In my last couple of posts I tried to lay out fairly what I understand both the explicit extent of Owen’s argument for a preterist interpretation of 2 Peter 3 and also the inferential implications of that argument. My purpose, I admit, was not only to help my readers understand Owen, but to share what are to me the troubling implications of his exegesis. In this post and the following I want to turn to a number of serious objections to his view.
The Conclusive Case against Owen’s Interpretation
The first argument in my case against Owen is the lack of analogy between Owen’s view of the new heavens and earth in verse 13 and the whole thrust and movement of Peter’s argument in 2 Peter 3. As I have documented in my End Times Made Simple, Peter’s eschatological teaching in this passage is broadly speaking built around three worlds divided by two destructions. There is the old world which was created by God and destroyed by water (verses 5-6). There is the present or now world that is reserved for fire (verse 7). There is the new heaven and new earth (v. 13).
I think this structure is absolutely inconsistent with a preterist view of new heavens and earth. The reason should be clear. The original heavens and earth were the physical universe created by God in the beginning and destroyed in the universal flood. This pointedly suggests that the new heavens and new earth must also be that same universe remade in the resurrection glory of the sons of God (Romans 8:19-23). Furthermore, the water which destroyed the world in the flood was literal water. This directly leads to the conclusion that the fire of the greater judgment was a fire which reduces the world to ashes. It is not a spiritual fire which destroyed the Judaical system. Yes, I know that some fire was used in the destruction of Jerusalem, but it certainly does not qualify for the kind of fiery destruction of which 2 Peter 3 speaks—if it is taken literally.
The second argument is really a kind of exegetical focusing of the first. The focus of which I speak is the movement from destruction of the old world in the flood in verse 6 to the preservation of the present heavens and earth for destruction by fire in verse 7. Look at these two verses once more: “through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” Here the present heavens and earth are contrasted with the world that was destroyed by water. Of course, this included the religious and civil structures—whatever they were–of that world, but it certainly included much more. There was a massive upheaval of the physical surface of the world.” This destruction took place by physical water. To say that the counterpart of this physical water was the spiritual fire that destroyed Judaism simply defies the analogy instituted by Peter.
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
