Perhaps the main leader of the "hyperpreterists" at the time was a man named Sam Frost. Frost is known for his arrogance, elitism and his pandering. It eventually came to light that Frost was being allowed to help develop student material for a supposed Christian seminary. I sent an email to the seminary requesting verification; though I never used Frost's name specifically in the email. Next thing I know, the "president" of the seminary had released my email to Frost and per Frost gave Frost full authorization to answer for the seminary. I was shocked. In times past, Dee Dee Warren also would have been shocked and outraged. But something changed. Talbot offered Dee Dee Warren a free tuition to his seminary. He called her on the phone and flattered her (Rom 16:17-18). At first, (before I could see the entire picture) Dee Dee convinced me we should give Talbot a chance; that there had been some sort of misunderstanding. I began conversing with Talbot on the phone. During at least one of those phone conversations Talbot joked how Frost called him up, perhaps drunk (per Talbot) rambling on about how Frost wanted to sue Dee Dee Warren. I thought perhaps Talbot was beginning to see the real Sam Frost -- a self-serving man with a huge ego.
I worked with Talbot some more. He eventually too offered me a free tuition. I was hesitant to accept it because I have a policy of being as free as possible from conflicts of interests so that I may remain as objective as possible. Talbot told me at the time he would have me forgo the eschatology portion of the course since he thought I had proven to already know this subject.
A TURN
At some point Talbot and I clashed over Talbot's pet project; "Clarkainism". Clarkianism is the belief of deceased Gordon Clark; especially Clark's epistemological axiom of "The Bible is the Word of God written". While there is nothing wrong in that statement, as it is certainly true; epistemology is about why/how we know what we know. Clark had always been considered outside the realm of historical (Reformed) Christian views; especially on presuppositionalism, so much so that Clark's ordination into the OPC was opposed by the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary. At the heart of the dispute is Clark's concept of the "comprehensibility of God", especially via the "primacy of intellect"; whereas Clark's opponents such as Cornelius Van Til argued the traditional Christian view of the "incomprehensibility of God" via the "seed of religion/seed of divinity".
To simplify; Clark advocates God can be fully known/comprehended via intellect and that we can and should approach the Bible with sheer logic. Whereas Van Til and historical Christianity advocates that while indeed the Bible is the Word of written; man cannot really comprehend God fully, however within all humanity is the "seed of religion" or an innate awareness of deity. This concept comes especially from Romans 1:20:
"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"This was the belief of men such as John Calvin and B.B. Warfield. Warfield was so adamant about this concept that he once said:
"It is quite obvious that such a knowledge of God as Calvin here postulates as the unavoidable and ineradicable possession of man, is far from a mere empty conviction that such a being as God exists. The knowledge of God which is given in our knowledge of self is not a bare perception, it is a conception: it has content." -- sourceIt is over this point that Talbot and I clashed. It would not have been such a big deal but the Clarkian "primacy of intellect" undermines Christianity. It makes the Bible out to be more of a book on logical constructs that any logician can approach and "comprehend", and this is exactly how a Full Preterist approaches the Bible. The Full Preterist can see all of the unity in the teaching of historical Christian eschatology but then still claim "primacy of intellect" over all of that united interpretation simply because the Full Preterist thinks he has comprehended the Bible in a more logical way. Never mind that Christianity has always been a group faith; interpreted via God's/the Holy Spirit's leading.
Talbot's radical Clarkianism undermined the approach toward refuting Full Preterism and has allowed the Full Preterist to rightly point out the hypocritically convoluted nature of "Partial-Preterism". This is not necessary a bad thing, since I believe Partial-Preterism should be the first to fall.
As Talbot and I split ways, I eventually left Dee Dee Warren's ministry; as she had become an avowed defender of everything Talbot.
As the years have gone on, I have continued to point out not only Talbot's convoluted Clarkianism but his incipient "Chiltonized Preterism" he calls "Realized Preterism". David Chilton was a Partial-Preterist who had converted to Full Preterism a few years before his death. I continued to point out how Talbot manipulated people, either through the offer of free tuitions as he done to Dee Dee and myself (buying off people); to how Talbot actually allowed unrepentant Full Preterist, Larry Siegle enroll in his seminary to train to be minister.
As time went on, Talbot duped more and more people. With Dee Dee Warren well-flattered, there was no one to oppose him but me; who was made to appear to simply be a disgruntled reject.
DEAR DEE DEE
So, here we are in 2013. Dee Dee Warren's ministry is a mere ghost of itself. Talbot's cronies have anointed themselves the new masters against Full Preterism; as they themselves espouse a convoluted form of bastardized Full Preterism. Dee Dee Warren no longer challenges anything. She is relegated to re-archiving her websites (posting old articles) or making odd videos of herself. Talbot has destroyed her. He was there to officiate rather than counsel against a quick re-marriage that lasted hardly a year.
Dee Dee, I'm sorry I couldn't get through to you. I'm sorry I couldn't figure how to approach all of this in a way that would have helped you avoid being a Talbot pawn in his "plan" (his words). He destroyed you and it was painful to watch.
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