This is kind of a long response that I recently wrote to a friend of mine. She knew that I was looking into preparing for the upcoming economic downturn and wanted to know what she could do to better prepare herself for “the END” as she put it. I feel it sums up how I came to learn about preterism:
“I like the subject line of your email.... this is how I was trained to think at one time from my theological presuppositions until I started asking some difficult questions that eventually led me on a quest for what I call "empirical truth." What I learned on my quest for truth put me through a roller coaster of ups and downs of paranoia about preparing for 'the end' and eventually led me to an optimistic outlook for the future and peace of mind. What we believe about the future determines how we live in the present. In my case, it was tied to theology.
I'm sorry to have to bore you with this whole discourse but I feel I must give you the whole story so you know exactly where I stand because the subject line of your email leads me to believe you might be caught up in the same 'end times' paradigm that I was in not too long ago.
As you know, I came from a churchy background. I was raised to believe that the world was going to get worse and worse and worse until eventually God would return to 'rapture' his remaining believers to let Satan have his way on the earth for a literal seven year 'great tribulation' culminating in the battle of Armageddon and then the final judgment as the stars fall from the heavens and earth is destroyed with fire. This scenario may sound familiar to you.
This mindset led me to believe that there was nothing that I could do about the current state of the world or the chaos that it involves. Things were just going to have to get worse, and that was seemingly a 'good' thing because that meant that the rapture was getting nearer. This paradigm led me to believe that I shouldn't have to prepare for hard times because God will soon return for his faithful.
This was all great, until someone told me that the rapture was going to be a 'post-trib' (post-tribulation, or after the great tribulation Revelation speaks about) rapture instead of a pre-trib rapture. I was trained in thought from some of my classes at MSU to first ask HOW something can or can not be true before you first say THAT CAN'T be true when you hear something new that challenges your current presuppositions. If you immediately say THAT CAN'T be true, then you unknowingly expose your personal paradigm and your ability to think open-mindedly, thus defeating yourself in your personal 'quest for truth'. So, I asked HOW can that be true and I went and did the research. I looked and looked and looked in the bible and used many different references and even read every single transcript from every sermon my pastor did on the book of Revelation. I could not find ANY solid evidence for a pre-trib rapture. Therefore, I evolved into the post-trib mindset and knew that the eventual 'great tribulation' was directly approaching and I had to try to survive.
This is when I started freaking out about everything that I read in the news and about the economy. I was in contact with a group of other 'post-tribbers' in the area and they were seriously stockpiling supplies in a fort in the mountains for 7 years. This state of paranoia ensued until someone told me that the battle of Armageddon already happened in the first century, in A.D. 70. You already know my protocol for when I hear something new… I felt this was important to know the truth about, so of course, I looked into it.
Let me just say from here on out, I believe that I have found truth. I still see what is happening in the economy but now I see why it is happening and who is doing it. I also see what their motivation is. It all comes back to what happened in the first century, this is event is important.
After understanding this, I know that we will of course be enduring some hard times financially and you should do whatever you can do to prepare. But this is the key: DON'T FREAK OUT because its NOT the end of the world as some preachers may say... they're wrong. We will get through this and there will be good times yet in the future, maybe not in the context that we enjoy good times today, but retain your optimism. To directly answer your question about what I have done to get myself better prepared? Not much actually... just trying to survive, staying happy, and working at building my business into a multi-million dollar corporation. That's about it. I am looking into the future at new technologies that will help reduce our dependence on $%^$^^&!! diesel fuel and gas and better ways to wean our ranch from the pansy-ass power grid that left my folks without power for three weeks after that big May 3 storm. I want to be on the cusp of these technologies because I am an early-adapter and I have a much better outlook on the future then I once did. I see what our country needs to change and instead of being a retreatist or an isolationist (bunker mentality) I want to be an opportunist to help steer things back on track.
It has been said that sometimes science only evolves a generation at a time. Certainly not in the technology side of science but in our profession of rangeland ecology we know this statement to be true. It seems that certain protocols are used for the sole reason that this is what our predecessors have done. Nobody really questions the methodology because their mind is stuck in a box. This same pattern of thinking, I believe, is the basis for most of the problems that I have found in my theological study. Nobody has heard about preterism because nobody asks questions. People are comfortable with their minds in a box and choose which truth best fits in their presuppositional box. Granted, this truth that they hold on to is only authoritatively true and not empirically true because this truth comes from the pastor of the church that they go to and is limited by the scope of his study at seminary. Also, they chose to go to that pastor for answers because their parents and grandparents always went to that church, which also fits nicely in their presuppositional box.
I look back at this whole theological discussion of “the END” and I can’t help but chuckle. It really is pretty silly, you know. If my former pastor knew that I was asking these sorts of questions, he would proclaim this is surely a sign that the end times are approaching because it says in the bible that false teachers and false prophets would rise in the last days. I am only buying into this “false gospel” of the end times and before I know it, I’ll be walking around with 666 on my forehead or something. I only chuckle about this now because I see the whole picture and how this style of interpretation is self-fulfilling.
The KEY to finding this empirical truth that I was talking about earlier and also advancing yourself in your career is being able to constantly re-evaluate your thinking in a continuous feedback loop like Allan Savory describes in his book Holistic Resource Management. This holistic style of thinking applies to all walks of life and to any issue, including theology. I have taken what I call a holistic approach to bible exegesis and that has led me to where I am today in my current state of understanding and daily joyful bliss. Also, don't go to one pastor if you're looking for answers. Go to multiple pastors and understand what each of their presuppositions are first before claiming to have an unbiased understanding. I assumed the active role of a neutral juror in my quest for truth in eschatology and I likened listening to each pastor's opinion on this subject as a couple lawyers making their case in the courtroom. I gave the verdict to the point of view that could make the best argument--a case that stands up to the test of credible evidence and the test of testimony from multiple witnesses.
The world makes much more sense to me now. Life is good, really, when you understand God always keeps his word and does things when he says he is going to do them (Will Not Delay)! The problem is that we just don't always understand! Sorry for being so long-winded in my reply. Seldom do I see someone like you that sees the trouble that our economy is in and knows that we need to do something about it and wants to learn more. Keep yer chin up and I'll be praying for you.”
