Mike Loomis’s Petulant Plot

     As we daily expose the diverse and ever-changing facets of the Hyper-Preterist movement, we are often asked why we treat the teachers and proponents of H.P. so harshly.  I mean, shouldn’t we be more “loving” and empathetic toward those who are caught up in this heresy?  In giving our defense, it is important to point out that there is a major difference between someone who is just following Hyper-Preterist theology because he/she thinks it is true, and one who has given up everything to dedicate his/her life to promoting and defending the movement.  Once a person crosses that line and assumes a leadership position, he/she must be dealt with on different principles.  At that point our focus is no longer to “convince” (as in the case of a mere follower), but to expose and discredit the false teacher..

Hyper-Preterists Who Went M.I.A.

    Most readers know that the abbreviation “M.I.A.” stands for “missing in action,” and is commonly used when referring to someone who is declared missing during active military service.   Nobody knows for sure what happened to people who are categorized as M.I.A.   They may have been killed, wounded, or become prisoners of war.  They may have even deserted.  However, until they are located —  which in many cases never happens  —   the classification stands good.  This is a serious issue, since many Americans have loved ones who entered military service overseas, and never returned.  It is nothing to joke about.

   However, we must remember there are ideological wars as well, which may be treated with a deal of levity.  In the apologetic world, there are times when we wonder whether some would-be hero has gone M.I.A.  Within the Hyper-Preterist community are a number of individuals who were active in the movement within the past couple years, but have since gone missing.  Nobody knows what has happened to them, in fact they’ve gone completely off the radar.  Of course, this is to be expected in any kind of social scene where people are coming and going on a daily basis.  But in a movement like Hyper-Preterism, which needs to impress the public that the church was wrong for 2,000 years on the basic A-B-C’s of eschatology, such losses don’t look good at all.  I mean, why would so many people be losing interest in a movement that has the “truth?”  The truth is supposed to keep Christians attached, no?  Well, when one looks closely at the history of the Hyper-Preterism during the last couple years, one will see that there are a lot of folks who entered the scene since 2008, but have since vanished.  I am not talking about anonymous network drifters, but known individuals who invested time and energy into the movement..

How To Spill A Can Of Beans

       As the Hyper-Preterist movement rapidly degenerates into a coterie of battling sects, readers may be asking how H.P.’s propose to keep their community on life-support long enough to get Hyper-Preterism flotillaed into the mainstream.  As mentioned in one of my recent articles, Sam Frost, token scholar of the H.P. movement, made an important revelation on March 28th, 2010.  He hinted that allegations that Hyper-Preterism is a fractured movement will soon be taken away, since a “remedy” is now in progress (source).  Sam also assured me the other day that this “behind the scenes remedy” is being worked out by key H.P.’s ranging from Dave Green to Ed Stevens (source).  Ok, so the public is supposed to remain breathless while it waits for Hyper-Preterism to unveil the bomb that will finally destroy 2,000 years of Christian teaching and leave H.P.’s in control of the floor, right?  Well, it appears the “secret” is not so undercover as Sam thinks.  Due to Hyper-Preterism’s screwy publicity work, Preterist News is now able to yank the curtains aside and show readers what Hyper-Preterism’s “secret solution” entails!

Ning Empire Takes Tribute

    If you’re a Hyper-Preterist, you probably know that Ning social networks have been instrumental in keeping the H.P. movement alive and focused since 2007/2008.  For the benefit of those outside the loop, Ning networks are free sites that enable people of like mind to band together, host activities and have dicussions, publish blogs, upload pictures, and so forth.  Ning has been especially fruitful to those who want to further Christian dialogue and/or promote evangelism on the web.  If one’s running a site like C. Michael Patton’s “Theologica” (which, BTW, is a great place for orthodox and conservative dicussion), Ning can become a veritable blessing to the public.  But if someone is trying to promote a heresy like Hyper-Preterism, it becomes a potential curse.  Under normal circumstances, however, H.P. ning networks function passively, serving as places for Hyper-Preterists to get together and work out the details of their theology.  In fact, what main activity the public has seen during the past few years, as coming from the Hyper-Preterist movement, generates largely from ning sites such as Sovereign Grace Preterism, Death Is Defeated, and Preterism Debate.  Without these sites active and running, Hyper-Preterism would lose a substantial amount of its relevance in the discussion regarding Biblical eschatology..

Sam Frost: Veni, Vidi, Vici!

    Sometimes great generals are made, and sometimes they are born.  In the case of Julius Caesar, we have a perfect example of someone whose natural talents and uncanny ability to see with panoramic vision the field of opportunities that lay before him, allowed him to grasp what most men only dreamed of attaining.  As everyone knows, Caesar’s famous line is: “Veni, vidi, vici”  —  “I came, I saw, I conquered.”  This tells us he wasn’t a wimpy scene-shifter, but a guy who made things happen.  And yet for all that, he wasn’t without his measure of humility.  Sure, he lusted to be crowned, but also had enough presence of mind to resist the crown when it was handed him.  As Shakespeare made Casca say: “I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown… He put it by once; but for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it.  Then he offered it to him again; then he put it by again.  But to my thinking, he was very loth to lay his fingers off it” (Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II).  Despite the mock-modesty, in the end it was Caesar’s ambition that got him killed.  But then, the murder wasn’t really his fault, for after all, it was Brutus who wielded the fatal blade..

