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Pauline Preterism asserts that the mission of the apostle Paul is a mystery surpassing all the prophecies of those in the Old Covenant. Pauline Preterists believe that the twelve apostles were dutifully completing the Great Commission as a Judeo-Christian body. Peter brought the gospel of circumcision to the tribes of Israel while proselytizing the Gentiles, but it was unexpected that Paul would become the new apostle to the Gentiles. It caused the Jesus movement schism in early Christianity. Since the Gentiles were not transgressors of the Mosaic Law, Paul taught them the gospel of grace more than the kingdom message. Instead of waiting for the prophesied destruction of Jerusalem in AD70, Paul laid the foundation of faith. The body of Christ wherein there was neither Jew nor Gentiles anymore was born. Thus, Paul saw himself deputized by Jesus Christ to bring about the fulness of the nations. The roots of Pauline Preterism, found in Pauline eschatology, highlight the imminent eschaton, that "the end of all things is at hand." The delay of the parousia, however, has been the main problem among those who hold on to the futurum and perfectum perspectives of Paul. Comparison of Preterism and Pauline Preterism In the history of Preterism, the Latin term praeter was limited to the end of past things in Ancient Israel, climaxing at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Pauline's eschatology, however, has shaped the world for the revelation of the sons of God; in fact, it was the appearance of Christians as kainon genos, the new race. Pauline preterism, then, defines it as the final establishment of the Christian Church at the destruction of the Man of Sin. Preterism maintains a Jewish eschatology perspective while Pauline preterism contains a mystery of things to come, the “already-but-not-yet” nature of the world without end. The thrust of Paul's ministry was the defense of Christianity as the end of the Jewish religion, the fall of the Herods, and the overthrow of the Roman Empire. Pauline Preterism versus Israel Onlyism Israel Onlyism (IO) defended the superiority of Messianic prophecies over Paul's gospel of grace to the nations, emphasizing that the redemptive narrative focuses only on the Old Covenant of Israel. IO advocates insist that Paul was only converting Israelites from the lost tribes.
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