CHRISTIAN MEDIA RESEARCH - Newsletter - Patch The Preterist Pirate

n the midst of the present political and religious turmoil as America inaugurates the events that will shortly lead us into the great tribulation, key "Christian" scholars, communicators, and writers are carefully positioning themselves via a new/old heresy known as preterism. This doctrinal system of prophetic interpretation, not to be confused with pretribulationism (the rapture cult), teaches that the great tribulation already happened in Jerusalem in the first century. They further state that Caesar Nero was the Antichrist, and Jesus Christ returned invisibly at the conclusion of the siege of Jerusalem in 66 - 70 AD.

One of the great dangers in this heresy is the fact that Christians usually don't take it seriously when they first hear of this doctrine because of its obvious false premise. This provides a huge vulnerability when the proponents of the doctrine roll out numerous biblical texts that can be effectively slanted to present their case. I have repeatedly stated that this system is destined to take a leading role once the tribulation has begun and the rapture cult has been thoroughly discredited. In other words, beware the preterist apostasy.

I call the leaders of this historical aberration by the name "Patch" - The Preterist Pirate because they remind me of a pirate with one eye covered. The preterists only see the first half of the prophetic panorama that leads up to the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. They fail to see the second half of the program and how everything counts down in a New Testament parallel to the Old Testament history.

The modern apostate Christian church mirrors the ancient haughty Pharisees when confronted with the truth. The modern state sanctioned "Christian" religion of Mystery Babylon is wedded to the state - precisely as the Israelite Sanhedren had come to an accommodation with the ancient Roman government. The 4 ancient kingdoms of Daniel two (Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome) parallel the Christian era's 4 kingdoms of Daniel seven (England, Russia, Germany, and the US/UN). In both timelines, the 4th kingdom is the final dominion.

Similar to the rapturists, the preterists stop everything at Rome as though God would be silent on the last third (2000 years) of human history in the prophetic books! The rapturists instead "revive" Rome at the end of the age, while the preterists spiritualize practically everything. In the preterist apostasy, the Antichrist is a Roman Caesar now long dead and buried - while in the rapturist fantasy, he's a modern Caesar catapulted to power in a "revived" Roman empire. They're both in the spirit of error - which is the opposite of the spirit of truth. John calls it "that spirit of Antichrist" in I John 4:3.

Furthermore, the preterists are theological pirates in that their converts are largely being drawn from the futurist camp - those that accurately believe the tribulation, the Antichrist, and the second coming are yet future.

Preterists tend to be scholarly, and more of them have a more intimate familiarity with scripture than the average rapture cultist. This gives them another major advantage as they propagate their false doctrine. In fact, the resurrection of preterism is at least partly a backlash to the unscriptural doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture. Significant segments of the case for preterism are largely comprised of a critical exposition of the fallacies of pretribulationism.

While it should be obvious that disproving one view does not prove another, the fact that preterists can shred the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine using scripture frequently places them in a credible position in the eyes of those that have become uncomfortable with the outright criminality and intellectual dishonesty of many of the leaders that perpetuate the pretribulational position. Ironically, the various statements being made by the preterist pirates has positioned them to be in an 'I told you so' standing after the tribulation begins.

On the surface, it might seem that once the horrendous events of the tribulation are undeniably present, the preterists would be discredited just as much as the rapturists. Unfortunately, the preterists are widely cautioning that the impact of the rapturist mindset is moving the world towards a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, the preterists are saying 'we need to build the kingdom of God now' -politically through a dominionist approach that takes the point of view that the church must and will inevitably take charge of the world. At the same time, they are positing that the rapturists may bring down Armageddon with their 'Israel First' policies that have permeated the entire American political spectrum.

After the tribulation begins, the preterists will claim the evangelical rapturists brought about a self-fulfilling prophecy of devastation, so 'now we need to get busy and get serious about building the kingdom of God through our global influence as Christians.' And what better man to spearhead the effort than the courageous political leader that has stood up in the midst of the devastation and stated he is willing to lead us through the murky maze of a post-apocalyptic world? Because that political leader, the 8^th Secretary-General of the United Nations proclaims himself to be a Christian, the preterists are in the position of sustaining popular support for his efforts.

Furthermore, preterists are not antagonistic to the Papists as they view Catholicism as a like-minded post-millennial perspective. Because preterism is a subset of post-millennialism, they see the church as the instrument of God's millennial reign in a spiritual sense. Amillennialism (non-millennial thought) and post-millennialism both believe that God rules spiritually through the church without the prerequisite physical second coming of Christ. This is the system of Antichrist at its very core.

JESUS said you will know them by their fruits. The preterists are organized religionists that move easily between denominational structures. Mostly licensed 501(c)(3)'s, they believe in being integrated into the larger societal form of Western style government in order to influence the political constructs of our time. They believe their efforts will eventually bring about a godly world government with the church in a position of great influence. They further believe that this can occur without the physical return of Jesus Christ. Indeed, they believe that Christ is reigning in world government now through godly men that are attempting to bring about the kingdom of God through the influence of the organized church.

The truth is the Antichrist will rule instead of Christ. Many still fail to understand the Greek term "anti" which actually means in place of. A global political leader, supposedly ruling in a benevolent fashion, is in our immediate future. With the backing of the False Prophet, the Pope of Rome, the great "Christian" politician will rule by decree because of the global emergency that exists due to the overwhelming devastation brought about by World War III. To make matters worse, surviving remnant Christians that stubbornly cling to a physical second coming of Jesus Christ, will be largely blamed by the post Apocalypse populace as the cause of the world crisis that will then be threatening the very survival of the species. This is the hideous fruit of the false doctrines of the rapture cult and the preterist apostasy.

Thus, the "Christian" Beast of Revelation 13, backed by "Christian" denominational and millennial perspectives that are tied to the collective ecumenical world church, will revile and spiritually justify the persecution of the true remnant of Israel - the underground Christian church that has come out of the global whorehouse of organized religion. In short, a new inquisition is dead ahead.

Preterism is the crucial theological element in a larger subset of prophetic false doctrine. The truth is, the "church" that will rule during the tribulation is Mystery Babylon and she already has the blood of the saints on her filthy hands. Thus, we would all do well to understand the enormous importance of obeying the prophetic directive that was given to us in the Word of God. "Come out of her my people, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." (Revelation 18:4,5)

See Also

Days Of Future Past