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Cine este acest Babilon?
Ce spun altii despre cartea „Cine este acest Babilon?”
Aceasta este una dintre cele mai cuprinzatoare carti de escatologie pe care le-am citit. Cartea Apocalipsa este explicata din perspectiva preterista, si autorul o relationeaza cu epistolele lui Pavel si Discursul Olivetic. Desi nu sunt de acord cu tot ce scrise in carte (ex. abordarea non-fizica a invierii), cartea a clarificat intrebarile mele legate de implinirea cartii Apocalipsa. Sunt multe argumente bune in favoarea datarii timpurii a Apocalipsei. Aceasta carte trebuie sa faca parte din biblioteca ta. - Evanghelist John L. Bray, Lakeland, Florida
Cine este acest Babilon? trebuie citita de catre orice cercetator serios al Bibliei. Prezentarea si argumentarea atenta a lui Preston il duce pe cititor prin multe intrebari arzatoare cu care se confrunta Crestinismul astazi. Aceasta lucrare foloseste cele mai rafinate autoritati, dar nu este o simpla refolosire a unui material mai vechi, ci este o prezentare atenta a influentei lui Pavel asupra Apocalipsei, un studiu ne mai gasit altundeva. Tabelele din aceasta carte sunt uimitoare si convingatoare in demonstrarea relatiei dintre Discursul Olivetic si Apocalipsa. Preston nu lasa nicio piatra neintoarsa si nu lasa nicio indoiala ca Apocalipsa a fost scrisa inainte de A.D. 70, si ca Babilonul din Apocalipsa a fost Ierusalimul din primul secol. Aceasta carte este academica dar nu plicticoasa. Se misca cu o prospetime care il atrage pe cititor de la sectiune cu interesul unui cautator de comori. Sa nu cumva sa nu citesti aceasta carte! - George Monta, autor, Prophecy Handbook
Aceasta este una dintre cele mai cuprinzatoare carti de escatologie pe care le-am citit. Cartea Apocalipsa este explicata din perspectiva preterista, si autorul o relationeaza cu epistolele lui Pavel si Discursul Olivetic. Desi nu sunt de acord cu tot ce scrise in carte (ex. abordarea non-fizica a invierii), cartea a clarificat intrebarile mele legate de implinirea cartii Apocalipsa. Sunt multe argumente bune in favoarea datarii timpurii a Apocalipsei. Aceasta carte trebuie sa faca parte din biblioteca ta. - Evanghelist John L. Bray, Lakeland, Florida
Cine este acest Babilon? trebuie citita de catre orice cercetator serios al Bibliei. Prezentarea si argumentarea atenta a lui Preston il duce pe cititor prin multe intrebari arzatoare cu care se confrunta Crestinismul astazi. Aceasta lucrare foloseste cele mai rafinate autoritati, dar nu este o simpla refolosire a unui material mai vechi, ci este o prezentare atenta a influentei lui Pavel asupra Apocalipsei, un studiu ne mai gasit altundeva. Tabelele din aceasta carte sunt uimitoare si convingatoare in demonstrarea relatiei dintre Discursul Olivetic si Apocalipsa. Preston nu lasa nicio piatra neintoarsa si nu lasa nicio indoiala ca Apocalipsa a fost scrisa inainte de A.D. 70, si ca Babilonul din Apocalipsa a fost Ierusalimul din primul secol. Aceasta carte este academica dar nu plicticoasa. Se misca cu o prospetime care il atrage pe cititor de la sectiune cu interesul unui cautator de comori. Sa nu cumva sa nu citesti aceasta carte! - George Monta, autor, Prophecy Handbook
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
22 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Don K. Preston
58 books17 followers1968 Graduate of Elkins High School outside Fayetteville, Arkansas.
1975 graduate of the Northside school of preaching, (seminary) Harrison, Arkansas.
Don’s preaching ministry spans 35 years in only two different cities, Shawnee, Oklahoma and Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Don worked for 7 years helping produce a television program Christian magazine which received national recognition in the magazine, Christianity Today.
Don has written several books, including: 2 Peter 3: The Late Great Kingdom, reprinted now under the title of the Elements Shall Melt with Fervent Heat; Who is This Babylon? (Second Edition), Like Father Like Son, on Clouds of Glory, Into All The World Then Comes The End, The Last Days Identified, Seal Up Vision and Prophecy, Can God Tell Time?, Israel: 1948, Countdown To No Where, Blast From The Past: The Truth About Armageddon, Leaving the Rapture Behind, Seventy Weeks are Determined...for the Resurrection; How Is This Possible (third reprint, revised and enlarged, 2009). Some of Preston's works have been translated into six different languages, and reprinted several times.
