This term is used to describe a school of prophetic interpretation that conceives the fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as covering the historical period from the time of the prophet to the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. These prophecies were given in visionary circles that recapitulate the content of the previous vision, adding new information or providing a slightly different perspective of the same historical period. Thus, for instance, Dan. 2 , 7 , 8–9 , and 10–12 are parallel prophecies covering basically the same historical period. In Revelation the same type of recapitulation is employed in the interpretation of the messages to the seven churches, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and Rev. 12–14 .
The validity of historicism as a method for the interpretation of Daniel and Revelation is provided by the fact that the angel interpreter in Daniel used this method in explaining the meaning of the visions to the prophet. In a dream he is informed that the dream of the king in Dan. 2 represents four kingdoms that will arise in human history before the kingdom of God is established ( verses 36–45 ). The four beasts of Dan. 7 represent those same kingdoms, after which God will give the kingdom to the saints ( verses 18 , 19 ). The first kingdom was identified as Babylon ( verses 36–38 ). In Dan. 8 two animals are used as symbols to represent the Medo-Persian and Greek empires ( verses 19–21 ). The fourth kingdom is not identified in Daniel, but Jesus takes it to be Rome ( Matt. 24:15 ). According to Daniel, this kingdom was to be divided, and a little horn would exercise political and religious control over the people. In the time of the end the horn is to be destroyed and God’s kingdom established forever.
Jesus used this method when He interpreted Dan. 9:26 , 27 as referring to the future destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 ( Luke 21:20–22 ). Paul also speaks about a series of successive prophetic events to be fulfilled within history before the second coming of Christ ( 2 Thess. 2:1–12 ). Historicism as a method of interpretation is found in the Bible itself, and it provides the key for the interpretation of the apocalyptic books of Daniel and Revelation.
The historicist approach to prophetic interpretation was used by the early Church Fathers up to the fifth century A.D. LeRoy E. Froom has shown that a significant shift in prophetic interpretation occurred when Augustine defined the kingdom of God as the Christian church and spiritualized the millennium, making it a symbol of the Christian Era ( The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers , vol. 1, pp. 473–491). His views prevailed during the Middle Ages, until the period of the Protestant reform. The Reformers restored historicism as the method to be used in the interpretation of Daniel and Revelation, and identified the papacy as a manifestation of the antichrist predicted in those books.
The Counter-Reformation developed a new system of prophetic interpretation that came to be known as preterism. This method was developed by a Spanish Jesuit named Luis de Alcazar (died 1613). According to him, the prophecies of Revelation were fulfilled during the first six centuries of the Christian Era. He identified Nero with the antichrist ( ibid. , vol. 2, pp. 506–508). Preterism was later adopted by many Protestants and has become today the prevailing method of prophetic interpretation among religious scholars in general. According to them, Daniel deals with events that took place during the time of the Maccabbeans, and Revelation deals with the situation of the church during the time of John.
Among more conservative Protestants, historicism has been replaced by futurism. Futurism applies the prophecies of Revelation mainly to events that will take place within a seven-year period just before the second coming of Christ. This is the position taken by most dispensationalists.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that historicism is the right method of prophetic interpretation to be used in the interpretation of the books of Daniel and Revelation. The method is supported by the Scriptures itself and was in use during the early church period. Moreover, they feel that in using this method they are also preserving an important aspect of the Reformers’ work of restoration.