Why I changed my views.

 

Loren Adkins

Why I changed my views from futurism to Preterism. 

I have been in church my whole life, at least as close to being born into life as a Christian as on can get. My mom got saved just before I was born and started to attend a Apostolic Pentecostal church. This was a very conservative church, as they preached against everything it seemed. We were also what most refer to as oneness. We refuted the triunity of God teaching unless one was baptized using the “name of Jesus” one was not saved. We further preached that one had to speak in tongues to receive the Holy Ghost.

There is much more I could say about this but that is another testimony. About 5-6 years ago my new son in law gave me a bible study he came across on Daniels 70 weeks. This study was put out by a former United Pentecostal Church International Pastor that I had high respect for as a teacher. Before I go on I want to give a little more background on myself. I was really into prophecy as I wanted to understand the books of prophecy so I could see and know when Christ was coming back to judge the world, and all the trappings that went with it, the anti-christ, false prophet, tribulation etc. The problem is that in all the studies I would listen to and in all my own study things would not fall into place in my heart. Now I am a spiritual guy, I don't learn by the usual methods. I learn concepts of learning but them must learn through those concepts myself. There is little that I have learned by memorization, which seems to be the method many learn by today. Which is why I believe many take what has been taught them as doctrine without deep study themselves, if it looks good, sounds right, and feels ok at the time it must be right. I mean because the man behind the pulpit would not lead me astray that is his job, that is what he gets paid to do tell us what is the word of God so we can just be saints, right.

This attitude I might add is the reason the world is the way it is we have become gullible to almost every media that we hear and see.

Back to this bible study, the teacher Larry Smith had just been shown by God how that the teachings of futurism were not scriptural. He began to teach PP. The study I got on the 70 weeks of Daniel was one of his first studies he put out on the subject. It was a 12 or 14 page study that was like all other studies by Larry Smith short and direct and very easy to see and understand. After reading through this study the first time I saw the validity of everything he said. In simple concise wording backed up with scripture. But as this went against everything I knew and understood. I questioned everything, I ask any one that would talk to me what they thought of this idea. As that is just what I thought it was an idea. Some passed it of as just another variation of understanding that did not matter, others tried to refute these teachings calling them heresies. I read, reread, talked to others that would talk to me, I got into deeper study of the other teachings of understanding prophecy. I have in my possession the book by Dwight J Pentecost , called of things to come. This book is as big as the bible, with comparisons of all the different teaching of understanding prophecy. Although he leans towards futurism he does give a good comparison of the other teachings. I read this book almost from cover to cover, then back through again, let me tell you I got a pretty good understanding of what is taught concerning prophecy now.

The fact is that after going round and round with this thing for 2- 3 years, I finally took a stand against all those I know around me and became what is called partial preterism. At least I believed all of the 70 weeks of Daniel were completed and fulfilled at the time of Christ. Just as I was settling into this understanding, I realized that if Daniels 70 weeks were complete and fulfilled in Christ this must change the way I see the rest of prophecy. Over the next year or two I would come to be what I term full preterist. Although I do have some differing views from mainline FP I believe all bible prophecy has been fulfilled.