|
Second Peter Three
Author: Don Preston
Book Review by Kenneth J.
Davies SECOND
PETER THREE: The Late Great Kingdom. By
Don K. Preston, Shawnee, OK: Shawnee Printing Co., 1990.
126 pp. paperback, available from Kingdom Counsel.
Currently, Don Preston
is preaching for the Ardmore Church of Christ in Ardmore,
Oklahoma. He and his wife, Janis, have been married for
21 years and have two children: Donnelle, 15, and Lance,
8. Prior to his current preaching position, Don served as
preacher at the East Main Church of Christ for 11 years,
and for 5 years at the Maxwell Ave. Church of Christ. His
research to prepare for a public debate with a premillennial
Baptist minister in 1983 helped to solidify his preterist
conclusions. The debate, which continued for four nights,
was covered by the local television station and was broadcast
24 hours a day for two weeks! Needless to say, it was the
"talk of the town."
Don is presently working
on a study of Daniel 9 (the 70 weeks), which he expects
to be ready for publication around July of this year. He
is also in the process of writing a book-length historical
exposition of Matthew 24. Time and finances permitting,
he plans to edit and expand II Peter 3: The Late Great
Kingdom. His stated purpose for writing this book was
"to do an exposition of this famous text with the view to
determine if indeed it teaches the end of the Jewish aion,
or world" (p.1).
In beginning his study, Preston
examines the question of who "the prophets" were to which
Peter refers. He proves that they must have been the prophets
of the Old Testament, not of the New, thus demonstrating that
the things predicted by them must all have been fulfilled.
If this is not the case, we are still under obligation to
keep the whole law (even the ceremonial aspects). He shows
this by cross-referencing Mt.5:17-18 with Lk.21:20-22. If
"all things" (i.e. all the Old Testament prophecies, Lk.21)
have not yet been fulfilled, as is the contention of all
futurists (pre-, a-, and post-millennialists), then neither
has "one jot or tittle" passed from the law. That is, we are
still under obligation to the Old Testament law in its entirety
(even the ceremonial aspects of it)! Obviously, we
cannot admit that all portions of the law are still
obligatory (though its moral stipulations have been strengthened
by Jesus). At the very least, the sacrificial requirements
are no longer in force due to the death of Jesus. Since Scripture
cannot contradict itself, we must agree with Preston and conclude
that, in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70, all Old Testament
prophecy was fulfilled.
Although many Bible commentators
conclude that the church was fully established at Pentecost,
Preston demonstrates the weakness of this opinion. He asks,
for example, why the charismatic gifts were necessary if the
church was mature, fully established, and had no real need
of them prior to A.D.70. Why did they cease? If their purpose
was not for the maturing of the church (as Eph.4:11-13 states),
what then? Certainly the preterist interpretation makes better
Biblical sense than any of the futurist views. Along this
same line, he examines the idea that the "last days" began
at Pentecost, and are continuing today. He shows that, according
to Scripture, the "last days" began before Pentecost, and
cannot therefore be equivalent to what is commonly called
the "Church age" or "Christian Age".
The "imminency factor" of
the New Testament, something many futurist interpreters struggle
with, is looked at next. Preston shows that the most sensible
way of taking these "problematic" verses is at face value!
In dealing with these texts, he shows how ludicrous it is
to attempt to "stretch" them in order to accommodate 2,000
(or more) years.
In his discussion of the "world
that then was," Preston refutes the traditional view that
the "world to come" can only be established after a universal
conflagration. He examines the word "world" and explores its
range of meaning, showing that it is often used in a figurative
sense, much as we might use it today. For example, someone
experiencing great changes or disruption in their life might
say, "My world is collapsing around me!" We would not assume
that the planet was being destroyed, but realize that, to
this person, it may seem that way. Preston shows that the
language of the Bible is no less expressive, and that care
must be taken to avoid the error of interpreting words as
if they have only one possible meaning. He also points out
the inconsistency of those who insist that II Pet.3 refers
to the dissolution of the physical universe. These same people
find that they must "re-interpret" the statements of imminency
regarding this coming destruction. Suddenly, their "literal
hermeneutic" becomes not so literal! Even the amillennialist,
who argues at length that the kingdom of God arrived very
shortly after it was announced to be "at hand," fudges when
it comes to the parousia being just as much "at hand" in the
New Testament writings. The same words that communicated
the brevity of time in one instance are re-interpreted to
mean long millennia in another.
Among the other terms and
phrases Preston studies in this book are: the new heavens
and earth, "as a thief in the night," the day of the Lord,
the New Jerusalem, and the Greek words "mello," "kainos" and
"neos."
Like the first edition of
almost every book, Second Peter Three has some
typos, but it is eschatologically as well as hermeneutically
sound, and presents some arguments this reviewer had not heard
before (I thought that after reading Russell's and King's
books I’d heard them all!). Preston takes the reader through
various passages of Scripture and presents syllogistically
logical conclusions based on the Biblical text. The
Late Great Kingdom offers much to consider and should
be a welcome addition to any library, especially a preterist
one!
|
