Good comments. Yes, that is an issue. One of the main points of the Revelation is the entry into the heavenly country of the OT faithful, and the ascension with them of the NT martyrs.

Jordan sees the first century massacre as a reason why the church fathers got so many things wrong:

http://www.bullartistry.com.au/wp/2009/04/16/three-resurrections-2/

For me, an actual imminent physical resurrection is the thrust of the apostles’ writings, and they were inspired. I find it easier to believe that tradition got the date of John’s death wrong, especially when there are hints at what would happen to him. And how’s this one, recorded by John himself, which I think we overlook:

John 11:25-26:
Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

AND

whoever LIVES and believes in Me shall never die.
Do you believe this?”

This division is more than poetic, surely. Could it refer to a first century rapture?

The “we” in 1 Thess 4 is a tricky one. However, for the saints in Thess to believe that this event might have already passed, perhaps they knew it would only be governmental, ie. apostolic? After all, Paul’s point here – and in 1 Cor 15 – is to comfort them concerning the fate of the martyrs. Yes, we are dying, but we know God raised Christ after He was slain.

Thanks for your comments, Joe. Really appreciated.

It seems that one of the big challenges for your view is that you want to restrict the AD70 resurrection to OC saints, apostles, and NC martyrs. 1 Thess 4 and 1 Cor 15 speak more broadly than that. All those who are alive at the parousia will rise with the resurrected dead to be with Christ. Hyper-preterists seem to spiritualize this such that the people to whom it happened remained on earth and apparently didn’t recognize that it had happened, nor did they write about it. You avoid this by having this be a bodily rapture/ascension.

The difficulty is that this would leave the world Christian-less, raising all kinds of continuity problems between the “firstfruits” church and the later church. Indeed, if Christians were evacuated in AD70, who was left to evangelize? Where did the post-apostolic church come from?

Limiting this bodily rapture to the apostles alive at the time (John the apostle?) and not including all members of the church alive at the time seems to run afoul of both 1 Thess 4 and 1 Cor 15.

Thoughts?