Is Preterism Heresy?
Futurists[1] often condemn preterism[2] by arguing that it opposes the official “orthodox” teaching of Christian establishment,[3] aka the church—and that’s heresy!
However, there are many problems with this view.
To start with, it assumes that the Christian establishment and the church are one and the same, which is not the case. While some members of the Christian establishment also belong to the church, the two are not the same. This is easy to prove. Just think about some of the unChristian things done by the Christian establishment over the last two thousand years, such as the Inquisitions, the Crusades, the persecution of Protestants by Roman Catholics (and vice versa), the persecution of Anabaptists by Protestants and Roman Catholics, and the persecution of Jews by the Christian establishment throughout the centuries. The list is a long one. Using Jesus’ standard, “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:15–20), we would all have to admit that the Christian establishment is not the church. While there has certainly been some overlap between the two at times—which has ebbed and flowed over the centuries—they are not one and the same. Therefore, just because someone opposes the official teachings of the Christian establishment does not necessarily mean he opposes the church.
A “heretic” is defined—or should be defined—as someone who claims to be a Bible-believing Christian yet knowingly teaches something contrary to the teachings of the true church (see 2 Pet. 2:1–3). Moreover, since all Christians agree that the teachings of the true church are found in the sixty-six books of the Protestant Bible,[4] therefore, a “heretic” can rightfully be defined as someone who claims to be a Christian yet purposely teaches something contrary to the Protestant Bible.
And preterists do not do this. The preterist view of the Second Coming—that it happened in the first century—is clearly taught all through Scripture (Matt. 10:23, 16:28, 24:30–34, 26:64; Rom. 13:12; James 5:8–9; Heb. 10:37; Phil. 4:5; Rev. 22:7–10, 12).
Opponents of preterism sometimes argue that since the Christian establishment recognized and preserved the New Testament in the first place, therefore, it has the exclusive right to define “orthodoxy.” However, this argument is not very convincing. After all, the Jewish establishment recognized and preserved the other two-thirds of our Bible (the Old Testament). So using such logic would mean the Jewish establishment gets to define the “orthodox” view of the Old Testament. And needless to say, the Jewish establishment is not very Christian.
It’s particularly amusing when Protestants and evangelicals try to condemn preterists by arguing that the Christian establishment has the exclusive right to define “orthodoxy”…when they themselves have a long history of opposing the Christian establishment! These Protestants and evangelicals seem to forget that the crooked finger once pointed at them. They, too, were once deemed heretics—and probably still are, in the deep, dark recesses of the Vatican—by the very Christian establishment they are now seeking to align themselves with in order to try to find the “authority” with which to condemn preterists. (They certainly can’t do it with scriptural arguments.) Suddenly, these Protestants and evangelicals insist that the Christian establishment has the exclusive right to decide orthodoxy. Well, if that’s true, then these Protestants and evangelicals should immediately repent of their own “heretical views”—any doctrine that opposes the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church—and return to Roman Catholicism. It’s either that or admit that the Christian establishment does not get to decide orthodoxy.
The Christian establishment has no authority to establish doctrines; doctrines must come from Scripture! Jesus and the apostles repeatedly said to test all things against Scripture, not the doctrines of a particular religious establishment. Jesus praised the church in Ephesus because they tested those who claim to be church leaders (Rev. 2:2). The Bereans were commended for searching the Scriptures daily and testing the things they were being taught (Acts 17:11). Paul said to “test all things, and hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). John said, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). The Christian’s yardstick for doctrinal truth is the inspired writings of the Bible—not the Christian establishment!
We have excellent reason to trust the teachings of Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets; namely, their words were confirmed by “signs and wonders” and fulfilled prophecies. As for the Christian establishment’s teachings…well, not so much. The Christians establishment has been all over the place on just about every issue for 2000 years. As former preterist Sam Frost said so eloquently during a moment of honest reflection:
“The [post-biblical] apostolic fathers have been used to support everything from purgatory to Mariology. Arius [who opposed the doctrine of the Trinity] appealed to them, as well as Athanasius [who supported the Trinity]. Calvin [Reformed theologian] used them as well as Bellarmine [Roman Catholic theologian]. Luther [Reformed theologian] used them against Eck [Roman Catholic theologian], and Eck used them against Luther. Like a stream of water, they can be dammed and made to turn whithersoever one may wish, discarding those elements that are not useful for the argument.”[5]
For more information about the topics discussed in this article, please check out The End Is Here: How the New Testament Prophecies Were Fulfilled, available NOW on Amazon!
By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 6/13/25
[1] Futurists believe in a future Second Coming. Preterists, on the other hand, believe Jesus came in AD 70 based on the many time indicators given in Scripture (see Matt. 10:23, 16:28, 24:30–34, 26:64; Rom. 13:12; James 5:8–9; Heb. 10:37; Phil. 4:5; Rev. 22:7–10, 12).
[2] Preterism holds that the Second Coming happened in AD 70, based on the many time indicators given in Scripture (see Matt. 10:23, 16:28, 24:30–34, 26:64; Rom. 13:12; James 5:8–9; Heb. 10:37; Phil. 4:5; Rev. 22:7–10, 12).
[3] The Christian establishment refers to post-biblical religious leaders claiming to represent biblical Christianity.
[4] Some denominations—such as the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Coptic churches—include additional “apocryphal” books in their Bibles (specifically, in their Old Testaments), which Protestants and evangelicals do not believe are inspired (although they may be useful to read). However, all denominations agree that the sixty-six books of the Protestant Bible belong in the Bible, which means all denominations agree that anything that contradicts the Protestant Bible is unbiblical.
[5] Samuel Frost, Misplaced Hope: The Origins of First and Second Century Eschatology (Colorado Springs: Bimillennial Press, 2002), 164.
