Thursday, August 18, 2011

FP/Hyperpreterist "churches" and "pastors"

When I was a hyperpreterist, I took the "paradigm" in a consistent way. Hyperpreterism doesn't merely affect eschatology. Any hyperpreterist that claims it only affects eschatology is either lying or too new to realize what is going on. Anyhow, one area I was concerned about as a hyperpreterist was ecclesiology -- how church functions within "full preterism".

For example, if all ended in AD70, then the import of Jesus hand-picking apostles to guide the Church in His absence takes on new meaning. And the "elders" over the "bunkers" of congregations waiting for Christ's return had a specific and time-limited purpose. This seems especially obvious when reading 1 Pet 5:1-4:

"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
If we are CONSISTENT with the FP/hyperpret paradigm, then the preAD70 "elders" function was to:


(1) Feed the flock among them
(2) Oversee the local congregation [not for financial gain]

And when the Chief Shepherd, Jesus appeared, in AD70 per the FP/hyperpret, then those elders would receive a crown/reward for being stewards of the local congregations over which they were APPOINTED. Who appointed postAD70 "elders" and when if ever would they get their reward???