Chisco,
I am a horrible typer LOL. I need to work on my communication skills. Problem is, when I was in school I tended to do much better in sports than I did in English classes. Actually I had to take Jr. English and Sr. English my senior year of high school just to graduate. :) At Mississippi State University, I did much better in golf than english as well :)
You have stated a few times in this thread that you have answered my question. I will do my best to address your answers without writing a book.
A little background about me, I am 57 years old, and I have studied every eschatological position known to the church since I was 12 years old. Revelation was the very first book of the bible I read when I came to be known by the Lord (saved), I will not pretend that I understood any of it @ that time, but it sure was full of a bunch of cool stuff for a 12 year old to read about, LOL. And I will not pretend I understand all of it today. It is a very Jewish book.
I came from a dispensational view point for most of my life , at least up until I was in my late 30s. I know the dispensationalism viewpoint like the back of my hand, I have went through the dispensational charts / timelines a million times, I have attempted to draw some myself back in the day LOL.
During my studies over the years as I became more "reformed" in most of my beliefs............I studied the Amillennialist perspective, Postmillennialism, Historic premillennialism as well , and of course the old trusty Dispensationalism. I know every one of the verses / chapters that each of those camps use to defend their positions. I know them, because I have spent the time to examine them in great detail. Here is a great video (yes a couple hours long ) ............. . The only bad thing about the video is this , they did not invite a partial preterist or a full preterist to the table for their viewpoint.
In my early 40s I came a across this : The Last Days According to Jesus - R.C. Sproul - YouTube while I was a teaching elder at a local church. They had asked me to begin a teaching series on the book of Revelation for the congregation. This began a 6 or 7 year deep dive into eschatology. I spent 6-10 hours a day during those years. This does not make me right in what I believe but It does lend to some credibility that I at least know the arguments / positions
​ I had never even heard of the term "preterist" until one evening I came across a random web page with huge lime green letters that said "JESUS RETURNED IN A.D. 70" . Of course I laughed when I read that, dismissed it just like everyone else who hears that "claim". Little did I know that my life would completely change a couple years later during those years of study.
Now on to your answers :
First off, you totally contradict yourself In post #2 and post #5. Let me show you your own words :
Post #2 I tend to believe that when Jesus says “before the Son of Man comes”, he is talking about His coming judgement on Israel (70 AD)
Post #5 I don’t believe Jesus returned in AD70.
Maybe you missed typed like I do at times, but those are two contradictory statements. "his coming / parousia in judgment on Israel, I dont believe Jesus returned in AD................. Ill admit I loose patience at times dealing with this kind of stuff.
You are correct.................Jesus was talking about his coming / parousia at the end of the age to judge Israel (just like Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 explicitly states).
The problem you present with your comment regarding "this is not his second coming" is so problematic if you carefully examine just those 3 chapters with a fine tooth comb, not to mention the hundreds of old and NT passages. I will repeat, how many "comings" does the bible mention ? My answer, 2 of them. 1. As the sacrificial lamb of God 2. As the king of kings and ruler of his kingdom @ his "second appearing".
The bible never mentions nor even hints at a 3rd coming.................................you know , the other coming you are attempting to create in your argument. I give you much credit, at least you identify Jesus as coming to judge Jerusalem. Most cant even get that far.
While typing this it jogs my memory of when I "became" a partial preterist.................after a couple of years of study I knew in my knower that partial preterism was just as guilty as all of the other eschatological positions of "making things up" to fit their biblical narrative. (P.s. please note, when I use the term argument I am not using it as a derogatory /lets fight/ lets yell term but rather as a debate term, people are so sensitive these days I want to make sure this is clear)
Your comment regarding 1 Thessolonians 4 :16-17
Does not say in the "clouds" in the Greek language............................. Yes translators , mistranslate the Greek word "Aer" and "Ouranos" ( hope I spelt those two Greek words right, its been awhile) . Do a Greek lexicon search and see the difference :) It just might change your view from the air we breath and the clouds where the birds fly :)
Your comment about "the gospel" being preached to the whole world....................I presented the text that speak directly to your objection already. You claim " preached and proclaiming" were different ............
Regarding your comment : the bible doesn't document that all of the above occurred prior to AD70. Of course it doesn't document it because the books of the new testament were all written prior to AD70. You should read (Dr. Kennith Gentry "Before Jerusalem fell". It might make you rethink why dating the books of the bible are important to your understanding of the books.
BUT ONE THING IT DOES DOCUMENT IS THIS : IT WAS AT HAND, NEAR, AT THE DOOR, AXE IS ALREADY AT THE ROOT OF THE TREE, THE TIME IS NEAR, THE NIGHT IS ALMOST GONE, THE DAY IS ALREADY SHINING, DO NOT SEAL UP THE WORDS OF THIS BOOK, BECAUSE THE TIME IS AT HAND, YES I AM COMING SOON! I could go on and on.................
Im tired of typing.............................so I may address your comments in your post #18 later.