My church preaches full preterism. Your recent interview w Andrew Perriman is what I mostly mean by full preterism: basically, that the return of Christ happened already = the destruction of the temple in 70AD, the close of the Old Cov, the enstatement of heaven, the new heaven&earth (AKA, us instead of temples) etc. Essentially all that is within Revelation is symbol & using the same language as was used throughout the bible when discussing some political power enacting judgment on Israel (Egypt, Babylon, Persia, now Rome). That sits extremely well with me and I can’t read scripture and take anything to mean futuristically – That said:
There was still obvious questions to be had: what CHANGED at 70AD that the disciples weren’t experiencing, who was the satan/devil/serpent figure, why did Jesus have to die (AKA atonement theories, creation, etc) so it was this very eschatological belief that lead to deconstruction (and ya’ll!!). Now I believe that because of the fulfillment of the text and the return of Christ (AKA Christ indwelling all flesh) I can fully reconcile Universal salvation with biblical understanding – because the Christ (minutely different than holy spirit) is in all people.
When studying about the serpent (AKA, nahas AKA fiery serpent AKA seraphim!?) I found this term used elsewhere in the OT like pretty much anytime a terrible political power was at play (Yahweh even SENDS fiery serpents to bite Israel) i couldn’t understand that in the Garden. UNTIL I understood A&E as symbols for Israel and death for exile. Now the serpent as political imagery makes sense but I need to know more. (Note – totally believe satan is a symbol for Law in the NT and Devil is a personification of sin’s desire)
The serpent symbol & universal reconciliation
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