One of the favorite arguments that Hyper-Preterists employ to “win” an argument is the concept that they call “audience relevance.” This doctrine, as developed by Hyper-Preterists, is really a subtle perversion of the grammatical/historical/contextual mode of interpretation.  

   Hyper-Preterists will say that when a prophecy was addressed within a first-century time-frame, it had to be fulfilled THEN, or else the person making the prediction is a false prophet.  Since no Christian will ever agree to such a proposition, Hyper-Preterists think they have a rock-solid argument for their view that the second advent happened in A.D. 70. 

    Before you get uptight and uncomfortable, or start to admit that Hyper-Preterists MAY have a valid point, let us show the silliness of the Hyper-Preterist view, which reveals “their world” as something quite different from that of ordinary Christians.

   A good example of H.P.’s ”audience relevance” argument is found in the  Olivet Discourse, where Christ says: “Then shall they deliver YOU up to be afflicted, and shall kill YOU; and YE shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake” (Matt. 24: 9).

   The typical Hyper-Preterist will point to this verse, and insist that the personal pronoun “YOU” refers to the original hearers of the discourse. And of course, they are right.

   But their interpretation is wrong for this very reason. For in verses 15-21, Christ says: “When YE therefore shall see the abomination of desolation… then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains… for then shall be Great Tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

   Mark’s account of the same discourse informs us that the original hearers were Peter, James, John, and Andrew (see Mark 13: 3). So, according to Hyper-Preterists, if all of these men did not see the abomination of desolation, then Christ is a false prophet.

   We must infer that either Christ or Hyper-Preterists are mistaken; since James (the brother of John) was killed by Herod several years before the outbreak of the Jewish war (see Acts 12: 1-2). Plus, there is no record that any of the other three apostles were in Jerusalem when the tribulation began. Therefore, by Hyper-Preterism’s own admission, our Lord was a false prophet. This is why Hyper-Preterists should not be considered as Christians.

   Another example of the same argument may be culled from the epistles of Paul. Although 2 Corinthians 5: 1-5 is a much disputed passage (as to its precise interpretation by Preterists), all Hyper-Preterists agree that Paul is talking about the resurrection that will take place at the Lord’s second advent. A comparison of these verses with 1 Cor. 15: 51-54 will confirm this.

   In both passages, however, Paul places himself among the number of those who hoped to be tranformed without dying. He uses the pronoun “WE” and “US.”

    (1 Cor. 15: 51) “Behold, I show you a mystery; WE shall not all sleep, but WE shall be changed.”

   (2 Cor. 5: 5) “Now He That hath wrought US for the selfsame thing [i.e., transformation without dying, as indicated by verse 4] is God, Who also hath given unto US the earnest of the Spirit.”

   The question to ask Hyper-Preterists is this: Do the pronouns “we” and “us” include the apostle who is writing? If so  –  and who is so foolish as to say “no”? –   then it is clear that a “remaining alive” unto the parousia of Christ was Paul’s expectation when he wrote.

   Now, ask the Hyper-Preterist another question: Was Paul alive in A.D. 70? No, he was not.  Paul died during the reign of Nero, in A.D. 68. Well, according to Hyper-Preterist reasoning, that fact makes Paul a false prophet. Again, since this is what Hyper-Preterists really believe, they should not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES be considered Christians.

   It should be noted, that sometimes this flaky argument is used by Partial Preterists of an extreme mindset.  Folks like Gary DeMar stress the use of personal pronouns in prophetic literature, and imply that since the prophecies were addressed to THEM, their fulfillment must be past.  But how any Partial Preterist can hope to use this argument and remain standing on his/her two pegs, is a matter beyond our comprehension.  It’s similar to a toddler trying to hoist a gallon of milk “all by himself.”   

   The fact is, that both Christ and Paul DID place the parousia in a first-century time frame. However, indications of a “near” parousia were never offered as peremptory declarations!  The fulfillment of the parousia was (and still is) conditional on Jewish national repentance (Matt. 23: 39; Acts 3: 19-21; Hosea 5: 15).  Since Israel never repented in the first century, the second advent never materialized; and thus it and all related prophecies await a future fulfillment.  Because Hyper-Preterists wrongly view the time indicators as peremptory statements, their whole theology gets overthrown when we show that the original audience never saw fulfillment. 

    It happens these bloopers are common events, though, in the funny, silly, goofy, and irrelevant world that Hyper-Preterists choose to live in.