Preterist

Preterist refers to a person who interprets biblical prophecy as having been fulfilled in the past, especially during the first centuries of the Christian era. The term is derived from the Latin praeteritus, meaning past, and it contrasts with futurism, which interprets prophecies as events that will occur in the future.

Within Christian eschatology, preterism is commonly divided into partial preterism and full (or hyper) preterism. Partial preterism holds that many prophecies in the New Testament, including the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and much of the Revelation, were fulfilled in the first century—most notably the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE—while some events, such as the Second Coming and the final judgment, remain future. Full preterism, by contrast, argues that all biblical prophecies, including the Second Coming, were fulfilled in the past; this view is not widely accepted among mainstream Christian groups and is sometimes labeled hyperpreterism.

Origins and reception: Preterist interpretation has historical roots in early Christian interpretive impulses that linked prophecy to first-century events. In modern scholarship, preterism gained prominence as a corrective to futurist readings in the 18th–20th centuries and remains a minority position within most denominations, which typically adhere to futurist or idealist readings of Revelation.

Method and emphasis: Preterists emphasize the historical context of first-century Judea and the Roman Empire, arguing that apocalyptic language often describes concrete events of that era. They tend to read Revelation and Daniel as referring to contemporaneous political and religious developments rather than to events yet to occur at the end of time.

Related topics include eschatology, futurism, and millennialism.