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First Generation AFTER the End - Series Introduction
by Edward E. Stevens
This article appeared in the 2024 Fall issue of Fulfilled! Magazine
My podcast listeners have repeatedly urged me to explain
the historical situation of Christianity immediately after
AD 70, so this article will begin a new series focused on
that first generation after the End.
The most remarkable feature of
this period is the silence and absence of all
true Christians. Prior to the Neronic persecution (the great
tribulation), the apostles were extremely busy in missionary
journeys, edifying the saints, and writing epistles to the
scattered churches throughout the Roman Empire. But all of
that activity abruptly ceased when the Neronic
persecution broke onto the scene in AD 64. No more
inspired New Testament writings were produced after that,
nor were there any uninspired writings from any true
Christians for almost 40 years.
The majority of living saints
were either killed in the Neronic persecution or fell away
in the apostasy, leaving alive only a small remnant
scattered throughout the Roman world. Those remaining saints
were forced into hiding as they anxiously waited for the
tribulation to be cut short (Matt 24:22, 29; 1 Thess
1:6-10; 2 Thess 1:6-10) and for their rescue before
the wrath was poured out (1 Thess 1:10; 5:9, 23; 2 Thess
1:5-10).
The tribulation was cut short
by the outbreak of the Zealot rebellion in May of AD 66. And
immediately after that, the angelic armies were seen
in the sky over Judea, signaling that the Parousia had
begun. Then two weeks later, on the evening of Pentecost in
AD 66, those remaining living saints were rescued
(caught up, gathered, saved) before the wrath was poured out
on their persecutors (Matt 24:29-31; 1 Thess 1:10; 5:9).
There Was a Silence Afterward!
Many historical theologians and
patristic scholars are baffled by this silent and
dormant period. Williston Walker noted that “the forty
years from 70 to 110 remain one of the obscurest
portions of church history” (A History of the Christian
Church, Third Edition, pp. 39ff). Wayne McCown described
it as “an obscure dark period when [we are] not sure
what was going on” (Lecture at Northwestern Seminary,
Rochester, NY, on Sept. 16, 2004). Philip Schaff states that
“there is no other transition in history so radical and
sudden, and yet so silent and secret. The stream of
[Christian history] is for a short time lost to our view,
and seems to run underground” (History of the Christian
Church, Vol. 2, electronic edition).
These scholars are at a loss to
explain how and why “the original community . . .
disappeared from history without a trace” (Hans Conzelmann,
History of Primitive Christianity, pp. 18, 111). They call
it a “gap” (John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament,
p. 312).
C.F.D. Moule complained that “it
is hard to believe that a Judaistic type of Christianity . .
. would not have . . . made capital out of this signal
evidence [destruction of Jerusalem] that they, and not
non-Christian Judaism, were the true Israel. But in fact our
traditions are silent” (The Birth of the New Testament, p.
123).
Rupert Furneaux asks: “How did
Christianity record this event of epoch-making consequence
to itself? The answer is by silence, complete and absolute .
. . the fate of the original followers of Jesus went
unrecorded in Christian literature until the fourth century”
(The Roman Siege of Jerusalem, pp. 246-248).
Thus, it is no surprise that this
silence poses a HUGE historical dilemma for all full
preterists because futurists use it as evidence for a
non-occurrence of the end-time events.
Dilemma for All Full
Preterists
Of the 100-plus persons mentioned
by name in the New Testament, not a single one of them ever
reappeared after AD 70 to claim that the BIG THREE
eschatological events had just occurred (Parousia,
Resurrection, and Judgment). We would have
expected to hear from at least a few of those who
experienced those events if they were still around
afterward. They should have been claiming the fulfillments
with their eyewitness testimony. Instead, as Charles Hill
notes, those pre-70 saints were completely silent
after AD 70:
Perhaps we all know how things
that should be at the center can slide off to the periphery.
But this is not the case here. We do not even find this
[full preterist] understanding of eschatology at the
periphery. An early Christian writer who is even aware
of a [full preterist] eschatology in the church has yet
to be found (Keith Mathison, editor, When Shall These
Things Be? p. 107).
Max King was aware of this
silence and admitted that “we do not know what took
place in the immediate post-apostolic period” (The Cross
and the Parousia, p. 751). And Don Preston agrees that
this silence is perplexing for all full
preterists, and that he has “no easy answer” for it:
Stevens is correct to say that we
have no [post-70 Christian] authors who point to AD 70 as
the time of Christ’s final coming, the judgment, and
resurrection of the dead. This silence is indeed perplexing
. . . for which we have no easy answer (We Shall Meet Him
in the Air, pp. 286, 287. Brackets added).
