Preterist

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A person who believes that biblical prophecies, especially those in the Book of Revelation, were fulfilled in ancient times rather than in a future end-times event
2. Someone who holds the theological view that prophetic passages in scripture refer to events that have already occurred in history rather than to future occurrences
3. An interpreter of scripture who maintains that apocalyptic prophecies described in the Bible have already come to pass in the distant past

Etymology: "Preterist" names a person who holds a particular view of Bible prophecy: that most or all of the prophecies in books such as Daniel and Revelation were fulfilled in the past, usually in the events surrounding the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The word is built from "preter-", from Latin "praeter" meaning "beyond" or "past", combined with the suffix "-ist", which marks a follower or adherent of a doctrine. The suffix does most of the work here. "-ist" attaches to many nouns to name a believer or practitioner, so "preterist" follows the same pattern as words like "royalist" or "realist." The key element is "preter-", which points to the past tense of prophecy: the view places the fulfilment of prophetic events behind the reader rather than ahead of them.

Synonyms: preterite scholar