Papacy. Most Historicists believe that the seventh trumpet and most of the bowl judgments have occurred, and that we are deep into the end-times, now awaiting the return of our Lord and the consummation of the Gospel age.

Analysis

Certainly the fulfillment of the Seals and Trumpets one through six is striking, along with the rise of Papacy and the 1260 days of its evil rule. As discussed under Futurism, the dividing of Rome into 10 kingdoms at its destruction prior to the rise of the ‘little horn’ should not be ignored. The Historicist scheme builds on precedent set in previous prophecies, notably the Promised Seed prophecy and the prophecies of Daniel. Despite its powerful appeal, however, there are problems with the currently accepted Historicist view. These are not problems with the method, but with the interpretations only.

Seeing the sixth seal as the end of the temporal reign of Papacy with the outbreak of the French Revolution exclusively, is a case in point. In Rev 6:15, the kings and top-ranking men hide themselves in caves in fear of the ‘One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come…’ Although this may have had an initial fulfillment in the French Revolution and Papacy’s downfall, it seems that a complete fulfillment must wait for the return of Christ, since the ‘great day of their wrath’ sounds very much like the final day of judgment to come.

With regard to the Two Witnesses, there is a problem with seeing them as the faithful remnant of true Christians, or as the Old and New Testaments during the dark ages. The reason for this is that after their witnessing of 1260 days, or 1260 years in the Historicist view, they are killed and their corpses left in the open for 3 ½ days. However, after their 1260 years of witnessing, history shows that it was Papacy that was killed—it lost its temporal power—and a veritable explosion of biblical knowledge and witnessing for Christ occurred; quite the opposite of what you would expect.

Having the beast of Revelation 13 and 17 both represent Papacy presents problems as well. The beast of Rev. 13 has diadems upon its head, whereas there is no mention of diadems in chapter 17, and the beast in chapter 17 has a harlot sitting upon it, whereas the chapter 13 beast does not. It is more likely that the description of these two beasts are both of Rome at different periods of time, in different incarnations.

Can the Two Horned Beast, that ‘had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon’ represent the Catholic Priesthood? Beasts always represent kingdoms in prophecy, and horns usually represent constituents of those kingdoms. It is more likely that the Lamb-Beast represents a power closer to home—perhaps the United States or the partnership of the United States and Britain. Like Daniel's two-horned ram, it must be a duel political power, since it also has two horns.

Seeing the image of the beast as the Roman Empire at the hand of Papacy is not very satisfying either. There are two, among other solutions that have been formulated. The first views the image of the beast as corrupt Protestantism—which began with King Henry's Church of England, in protest to Catholicism, and ended up mimicking much of the very system it despised. Another is the United Nations in our time, which is an 'image' of all world governments.

Despite these problems with interpretation, the Historicist view remains a powerful and useful tool in understanding unfolding prophecy. The problems with interpretation are an indication, not that the method is flawed, but that events are continuing to unfold, and so we can not be certain yet of their meaning.

Conclusion

Although there are several problems with the interpretations of the Historicist school, they are minor in comparison to the problems with the Preterist and Futurist views. The problems with Historicism are problems of interpretation, whereas the problems with Preterism and Futurism point to flawed methods.

Our original question was: When could we expect the Parousia, or return of Christ--past, present, or future? If we accept the argument that Preterism is seriously flawed, then we must say confidently “future”, whether we believe Historicism or Futurism is correct, since both schools expect a future, personal return of Christ. If we are convinced that Historicism is the correct method for prophetic interpretation, then we should continue to watch and pray. Many parts of the prophecies in Daniel, the Gospels and Revelation, and other bible books, have been fulfilled, yet we remain unclear on those remaining parts. It is possible that some are being fulfilled today, in the cauldron of the world’s religions, politics, wars and social and economic upheavals. We won’t know for sure until we look back on them. We must therefore ‘keep on the watch’, because we do not know the day or hour of our Lord’s return. We must be vigilant and faithful, abiding in the love of Christ, reflecting that love to our brethren and our neighbors as we serve our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When he does appear in glory for judgment, let us not be ashamed, but rather, pray we will hear him say:

“Well done, good and faithful servant. Come, enter the joy of your master.”

References

1. Horae Apocalypticae, E.B. Elliot, www.historicism.com

2. The Parousia, James Stuart Russell, www.preteristarchive.com

3. Sorting Out Matthew 24, Anthony Buzzard, www.mindspring.com/~anthonybuzzard

4. The Parousia of Christ, Bruce Terry, www.bible.ovc.edu/terry/doctrine

5. Introduction To The Book Of Revelation, G.E. Ladd, http://gospelpedlar.com

6. On the Futurity of the Seventieth Week, Robert H. Gundry, http://gospelpedlar.com

7. Preterism & Bible Prophecy—Is all prophecy already fulfilled?, Fred G. Zaspel, http://gospelpedlar.com

8. Christian History and its Preterist Presuppositions, www.preteristarchive.com/churchhistory

9. Countdown to the Kingdom of God—A Christian View of the End of the Age, Anthony Buzzard, www.mindspring.com/~anthonybuzzard

10. Daniel 9 and the 70 Weeks, Anthony Buzzard, www.mindspring.com/~anthonybuzzard

11. Daniel Eleven and Twelve—Ultimate Rebellion and Final Solution, Anthony Buzzard, www.mindspring.com/~anthonybuzzard

12. Historicist vs. Futurist, Irvin Baxter Jr., www.endtime.com/03_oldsite/ezine/jan_feb00/

13. A Review of Professor Stuart on the Apocalypse: With Occasional Reference to the 14. Commentary of Professor Cowles, Enoch Pond, www.historicist.com/articles

15. Problems with Preterism, Steve Wohlberg, www.historicist.com/articles2

16. The Problems of a Pre-70 Date of the Apocalypse, Otto Nordgreen, http://folk.uio.no/otton

17. The Problem with Preterism, Michael D Macon, http://home.wmis.net/~ixthys

18. Defense of the Orthodox View of the Second Coming of Christ, Mitchell Dick, www.preteristarchive.com/CriticalArticles

19. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, R.E. Streeter, Pastoral Bible Institute