When it comes to history, we are utterly at the mercy of the historians. There is no way to prove with utter and rightful certainty that anything we read about actually happened. We are left but to reason for ourselves whether certain historical claims seem well-enough documented to us to be plausible.
With these facts in mind, let me state that the Temporary Ekklesia Theory is based upon the assumption that the Bible is authentic, reliable, and accurate as to fact.
Can I prove this assumption? Of course not. The idea, therefore, goes something like this: “If the bible is authentic, reliable, and accurate as to fact, then here is what must have happened.”
Many people make such claims, of course, about their various religious views. One very simple difference sets apart TET from many other Bible theories: it seeks to take into account all scripture, and not only what is convenient. I have found that proponents of a perpetual ekklesia theory tend to ignore a great many passages that cause that theory considerable difficulty. For example, they ignore passages about the imminence of Jesus’ second coming, about the role of angels in Jesus’ ekklesia, and about some or all of the “time stamps” that were attached to certain ekklesia features, such as:
- The Great Commission
- The Lord’s Supper
- The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
- The miraculous gifts.