Note: Don Preston is a full preterist and therefore his teaching cannot receive full or blind acceptance. His many videos on YouTube are worthy of listening and interacting with in a timeline manner.
This video is particularly interesting to me. I am studying through 1 Peter right now and have been enraptured by the discussion over the author of the book and its dating. One of the key elements within the book is the tribulation and persecution found within the book. Most critical scholars claim that this proves that 1 Peter was written after A.D. 70 and hence proves that Peter did not write it.
Clearly for conservative evangelicals this isn't a satisfactory answer. There are some great arguments for Peter writing the book before A.D. 70 and I imagine that this video could provide some more interesting insight. On to the video!
@2:58: I share this opinion. I was swayed to this opinion by Kenneth Gentry in particular. And I hope people will forgive me if I sound the horn too often.
@5:20: When Mr Preston says "virtually everyone" he means everyone who is not "liberal". Most higher critics and scholars do not agree that Peter was written before A.D. 70 but that isn't the audience Mr Preston is targeting here. He is talking to evangelicals who assume that Peter is the author of the book.
@6:25: I agree with this translation and perspective. I don't believe Peter is looking forward to an abnormal trial. Instead he is being pastoral in his approach to Christian suffering. The focus on the same churches of Asia is important. It is a great link between 1 Peter and Revelation.
The list of churches is also part of the higher critic arsenal against Peter as the author of the book. But you'll have to wait till I teach through 1 Peter for a full refutation of that critical opinion.
@9:00: I'll be honest. There is basically zero power behind this argument. I think that it is a solid refutation of futurists who want to point to "tribulation" that has not yet occurred but it doesn't firmly prove an A.D. 70 date. If these trials started in A.D. 60 and persisted through A.D. 90, it would not be inconsistent to the Biblical account.
In the end this video simply smooths some things over. There is no powerful argument here. But it may open the eyes of some to see how well Revelation can fit with the rest of the New Testament when seen from an early date perspective.
