Do Preterists Spiritualize the Bible?

Introduction

We all know it is wrong to "spiritualize" literal Scriptures, but isn't it equally wrong to "physicalize" spiritual Scriptures? How do we tell the difference? There is a big difference between what is commonly called "spiritualizing" and recognizing figurative language when it is present. True "spiritualizing" is when a plain statement is said to have a "hidden" or "deeper" meaning that cannot be ascertained from the text. It is important that we carefully distinguish between the two, for oftentimes they are confused and then used to make a particular interpretation look bad. We need to realize that literal does not always equal physical, just as symbolic does not always equal spiritual.

"The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."
- John 6:63 

There are many examples of people in the Bible confusing the words of Christ or Old Testament references to be physical realities when in fact their main substance was spiritual. On the contrary, I know of no examples where someone confused a physical truth for a spiritual one. What does that say about the "literal = physical" ideal of biblical interpretation? Consider the following examples, and the problems caused when a spiritual truth was confused with a physical reality:

The Law

"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect."
Hebrews 10:1

"who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." 
Hebrews 8:5

The law was a shadow or type of  things to come. It was this law that Christ fulfilled, the Law that pointed to Him. How many of Paul's letters were written trying to get people to understand that they were no longer under the law? They confused the physical with the spiritual.

The Tabernacle

"It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience; concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation." 
Hebrews 9:9-11 

The first tabernacle represented the tabernacle to come under Christ. The purpose of the tabernacle built by Moses was a pattern, for the purpose of leading man to the spiritual tabernacle. What would be God's view of a "restored" temple and sacrificial system in Israel today?

The New Covenant

"Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?  For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,  which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar;  for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children;  but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: "Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband."  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.  Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free." 
-Galatians 4:21-31 

The mothers of these two sons represent the two covenants, and the two sons represent the two nations born of the covenants, namely physical and spiritual Israel or the spiritual nature of the New Covenant system in contrast to the fleshly nature of the Old Covenant system. What happens when we lapse into legalism? Is it not a lapse back into a physical reality that was superseded by the spiritual?

Leaven

 "Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread." 
-Matthew 16:6-7

"But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  "Do you not yet understand, . . . "How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?; but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  -Matthew 16:8-11 

When Jesus said leaven, they took it to mean the physical leaven that raises bread. Jesus was talking about a spiritual truth, but he used physical words to describe the spiritual realities. And He expected them to be able to see it!

The Temple

 "Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body." 
-John 2:19-21

The Jews didn't understand what Jesus was saying. This caused them to doubt Christ. In much the same way as liberal scholars do today when they see Christ's words, claim that they did not occur, and then say Christ was mistaken. We open the door for this sort of thinking when we assign our modern ideas to spiritual realities.

Elijah

 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD."
-Malachi 4:5

"And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  "But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist." 
-Matthew 17:10-12 

"He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
-Luke 1:17 

"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 
"And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come." 
-Matthew 11:13-14 

The disciples knew the prophecy about Elijah, and they thought it would be fulfilled physically. It was fulfilled physically, but not literally, for John the Baptist came in the Spirit of Elijah. Was Jesus "spiritualizing" the coming of Elijah?

The Flesh and Blood

 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.  “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,  and I will raise him up on the last day."
-John 6:53-54

These words of Jesus caused many to leave Him. He was clearly speaking of a spiritual reality (Eph. 1:7). We're saved by Christ's blood, but what does that mean? Of course it is physical blood in the sense that Jesus physically shed his blood, and it is that act that makes our salvation possible. But it is spiritually applied. We don't have the physical blood of Jesus with us today. 

The Kingdom

     "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;  nor does corruption inherit incorruption." 
 -1 Corinthians 15:50

      "Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." 
 -John 18:36

      "for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.  And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." 
-Hebrews 11:12-16

    "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation;  "nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." 
- Luke 17:20-21 

The Bible says the kingdom was at hand. If it is a physical kingdom whose capitol was in Jerusalem, then it hasn't happened yet. These are physical words that describe the spiritual realm (how else could God communicate to physical beings?), it is God's way of giving us insight into the spiritual realm. 

Conclusion

Whether or not preterists are correct is a separate issue from whether or not their entire method is flawed from the start. While we should never "spiritualize" a truth out of its meaning, neither should we "physicalize" a spiritual truth out of its intended meaning. The proper interpretation needs to be debated, not merely asserted based on an unrealistic literalism.