16 Comm. on Matt. 24:14. 17 Comm. on Matt. 24:15.
Finally Jesus then stated: "Truly, I tell you this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Matthew 24:34. It is true that "within fifty years, the city was destroyed and the temple was rased" — Calvin concedes to preterism. But then he also comments, historicistically, that "the same evils were perpetrated in uninterrupted succession — for many ages afterwards…. The apostles endured the same things which we see in the present day [A.D. 1555-63]. And yet, it was not the design of Christ to promise to His followers that their calamities would be terminated within a short time. For then, He would have contradicted Himself — having previously warned them that the end was not yet!"18