Thus, both major branches of full
preterism (CBV and IBV) agree that there was a
silence after AD 70, and that those few faithful saints
who remained alive until the Parousia never showed up
afterward to document the occurrence or claim the
fulfillment. However, we do not agree about what
caused that silence and absence, so let’s look at how each
view explains it.
Collective Body View (CBV)
Explanation of the Silence
The CBV view, as
represented by Don K. Preston, suggests that one of the main
reasons why none of the saints after AD 70 claimed
fulfillment of the end-time events is because “the
majority of the church fell away” into Hellenistic
error, which “resulted in a loss of understanding of Hebraic
thought [CBV] before the Parousia” (Morning Musings,
Mar. 19, 2012 and FaceBook group Thing of the Past,
Aug. 2, 2021). In other words, “the church was so heavily
influenced by Hellenistic thought that . . . the proper
understanding of eschatology [CBV] was lost before the
Parousia” so that “very few faithful elect saints
were left alive at the time of the Parousia” (Facebook group
Thing of the Past, July 31 and Aug. 2, 2021).
Preston was asked: Did any of
those “very few faithful” remaining saints retain their
understanding of CBV at the time of the Parousia, or had
every one of them completely lost it before the Parousia
just like the majority did? Preston quoted Luke 18:8 (“When
the Son of Man comes, will he even find faith on the
earth?”) and said “it was doubtful” whether Jesus found
anyone faithful at His coming, much less anyone who
understood the CBV view (Facebook group Thing of the Past,
Aug. 3, 2021).
He also suggested that since all
of the Christians after AD 70 were “Hellenized Greeks who
did not understand the very nature of Hebraic Apocalyptic”
[i.e., the CBV view], it explains why they “invented a new
[Hellenistic-oriented] eschatology” (Facebook group Thing of
the Past, April 2021; and Morning Musings #180. Romans 11.
March 2012).
Thus, Preston seems to believe
that every one of those few remaining saints lost their
understanding of the CBV before the Parousia, and doubts
whether Jesus found any faithful saints at His coming.
However, this contradicts his other contention, based on
Mark 9:1, that “Jesus is patently saying that some would
live until the Parousia, beyond the Parousia, and look back
in time [before they died] to realize that the Parousia had
already happened” (We Shall Meet Him in the Air, p. 304).
Thus, on the one hand, CBV
critics of the rapture claim that “some of those standing
there” remained alive on earth after the Parousia with the
ability to look back and realize that the Parousia had
occurred. But, on the other hand, those same critics admit
that not a single post-70 saint ever claimed that it
occurred. Yet, in order for Jesus’ statements in Mark 9:1 to
be true, at least some of them must have realized that the
Parousia occurred. And, since there is no evidence of them
realizing it on earth, we must conclude that they realized
it in heaven after they were caught up to be with Christ.
We Have Enough Information
When I shared the above comments
with Preston for his review before publication, he agreed
that it is a “valid and true” representation of his
position, but then noted that “since only a small
percentage of the ancient writings have been translated, we
simply do not know if any ancient sources recorded the
fulfillment or not” (email, July 22, 2024).
While all of us full preterists
continue to cherish the hope that an early church manuscript
might one day be found which claims the fulfillment of all
end-time events or reveals the post-70 saints’ awareness of
the full preterist view, we need to face the probability
that no such document ever existed in the first place.
If all of those few faithful remaining saints were
raptured, then none of them would have been left on earth
afterward to write any documents or claim the fulfillments.
How Many Faithful Saints
Remained?
We need to know how many faithful
saints still remained alive at the Parousia. Both CBV and
Individual Body View (IBV) agree that the Neronic
persecution and apostasy eliminated the majority of
remaining saints. However, there is disagreement about how
many faithful saints remained alive at the Parousia.
CBV advocates tend to minimize
the number because it is easier to explain how only a very
few scattered saints might have failed to notice the
Parousia. Nevertheless, there are many indications in
various New Testament texts that it was a more significant
number.
For instance, dozens of
expectations (see the list below) were given to a broad
range of churches scattered all over the Roman empire,
including Judea, Galilee, Syria, Turkey, Macedonia, Achaia,
Italy, Colossae, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth,
Cyprus, Crete, Egypt, Italy, and the seven churches of Asia.
Even if there were only a handful of faithful saints left
alive in each of those churches, it would amount to a very
significant number — far more than CBV allows, and too many
to believe that every single one of them forgot their
expectations (mass amnesia), missed the end-time events, and
failed to claim the fulfillments afterward.
Plus, we can see from their
expectations below that those saints were NOT expecting to
live through the end-time events without knowing afterward
that they had occurred (as the CBV wants us to believe).
Instead, they were fully expecting to cognitively experience
those events.
