News: New Prophets Of Revelation - Newsweek letter to the editor
Posted on Tuesday, June 22 @ 07:00:51 PDT by Virgil |
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darrens submitted: "This is my "first post" on the wonderful planetpreterist.com, so I hope I chose the correct topic. The only other "Letter to the editor" posts I found were by Walt Hibbard and Don Preston (re. the same issue, ironically). Since they are "columnists" (and I presumably am not) I could not choose the same topic, thus I chose "Mailbag".
To: letters@newsweek.com
Subject: re. "The New Prophets Of Revelation", 24 May 2004 issue
I appreciate the fact that your writers always strive for objectivity. However, I was disappointed when I realized that none of your articles (including the glossary of prophecy terms) made any mention of "preterism", also known as "covenant theology" - which is less known today, but was the predominant viewpoint for interpreting prophecy until at least the mid-1850's.
Preterists understand that when the Bible speaks of a "time of the end" (*never* "the end of time"!) it refers to the "last days" of the old covenant Jewish age, which is first predicted in Genesis 49:1. All of these prophecies were perfectly fulfilled in that 40-year generation spanning from Jesus' earthly ministry and atoning death to the destruction in A.D. 70 of Jerusalem and its temple (crucial to the sacrificial system instituted by Moses).
A simple reading of the New Testament letters reveals a significant theme: every single writer expected the "end of all things" to occur in their own lifetimes (not ours!) as demonstrated in 1Corinthians 7:29-31, Philippians 4:5, Hebrews 10:37, James 5:8-9, and especially Romans 13:12 and 1Peter 4:7 and 1John 2:18. The Bible was not written "to" us, even though it was preserved "for" us.
Proverbs reminds us that it is foolish to settle a matter before considering all sides, so I suggest your readers visit "RaptureReadyInsurance.com" with an open mind, read the "Ministry" page, and especially listen to the hundreds of archived radio broadcasts found there.
Preterism confirms the integrity of God, the deity of Jesus Christ, and the infallibility of the Bible as God's word (not a collection of myths or cryptic imagery). For me, it made the Bible come alive - resulting in freedom instead of fear, as I now know that God keeps His promises and brings liberty and strength to all who trust Him!
Darren Semotiuk
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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[postamble]
Needless to say, the Newsweek issue 2 weeks later did not include this letter (even edited greatly), nor did it include that written by Don Preston, or any other preterist.
However I would still would encourage all of you out there to take advantage of opportunities, and take the time to write in response to one-sided prophecy coverage, for you never know if a truth-seeker may somehow be faced with the questions you have raised!
I of course emailed Newsweek afterwards, expressing my concern that they were essentially censoring alternative viewpoints, even in the letters to the editor. I plan on finding that message in my mess of emails, and when I do I will add it as an addendum to this topic, in case you folks are curious."
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