Introduction from Beyond the End Times

We are a time-oriented people. God is time-oriented, too. That’s why seven centuries before Christ, the God of the Bible inspired the ancient prophet Habakkuk to write:

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3)

One century later, God gave another Old Testament prophet, Daniel, two specific prophecies that pinpointed the exact time in human history for this “appointed time…of the end.” He described its historical setting, its nature, and its defining characteristic. This end is the only end the Bible ever proclaims. What’s more, its time came. It is now history. Today, we are living beyond the end times. This book presents the proof. It’s the rest of…the greatest story ever told.1

You may be surprised, impressed, or shocked by the “rest of the story.” That’s to be expected. But to date, as far as this author knows, no one has more effectively challenged the current endsaying consensus with solid biblical substance and historical evidence, than the Preterists. Full Preterists believe the appointed time of the end came long ago.2

Yet thousands of books that focus on fatalism and feed on universal, apocalyptic fears, have sold by the millions, and more are on the way as we near the crisis point of the year 2000. Before we get swept away by termination tirades, or join the company of the alarmed, or detach ourselves from society, let us seriously consider the Bible’s “appointed time…of the end.”

Exciting discoveries await you in the chapters ahead. You’ll find a positive and sound alternative to the popular views of global doom. So, take your time. Be critical. Think it through.

Predictably, this book will be controversial. This cannot and should not be avoided. Those who are comfortable with their endsaying traditions of an end yet to come – the sooner the better – may view this book as a threat. Others will find its reformational message compelling and a breath of fresh air. Either way, this book offers positive hope for our world and confidence in the future. We simply must not take the negative baggage of endsaying, with its inherent fallacies, flaws, and fatalism, into the new millennium. We are living on the other side of history from the end times, as you will see. If you’re ready for an adventure, read on.

1. "The Rest of the Story" is the famous tag line from – and name of – radio news commentator Paul Harvey's syndicated show. The Greatest Story Ever Told is Fulton Ousler's 1949 timeless best-selling book and fictionalized narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, which covered the time between the betrothal of Mary and Joseph, around 4 B.C., through Jesus' death and rumors of his resurrection in A.D. 30. Later this story was made into a movie with the same title.
2."Preterist" means past in fulfillment, and is one of the four major schools of Bible prophecy interpretation in the historic Church. The other three are: historicist, idealist, and futurist. The futurist school includes the premillennial, postmillennial and amillennial views.

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