And Jesus explicitly promised
that not all of the saints would be killed in the great
tribulation or fall away in the apostasy (Matt 24:21-24),
but rather that the persecution would be “cut short” so that
some would remain alive until the Parousia to be gathered by
the angels (Matt 24:29-31). So, how many “elect” saints did
the angels gather? It seems to imply a significant number,
not just a small handful or none.
Don Preston uses Luke 18:8 to
question whether Christ would find anyone faithful at His
coming. But this verse cannot overturn the many other verses
where Jesus and the Apostles clearly teach that there would
still be “some” faithful saints left alive at His coming
(see their expectations below). Thus, it wasn’t just a
handful (or none) as Preston seems to think. If no faithful
saints were left alive at the time of the Parousia, then
there would not have been any “elect” saints for the angels
to gather!
Furthermore, if there were no
faithful saints remaining alive at the Parousia, that would
mean that the collective body which was supposedly raised or
changed at the Parousia included no living saints.
However, those “living and remaining saints” were obviously
not expecting to all be dead at the Parousia, since
Paul had told them that “we are not all going to die”
(1 Cor 15:51). Was Paul wrong?
Thus, it does not solve the
silence dilemma for the CBV advocates to claim that the
majority of the pre-70 saints were killed in the Neronic
persecution, or fell away in the great apostasy, or were
confused by the Hellenists, so that very few (or none) of
them were still around at the time of the Parousia. The
majority is not the totality. It means that some of them did
remain alive to experience the Parousia and would have still
been around afterward to claim the fulfillment if there was
no rapture.
Nor can the CBV explain why the
few faithful saints, who supposedly remained alive on earth
after the Parousia, did not speak up to set the record
straight when their post-70 brethren started teaching that
the big three eschatological events were still future. So,
since they were silent and absent afterward, it implies that
they were taken to heaven. And that was exactly what they
were expecting to experience at the Parousia. Here are their
expectations:
What Were They Expecting?
- Relief from the persecution
(2 Thess 1:7)
- SEE Christ at His coming
(Matt 16:27-28; 1 John 3:2)
- Christ would come “in like
manner” as He left (Acts 1:9-11)
- The dead would be raised out
of Hades (Rev 20:13-15; 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 4:16)
- The living would be changed
to be like Him (Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:51-52; 2 Cor 5:2-4;
1 John 3:2)
- The living would not
experience physical death (1 Cor 15:51; cf. John 21:23)
- “clothed upon with our
[immortal] dwelling from heaven” (2 Cor 5:2-4)
- “give life [immortality] to
your mortal bodies” (Rom 8:11)
- Both living and dead would
be caught up to be with Christ (1 Thess 4:17; Luke
21:28)
- Elect saints would be
gathered by real angels (Matt 24:31; 2 Thess 2:1)
- Jesus would receive them to
Himself in heaven (John 14:3)
- “not destined for wrath but
for obtaining salvation” (1 Thess 5:9)
- Rescued before the wrath was
poured out (1 Thess 1:9-10; Luke 21:36)
- Be like the angels who
cannot die (Luke 20:36)
- Dwell with Him in prepared
dwelling places (John 14:3)
- Eat and drink with Him at
His table (Luke 22:30)
- Sit on twelve thrones
judging the twelve tribes (Matt 19:28)
- Judge the angels (1 Cor 6:3)
- Stand in the presence of
Christ (Luke 21:36; Jude 24; 1 Thess 2:19)
- Marvel
at Christ along with all believers (2 Thess 1:10)
- Rewarded in the presence of
Christ (2 John 8; Col 3:24; Rev 11:8; 22:12)
- Fullness of knowledge and
face to face clarity of understanding (1 Cor 13:12)
- Obtain salvation and eternal
glory in heaven (2 Tim 2:10-11)
- “I will give you the crown
of life” (immortality) (Rev 2:10)
- “crown of righteousness to
all who loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8)
- Rewarded with “unfading
crown of glory” at the Parousia (1 Pet 5:4)
- “revealed with Him in glory”
(Col 3:4)
- Remain with Him forever
afterward (1 Thess 4:17)
Note the intensity of their
expectations:
- “looking for and
hastening the coming (2 Pet 3:11-14)
- “Oh, our Lord come!” (1 Cor
16:22)
- “How long, O Lord?”
