Eschatology refers to the study of end-times. Victorious eschatological is a believes thatthe kingdom of God will grow and advance until it fillsthe earth. The Church will rise in unity, maturity, andglory before the return of Jesus.

Most of the great leaders throughout Church historyheld to a victorious eschatology.However, during the twentieth century, Christiansbecame increasingly skeptical and pessimistic about thefuture. During World War I, Christians in Europe beganto embrace a negative view of the world. Christians inNorth America followed suit during the Depression andWorld War II. As the world was thrust face-to-face withchallenges and the wickedness of war, people embraceda negative view of humanity and a pessimistic view ofthe future.It was during those trying periods when many Christians embraced a more pessimistic eschatology. Theycame to believe that the world is gradually slipping under the influence of wicked leaders and eventually Satanwill take control of the economic and religious systemsof the world. Preachers who embraced that pessimisticview began to teach that an antichrist figure will soonrise to prominence and then deceive most of humanity.They also taught about a coming great tribulation during which God will pour out His wrath, judging and destroying the earth.

Most of the great leaders in Churchhistory held to a more victorious eschatology. The pessimistic view did not enter into Christianity in any significant way until the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible (1909), which proposed in its footnotes a verynegative scenario of future end-time events. Since thattime, hundreds of scary end-time books have been promoted within Christianity. The most widely read areknown as the Left Behind series, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Such books and the associated teachings have become so commonly accepted inthe modern Church that the negative eschatology hasbecome the most popular view. It is important to note,however, that this view has been popular in Christianity for only the past 60 years. It reached its zenith ofacceptance just before the close of the last millennium,when Christians became fascinated with the possibilityof the world ending in the year 2000.Now that we have crossed into the new millennium,Christians are lifting their eyes to the future. Manyleaders are discovering that the Scriptures give us amore optimistic view than they previously had believed.They are embracing a victorious eschatology that teaches that Jesus Christ and His Church are going to reignover this world, not Satan.

The theological label that is used to refer to the victorious eschatology presented my book, Victorious Eschatology, is the partialpreterist view. In contrast, today's popular view is calledthe futurist view.These theological labels, the partial preterist viewand the futurist view, refer to when the prophecies inMatthew 24 and the book of Revelation are fulfilled.The word "preterist" comes from the Latin praeteritus,meaning "that which has past." So the partial preteristview is that which sees part of the prophecies in Matthew24 and part of the book of Revelation as already fulfilled. Incontrast, the futurist sees virtually all of the propheciesin Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation fulfilled inthe future.

As pastors, we (Harold Eberle and Martin Trench)used to believe and teach the futurist view. However,even as we taught our church congregations the relatedideas, we both realized that there are many scripturesthat simply did not fit into the scenario of events proposed by the futurists. After several years of in-depthstudy, we have come to believe that the partial preteristview is more true to the Scriptures. This we will showyou our book.

In addition to studying specific Bible passages, weinclude a few quotes from well-known preachers,teachers, and reformers that show how the fathers of thefaith shared a victorious eschatology. Not every leaderthroughout Church history would explain every verse ofthe Bible the same as we will; however, the fundamental view that the Church will rise in victory and powerbefore the return of Jesus Christ has been the predominant view of the Church for the past 2,000 years.