Advocates for the Collective Body view of the resurrection have asserted that the phrase "THE sin" in Rom 6:1 should be understood as a reference to "THE Law." They then use that idea to suggest that Paul is urging Jewish Christians to quit keeping the Law (instead of stop sinning). We show how that can not be the correct understanding of Rom 6:1. The Collective Body view also teaches that "the BODY of Moses" (mentioned in Jude 9) is referring to a collective BODY of Israelites who kept the Law ...
Dec 08, 2013•35 min
We give a brief report of our experience at the Evangelical Theological Society conference in Baltimore last week, where we had dozens of great interactions with the attendees there. While there, I found a couple of very helpful books which explain what the New Perspective on Paul is all about. Then we get back into our study of Romans 3-5. In the previous session we looked at the bad news of all mankind (both Jew and Gentile) being under condemnation. This time we focus on the good news of just...
Dec 01, 2013•42 min
The first three chapters of Romans lock up all humanity, including the Jews, under condemnation. That is very bad news for everyone, especially for the Jews who considered themselves as automatically saved. Before Paul gives them the good news, he unloads this bad news on them first. How was "ALL ISRAEL" saved at the Parousia in AD 70? How did the Roman church fit into that plan to save ALL ISRAEL? How do the Collective Body and Individual Body views differ in their explanations of this SALVATIO...
Nov 17, 2013•1 hr
Two of the key hermeneutical tools we use to interpret any biblical text are: (1) the historical context out of which the book was produced, and (2) the purposes which it was written to accomplish. It also helps if we have a good outline that traces the flow of thought in the text. We provide all this in this podcast and show how it helps us interpret the book of Romans. If you wish to have the free PDF written lesson outline for this podcast, simply email us to request it (preterist1@preterist....
Nov 10, 2013•1 hr 5 min
We continue our introductory comments and survey of the contents of Apostle Paul's letter to the first century Christians in Rome. One of the best overviews of the flow of thought found in the book of Romans was written in the Preface of Haldane's commentary on Romans. He notes that Paul's goal for his argumentation was to convince both Jews and Gentiles to unite together as one new people of God. Knowing that purpose behind his words really helps us understand Romans so much better. If you wish...
Nov 03, 2013•38 min
Every prophetic view (futurist and preterist) uses the book of Romans as a source for its particular approach to fulfillment. How we interpret Romans can make a big difference not only in our eschatological perspectives, but in our understanding of salvation as well. In this introduction, we note that the book of Romans is not talking about a collective body resurrection of the church out of Judaism, but rather about the Jew-Gentile unity in the Kingdom that was achieved by grafting the Gentiles...
Oct 27, 2013•54 min
In the past several podcasts we have looked at bits and pieces of the 1Cor 15 context. In this session we summarize all that and provide the overall big picture of what Paul is saying about the resurrection here in his letters to the Corinthian saints. We share some further insights into this text which show clearly and conclusively that Paul is NOT talking about a Collective Body being raised here, but rather is explaining what would happen to both the living and the dead saints at the Parousia...
Oct 20, 2013•1 hr 3 min
What were the pre-70 saints expecting to see, hear, and EXPERIENCE at the Parousia? Was it going to be a non-cognitive and un-experienced event, with those saints left on earth afterwards not even aware that the Parousia had occurred? Apostle Paul promised the living saints that they would be CHANGED at the Parousia. The dead would be raised, but the living would be changed. What was this CHANGE all about? We look at three different views of that CHANGE that are found within preterism, and show ...
Oct 13, 2013•55 min
Advocates for the Collective Body View (CBV) of the resurrection claim that the Present Passive form of the Greek verb EGEIRO ("are raised") can ONLY be legitimately translated as "are BEING raised" with the sense of an ongoing process of resurrection of the collective body. On the basis of that claim, they label other preterists (IBV) as being futurists. We show that their collective body interpretation of 1 Cor 15 simply does not hold up under grammatical, historical, and contextual scrutiny, ...
Oct 06, 2013•52 min
Futurists think that “the Dead” is a reference to dead physical bodies in the graves, so that the phrase “resurrection of the Dead” means dead bodies being raised out of the graves. Some fellow preterists think “the Dead” is referring to the collective body being raised out of covenantally dead Judaism. However, we look at numerous scriptures in the Old and New Testaments to show WHO the Dead were, and out of WHERE they were raised. We see that the resurrection of the dead was the raising of dis...