(Rev 6:10)
- “Come [quickly], Lord
Jesus!” (Rev 22:20)
- “we eagerly wait for
a Savior” (Phil 3:20; Rom 8:25; Jude 21; 1 Cor 1:7-8;
Heb 9:28)
- “anxious longing . . . groan
within . . . longing to be clothed upon” (Rom 8:19, 23;
2 Cor 5:2-4)
- “cry to Him day and night”
(Luke 18:7-8)
- “Fix your hope completely on
it” (1 Pet 1:13)
- “loved His appearing” (2
Tim. 4:8)
- “be alert, stay awake, be
ready, looking for it” (Matt 24:42-44; Rev 16:15; 2 Pet
3:12-14)
In view of these very explicit
and intense expectations, how can anyone believe that those
remaining saints (the elect) could have missed the end-time
events when they occurred, or shrugged them off as
unimportant, or walked away never to mention them again?
This silence about the fulfillments becomes even more
strange and inexplicable when we see other Christians in the
late first and early second century claiming that the
Parousia was still future! Why didn’t those saints who
experienced those events, and who were supposedly still on
earth, speak up and set the record straight? Their
silence points unmistakably to their absence —
gone, taken to heaven, no longer on earth!
From the above list of
expectations, it is apparent that the saints living before
the Parousia were anxiously awaiting His return, groaning
within themselves, and longing to be clothed with their
immortal bodies. They were looking for and hastening the
day, and fixed their hope completely upon it. It was not
something that those saints could miss. It was like
lightning flashing across the whole sky (Matt 24:27; Luke
17:24).
They were told that they would
not only be consciously aware of Christ’s return, but that
they would SEE the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven
and sending His angels to gather them. He told the 12
apostles that all of them (both dead and alive) would be
received to Himself, sit on 12 thrones, and dwell in the
places He had prepared for them in heaven.
Before the saints could be caught
up to be with Christ, their lowly (mortal) bodies had to be
changed (transformed) into immortal to be like Christ’s
glorious, immortal body. The dead were raised first, then
the living were changed, and together as one group they were
caught up to be with Christ in heaven forever afterward.
They would not shrink away from
Him in shame at His coming (1 John 2:28), but rather draw
near and glorify Him on that day and marvel at Him in the
presence of all believers (2 Thess 1:10). They would rejoice
with exultation when they stood before the Son of Man in His
glorious presence at the Parousia, and from that time
forward they would always be with the Lord in heaven above
(1 Thess 4:17).
These were their great
expectations, and if they were not cognitively experienced
in the manner these Scriptures indicate, then they would not
only have been disappointed, but disillusioned, outraged,
and complaining about it. So, they must have experienced
those things, or else Jesus and the apostles were false
prophets.
What Are the Odds?
If anyone wishes to claim that
there were a few faithful saints left alive at the
Parousia who still retained the CBV view, or somehow
recovered their understanding of it afterward, we would
still have to wonder why they didn’t correct the error of
the Hellenists and resume their teaching of the CBV after AD
70. And if that had happened, we would know about the
existence of CBV and see the controversy about it recorded
in church history. But, as we all know, there is no record
of either the controversy, or the correction
of the Hellenistic error, or the continued teaching
of the CBV.
What are the chances that every
single saint left alive after the Neronic persecution fell
away into Hellenistic apostasy and completely lost not only
their understanding of CBV, but also their memory of ever
having believed it (simultaneous mass amnesia), and their
awareness that there ever was such a view as the CBV? The
possibility of that happening has to be close to zero. Yet,
that appears to be what Don Preston believes. But, as
Charles Hill suggests, there is an astounding irony here:
The dreaded and nearly fatal
“Hellenization” of the gospel is supposed to have struck the
church, according to [the CBV view], concurrently with the
church’s attainment of its ultimate state of perfection. It
does not seem to me that one can have it both ways. If one
wants to argue for a radical nosedive of the church [into
Hellenistic apostasy] as soon as the apostles left the scene
somewhere around A.D. 70, then I do not see how one can
argue that it was precisely then that the church also
attained the consummation of its hope, its full measure of
knowledge and sanctification, [and] its final state of
conformity to the image of Christ (When Shall These
Things Be? p. 109).
Many, I trust, will find that
conclusions like these place too high a demand on their
credulity, especially when to read the New Testament in a
way that preserves a more or less traditional
[interpretation] makes infinitely better sense (When Shall
These Things Be? p. 107).
Indeed! I could not agree more
with Hill’s analysis of the CBV Hellenistic apostasy theory.
The traditional view of a rapture makes “infinitely better
sense” in view of their expectations beforehand and their
silence afterward.
Comments:
Edward E. Stevens | September 23, 2024 | |
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Charlie Dines | September 20, 2024 | |
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Dennis Gagne | September 11, 2024 | |
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Kimble Dement | September 11, 2024 | |
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Richard Joseph | September 11, 2024 | |
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Ron Cannon | September 9, 2024 | |
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Alan Allison | September 9, 2024 | |
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Mateus Fonseca Souza | September 9, 2024 | |
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Richard Eckhart (The Berean Preterist) | September 9, 2024 | |
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