The Early Church and the End of the World

by Gary Demar; Francis X. Gumerlock

Publisher:

American Vision

, 2006

Overview

The claim has been made by a number of prophecy writers that the early church was predominately premillennial on millennial issues and exclusively futuristic on almost everything else. This means that early Christian writers who commented on prophetic passages like the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) believed and wrote that the biblical authors were always referring to events in the distant future just before the return of Christ.

While these claims have been made with certainty, there has always been a lack of clear historical documentation to back them up. Sometimes the historical record has been stretched and exaggerated to fit an already developed theory. But since the futurist perspective has been promoted as an early church reality by so many for so long, few people today actually question it. The Early Church and the End of the World is the first book to question the prevailing futurist view by a careful study of the historical record.

The Early Church and the End of the World asks this fundamental question: What did the earliest of the early Christian writers actually believe about prophetic events? We can only answer this question by actually studying what they wrote. Unfortunately, we do not have a complete record of the period. To make our historical investigation even more difficult, there are translation issues. Many of the works of those who wrote soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and beyond remain untranslated.

This book seeks to remedy some of these problems. Thomas Ice, in his chapter on the history of preterism in The End Times Controversy, makes some bold historical claims that cannot be supported when the historical record is actually analyzed. The early church was not monolithic in its views of Bible prophecy. There was no unanimous acceptance of either premillennialism or a distant futurism.

The Early Church and the End of the World will show that some of the earliest writers, most likely writing before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, were referring to the judgment coming of Jesus, an event that the gospel writers tell us was to take place before that first-century generation passed away (Matthew 24:34). Adding to the confirmation of this view are the writings of the church’s first historian, Eusebius Pampilus of Caesarea, whose Ecclesiastical History is a window on the first few centuries of the church.

In addition, Francis Gumerlock has undertaken the task of translating a number of ancient and medieval commentators who have written on Matthew 24. He shows that many early and medieval writers believed that these prophecies had already been fulfilled before the end of Jerusalem, that is, before its destruction by the Romans in AD 70.

Since The Early Church and the End of the World is fully integrated with Logos, Scripture passages are linked to your favorite translation for quick reference and to your Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts for original-language study! You can also read this volume along with your Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the wealth of other Bible study tools in your digital library.

Key Features

• Questioning of the prevailing futurist view by a careful study of the historical record
• Examination of what the earliest of the early Christian writers actually believed about prophetic events

Contents

Top Highlights

“Eusebius tells us that ‘these things took place in this manner in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, in accordance with the prophecies of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who by divine power saw them beforehand as if they were already present, and wept and mourned according to the statement of the holy evangelists.’” (Page 75)

“The destruction of the temple was a foregone conclusion (Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). For forty years, from a.d. 30 to 70, the resurrection of Jesus was the center of hope and controversy. Paul was on trial for the ‘resurrection of the dead’ (Acts 23:6; 24:21) not the rapture of the church.” (Page 17)

“Zechariah 12–14 describes events in the distant future, after the ‘rapture’ and during the ‘great tribulation.’¹⁸ Eusebius disagrees. On Zechariah 12:1–2, Eusebius writes that this passage foretells ‘the final siege of the people by the Romans, through which the whole Jewish race was to become subject to their enemies: he [Zechariah] says that only the remnant of the people shall be saved, exactly describing the apostles of our Saviour.’¹⁹ The ‘remnant’ foreseen by Zechariah are those Jewish believers who came to Christ during and directly after Jesus’ ministry.” (Pages 21–22)

“When Christians hear the phrase the ‘end of the world,’ most assume it’s a reference to a great end-time prophetic event like Armageddon, the Second Coming of Christ, or the inauguration of the New Heavens and New Earth. Actually, the phrase ‘end of the world,’ as in the end of the physical world, is not found in the Bible.” (Page viii)

Product Details

• Title: The Early Church and the End of the World
• Authors: Gary DeMar and Francis X. Gumerlock
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 180

About the Authors

Gary DeMar is the president of American Vision, and has authored over 27 titles including Last Days Madness: The Obsession of the Modern Church and Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Francis X. Gumerlock teaches history and Latin and is the author of The Day and the Hour: Christianity’s Perennial Fascination with Predicting the End of the World.