![]() Some of the prophecies in Revelation (e.g., 20:7–22:21) have yet to be fulfilled, but many, if not most, of the prophecies in the book have been fulfilled. This does not mean that all of the prophecies in the book have already been fulfilled. I believe that the book itself demands a basically preterist approach. He concluded that the correct method of interpreting the book of Revelation was to blend the futurist and preterist methods.viii He has been followed in this basic eclectic approach, although with different emphases, by a number of scholars including Gregory Beale, Grant Osborne, and Vern Poythress.ixīecause the approach one takes to the book of Revelation dramatically affects one's exegetical conclusions, it is necessary that I explain the reasons I take the approach I do. As one proponent of this view explains, "The solution is to allow the preterist, idealist, and futurist methods to interact in such a way that the strengths are maximized and the weaknesses minimized."vii One of the first to espouse such an approach was George Ladd. A number of scholars, however, have begun to propose a fifth approach, which may be termed the eclectic approach. Until recently these various approaches have been considered by most to be mutually exclusive. Instead, it uses symbols to express timeless principles concerning the conflict between good and evil. According to this view, Revelation does not contain prophecies of specific historical events. According to the preterist approach, most of the prophecies in the book of Revelation were fulfilled not long after John wrote.v In other words, their fulfillment is past from the perspective of the twenty-first century.vi The fourth major approach to the book is the idealist or symbolic approach. This approach appears to have had its roots in the writings of Joachim of Fiore.iii It was later adopted by most of the Protestant Reformers, but it is held by very few today.iv The preterist approach to Revelation is most clearly contrasted with the futurist approach. The historicist approach understands Revelation to be a prophecy of church history from the first advent until the Second Coming of Christ. According to proponents, this conclusion grows out of a belief that there is no correspondence between these prophesied events and anything that has yet occurred in history.ii In other words, all of these prophesied events are still in the future from the perspective of the twenty-first century. Over the course of the church's history there have been four main approaches: the futurist, historicist, preterist, and idealist approaches.i The futurist approach understands everything from Revelation 4:1 forward to be a prophecy of things that are to occur just before the Second Coming of Christ. An issue that must be addressed before proceeding to an examination of the text of Revelation is our basic hermeneutical approach to the book.
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