Answering Questions Leads to More Questions

Gary is interviewed by Rick Welch about the 3Q Controversy and how his podcast played a role in it.

I’m not ashamed to admit that most of my work is “borrowed” from what many people have researched and published over the centuries. What follows will show that not everyone agrees with the interpretation that Matthew 16:27 refers to a future physical coming of Jesus. To prove this point, I suggest you look at William E. Biederwolf’s The Millennium Bible that lists nine different interpretations and states that “‘shall come’ … is not a simple future, and ‘[John Peter] Lange is inclined to see in its meaning that the event is impending , i.e., He shall come—is about to come.’” The Greek word mellō is an important timing word that is often not translated.

Debates continue over which biblical passages refer to the AD 70 judgment coming of Jesus and those that refer to what is commonly called the yet Second Coming of Jesus. As I have repeatedly pointed out, there is no unanimous agreement among scholars on this question, especially among those who signed the “Three Questions Letter” that was sent to me to affirm specific creedal and confessional statements or else! Kenneth Gentry argues that Matthew 16:27 and 28 describe two comings separated by nearly 2,000 years (so far). Almost any commentary you pick up will admit that these two verses (also found in Mark and Luke) are difficult to interpret. Honest students of Scripture should be free to study the topic without being labeled a “heretic” for arguing that both verses refer to events surrounding that first-century destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 that included the dismantling of the temple (Matt. 24:1-3). Douglas Wilson is honest enough to admit that he is “not finally settled” but is “strongly inclined to take Matthew 16:27 as a 70 AD reference because of the ‘not taste death’ reference in the next verse.”

Gentry takes a different approach by describing himself “as an orthodox preterist.” Does this mean that anyone who does not interpret Matthew 16:27 the way he does is not “orthodox”? Here’s how he expresses his position:

As an orthodox preterist, I hold that this passage brings together the AD 70 judgment and the Final Judgment. As orthodox preterists argue (following most conservative, evangelical theologians in general), the AD 70 destruction of the temple is a dramatic judgment of God in itself. But it is also a typological foretaste of the universal Final Judgment, which it pictures through the local judgment on Israel. (This is much like the Israel’s Old Testament exodus event being an important act in itself, while serving as a type of coming redemption through Christ.)[1]

Gentry shows by his comment that there is no agreement of two comings in Matthew 16:27-28. Yes, many evangelical commentators state that Matthew 16:27 is a Second Coming passage. Surprisingly, Gentry declares, “Many scholars see v. 28 as simply repeating v. 27, using different words.” This means that by his own admission “many scholars” disagree with him that two comings are described in verses 27 and 28.

Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times

There is a long history of skeptics turning to Bible prophecy to claim that Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3) and the signs associated with it. Noted atheist Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) is one of them and Bart Ehrman is a modern example. It’s obvious that neither Russell or Ehrman are aware of or are ignoring the mountain of scholarship that was available to them that showed that the prophecy given by Jesus was fulfilled in great detail just as He said it would be before the generation of His day passed away.

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Gary is interviewed by Rick Welch about the 3Q Controversy and how his podcast played a role in it. Gary gives much more clarity and the historical background about how the controversy began, as well as where it seems to stand currently. Also during that same time, Gary and Kim Burgess did another podcast in 25 parts called Covenant Hermeneutics and Biblical Eschatology.

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[1] Ken Gentry, “Matt. 16:27-28: AD 70 and the Final Judgment” (July 31, 2018): https://bit.ly/4h69MMU

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