Preterism and 2 Peter 3

As a follow-up to his Reformed Academy course, Exploring 2 Peter: The Promise and the Path, Dan Ragusa joins Camden Bucey and Ryan Noha to discuss preterist views of 2 Peter 3 concerning the promise of new heavens and a new earth. After establishing the future orientation of the epistle, Dan provides a sketch of the history of preterist interpretations beginning with John Owen’s “Oriental” reading, noting the influence of Joseph Mede in the context of seventeenth-century Puritanism. He then turns his attention to modern-day exegesis of this chapter from leading partial preterists, exemplified by Peter Leithart’s commentary, The Promise of His Appearing: An Exposition of 2 Peter. Dan responds to Leithart’s “knock down arguments” by applying the eschatological pressure of the letter as a whole, all while directing listeners to the consummate, cosmic hope of the eternal kingdom that cannot be reduced to passing of the old covenant order in 70AD.

Links

• Jeffrey Jue, Heaven Upon Earth: Joseph Mede (1586–1638) and the Legacy of Millenarianism
• Peter Leithart, The Promise of His Appearing: An Exposition of Second Peter
• John Owen, “Sermons X–XII: Providential Changes, An Argument for Universal Holiness,” in The Works of John Owen, vol. 9, Sermons to the Church)
• Douglas Wilson, The New Heavens and the New Earth