Don’s book, Who is this Babylon?, A Study of Revelation, has received critical acclaim. He is currently at work on several other manuscripts including books on the(supposed) rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple, the Transfiguration, the parables of Jesus, the Olivet Discourse, the significance of circumcision in New Testament eschatology, the Song of Moses and eschatology, and others.
Don's 2010 book, We Shall Meet Him In The Air: The Wedding of the King of kings, is the very first, and only, full length commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4 from the preterist (fulfilled) perspective.
Preston’s writings have appeared in almost every major religious periodical of the churches of Christ.
Mr. Preston is an experienced debater, and has participated in several formal public debates as well as radio debates. his opponents include some of the leading evangelical leaders of the day, including:
Thomas Ice, co-founder with Tim Lahaye, of the Pre-Trib Research Center,
Harold Hoehner of Dallas Theological Seminary,
Dr. David Engelsma of Reformed Theological Seminary,
C. Marvin Pate of Moody College,
Dr. F. Lagard Smith, and other notable theologians.
He has participated in live interviews on such christian talk shows as “Salt and Light” in St. Louis, Missouri. Preston is also co-host, with William Bell, of a radio program each Tuesday evening, 6 PM central time, called "Two Guys and the Bible." The program can be heard live at ad70.net.
Mr. Preston‘s web address is www.eschatology.org. In addition to this website, Mr. Preston is also the personal owner of www.bibleprophecy.com, one of the top rated sites for the study of prophecy.
The websites contain many articles written by Don and other writers from around the country. They welcome open discussion and study.
Don served as minister for the Ardmore church of Christ, for 16 years. He resigned in order to devote himself full time to research writing, seminars and debates.
Hobbies include collecting and restoring old cars, especially early mustangs, and old pickups; fishing, hunting, internet research, reading, etc.
1975 graduate of the Northside school of preaching, (seminary) Harrison, Arkansas.
Don’s preaching ministry spans 35 years in only two different cities, Shawnee, Oklahoma and Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Don worked for 7 years helping produce a television program Christian magazine which received national recognition in the magazine, Christianity Today.
Don has written several books, including: 2 Peter 3: The Late Great Kingdom, reprinted now under the title of the Elements Shall Melt with Fervent Heat; Who is This Babylon? (Second Edition), Like Father Like Son, on Clouds of Glory, Into All The World Then Comes The End, The Last Days Identified, Seal Up Vision and Prophecy, Can God Tell Time?, Israel: 1948, Countdown To No Where, Blast From The Past: The Truth About Armageddon, Leaving the Rapture Behind, Seventy Weeks are Determined...for the Resurrection; How Is This Possible (third reprint, revised and enlarged, 2009). Some of Preston's works have been translated into six different languages, and reprinted several times.
Don’s book, Who is this Babylon?, A Study of Revelation, has received critical acclaim. He is currently at work on several other manuscripts including books on the(supposed) rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple, the Transfiguration, the parables of Jesus, the Olivet Discourse, the significance of circumcision in New Testament eschatology, the Song of Moses and eschatology, and others.
Don's 2010 book, We Shall Meet Him In The Air: The Wedding of the King of kings, is the very first, and only, full length commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4 from the preterist (fulfilled) perspective.
Preston’s writings have appeared in almost every major religious periodical of the churches of Christ.
Mr. Preston is an experienced debater, and has participated in several formal public debates as well as radio debates. his opponents include some of the leading evangelical leaders of the day, including:
Thomas Ice, co-founder with Tim Lahaye, of the Pre-Trib Research Center,
Harold Hoehner of Dallas Theological Seminary,
Dr. David Engelsma of Reformed Theological Seminary,
C. Marvin Pate of Moody College,
Dr. F. Lagard Smith, and other notable theologians.
He has participated in live interviews on such christian talk shows as “Salt and Light” in St. Louis, Missouri. Preston is also co-host, with William Bell, of a radio program each Tuesday evening, 6 PM central time, called "Two Guys and the Bible." The program can be heard live at ad70.net.
Mr. Preston‘s web address is www.eschatology.org. In addition to this website, Mr. Preston is also the personal owner of www.bibleprophecy.com, one of the top rated sites for the study of prophecy.
