Foreword from Beyond the End Times

Tradition is hard to change simply because change of any kind is hard to accept. If we’ve been mistaken, we hate to admit it. When we don’t want to change, any excuse is a good excuse. It is like the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” People saw what they wanted to see. But then came the disturber-of-the-peace who suggested that the emperor was not wearing any clothes. It was “kill the messenger” time! That was easier than changing their views.

Some will call John Noe a disturber-of-the-peace, but don’t take up arms until you hear him out. Christ warns us against being gullible, but He also commands us to be teachable. Those clinging to the futuristic fulfillment systems that this book challenges can be the least teachable sometimes. But John Noe is a gifted Bible teacher, and he exposes their “fatal flaw” and the reason they will always have failed predictions.

I first became aware of John Noe in 1991 when his book, The Apocalypse Conspiracy, was published by Wolgemuth and Hyatt/Word. At that time, John was not aware of the already existing preterist movement and what it stood for. But he had seen enough of the excesses of the futurist date-setters to realize there was a serious problem with their interpretation of Bible prophecy. He also was convinced that the book of Revelation could be understood by all believers. In his pursuit to interpret it he noticed what seemed to be almost a conspiracy to obscure its meaning and profiteer from its fearful images. He wrote The Apocalypse Conspiracy for those reasons. It was a harbinger of even better things to come from his pen.

John is not a professional theologian. He has had no formal seminary training, but that may be an advantage – it might have handicapped his communication style. He writes out of a deep love for the common man and connects with a readership that theologians seldom reach. Yet he is a scholar, and he has an intense commitment to biblical truth. What he lacks in formal training he more than makes up for in his relentless pursuit of understanding eschatology.

I first met John in 1993. He attended one of our seminars. Although he did not embrace the full preterist view at that time, he was willing to discuss and study it. He made us prove everything in a true Berean spirit. We have kept in touch quite often over the last six years. He never stopped his quest for a better understanding of the last things. Once he began to grasp the full significance of A.D. 70, he put everything we preterists have said through an acid test. He didn’t let us get away with anything. It took him a little while, but he has now come to a position on the fulfillment of Bible prophecy that is almost the same position that I take. Since I know how hard I studied, I appreciate how much effort he must have expended in his analysis.

John is not the kind of person to keep these things to himself, although he fully understands what a radical paradigm shift this book presents. He immediately set out to explain many confused and complex issues of end-time prophecy in simple terms that we can easily grasp.

I also believe that theologians from all traditions can benefit tremendously from reading and studying this book. It is especially important for all of us in the Reformed tradition who subscribe to Calvin’s principle that “the Church is reformed and always reforming.” For too long we have been stymied by eschatological views that have not been developed beyond 2nd-century concepts. The creedal councils did not devote any significant attention to eschatology,

and neither did the Reformers, other than to use it as a tool to demonize the Pope and the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and fuel reformation fervor. We will greatly benefit from this book’s reformational message and (full) preterist presentation. Indeed, eschatology (the study of last things) is the next frontier of the continuing reformation.

Regarding the validity and viability of preterism, Reformed theologian and partial preterist R.C. Sproul said it well in his latest book The Last Days According to Jesus:

The purpose of The Last Days According to Jesus has been to examine and evaluate the various claims of preterism, both full and partial. The great service preterism performs is to focus attention on two major issues. The first is the time-frame references of the New Testament regarding eschatological prophecy. The preterist is a sentinel standing guard against frivolous and superficial attempts to downplay or explain away the force of these references.

The second major issue is the destruction of Jerusalem. This event certainly spelled the end of a crucial redemptive-historical epoch. It must be viewed as the end of some age. It also represents a significant visitation of the Lord in judgment and a vitally important “day of the Lord.” Whether this was the only day of the Lord about which Scripture speaks remains a major point of controversy among preterists.1

I highly recommend John Noe’s full-preterist book for three important reasons: (1) It proves from correctly interpreted Scripture that we are living “beyond the end times,” (2) it is written in common language for all people, and (3) he represents a fresh and formidable voice in the growing preterist movement. John Noe is a messenger of good news for those willing to change their thinking when convinced by biblical exegesis, like the Bereans. I commend this book to your serious attention. It’s a compelling introduction to past fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

John is already working on a sequel that will explore more implications for Christians living after A.D. 70.

Edward E. Stevens, President, International Preterist Association

1. The Last Days According to Jesus, by R.C. Sproul, 1998, Baker Book House

 

| Table of Contents |
| Foreword | Introduction | Chapter 1 | Chapter 11 |
 

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