What is Historicism?
If you are like many Christians, you probably have never heard of this method of interpreting Biblical prophecy. Historicism is unlike Preterism, which teaches that most of prophecy has been fulfilled in the past. It also differs from Futurism, which teaches that prophecy will only be fulfilled at some future date. In brief, Historicism teaches that biblical predictions are being fulfilled throughout history and continue to be fulfilled today. The Book of Revelation is a pre-written history of the Church from the time of its writing to the future Second Advent of Christ, which shall usher in the new heaven and new earth.

Preterism has little to say to us today since it inteprets predictions as mostly fulfilled. Futurism is beyond the Church, because most Futurists believe that a secret rapture will remove the Church from the world. However, if the Bible and Revelation speak to the Church in ALL ages (as Historicism teaches), it is of great importance that we listen.

Historicists agree on the following unique concepts:

• The "Year-Day" principle - In prophetic language, a day of symbolic time represents a year of actual, historic time.
• The "Time, Times and Half a time," "3 1/2 years," "1260 days", and "42 month" time period, which occurs seven times in Daniel and Revelation, is understood by Historicists to be fulfilled in history.
• All Historicists believe that the Papacy is that Anti-Christ, the Man of Sin of II Thessalonians 2, and a Beast of Revelation 13.
• Historicists generally agree Revelation 9 speaks of the Muslim scourge which afflicted Christendom.
• All Historicists agree that the Book of Revelation prophesies the history of the Church from the Apostolic Era to the future Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
• The Historicist interpretation was the standard interpretation from Wycliffe to Spurgeon (500 years) and is known as the Protestant interpretation in distinct contrast to Preterism and Futurism which were Jesuit interpretations contrived during the counterreformation.

Additionally, the Reformational confessions have adopted the Historicist interpretation including the Irish Articles (1615), the original Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), the Savoy Declaration (1658), and the London Baptist Confession (1688). We encourage you to explore our web site, read, and learn more about Historicism.

For answers to some questions commonly posed to us, see Questions and Answers.

To read about a public debate that occurred between a historicistic post-millennialist versus a preterist, see Public Debate with a Preterist.

To purchase Historicist literature at a great price, see Historicist Book Store.

To join in discussion concerning historicism, see Historicism Yahoo E-Group.