The websites contain many articles written by Don and other writers from around the country. They welcome open discussion and study.
Don served as minister for the Ardmore church of Christ, for 16 years. He resigned in order to devote himself full time to research writing, seminars and debates.
Hobbies include collecting and restoring old cars, especially early mustangs, and old pickups; fishing, hunting, internet research, reading, etc.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 10, 2010
This is a very helpful book for those interested in the bible and who may be struggling to understand it's main intention. Understanding that Babylon is Old Covenant Israel simplifies things immensely! The bible is not about the coming end of time, it's about the end of a covenant with Israel and the beginning of a new which includes Israel and Gentiles. In the course of this study, Revelation comes into focus as events already happened....there is no need to for bible believers to fear the beast and the "end"....it already happened. Preston shows that as it reads, the bible states that Jesus' spiritual kingdom arrived when this marriage took place, way back when the 2nd Temple fell in 70AD. Man was given access to a positive spiritual bond with this marriage....Jesus representing this link and His coming back spiritually within and not physically coming out of the sky. So many religious people are missing the very basis for the Bible's existence and wait longingly for Jesus to come back and give them a perfect world. For them, and everyone seeking clarity in these matters, I highly recommend this study.
June 12, 2024
There is no clear agreement among Christians as to who this Babylon mentioned in the Bible really is. These disagreements has their roots in a futuristic end-time view. But what if the answer lies in a preterist view? Don K. Preston goes to great lengths and depths, yes perhaps a little too much, to prove with the Bible in hand that Babylon was Jerusalem of the early first century. He gives many examples of why it must be the case and why the Roman Catholic Church, Rome, literal Babylon in Iraq or fallen Christianity fits the biblical descriptions.
The book is informative and good, but I think there is a bit too much repetition and the content could have been somewhat simplified. But, it works well considering that he has his own persuasive style of writing, and there is no shortage of biblical references and interpreting scripture with scripture which should be every Christian's way of interpreting the Bible whenever possible. Not the best Preston book, but it wasn't bad either. It gets four weak stars from me.
The book is informative and good, but I think there is a bit too much repetition and the content could have been somewhat simplified. But, it works well considering that he has his own persuasive style of writing, and there is no shortage of biblical references and interpreting scripture with scripture which should be every Christian's way of interpreting the Bible whenever possible. Not the best Preston book, but it wasn't bad either. It gets four weak stars from me.
April 27, 2024
I have been looking for a full length commentary on Revelation written from a full preterist perspective and I have been unable to find one. But Don K. Preston has done us a great service by writing this brief commentary on Revelation focusing on one of its main themes: Babylon the Great. He makes a good case that contrary to the opinion of most commentators, Babylon the Great should be understood as the earthly Jerusalem rather than the city of Rome. Most of these arguments I had heard before, but a new and persuasive one for me is the juxtaposition of Babylon the Great in Revelation 14.8 with the city in Revelation 14.20, which pretty clearly is Jerusalem. Anyone who wants to argue that Babylon the Great is NOT Jerusalem needs to explain this apparent juxtaposition. One way to do this might be to argue that the focus has changed between the pericopes 14.6-13 and 14.14-20. Such sudden shifts in perspective are common in Revelation. But a more intriguing possibility for me is Jacques Ellul's idea that Babylon is the archetypal city which represents all cities (see Ellul, 1970 p 20-21). So in his book Meaning of the City Ellul briefly gives the nod to the idea that Babylon in Revelation is Rome, but spends much more time in his book comparing Babylon the Great to Jerusalem.
Ellul's overarching view of the book of Revelation is, of course, much different that Dr. Preston's. Ellul sees Revelation as a book of archetypes, and there may be something to this. Many commentators have pointed out that although the primary referent of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 must be the Roman Empire, this beast may also represent empire however it is instantiated in every place and time, since it incorporates characteristics of all four of the beasts which Daniel saw in Daniel 7.
Speaking of the beast, I wish I could pick Dr. Preston's brain about its identity. (Even more ideally, I wish he would write a full length commentary on Revelation!) Because his focus in this book is elsewhere, he says little about the identity of the beast. He only says that the beast is to be identified with the seven hills on which Babylon the Great sits. For me, this is a problem for his view. If these seven hills are to be identified with the seven hills of Jerusalem, then the beast in some way must be identified with Jerusalem. Yet the beast is clearly the Roman Empire. Another problem for his view I wish Dr. Preston had addressed in his section on objections to the preterist view is the evident theme of Nero Redivivus in the book of Revelation, which points more towards a later date for the composition of Revelation rather than the early date that preterism requires. Maybe he does this in another book?
