At the 2008 Prewrath Conference in Orlando, Charles Cooper explicated Matthew’s purpose in his account of the Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24, distinguishing it from Mark and Luke’s account and purpose.
Matthew 24 is applicable to the Church, contra Preterism and Pretribulationism. Preterists commit a fundamental fallacy of assuming that the question and purpose in Mark and Luke’s version of the Olivet Discourse is the same as that in Matthew’s, thus flattening the respective purposes for each. But Matthew is not concerned with the question asked in Mark and Luke’s account, but rather he takes the teaching of Jesus and expands on it to serve a larger (eschatological) purpose — this important point is repeatedly missed by preterists. With any discussion or debate with a preterist, this point is fundamental and primary to all other subsequent discussions.
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