4 Schools of Apocalyptic Interpretation PDF

Unit 1 Intro to Apocalyptic Literature D. Schools of Apocalyptic Interpretation Pr. Odiaka Walker, JP, MA Instructor, Enrollment & Curriculum Officer, SRT  Schools of Interpretation 1. Preterism – the idea that prophecies of the Bible have already been fu...

Unit 1 Intro to Apocalyptic Literature D. Schools of Apocalyptic Interpretation Pr. Odiaka Walker, JP, MA Instructor, Enrollment & Curriculum Officer, SRT  Schools of Interpretation 1. Preterism – the idea that prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled. It teaches that the prophecies of Daniel were fulfilled in the 2nd century B.C. and that the prophecies of Revelation were fulfilled in the 1st century A.D. The word preterism comes from the Latin praeter which means ‘past’ or ‘beyond’ signifying all or most of prophecy have been fulfilled by AD 70.  Schools of Interpretation 1. Preterism – There has historically been general agreement with non-preterists that the first systematic preterist exposition of prophecy was written by the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar during the Counter Reformation. Moses Stuart noted that Alcasar's preterist interpretation was of considerable benefit to the Roman Catholic Church during its arguments with Protestants, and preterism has been described in modern eschatological commentary as a Catholic defense against the Protestant Historicist view which identified the Roman Catholic Church as a persecuting apostasy.  Schools of Interpretation 1. Preterist: interprets the prophecy by referencing all its events in the past; saying that it was written during the Maccabean period as fiction (Doukhan, Daniel: The Vision of the End, 7-8). The interpretation leads to only a few short strides of events. The events occurred before or shortly after the author’s time. The focus is on the past (Daniel’s prophecy is mainly about Antiochus; Rev about Nero, the preterist says) Preterist interpretation was developed by Alcazar, the Spanish Jesuit from Seville, stating that the eschatology of the Apocalypse have taken place in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes or during the time of John (Jack J. Blanco, “The Historicist Interpretation of Prophecy: Its Present Relevance in Light of the Holy Spirit,” JATS 2/2 (1991):67-80.)  Schools of Interpretation 2. Futurism - Futurism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets portions of the Book of Revelation, the Book of Daniel, and other prophecies, as future events in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context. Futurist beliefs usually have a close association with Premillennialism and Dispensationalism. Some elements of the futurist interpretation of Revelation and Daniel can be found in some of earliest centuries of the Christian Church. Irenaeus of Lyon, for instance, was of the view that Daniel's 70th week awaited a future fulfillment.  Schools of Interpretation 2. Futurism - During the Middle Ages and the Reformation, futuristic interpretations were virtually non-existent. To counter the Protestant historicist interpretation of Daniel and Revelation. Roman Catholic Jesuit Francisco Ribera (1537–1591) wrote a 500 page commentary on the Book of Revelation. This commentary established the futurist interpretation of Bible prophecy.  Schools of Interpretation 2. Futurist: holds that all its prophecies will be fulfilled in the future. The dispensationalists take the final week of the 70 weeks and put it into the distant future just before Christ returns. (Doukhan, Daniel: The Vision of the End, 7-8.) The events of the prophecy concern the Parousia. The Futurist Interpretation of the Apocalypse was developed by both Ribera, a Jesuit of Salamanca, Spain and Bellarmine, a Jesuit of Rome. Most of the prophecies will be fulfilled within a seven year period before Christ returns (Blanco, “The Historicist Interpretation of Prophecy,” 69).  Schools of Interpretation 3. Idealism: belief that the prophecies have nothing to do with time fulfilment but are given to teach lessons in the struggles between good and evil Doukhan, Daniel: The Vision of the End, 7-8. The interpretation of apocalyptic prophecies is within a conception that is disconnected from specific historical events. This approach spiritualizes events to an eternal confrontation between good and evil  Schools of Interpretation 4. Apotelesmatic: says Apocalyptic prophecies have multiple fulfillment, Daniel 7 would point to Antiochus, Roman Catholicism, and any other power that attack God’s sanctuary; no final events are signs of Christ coming (Blanco, 69)  Schools of Interpretation 5. Dispensationalism - Dispensationalism is an evangelical, futurist, Biblical interpretation that understands God to have related to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants in a series of "dispensations," or periods in history. As a system, dispensationalism is expounded in the writings of John Nelson Darby (1800–82) and the Plymouth Brethren movement, and propagated through works such as Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible.  Schools of Interpretation 5. Dispensationalism - The theology of dispensationalism consists of a distinctive eschatological end times perspective, as all dispensationalists hold to premillennialism and most hold to a pretribulation rapture. Dispensationalists believe that the nation of Israel is distinct from the Christian Church, and that God has yet to fulfill his promises to national Israel. These promises include the land promises, which in the future world to come result in a millennial kingdom and Third Temple where Christ, upon his return, will rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years.  