Gary DeMar Wants You to be a Full Preterist
Gary DeMar of AmericanVision.com is well known not only for his work AGAINST Dispensationalism, but for his work in promoting Preterism. The problem is, DeMar is credited with creating more Full Preterists than any "leader" within the Full Preterist movement. When confronted about this, DeMar has said that he is not responsible for people taking his teaching to conclusions he does not intend. However, I wonder how that works if say a supposed Christian minister's arguments repeatedly lead people to Mormonism. Doesn't that minister have some obligation to at least clarify what he is saying and figure out why so many people are supposedly concluding something he did not intend?
Further, DeMar has many glaring examples of not being just an innocent bystander whose work has been misunderstood. DeMar has spoken at Full Preterist conferences with no distinction that Full Preterism has any issues. DeMar has been/is a member on several Full Preterist forums where he posts without any distinction that anything is different between his supposed Partial-Preterism and the Full Preterist hosts. But of all the things, it is DeMar's view of the Christian eschatological situation that has bred so many Full Preterists...and rightly so for the Full Preterists who follow DeMar's views.
DEMAR THINKS CHRISTIAN ESCHATOLOGY IS GARBLED MESS
The premise by Partial-Preterists like DeMar that drives a person straight into Full Preterism is best cited by one of DeMar's own comments:
"... I'm willing to listen to what others say on an issue, especially on eschatology since it's been a garbled mess for centuries. It's conceivable that so-called eschatological heretics are seeing something I'm not seeing. They're willing to take the risk. Many are not." -- source
Now, think about that for a moment. If Christian eschatology has really been a "garbled mess", then Full Preterists by ALL MEANS should be at the table to help straighten it out. After all, the present "scholars" such as DeMar are part and parcel of the "scholars" who for centuries have been teaching this supposed "garbled mess". Why should ANYONE turn to these "scholars" who couldn't get it right? Who says that they got it right now?
But in case anyone should doubt DeMar's and other Partial-Prets part in making Full Preterism what it is today, this next quote should seal the deal:
"By taking the time texts seriously, assessing the historical context of the period, and relying on how the Bible applies its well-known symbols to make theological points, we can come to no other conclusion than that Jesus was revealing to John prophetic events that were 'about to come upon the whole world' (Rev 3:10) in his day. There is no need for either sophisticated technology or reading into the Bible to see things that just aren't there. This creates a future fulfillment of events that the Bible clearly says are to happen "shortly" (Rev 1:1,3)" -- End Times Fiction pgs 170-171
This could have been written by Don Preston himself. There is nothing in the quote to demarcate DeMar from Full Preterist conclusions. Why does DeMar and any of Partial-Preterists get to decide how far is too far to fix this supposed "garbled mess"?
CONCLUSION
So, before any person writes articles against Full Preterism, they should start by writing AGAINST people like DeMar. After all, Full Preterists are simply consistently employing the very premises and "logic" men like DeMar advocate. And if DeMar doesn't want to tell us exactly why people shouldn't take his views to their logical conclusions, then maybe he shouldn't be promoting himself as a champion against Dispensationalism, let alone an advocate of MORE "garbled mess" called Partial-Preterism.
The real issue is, that there has been no "garbled mess" when it comes to Christian eschatology. On the basics, ALL of historical Christianity; across all denominational lines has been 100% united on 4 main eschatological points:
1. Jesus yet to return.
2. Resurrection of the believers yet to be.
3. Judgment of the wicked and righteous yet to be.
4. Eventual end of sin and culmination of God's plan for earth.
To NOT believe these 4 things puts a person OUTSIDE of Christianity. Keep in mind I am NOT talking about a person's salvation. That is ultimately between them and God. However, just as it would put a person outside of Americanism to say that the government should control all companies, it puts a person outside of Christianity when they advocate...well.. Partial-Preterism OR Full Preterism. DeMar is as much as a "heretic" as the Full Preterists that DeMar's buddies so often write against. This is what makes it so fraudulent to listen to a "Partial-Preterist" (aka "orthodox preterist") claiming to be refuting/debating Full Preterism.
Follow the Facebook discussion: https://www.facebook.com/thekingdomcome/posts/257229557741934?comment_id=1045835¬if_t=share_comment#!/thekingdomcome
DeMar even makes a few comments!
!!!!IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!
After posting this article, DeMar commented that he "never signed up on a single FP forum". The evidence is easy enough to show that he is either lying or forgetting. If he is forgetting, it would have been easy enough for him to make the correction but instead he allowed his supporters to continuously imply I somehow have broken the 9th commandment by my article.
See the screen shot -- Click image to see entire thing.
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