This search for meaning on the part of emerging Christians is creating a problem for those who are not eschatologically inclined in that the motivation for the positive outcome is the driving factor in realizing the presence and manifestation of the Kingdom, the Presence (Parousia) of Christ and all the other societal improvements we strive for. At the opposite spectrum we have those of us subscribing to a fulfilled eschatology by seeing the terribly negative and terrifying events described in Revelation as being already fulfilled at the fall of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70. As a result we have the opposite problem in that we struggle to grasp the “what now” question and understand that although we know that the Kingdom is here, Christ’s Presence is real and the world is not burning in a fire any time soon, we still try to figure out what it all means and what it should lead to.

Both emerging Christians lacking a fulfilled eschatology and fulfilled eschatologists lacking the motivation of emerging Christians are finding a new common and exciting ground which helps us all to address the contemporaneous problems experienced today not just by the Church as a result of Left Behind-style eschatology, but also experienced by the world at large, a world looking to us for answers which are more than often lacking. This is why a pre- or post-millennial prophetic paradigm will not work and will continue to fail to provide the necessary confidence in a bright future and the motivation to better that future without the fear of any-moment-destruction coming in the form of Christ’s nuclear Second Coming.

Rarely something dramatic happens without the aid of a dramatic paradigm shift, and in this case our understanding of prophecy requires such a dramatic shift in our understanding of the timing and nature of the Parousia. After all, I have personally met Christians who did not attend College, went into deep financial trouble and debt and became socially and politically inactive as a result of their eschatological expectations: an imminent destruction is at hand, and nothing really matters after all.

A re-imaging of prophecy is necessary in order to offer those solutions we long for both as Preterists and as emerging Christians. Understanding that the return of Christ has already happened and that is not a random event, understanding that it was physically manifested in the destruction of the Jewish temple, and understanding that the destruction was very specific and very localized to Jerusalem in A.D. 70 should prompt us all to rethink how we relate to the world in which we live; it should prompt us to reconsider the solutions we offer to the world, regardless of what kind of problems we face.

So as postmodern Christians are looking for the eschatology to justify their pro-active faith and societal involvement, so are Preterists looking for the societal involvement and pro-active faith in which to manifest their eschatology. There is no better time than now for cow tipping and re-imaging of Prophecy into something that is both scriptural and also does not require long-term Valium prescriptions. I hope that we can all become partners into making God’s dreams for this world become a reality. I believe that eschatology is a big part of that dream, and becoming partners on this journey is one of the most exciting thing we can do as Christians.

You can learn more about Preterism at: http://preterism.com