In closing, I’d like to say that the book is very readable. I read it in just two sittings (with appropriate breaks to get coffee, and of course bathroom breaks for me and my dog). It would have been more readable without all the exclamation points! They could have been reduced by about 80% and the book would have been just fine. That, and the copious use of italics, indicated that the book was written more by Don the preacher than by Don the scholar. Of course, Don the scholar was never out of view, and over 200 endnotes were included for those wishing to do further research. I do wish he had included a bibliography, though!
Ellul's overarching view of the book of Revelation is, of course, much different that Dr. Preston's. Ellul sees Revelation as a book of archetypes, and there may be something to this. Many commentators have pointed out that although the primary referent of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 must be the Roman Empire, this beast may also represent empire however it is instantiated in every place and time, since it incorporates characteristics of all four of the beasts which Daniel saw in Daniel 7.
Speaking of the beast, I wish I could pick Dr. Preston's brain about its identity. (Even more ideally, I wish he would write a full length commentary on Revelation!) Because his focus in this book is elsewhere, he says little about the identity of the beast. He only says that the beast is to be identified with the seven hills on which Babylon the Great sits. For me, this is a problem for his view. If these seven hills are to be identified with the seven hills of Jerusalem, then the beast in some way must be identified with Jerusalem. Yet the beast is clearly the Roman Empire. Another problem for his view I wish Dr. Preston had addressed in his section on objections to the preterist view is the evident theme of Nero Redivivus in the book of Revelation, which points more towards a later date for the composition of Revelation rather than the early date that preterism requires. Maybe he does this in another book?
In closing, I’d like to say that the book is very readable. I read it in just two sittings (with appropriate breaks to get coffee, and of course bathroom breaks for me and my dog). It would have been more readable without all the exclamation points! They could have been reduced by about 80% and the book would have been just fine. That, and the copious use of italics, indicated that the book was written more by Don the preacher than by Don the scholar. Of course, Don the scholar was never out of view, and over 200 endnotes were included for those wishing to do further research. I do wish he had included a bibliography, though!
July 10, 2011
I have read quite a few of Preston's books and this one ranks up there as one of his best. Focused mainly on the topic of identifying who is being spoken of in the book of Revelation when it speaks of the judgment on Babylon, this book is pretty exhaustive in looking at all of the angles. People along the way have said it is Rome, or the Roman Catholic church, or any number of other agencies through history, but Preston's tear down each of these examples and shows how the Scripture from start to finish leaves us with only one possible answer to the question. Who is this Babylon? None other than Jerusalem herself.
Preston does not directly present the other views in order to disassemble them, he strictly shows how only Jerusalem can properly qualify as the identity of Babylon, and how others do not therefore qualify based on biblical and historical texts.
Along the way, so many other pieces of biblical eschatology get put into place, connecting so many dots between first testament promises and second testament fulfillment that it shows how the Scripture is one continual story dealing with one continual plot involving covenant promises, a people and a fulfillment of all promises along the way. Preston states and proves that properly identifying Babylon of Revelation is pivotal to properly understanding so much of the book of Revelation, including the promise of resurrection, the millennium, the end of the age, the marriage, the judgment, and much more related to eschatology. One of his best works I have read so far.
This new 2011 edition has been expanded, and includes up to date issues raised in recent times, and the new special study section on the millennium is a great addition to what was already a great work.
Preston does not directly present the other views in order to disassemble them, he strictly shows how only Jerusalem can properly qualify as the identity of Babylon, and how others do not therefore qualify based on biblical and historical texts.
Along the way, so many other pieces of biblical eschatology get put into place, connecting so many dots between first testament promises and second testament fulfillment that it shows how the Scripture is one continual story dealing with one continual plot involving covenant promises, a people and a fulfillment of all promises along the way. Preston states and proves that properly identifying Babylon of Revelation is pivotal to properly understanding so much of the book of Revelation, including the promise of resurrection, the millennium, the end of the age, the marriage, the judgment, and much more related to eschatology. One of his best works I have read so far.
This new 2011 edition has been expanded, and includes up to date issues raised in recent times, and the new special study section on the millennium is a great addition to what was already a great work.
June 22, 2013
Great read and extremely informative. A must for any person serious about learning the meaning behind the book of Revelation and how the Old Testament ties into the New Testament.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews