Preterism (AD70 Doctrine)
Preterism (AD70 Doctrine)
The New Testament sometimes compares or links "this age" with "the age to come". We need to discover what is meant by "this age" and what is meant by "the age to come".
This might not seem to be a very important issue, however you might be surprised at the doctrines that rely upon misinterpreting these terms. It's worth our while, therefore, to get this matter clear in our own minds.
In this lesson, we will look at several examples where the Bible uses terms like"this age" and "the age to come" and we will gather their true meaning.
Christ said that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven, "either in this age, or in the age to come". In this lesson, we are not concerned with what Jesus means by blasphemy against the Spirit. That's incidental to our present study. Rather, in this study, we are concerned simply with what Jesus had in mind when he used the terms "this age" and "the age to come". This passage is a good one to begin with, because we will be able to look at a parallel passage that clearly shows what Jesus had reference to. But first, see if you can do exercise 1.
What did Jesus mean by the terms 'this age', and 'the age to come'?
Correct answer is (B).
In this first example (Mtt 12:32), Jesus was speaking on the other side of the cross from us. In other words, he was still in the Jewish age. Some therefore teach that Christ meant the Jewish age when he used the term "this age", and he meant this side of the cross, the Christian age, when he spoke of "the age to come".
That interpretation sounds quite credible. However, in the next example, we will show that the Lord was not speaking about the Jewish age and the Christian age, but rather about this present world and the eternal world to come.
We need to be brave at this point, because we are dealing with the hardest example. Some easier examples come later, but we want to look at this one now, because it is the parallel passage to the example we have just looked at.
Here in Mark 3:28-30, Jesus shows how he regards his own use of the terms "this age" and "the age to come" used in example 1 (Mtt 12:32). Try exercise 2.
The term 'no forgiveness... in the age to come' in example A is parallel to what term in Example B. Select a right answer below.
Correct answer is (A or C).
Observe that when Jesus says in example A, "The sin shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come," he means what he says in example B, "he never has forgiveness but is subject to eternal condemnation".
We must be careful to map one phrase onto the other. This is scripture interpreting itself and it shows that Jesus had eternity in mind when he spoke of "the age to come".
So far, we have compared two examples, which are parallel passages. We saw that "the age to come" is where there will be "eternal condemnation". The age to come is therefore eternity.
We will now confirm this with more examples.
The Greek words aiona (ever) and aioniou (eternal) have the same stem "aion" [aeon or age].
Some teachers want to make these words mean "age-long" rather than "eternal" or everlasting. Take no notice of that. The same argument would make the "eternal life" in John 3:16 only "age-long" life —whatever that means.
The Greek word aion appears over 150 times in the New Testament.
As an adjective it always means eternal. As a noun it has three different meanings: (i) eternity, (ii) world, or (iii) age —in the sense of a great division of human history. If your references use the Strong's numerical coding, see 165 and 166.