Problem: Jesus said, “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)” (Mt. 24:15). Preterists claim that this occurred in AD 70, when the Roman military destroyed the Temple. Preterist Gary DeMar writes, “The Roman abomination hypothesis is the most popular since it parallels the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes.”[1] Likewise, Preterist Kenneth Gentry argues that it could have either been murderous zealots or the burning of the Temple by the Romans.[2] Is this the case?
Mark 13:32 – If Jesus is God, why did He not know the hour of His return?
(Mark 13:30-32), “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31″Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 32But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone,”
Mark 13:32 – Was Jesus ignorant of the time of His second coming?
Problem: The Bible teaches that Jesus is God (John 1:1) and that He knows all things (John 2:24; Col. 2:3). On the other hand, He “increased in wisdom” (Luke 2:52) and sometimes did not seem to know certain things (cf. John 11:34). Indeed, He denied knowing the time of His own second coming here, saying, “but of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
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Mark 14:12 – Did Jesus institute the Lord’s Supper on the day of the Passover or the day before?
Problem: If the first three Gospels (synoptics) are correct, then Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper “on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb” (cf. Matt. 26:17; Luke 22:1). But John places it “before the feast of the Passover” (13:1), the day before the crucifixion on which “they might eat the Passover” (18:28).
Mark 13:10 – Does this predict the evangelization of the globe (as futurists claim) or the evangelization of the Roman Empire (as preterists claim)?
Problem: Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Mt. 24:14). Preterists claim that the term “whole world” refers to the Roman Empire—not the entire globe. They reason that the NT authors use this expression in this way (Rom. 1:8; 10:18; 16:19; Col. 1:6, 23; Lk. 2:1). While the entire globe hasn’t been reached with the gospel, the NT authors used hyperbolic language to claim that the Roman Empire did heard about Christ. Is this a reasonable interpretation of this passage?
Mark 13:2 – Why doesn’t Mark mention the destruction of the Temple in AD 70?
Problem: Futurist interpreters claim that Luke is the only author of the Synoptics to mention the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. Matthew and Mark omit this from their accounts of the Olivet Discourse, and they instead mention the destruction of the Third Temple at the end of human history. Isn’t this needlessly confusing?
Mark 11:23–24—Did Jesus promise to give literally anything we ask in faith?
Problem: On the face of it, this verse seems to be saying that God will grant any request we make of Him as long as we believe. On the other hand, Paul asked God three times to be relieved of his thorn in the flesh, and God refused (2 Cor. 12:8–9)
Mark 11:15-17 – Why did Jesus get so angry? Was his anger justified?
Problem: Critics note that Jesus chased out the money changers with “a scourge of cords.” Why was he so angry here?
Mark 11:14, 20 – Did the tree that Jesus cursed wither immediately or overnight?
Immediately
(Matthew 21:19) – “Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
Mark 11:11-12, 15-16 – Did Jesus cleanse the Temple once or twice?
Did Jesus cleanse the Temple once or twice? Matthew, Mark, and Luke report Jesus driving merchants and moneychangers out of the temple, but some critics claim that the chronology doesn’t match. Did Jesus cleanse the temple more than once? Do the gospels disagree? How do we reconcile these passages?