Schools of Interpretation 6. The historicist or historicism: interprets the prophecies with regards to historical events from the time of Daniel to the end when God sets up His kingdom. Doukhan, Daniel: The Vision of the End, 7-8. The events are from the author’s time to the eschaton. This approach is grounded in Scripture: Dan 2:37 “You, O king … are this head of gold.” Dan 2:39 “But after you shall arise another kingdom” Dan 2:44 “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed … it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”  The Historicist Approach The historicist method of prophetic interpretation was the most commonly used approach throughout church history. Reimar Vetne, “A Definition and Short History of Historicism as a Method for Interpreting Daniel and Revelation,” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 14/2 (Fall 2003): 1 [1-14]. “Historicism reads historical apocalyptic as prophecy intended by its ancient author to reveal information about real, in-history events in the time span between his day and the eschaton.” Vetne, “A Definition and Short History of Historicism,” 7. Historicism not only looks for the meaning implied in the text and intended by the author but claims to find authorial attempts at describing real, historical events and developments. Vetne, “A Definition and Short History of Historicism ,” 8.  The Historicist Approach The entire historical time-span from Babylon to Christ’s return is given in Daniel and from the early church to the His coming is given in Revelation. The Historicist Approach energized the reformation and led Luther to recognize the Roman pontiff as the Antichrist. The reformers by the historicist interpretations were moved to resist Rome even to their death. (Blanco, 68)  The Historicist Approach The series of outline prophecies unfold in an unbroken sequence of events leading up to the establishment of the eternal kingdom They focus on the conflict between the nations and Israel, and between the Anti-christ and Christ They reveal a repetition and enlargement of certain previous parts, and focus on redemptive history, specifically on the final conflict between good and evil Coverage of Apocalyptic prophecy: from the prophet’s time to the end of history Some are fulfilled, are being fulfilled, and will be fulfilled The fulfilment takes place within the flow of history as a whole  The Historicist Approach Daniel’s prophecies delineate history that have a universal sweep. They end with the consummation of God’s purposes. There is a cosmic range beginning in the time of the writer and runs to the eschaton.  The Historicist Approach There is sequential development: Dan 2:39, 40 Dan 7:4-7 Dan 8:17, 19 Dan 11:2, 6, 25, 40 Dan 12:1, 4  The Historicist Approach Recapitulation is central to apocalyptic. History is given from a particular perspective and, to some extent, parallels other prophetic cycles given (Dan 2; 7; 8; 11) The apocalyptic nature of the vision aims at a fulfillment specific enough to be located in one historical event or process. Multiple fulfilment is excluded (Dan 2:38 – Babylon is the head of gold) Time periods should be carefully studied to determine if they are literal or prophetic Study the biblical antecedents of language and imagery used before identifying their historic fulfilment  Views of Interpreting the book Preterism of Revelation The book does not contain any predictive prophecy John wrote to encourage the church facing an empire-wide, systematic persecution No evidence of this is found There is local persecution (1:9; 2:10, 13; 3:10) Stresses the historical background of Revelation messages of the book were not limited solely to the first century deprives Revelation of its prophetic character Messages intended to benefit the church of every generation throughout history  Views of Interpreting the book Idealism on Revelation No historic purpose of the symbols in the book Picture of ongoing struggle between good and evil (not fit into any historic period) No specific events Focus on timeless ethical truth no literal or historical significance of John's vision Like preterism, it denies the prophetic character of the book.  Views of Interpreting the book Futurism on Revelation Revelation (mainly chapters 4-22) is a prophecy of future events to take place just before and after the Second Coming relevant for the last generation of Christians living in the time of the end Many prophecies relate to time preceding the Second Coming, and even beyond that They overlook the fact that Revelation deals with the situation of the church in the world throughout the entire Christian era  Views of Interpreting the book Historicism Revelation provides a symbolic presentation of the prophetic outline of the future course of history from the apostolic times until the time of the end predictive prophecies are in the process of fulfillment Revelation is rooted in the book of Daniel which deals with sequential periods of history The symbols of the book portray various historical movements and events in the western world and the Christian church The contents of the book cover the period from the ascension of Christ to heaven until his return to earth  Views of Interpreting the book Historicism Caution: Don’t try to fit every detail of the text into a historical fulfillment Many based exposition on allegorical method, rather than on adequate Old Testament background Explanation of symbols should not be derived from newspaper articles and history books. Let the text govern the interpretation. If the studied text presents the events occurring throughout the course of history, a sound interpretation calls for a historicist approach to the text