Preterism—particularly Full Preterism—claims that all biblical prophecies (including the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, and the judgment) were fulfilled by 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem. However, many biblical events have not yet occurred—not in 70 AD or any time since—making Preterism unsustainable when examined by the full scope of prophetic Scripture.

None of the Events Depicted in the Following Image Have Ever happened:

Image Copyright, RCR

The following is a detailed analysis of the errors made by Preterism in the light of key eschatological events:

These events that we will examine are explicitly predicted in Scripture, did not happen in 70 AD or since, and therefore disprove Preterism (especially the Full form).

The Bible Describes A Visible, Global Second Coming of Christ

The Biblical Prophecies:

Matthew 24:30 “And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth.”

Revelation 1:7  “Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him—even those who pierced him.”

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

Jesus did not return visibly, bodily, or globally in 70 AD. No historical record (Jewish, Roman, Christian) reports a visible appearing in the clouds, witnessed by “all tribes of the earth.”

The Rapture of the Church and the Resurrection of the Dead:

The Biblical Prophecies:

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17:  “…the dead in Christ will rise first. Then, together with them, we who are still alive… will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

1 Corinthians 15:52–53:  “It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye… the dead will be raised, and we will be transformed.”

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

There is no evidence of a global resurrection or a snatching away of believers. No change to glorified bodies has occurred, and believers still die—contrary to 1 Cor. 15:54: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Jesus’ Literal Reign on Earth from Jerusalem (Millennial Kingdom)

The Biblical Prophecies:

Revelation 20:4–6: “Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge… They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Isaiah 2:2–4; Micah 4:1–4: All nations will go up to Jerusalem to learn from the Lord.

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

Jesus did not reign from Jerusalem, nor did peace cover the earth. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, not exalted. No record exists of worldwide worship centered on Zion as prophesied.

The Final Temple and Abomination of Desolation

The Biblical Prophecies:

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4: “The man of lawlessness… will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god… He will sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.”

Matthew 24:15: “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object… standing in the Holy Place.”

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

Titus destroyed the temple but did not sit in it declaring himself to be God. No Abomination of Desolation fitting Daniel 9:27 occurred in 70 AD. Daniel’s 70th week (7 years) was not fulfilled.

The Global Cataclysms of the Tribulation

The Biblical Prophecies:

Revelation 6–19: Global war, famine, plagues, meteor strikes, massive earthquakes, cosmic darkness.

Matthew 24:21: “There will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began.”

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

No global judgments of the scale described in Revelation occurred in the 1st century. 1/3 of earth, seas, rivers destroyed (Rev. 8:7–12) — not historical. Mark of the Beast, Two Witnesses, 144,000 sealed Jews — no historical evidence.

The Binding of Satan During the Millennium

The Biblical Prophecy:

Revelation 20:1–3: “Then I saw an angel… He seized the dragon—that old serpent… and bound him in chains for a thousand years.”

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

Satan was not bound after 70 AD—evil, deception, and idolatry have flourished. Revelation 20 makes clear that nations are no longer deceived during this time—this is clearly not the present world.

The Great White Throne Judgment and New Heaven and Earth

The Biblical Prophecies:

Revelation 20:11–15: “The dead, both great and small, were standing before God’s throne… and anyone whose name was not found in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 21:1–4: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… and He will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

The earth has not been made new. The Great White Throne judgment has not occurred. Death, pain, and crying are still present. No record of such an event in Josephus or any 1st-century historian.

The Universal Conversion and Restoration of Israel

The Biblical Prophecies:

Romans 11:26: “And so all Israel will be saved.”

Zechariah 12:10: “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David… They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him…”

❌ Not Fulfilled in 70 AD:

Israel was judged and scattered, not saved. The national repentance of Israel is a future event that coincides with the visible return of Christ.

Copyright, RCR

Judgments From Revelation That Have Never Happened (As depicted in the Image at the beginning of this essay)

The Book of Revelation describes catastrophic, global-scale judgments during the Tribulation that are so specific, so severe, and so universal, that they cannot be allegorized or relegated to the events of 70 AD—nor to any other historical era since.

The Preterist position completely collapses under the weight of these descriptions, which have no historical parallel, no documentation from Roman or Jewish sources, and no theological or literary warrant to be spiritualized without dismantling the grammatical-historical hermeneutic.

Below is a documentation of each literal, future event from Revelation that has never happened, with the corresponding Scriptures (NLT) and brief comments to show their incompatibility with Preterist claims:

A Mountain Burning With Fire That Falls from the Sky

Scripture:

Revelation 8:8: “Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood.”

❌ Has This Ever Happened?

There is no historical record of a mountain-sized object falling from the sky and causing the sea to turn to blood. This event describes a celestial impact, possibly an asteroid or volcanic mega-blast, with global consequences.

Every Island Sinks, and Every Mountain is Leveled

Scripture:

Revelation 16:20: “Every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled.”

❌ Has This Ever Happened?

No geologic or historic record of a global topographic flattening exists. An event like this would require a planet-wide crustal upheaval—utterly incompatible with 70 AD or any localized historical event.

Demonic Locusts Torture Men for 5 Months

Scripture:

Revelation 9:5–6: “They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months… During that time people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!”

❌ Has This Ever Happened?

There is no record—symbolic or literal—of a 5-month global plague involving demonic stinging locusts. This is described as an angelic release from the Abyss, not an ordinary locust infestation. Nero’s reign, as brutal as it was, did not involve supernatural entities preventing death.

Hailstones Weighing 70–100 Pounds

Scripture:

Revelation 16:21: “There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing seventy-five pounds fell from the sky…”

❌ Has This Ever Happened?

The largest recorded hailstones in modern history are no more than 2–3 pounds. A hailstorm of 70-100-lb stones would cause mass extinction—never recorded in 70 AD or after.

Waters of the Earth Turned to Blood

Scriptures:

Revelation 8:8: One-third of the sea becomes blood.

Revelation 16:3–4: “Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And everything in the sea died.”

❌ Has This Ever Happened?

No known ecological or military event has ever turned the oceans, rivers, and springs to literal blood or caused mass extinction of marine life on this scale. Roman records from 70 AD never mention global water catastrophes.

Two-Thirds of Earth’s Population Killed by 21 Judgments

Scripture Texts: Across the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls, Revelation records massive death tolls:

• Seal judgments (Rev. 6): 25% of earth’s population dies (Rev. 6:8)
• Trumpet judgments (Rev. 9:15): One-third of the remainder dies
• Cumulative total: ⅔ of the earth’s population dies

❌ Has This Ever Happened?

• The Black Death (14th century) killed 30–50 million—devastating, but not even close to 2–5 billion people as Revelation forecasts.
• No ancient or modern event has resulted in death on this planetary scale.

Copyright, RCR

Preterism Cannot Document Any of These Prophecies as Fulfilled at Any Time

The literal fulfillment of the judgments described in Revelation demands a futurist view.

The events of 70 AD, as catastrophic as they were for Jerusalem, they do not come close to the global, supernatural, and cosmic scale of the judgments described. A simple reading of the biblical text, particularly using a grammatical-historical hermeneutic, compels the conclusion that these are yet future and correspond to the seven-year Tribulation.

See Rob’s Latest Book, Written In Consideration of the Events Happening Today: “Days of Wrath: The Final Sign“

Categories: Robert Clifton Robinson