Kelly Birks Still a Hyperpreterist

Over the past year, hyperpreterist leader, Kelly Birks has been welcomed with open arms by those who are supposed to be fighting against hyperpreterism.  Both Dr. Kenneth Talbot of Whitefield Theological Seminary and the Dee Dee Warren group on PreteristBlog have welcomed Birks without calling him on his continued hyperpreterism.

Birks has claimed he is no longer a hyperpreterist, and had said some things to make it look like he wasn’t.  Yet his fellow hyperpreterists, like Sam Frost don’t believe him…and you shouldn’t either.  Here is a quote from Birks on March 25, 2010:

“Succinctly put, I believe there exists no exegetical validity behind the idea of separating the “coming” of Christ in AD 70 from THE Second Coming taught by Christ in the gospels and in the epistles. I am convinced and have been for many years, that they are one and the same. The Bible teaches only one second coming, not a coming at AD 70 and an unbiblical third coming off at another time in history. The Daniel 7 passage is in reference to and tied to the events from AD 66-70. All of the passages that speak of the Parousia/ Second Coming, are all stated or implied to occur in “that generation” of the first century. It is my position that the scriptures do not teach the second coming that is outside of the first century. This is a “hill” that i have chosen to die on, as it were. I believe it is the evidence of a pressuppositional point of view that reads the idea of a third coming into scripture that the scriptures themselves will not establish.” — source

Great Gonzos, Emma, The Doctor Is Back!

     As some of you may remember, this blog recently criticized the theology of Kelly Nelson Birks, pastor of Messiah Reformed Church in Omaha, Nebraska, regarding his views of the resurrection.  Birks holds what is sometimes known as the “Immortal Body At Death” view, which claims that when a believer dies, his/her soul is clothed with a Christlike body and he/she ascends to heaven to be with Christ.  Although Birks doesn’t like to admit it, his view is actually fully compatible with the theology of Hyper-Preterism, which teaches that all New Testament eschatology was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem.  For some months now, Birks has remained silent on issues impacting eschatology.  However, his Hyper-Preterist leanings were recently brought to light in a dispute at Dee Dee Warren’s Preterist Blog, where Birks attempted to promote the IBD view over against the orthodox doctrine of the resurrection..

A New Kind Of “Orthodoxy”

  One of the reasons why I believe the anti-Hyper-Preterist movement has gone south in recent months, is because of the willingness of some to recognize Hymenean Preterists as “orthodox.”  It seems that in certain circles, just about anyone who claims to be “Reformed,” and who believes that “some Bible prophecy remains unfulfilled” may be given a place at the orthodox table.

Sam Frost Responds To Kelly Nelson Birks

  In the current dispute over the recent defrockment of Samuel Frost, numerous ‘responses’ and counter-responses have been bandied on both sides, but the end is nowhere in sight.  In a new RCM post ‘hot off the press,’ Samuel Frost demonstrates the bias of “Dr. Birks,”alleging that the defrockment is part a personal vendetta to discredit him. 

  Insiders believe that Birks’s maneuvers may be part of a scheme to vindicate his recent adoption of “Reformed Orthodoxy.”  It is rumored that Birks is now working hand in glove with a Reformed Seminary professor who has taken it upon himself to refute Hyper-Preterism.  Although the professor has only 6 months of hands-on experience, he believes that by clever strategy he will succeed in defeating the movement for once and for all.  Is Birks trying to brownnose his way into the professor’s regard by attacking his arch-rival Frost?  More details later, as the plot unfolds!

Sam Frost Defrocked By Kelly Nelson Birks

    There is now a major dispute between former friends in the Hyper-Preterist camp.  Kelly Nelson Birks, pastor of Messiah Reformed Church in Omaha, Nebraska, recently held a ‘trial’ in which the man he formerly ‘ordained’ into the ministry, Samuel Frost, was defrocked, and his ordination rescinded.  Birks allegedly offered Frost a chance to go to the trial to appear in defense of himself, but Frost was on vacation. 

   Frost replied with a post entitled “Kelly Birks Lies,” in which he says:

“Kelly has not talked with me personally or privately on the phone since April (when we were buddies). The man is clearly on some sort of rant. It’s not that I care about what he says, since I no longer pastor a congregation (I resigned in good standing BEFORE this nonsense from Kelly, so he is a little too late, which makes this even more stupid). If I do seek to answer any call from a congregation, I would go about it again in the same way we did at Christ Covenant Church. Of course, the liar Kelly Birks would not be invited.”

  This defrockment appears to be one installment in a long-running dispute which started a few months ago, when Frost challenged Birks’s view of the resurrection.  Birks holds a view known as IBD (immortal body at death), which teaches that people are resurrected when they die.  Frost holds the “Covenantal Body View.”