Sep 29, 2013•45 min
One of the most important texts which the Collective Body View (CBV) uses to support its concept of a collective body resurrection is Philippians 3:21. They contend that the phrase “our body” mentioned here in this text is a reference to the collective body (the church) being resurrected or “transformed” at the Parousia. Through grammatical and contextual analysis, as well as a look at similar passages, we very effectively debunk that theory and show that this text is talking about a bodily chan...
Sep 22, 2013•1 hr 6 min
Futurists relentlessly pester us preterists with the nagging question: "There is no record of bodies coming out of the graves in AD 70. If the dead were raised at that time, why were the physical bodies of the dead saints NOT raised?" In this session we look at some of the various concepts of resurrection that are mentioned in the Bible, including the "bodies out of the graves" (BOG) view of the futurists, the "souls out of Hades" (SOH) of both futurists and preterists, and the related concept o...
Sep 15, 2013•54 min
There is so much confusion in both futurism and preterism about the place in the unseen realm called Sheol or Hades. We take an in-depth look at the Old Testament concept of Sheol to show that it was the place where the conscious disembodied souls of all the dead, both wicked and righteous, were held captive until the resurrection and judgment of the Last Day. Those dead ones needed to be raised out of Sheol-Hades in order to get their new immortal bodies and go to heaven. So it is clear that wh...
Sep 08, 2013•53 min
Is the Genesis account of Creation and the Flood literal and historical, or merely figurative or mythological? And how does that relate to the Preterist view and our explanation of the NATURE of fulfillment of the endtime events? Every systematic theology has to deal with Genesis, and the way they interpret it will automatically determine how the rest of their paradigm will be configured. It is absolutely critical to get the BEGINNING right, or the ENDING will be wrong. Any other preterist view ...
Sep 01, 2013•58 min
Advocates of the Collective Body resurrection view have accused the Individual Body View of being futurist because we teach that we get a new immortal body and go to heaven at physical death. However, we reverse those charges, and show that the Collective Body View has produced some very rotten fruit by teaching that we are in "heaven now," and have our "immortal bodies now," and have "perfection now," and that "sin no longer exists now," or that "temptation and sin will continue to plague us ev...
Aug 25, 2013•33 min
We start off by reading some listener feedback, which notes that most of the confusion about the Resurrection within the Preterist movement comes from a misunderstanding of the opening chapters of Genesis. There is a direct connection between Genesis, with its origin of sin and death through Adam, and the Resurrection that comes through Christ Jesus who is the prophesied son of Adam who brought recovery from that death. We look at Adam's original condition at creation before the Fall, the ultima...
Aug 18, 2013•58 min
This episode is a special treat. We play excerpts from one of Arthur Melanson's radio programs where he explains the meaning of Heb. 11:30-40, regarding the "better resurrection" at the first century Parousia, which perfected both the living and dead saints. In the second half of the session, I explain how this idea of perfection is dealt with in 1 Cor. 13:8-13, to show how the Collective Body View of these two texts is fatally flawed. This lesson directly relates to the session two weeks ago on...
Aug 11, 2013•59 min
After Nero heard about the failure of Cestius Gallus to crush the Jewish rebellion, he dispatched his most able general Vespasian to do it right this time. Over the winter of 66-67, Vespasian and Titus assembled three legions and hordes of other auxiliaries and mercenaries to launch the attack in the Spring of AD 67. Vespasian was successful in destroying all the fortresses of all areas outside of Jerusalem (except for Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada). When he was ready to begin the assault on J...
Aug 04, 2013•54 min
Recently there has arisen a couple of false accusations against the Individual Body View of the Resurrection by the hyper-cessationist skeptic Chris Camillo and some of the advocates of the Collective Body View. Here we address both charges and expose their fallacies, and provide a clear explanation of some of the differences between the Individual Body and the Collective Body views of the resurrection. We refute the errors of the "heaven now" and "immortal body now" claims of the Collective Bod...
Jul 30, 2013•54 min
We look at the early months of the Jewish rebellion (August through December AD 66). We notice how the Zealots quickly organized their government and prepared for the Roman attack. The Roman Legate in Antioch, Cestius Gallus, did not waste any time responding to the rebellion, but his attack on Jerusalem was mismanaged from start to finish. His retreat at the time when his troops were just about to break through the wall, only strengthened and emboldened the Zealot cause, thus prolonging the war...
