The McDurmon Preston Debate on 70 AD (1)

Back in July (2012) there was a formal debate between Hyper-Preterist (HP) Don Preston and Partial-Preterist (PP) Joel McDurmon. I've been waiting to find a reasonably priced offering of this debate. I recall it was broadcast live for an outrageous price, so no thanks, and Preston's website offers it for around the $35 (also, no thanks). I recently discovered McDurmon's organization is offering the audio along with an e-book, and the total that I was billed was $18.71. While still a bit too much for a few mp3's, along with the e-book I figured the price was getting closer to the realm of sanity.

So last night I put the debate on, sat back and listened to Mr. Preston's opening presentation.  He speaks quickly and throws out a lot of Bible verses, so unless you're actively listening and attempting to keep up, the presentation quickly turns into a guy speaking fast that throws out a lot of Bible verses, none of which will appear to make any sense (this presentation reminds me of this old comment from Gerstner).

So this morning I put Preston's presentation back on, and have tried to slow it down a bit to at least try to figure out what he's talking about. I just stopped the mp3 at about 3 minutes in to look up a passage he used, Acts 24:14. Preston says the verse states, "I believe all things that are written in the law and the prophets that there is literally about to be the resurrection of the just and unjust" (emphasis mine). Popular translations however render this passage:

[NIV]14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

[NAS]14 But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve [a]the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

However, Young's Literal Translation does render the passage, "there is about to be a rising again of the dead, both of righteous and unrighteous."

Rather than reinvent the wheel, Ken Gentry has put together an explanation of the grammar of this text in response to the Hyper-Preterists: Acts 24:15 and the Alleged Nearness of the Resurrection and his revised entry here (the revised entry is more extensive). Gentry states, "Hyperpreterism seizes upon the word mellein (from the Greek: mello) and argues that it should be translated 'about to.' " He counter-argues, "...syntactically when mello appears in conjunction with a future infinitive (as here in Acts 24:15) it indicates certainty." He presents far more argumentation than this, but this suffices.

I'm going to attempt to work through this debate, time allowing. Seeing that I'm only 3 minutes in, I calculate the entire process should take at least 7 years, which I'm going to refer to my own personal tribulation (with no rapture in sight).