Lupine Larry At His Wits’ End

     The Hyper-Preterist movement is not doing well.  For some months it has been on the decline, as evidenced by waning interest at H.P. forums and infighting among Hyper-Preterists themselves.  However, in recent weeks Hyper-Preterism’s demise has been escalated by a new position put forward by Sam Frost, in which it is claimed that human history will some day come to an end (source #1, #2, #3, #4, #5).  As many seasoned Hyper-Preterists know, this doctrine is at direct odds with traditional Hyper-Preterism, which holds that human history will go on and on forever.  While most of the Hyper-Preterist leaders are trying to keep their mouths shut as best they can, it is becoming fast evident that a major rift is about to take place within the Hyper-Preterist community..   

Thank You, Sharon

     Occasionally, an individual within the anti-H.P. “cause” will make an observation so pointed that it almost becomes prophetic.  Oftentimes such remarks help to reveal the fundamental flaws of Hyper-Preterist theology.  This morning, during my usual browsing, I lighted upon the following comment by former H.P. Sharon Nichols.  Of course I had to read it two or three times to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.  However, it appears that the comment is a genuine expression of Sharon’s thoughts on the matter of our eschatological “hope.”

  Sharon writes:

“The destruction of the temple in AD70 doesn’t sound like any kind of hope to me. And I say this as an EX-hyperpreterist, one who has pondered on this off and on for a long time.

“I try to imagine myself living in that time. As a Christian I would be considered an “enemy” of the Jew and possibly prosecuted for it, but like Paul, my heart would ache for them. Jesus was a Jew. It was through the Jews that ultimtely salvation was brought to the Gentile. So as a Christian, why would I find any kind of joy (hope) in the destruction of the temple and the city? The only good thing I can think of is that by scattering those Jews who were not slaughtered, more of them might be led to believe. But if there was no fundamental change in my circumstances or person, then what hope/joy could be found in the destruction of the temple for me personally?” (source).

   This is a brilliant observation, and one which I was not expecting from Nichols.  I’m not sure if she realizes how close she is to the truth.  As I’ve been pointing out on an almost daily basis for over two years, the destruction of the temple was NOT the hope of the church.  Even after A.D. 70, Christians continued to look for Christ’s visible parousia, as witness early theologians like Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Lactantius, and Hippolytus.  Though I’ve sometimes been ridiculed for maintaining the historic Christian viewpoint on this issue, the testimony of the sub-apostolic church cannot be brushed away as easily as some suppose.  Even Sam Frost used to admit this  —  in his more honest moments (source).

   Besides the historic evidence, the Scriptures NEVER stated that Christ would come to “destroy” the Jews as a nation (see Acts 5: 31; Matthew 19: 28; Romans 11: 26-27).  This is impossible, not only because of the many prophecies of the Old Testament (e.g., Leviticus 26: 40-44; Deut. 30: 1-4; Jeremiah 30: 11; 31: 35-37; 32: 42), but because of the fact that saved Gentiles are partakers of the covenants and promises which God made with Israel, and draw nigh unto the commonwealth of Israel (Eph. 2: 12; cf. Genesis 9: 27; Romans 11: 17).   

   Sharon needs to realize that there is only one eschaton in the Bible, and it is the same one mentioned in the Old Testament and New Testament, under the heading “Day of the Lord.”  It involves the judgment of all mankind (Isaiah 2: 11-18; Micah 5: 15; Zeph. 3: 8), the resurrection of the just (Isaiah 26: 19; Daniel 12: 12-13; Ezekiel 37: 1-11; Hosea 13: 14; 1 Cor. 15: 23), the restoration of the kingdom to Israel (Micah 4: 8; Matt. 19: 28; Acts 3: 19-21), and the renewal of the earth’s pristine condition (Isaiah 14: 7-8; 41: 18-19; 55: 12-13; cf. Romans 8: 21).  The O.T. and N.T. are not at odds.  Nor is there any such thing as a “two-tiered eschatology”  —  one for the Jews, and another for the church.  That is the very thing that Dispensationalism teaches.  But there is no Scriptural ground for such teaching.  See 1 Corinthians 15: 54-55; cf. Isaiah 25: 8; Hosea 13: 13-14.

  Sharon makes a great observation when she says that “Jesus was a Jew.”  I would, however, correct this statement to “Jesus IS a Jew.”  For He never cast aside His humanity when He ascended on high.  That’s right, folks.  Whether Christians like it or not, they worship a glorified Jew.  Which is why it is important to maintain Scriptural accuracy when dealing with the promises that God made to Israel.  Although the parousia did not happen in A.D. 70, when it does happen it will be accompanied by Israel’s national repentance (see Isaiah 59: 20-21; Hosea 5: 15; Zech. 12: 10; Matthew 23: 39)  —  not their national destruction.  Although I cannot hope for much, my earnest wish is that Sharon will follow the thread which she herself has laid out, and recognize Preterism as the foolish and false theology it really is.  Maranatha!

All Together Now

As the Dee Dee Warren group, under the guidance of the self-proclaimed “super-preterist” Dr. Talbot moves closer to the hyperpreterist Sam Frost group (Frost is a student and long time friend of Talbot’s), it is becoming more and more chummy over on PreteristBlog, the supposed bastion of “orthodoxy” against the scourge of Hyperpreterism.  Ah, yes Sam is over there helping feed Dee Dee’s need for attention (ooo-ooo-look-at-me!-look-at-me!, please please please make a comment on my itunes account, I just love when people talk about me me me me).  Even PreteristBlog’s petulant parrot PaulT is telling hyperpreterist Larry Siegle that he is “glad to see him” at PreteristBlog (source).  All together now!