Eschatology Matters Did The Great Tribulation Already Happen? Why The Modern Church Gets This Wrong
Feb 20, 2026
Matt Plett, a 1689 Reformed Baptist pastor and bivocational dairy farmer, outlines a preterist/postmillennial take on New Testament prophecy. He links Matthew 24 to Revelation, surveys four interpretive approaches, and traces how futurism and dispensationalism rose in North America. He argues AD 70 fulfilled the Great Tribulation and highlights historical support for earlier readings.
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Partial Preterism And Postmillennialism Stated
- Matt Plett identifies as a partial preterist, meaning many New Testament prophecies had first-century fulfillment.
- He pairs this with postmillennial optimism but notes the views are distinct.
Futurism Is A Recent Dominant View
- Futurism became dominant in North American evangelicalism in the last ~100 years despite not being the historic norm.
- The modern assumption that prophecies are about our future is a relatively recent development.
Darby's Role In Modern Dispensationalism
- John Nelson Darby shaped modern dispensationalism by separating Israel and the church and proposing a rapture during the Great Tribulation.
- Darby's context in 19th-century upheaval helped his pessimistic, imminent-return system gain traction.