That is my position after being a preterist and studying the bible intensely and realizing there is absolutely no scriptural nor historic support for preterism.
I was introduced to preterism early in my Christian life, & I soon began to wonder why, if preterism were true, the earth was the same as it was before 70 AD except for the modern inventions. So, I started doing some research at my public library, before the Internet age.
Meanwhile, I was told by some prets that the words of the Bible were largely figurative/symbolic/metaphorical, and whatever events Jesus had prophesied had already come to pass, all that God intended.And the preterists placed heavy reliance upon "this generation.....".
However, as I studied several Bible versions, from the Geneva thru the NASV, I saw many things jesus had prophesied had come to pass LITERALLY, TO THE LETTER. For example, I saw that the temple in jerusalem had been destroyed to the extent that not one of its stones remained upon another as originally placed, just as Jesus had said. I've kept up with current events ever since early childhood, so I knew there was war, rumor of war, persecution of Christians, etc. etc. JUST AS JESUS HAD SAID.
One of the best gifts I have ever received is the
Encyclopaedia Britannica. I've read its volum3es voraciously for years, as well as its annual yearboox. And I didn't find one quark of evidence in it, and in several other world history volumes, that says the eschatological events have already occurred. But I learned that Luis Del Alcazar(1554-1613), a Spanish jeezit, formulated what would later be called preterism in his work,
Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalypsi (1614), published after his death, whose aim was to protect his popes from being labeled the "beast/antichrist" by Protestants.(Another false doctrine in itself) This work was taken up, praised, & expanded upon by Hugo Grotius & John Donne, & thus the foundation for preterism was established.
Now to me, the "official" preterism doctrine, full or partial, begins with the coming of the "beast from the sea/antichrist/man of sin/that Wicked" to power. (I believe that, despite all the different titles, this will be ONE MAN, same as Jesus is ONE PERSONAGE despite all His different titles.) Scripture makes it plain this one man will rule the world & that no man can defeat him. it appears from Scripture that he will have full power for about 3.5 years, during which the AOD, great trib, & mark of the beast will occur. And it's very, VERY obvious that NO such man has ever come to power yet.
And, seeing the LITERAL AND EXACT fulfillemnt of Jesus' prophecies that HAVE come to pass, I have NO doubt the others will come to pass JUST-AS-LITERALLY!
Keeping with the theme of this thread, Jesus' parousia(return), it's again very, VERY obvious it has NOT yet occurred. First, Jesus had Paul write, in a letter to the Thessalonians that became Scripture, that event would not occur til the man of sin came to power & committed the AOD by entering the temple in Jerusalem & proclaiming himself to be God. This didn't occur in the old temple, so a new one must be built.
And I came to the conclusion that "this generation" must refer to the one that'll actually see those events occur.
Next, Jesus said His parousia will be IN GREAT POWER AND GLORY, and in Rev. 1:7, He said it'd be SEEN BY ALL.
Next, His return will be PERMANENT, & He will take over all rule on earth. And in Matthew 24:23-28 He warns against believing anyone who says He's already come in secret, just as some people did soon after He departed,(The ones Paul wrote about in 2 Thess.2) and some people do today!
There's simple NO valid reason a BAPTIST should believe the parousia has already occurred! That's preterist nonsense! The parousia will be the MOST-SPECTACULAR event ever seen by mortal man! There'll be no mistaking it for anything else! So, Sportzz fanzz, please put aside the writings of Alcazar, Grotius, Donne, Sproul, Gentry, Preston, etc. & stick to the Bible and reliable, unbiased works of history, rejecting any & all MAN-MADE doctrines of faith & worship!