Jul 21, 2013•42 min
Menahem, who was one of the early Zealot leaders, led his rebel forces to Masada, overpowered the Roman garrison, seized all the weapons stored there, left an occupational force, and then came back to Jerusalem to help the rebel forces in their struggle against the moderates, royalists, and the Roman garrison. Because of his murder of Eleazar's father, and his tyrannical arrogance, Menahem was killed by Eleazar. This left Eleazar once again in total control of the Zealot forces and most of the c...
Jul 14, 2013•45 min
We continue looking at the crucial events leading up to the outbreak of the Jewish revolt against Rome in late AD 66. We mention some of the major characters who played a significant role as the rebellion was beginning to take shape, and how the situation there in Judea at this time just before the war started was getting worse every day. There were signs in the heavens and on earth at this very time of Passover and Pentecost in AD 66. This is when the angelic armies were seen in the sky above J...
Jul 07, 2013•47 min
If you are interested in considering some possible fulfillments of the Abomination of Desolation and the Man of Lawlessness, this podcast is for you. We look at how Gessius Florus, the Roman procurator over Judea in AD 66, attempted to rob the temple of all of its imageless coinage and force the Jews to bring in coins with Nero's deified image on them. This would have been an abomination of the temple, and easily explains why the Zealots and Priests revolted. One of the key players in that rebel...
Jun 30, 2013•46 min
The volume of Listener Feedback has been heavy in recent weeks, so we share some of the best of those questions and comments with you, and then give our response. We first correct a historical goof I made in last podcast, then reply to a FaceBook critic. Questions and comments deal with last week's story of the heifer giving birth to a lamb, the huge significance of the Neronic persecution, and several other issues related to the first century rapture. We look at the implications of 1 Cor 13:12 ...
Jun 23, 2013•1 hr 2 min
After Nero waged war against the Christians, things begin to go badly for him. There was a conspiracy against him, a pestilence that killed 30 thousand in Rome, and a hurricane just south of Rome that destroyed many crops and fruit trees. The situation in Judea was getting worse by the day. Armed groups of bandits, Zealots, and assassins were plundering the countryside, forcing many to flee from their ancestral homesteads. Numerous signs in the heavens and on earth were occurring more frequently...
Jun 16, 2013•1 hr 2 min
Over two decades ago, Max King suggested that the reason why the Christians after AD 70 did not mention the Parousia, was because they had been confused by the Hellenizers into misplacing the eschaton. Twenty years ago, Dr. Charles Hill debunked that idea historically. Here in this lesson, we look at some of the biblical evidence which further refutes King's Hellenization theory, to show that an actual rapture of the Elect saints is the best explanation for the silence of the Christians about th...
Jun 09, 2013•50 min
Critics of the Literal Rapture view have suggested that the SILENCE of Christians after AD 70 about the occurrence of the Parousia, was merely because they were ALL either killed in the Neronic persecution or fell away into apostasy by the time of the Parousia, so that there were no Christians after AD 70 who understood the fulfillments. We will show from the Biblical expectation statements why this theory simply does not hold up under more careful Biblical and Historical examination. If you wis...
Jun 02, 2013•47 min
Questions about the Nicolaitans, trustworthiness of Scripture, historical documentation for the Parousia and Rapture, value of the rapture for understanding scripture, Romans 8:18-19 and redemption of your bodies, 2 Thess. 1:10 and expectations of pre-70 saints, Philippians 3:20-21 and bodily change, Matt. 24:37ff is not talking about a rapture, Historical Challenge to the rapture by Kurt Simmons, and Apostle John did not live beyond AD 70. If you wish to have the PDF lesson outline that is avai...
May 26, 2013•53 min
All the Church Historians bemoan the silence and absence of true orthodox Christians in the first two or three decades after AD 70. Where did all those pre-70 saints go? None of them reappear after 70 to claim the fulfillment of the Parousia. What about the supposed Christians who fled to Pella before the war? Why does history seem to indicate that they were still around after 70? If you wish to have the PDF lesson outline that is available for this podcast, simply email Ed to request it (preter...
May 19, 2013•47 min
Why is it that for a whole generation after AD 70 we hear nothing from, nor anything about the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation? What happened to those churches? If you wish to have the PDF lesson outline that is available for this podcast, simply email Ed to request it (preterist1@preterist.org). Be sure to mention the date of the podcast for which you would like to receive the PDF. Support the show
May 12, 2013•1 hr 9 min
