Any full-length exposure of the fallacies and dangers of Hyper-Preterism will eventually  bring one to deal with the issue of why so many former Hyper-Preterists have become atheists.  Not so, you reply?  Well, far from claiming the untrue, the Hyper-Pret/atheist connection is not an isolated phenomena, but a relatively common one.  All the names are not in.  However, during the last couple years there have been at least five or six Hyper-Preterist teachers who have found it more logical to simply deny the existence of God.  Shouldn’t this make us want to investigate the reasons?

   I recently penned two posts called The Infidelity of Preterism and the Unbelief of Preterism.  Although brief and hastily written, they are in some respects two of the most important pieces I’ve authored to date.  They explore an issue that is hardly at all acknowledged among members of the Hyper-Preterist camp, and that is the rationalistic and skeptical tendencies of those who come to embrace their doctrines. 

   I believe that this tendency is one reason why many Hyper-Preterists now deny the existence of God.  There is something uncannily “logical” about the teachings of Hyper-Preterism.  But it is infinitely more “logical” to realize that if Hyper-Preterism is true (which it is not) Christianity is a colossal hoax, and not worthy to be believed.  

  After all, isn’t Hyper-Preterism little more than a smoke-and-mirror show?  It is based entirely on a deductive line of reasoning, intended to ”suggest” that Jesus Christ returned in A.D. 70.  Of course Hyper-Preterists can’t Biblically prove their doctrine, as there is not a single verse in the New Testament that looks back on Christ’s second advent as a completed event. But by following a train of a priori reasoning mapped out by selected proof-texts, Hyper-Preterists seek to “lead” one to the inevitable conclusion that Christ’s coming is past.  The weight of contrary evidence is then made to conform to this conclusion.

   Hyper-Preterists will use some objective support from history.  For instance, many of them are fond of the Jewish historian Josephus.  But apart from this collation of historical facts, Hyper-Preterists do not allow very much verification of their doctrines.  Just suppose that Christ returned on the 5th of August, A.D. 70.  How can any Hyper-Preterist prove that there was a general judgment on that day?  Obviously, he can’t!  So he’s left holding a bag of suppositions, which must fall apart under a more critical analysis.

  Unless he prefers to remain in the dark, the Hyper-Preterist must in due time accept the very conclusion that he himself would have forced on the Christian community.  Namely, if what Jesus said would happen didn’t happen, then (say they) Jesus must be a false prophet. 

   Consider Matt. 10: 28, where Christ says that souls and bodies will be cast into hell.  Compare this with clear statements of Mark 9: 43-48.  “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched: where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

 Then hearken to Isaiah: ”from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fie be quenched; and they shall be an abbhoring unto all flesh” (Isaiah 66: 23-24).

  Now, go to Josephus, and look in vain for any evidence of a wholesale  bestowal of such punishments on the 5th of August, A.D. 70.  The ones who died in the siege don’t count, for they perished when the temple was still standing.  So that argument is nullified. 

  And then, what about the promised rewards?  The flight to Pella likewise doesn’t count, for it happened long before the temple was destroyed.  I am looking for proof that eternal rewards and punishments were meted to men on August 5th, A.D. 70, when the temple was destroyed: for that was supposedly the date of Christ’s coming.  Silence.  Well, isn’t the conclusion irresistable that what Jesus said would happen didn’t happen?  And if it didn’t, can’t you see where atheism might be viewed as a viable alternative to Hyper-Preterism?

   Note that a textual argument doesn’t “prove” anything.  Atheists often use the “timing texts” to prove that Christianity is false.  They say that because Jesus didn’t return “on time,” Christianity isn’t worthy to be believed.  The Hyper-Preterists counter this by saying that the return was on time.  But the atheists ask for objective and verifiable proof.  Hyper-Prets claim that there isn’t any; or rather they posit the destruction of the temple as proof.  But this doesn’t convince the atheist.  Rather it supports his argument that Jesus didn’t return.  If this is all the “proof” you have (say the atheists), then Christianity isn’t the religion it’s cracked up to be. 

   The sad fact is, Hyper-Preterists, rather than question the validity of their premises, will sooner endorse the atheist’s reasoning, and conclude that there is no Higher Being.  This is because heresy has its source in the pride of the human heart.  Rather than admit their premises were mistaken, Hyper-Preterists allow their pride to dominate.  Because they couldn’t have Christianity their way, they’ll say that God doesn’t exist.  “The fool hath said in his heart, that there is no God” (Psalm 14: 1).

   And in such a manner does Hyper-Preterism logically lead to atheism.  Instead of accepting Hyper-Preterism’s “solution” to the doubts of rationalistic scoffers, atheists will, to speak bluntly, wipe their tails on a religion that is so inconsistent that only profoundly illogical people will ever accept it.  If you’re a Hyper-Preterist, I urge you to wake up now and return to pure unwavering faith in Christ!  Atheists could care less about your arguments.  And if you meet one, I assure you you’ll get the worst of it, logic being on his side, and not yours.