My Hero Nero

[robycop3]

In a recent discussion here with some preterists, some still hold the incorrect idea that Nero was the beast/antichrist. Here are some reasons I posted going on 4 years ago why this idea is wrong:


Many preterists believe Nero was the "beast/antichrist/that Wicked/son of perdition/man of sin".

But they're WRONG !

Why?

1.) The beast will commit the AOD by entering the temple, setting up his statue in it, which the FP will supernaturally cause to speak, declare himself to be God, & demand that he & his statue be worshipped. Nero was never in Jerusalem, so he couldn'ta done those things.

2.) The beast will overthrow three other kings or rulers to attain his full power. Nero was APPOINTED Caesar by the Senate & Claudius, his grand-uncle & stepfather.

3.) The main "beast" will have another "beast" as his deputy who will be a miracle-working false prophet. Nero had no deputy at all, let alone one who could work miracles!

4.) No man can overcome the "beast". Nero was overthrown by the revolts of General Galba .

5.) Nero never issued, nor ordered to be issued, any "mark of the beast". To say his image on Roman coins was that mark is more-than-absurd & ridiculous!

6.) The Revelation plainly sez that the beast and false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire at Jesus' return, but Nero DIED by having his secretary Epaphrodatus stab him. Galba's men, who'd come to arrest Nero, tried to save his life, but he died in fronta them.

Thus, while Nero was a pretty evil person, he was NOT the great antichrist "beast". The REAL "beast MUST fulfill EVERY prophecy about him EXACTLY, TO THE LETTER. Sorry, prets, you're gonna hafta find another candidate to be your beast!

robycop3, Sep 24, 2017

Yes, Nero failed to meet many of the Scriptural criteria for the beast, and so has everyone else so far. NNE since the time of Jesus has entered the temple in Jerusalem accompanied by a miracle-working false prophet, set up a statue of himself, & declared himself to be God. This didn't occur in the old temple, & the new one hasn't been built yet.

The precedent for the "abomination of desolation" was in the 160s BC when Antiochus Epiphanes conquered Jerusalem, entered the temple, set up a statue of Zeus in it, & sacrificed a pig on the altar. The coming beast will do similar, except he will stop the sacrifices altogether, be accompanied by a miracle-working false prophet, set up a statue of himself, as he won't recognize any god but himself, & have the false prophet issue the "mark of the beast".

Plainly, those events HAVEN'T YET OCCURRED! There hasn't been a temple for them to occur in ! But there will be, & those events WILL occur.

Sorry, preterists; your doctrine is false. The eschatological events are still future !

 

[thomas15]

You are of course correct. To arrive at the preterist thinking on the matter, one has to make the decision that any passage of Scripture that clearly is in opposition to their thinking is not to be taken literal in any sense of the word. One also has to disregard the available historical record. The only way an individual can come to the preterist camp is to make a decision that the actual words of the Bible are just ideas not really factual. Very sad actually.

 

[robycop3]

When the prets see Nero wasn't their "beast" they next turn to TITUS. He became a prince of the Romans when they made his dad Vespasian the new Caesar. However, he didn't set up a statue of himself in the temple before it was destroyed, nor declare himself God, had no miracle-working false prophet as his deputy, nor issued any marka the beast. Realizing those things, prets next turn to some unknown Roman soldier(s) whom they say entered the temple, set up some statue in it (a notion completely unknown in both Jewish & secular history), or count the ensigns with depictions of eagles on them that each legion carried as an "image of the beast", and coins with a depiction of Caesar's head on them as the marka the beast.

In other words, prets hafta really stretch things to try to make history fit their garbage. The whole pret myth is phony as a $3 bill.

But this thread is about NERO. While Nero was guilty of many debaucheries, kinky sex, and murders, he fell far-short of the Scriptural criteria for the beast/antichrist.

 

[thomas15]

Who then is the historical anti-christ? The false prophet? The two witnesses? The 144,000 saved out of the tribulation? Why don't the nations head up to Jerusalem every year? Why do we need instruction in the way of the Lord? On and on.

I admire the prets though for two reasons. The first is they take the heat off of we futuristic dispies in that how can you make fun of dispensationalism and not the prets as the prets have the market of absurdity all to themselves? The other thing to admire is they have been quite successful in marking themselves as intellectual in spite of their lack of historical proof of their position.

 

[robycop3]

I don't see any prets taking up for their hero Nero here. (Or Preston, Gentry, Sproul, or any other of their quacks.)

 

[thomas15]

I don't see any prets taking up for their hero Nero here. (Or Preston, Gentry, Sproul, or any other of their quacks.)

It all comes down to how seriously one takes the actual words of the Bible. Does the individual base their theology on the prevailing thinking of other individuals, smart as they may be or do they base their theology on that which is consistent with the Bible and a never changing God? Once one lets the fog settle in it becomes difficult to see the details of the overall landscape.

 

[robycop3]

Scripture PROVES itself mostly-literal. Jesus said not one stone of the temple would be left upon another, & that LITERALLY came to pass, exactly. One can read Matt. 24 to see many of Jesus' prophecies in it have come to pass LITERALLY, exactly as written. And there's no valid reason to believe the rest won't come to pass just-as-literally and exactly!

 

[thomas15]

Scripture PROVES itself mostly-literal. Jesus said not one stone of the temple would be left upon another, & that LITERALLY came to pass, exactly. One can read Matt. 24 to see many of Jesus' prophecies in it have come to pass LITERALLY, exactly as written. And there's no valid reason to believe the rest won't come to pass just-as-literally and exactly!

My friend not mostly literal but rather precisely literal...
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:18

 

[robycop3]

My friend not mostly literal but rather precisely literal...
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:18

We seein Rev. 17 a brief description of a beast with a harlot riding it, which is certainly not literal. However, the angel showing it told John its literal meaning.