The Hyperpreterist Mind

For a while now, I’ve been in communication with several people who have been looking into hyperpreterism.  Hyperpreterism looks attractive to some people because of years & years of toiling within the falsehood of “Left Behindism”.  Hyperpreterism tries to supplant itself into the position that is rightly that of historic Christianity — that is, historic Christianity has NEVER been part of the fatalistic “Left Behind” mentality.  Historic Christianity has always advocated a victorious, triumphant mentality.  As we are more than conquerors in Christ…even now. (Romans 8:37)
What hyperpreterism does to a person more than anything else destructive that it does, is to disconnect a person from sound reason.  It calls each individual to redefine everything from words to concepts until the person becomes “wise in their own eyes”. (Proverbs 26:12)
An example of this is seen in a recent discussion upon a question posed by a member of a hyperpreterist community site.  The question was

Is cussing wrong and is God offended by words that our culture deem vulgar? It’s assumed wrong in Christianity, but I wonder if anyone has studied this out in the bible?

Let’s look at some of the answers.


Hyperpreterist presumed “scholar” & “pastor” Sam Frost:

I considered the audience. Having a glass of wine or a beer, same thing. I think you know in your “heart” when it is APPROPRIATE and not appropriate, and really what we are talking about comes down a lot to that: appropriate-ness.

Then the esteemed  Hyperpreterist “Doctor Birks” gives a bogus origin for the word sh**.

Does anyone here know where the word “sh**” comes from? (Oops! Did I just cuss? Let’s see…) It’s a term that originated with longshoreman and folks who worked in ship docking jobs, loading and unloading cargo in ships. When something was too fragile to have been placed on the bottom of a stack of containers, they would stamp the initials, S.H.*.T on the side. It meant, “Ship High In Transit.”

He’s full of….well.  The word origin is German. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/shit
scheissen. (as is many of our other cuss words)
Now, on to the biblical response to cussing/profanity.

Eph 5:3-4 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Obviously, what is considered “filthiness/foolish talking” is cultural & in our culture even as corrupt as it is, cuss words are considered filthiness/foolish talking — especially as they are really unnecessary words, often adding nothing to the context but angst & attitude.  It certainly ISN’T gentle, graceful speech. (Col 4:6)
Further, we see this text:

Col 3:6-8
Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

The Greek word in Col 3:6-8 is αἰσχρολογία which “foul speaking”.  Note also how this is used in non-biblical Greek.
So, while the Bible doesn’t say this word or that word is profane, it certainly shouldn’t be too difficult for a Christian to understand the need to NOT sound like, look like, or behave like heathens. It certainly is not becoming of people who claim to be “pastors” & “doctors” to go around & justify away profane speech by telling people it depends what company you are keeping or giving some bogus origin for a profane word.
This is what you get when you hang out with people who are “wise in their own eyes” — so wise that they claim 2000 years worth of Christian interpretation has been dead wrong.
[original link: http://preterism.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cussing-1]