The Pre-Tribulational Rapture is Not New.

  

The Pre-Tribulational Rapture in Dispensationalism is not new.

 

This piece is the Addendum to the Rapture View in this blog that I have lifted and placed here separately since noticing so many statements that the Pre-Trib Rapture view with roots in Dispensationalism is a recent 1830 phenomenon. 

https://walkingtruth.blogspot.com/2022/09/lesson-4-eschatology-rapture.html

Now, apart from all the biblical basis for the rapture (link above), we've got to spend a little time refuting those who malign the rapture view and its historical roots.

 

Let’s refute some of the anti-dispensational/rapture rhetoric that is out there. To begin, most positions on any disputed doctrine begin with confirmation bias. One studies and collects data on the preferences they endear. And from what I’ve observed, most of the data is from secondary sources. Few people can be an expert on more than one issue and few people have the time and patience to endure the exhaustive and relentless pounding of an expert who promotes his bias. So, this will be a “short” look from one who is neither an expert nor an academician. What is most difficult, is what not to include.

 

First, there are many who refer to the Pre-millennial/Pre-tribulational rapture view as a “SECRET RAPTURE”. No one who holds to a rapture view refers to it as such. That is simply a pejorative term. The only thing “Secret” about this rapture is its timing. It is imminent and many Christians hold to the imminency of the coming of Christ. Any other meaning for the term is just caustic. 

 

Second, there are three names to introduce at the onset. Margaret MacDonald, Dave MacPherson, and John Nelson Darby. 

 

Dave MacPherson is probably the point man for starting the big lie that John Darby pilfered a pre-tribulational view from Margaret MacDonald. MacPherson hates the pre-tribulational rapture view and takes aim at Darby because he gained great momentum in the late 1800’s promoting the Premillennial/Pre-Tribulational Rapture view. MacPherson forces the speculation that Darby developed all his work from MacDonald’s vision, consisting of a two-stage coming of Christ.

 

Margaret MacDonald was a 15-year-old teenager who lived in Scotland in the early 1830’s who supposedly had a revelation that there would be a rapture of the church before the tribulation. 

 

MacPherson asserts that Margaret MacDonald started the pre-tribulation rapture view. This myth is widespread. Critics of the rapture declare that MacDonald received her vision from demonic origins, and that she then passed on the message of that vision to infect the Church. Further, having been influenced by MacDonald, Darby produced a systematic approach of the pre-trib rapture. Darby was in league with MacDonald to mislead the church.

 

Here is an excerpt from her “vision”:

 

“…all must, as Stephen was, be filled with the Holy Ghost, that they might look up, and see the brightness of the Father’ s glory. I saw the error to be, that men think that it will be something seen by the natural eye but tis spiritual discernment that is needed, the eye of God in his people. Only those who have the light of God within them will see the sign of his appearance. No need to follow them who say, see here, or see there, for his day shall be as the lightning to those in whom the living Christ is. Tis Christ in us that will lift us up—he is the light—tis only those that are alive in him that will be caught up to meet him in the air. I saw that we must be in the Spirit that we might see spiritual things John was in the Spirit, when he saw a throne set in Heaven it is not knowledge about God that it contains, but it is an entering into God. I felt that those who were filled with the Spirit could see spiritual things, and feel walking in the midst of them, while those who had not the Spirit could see nothing.”

 

Elements of her vision:

 

(1) Stephen saw into heaven; he was not raptured or taken to heaven. 

(2) The sign will be seen only by the spiritually enlightened. It will not be a natural or physical sign, but one perceived by "spiritual discernment." 

(3) She is discussing "the sign of his appearance," not His actual appearance. The sign is spiritual discernment…nothing to do with a rapture.

(4) Once a person has been so enlightened, he will not need direction from others. He will be guided directly by "the living Christ." 

(5) The emphasis is on seeing: "John was in the Spirit, when he saw" "those who were filled with the Spirit could see". 

Macdonald's "prophecies made it plain that the return of the Lord depended upon the proper spiritual preparation of His Church." She did not promote a pre-trib rapture. She promoted a post-tribulation rapture at the Second Coming.

 

Further:

 

. . . now shall the awful sight of a false Christ be seen on this earth, and nothing but the living Christ in us can detect this awful attempt of the enemy to deceive. . .. The Spirit must and will be purged out on the church, that she may be purified and filled with God. . .. There will be outward trial too, but 'tis principally temptation. It is brought on by the outpouring of the Spirit and will just increase in proportion as the Spirit is poured out. The trial of the Church is from the Antichrist. It is by being filled with the Spirit that we shall be kept. I frequently said, oh be filled with the Spirit—have the light of God in you, that you may detect satan—be full of eyes within—be clay in the hands of the potter— submit to be filled, filled with God. . .. This is what we are at present made to pray much for, that speedily we may all be made ready to meet our Lord in the air—and it will be. Jesus wants his bride. His desire is toward us.”

 

So, she saw the church ("us") being purged by Antichrist through the tribulation. The tribulation is happening now. She was an historicist. All future prophecies have happened or are happening now. MacPherson reads this as meaning the church will be raptured before Antichrist, ignoring the "us". In reality, she saw the church enduring Antichrist's persecution of the Tribulation days. 

 

Her vision was an historical, post-millennium position with NO rapture. The church would go through the Tribulation. This is hardly the beginnings of PRE-tribulationism!

 

MacPherson produces an impressive amount of research, but no scholar believes he made any connection between Darby and MacDonald. In fact, with many quotes from MacDonald, he misrepresents the “vision” wrongly to discredit Darby and all who believe in a pretrib rapture. It was intentional. Following is probably the reason why MacPherson pursued his combative quest to discredit a pre-trib rapture. From many post-trib or amillennium pulpits today, the pre-trib rapture view is the product of a little demon possessed girl from 1830. She may have been a demon-possessed girl with a vision or maybe not. I do not know, nor do I care. She is irrelevant to the pre-millennium rapture view.

 

Dave Macpherson

Author of "The Rapture Plot", "The Incredible Cover Up", "The Great Rapture Hoax", "Unbelievable Pre-Trib Origin" and "Late Great Pre-Trib Rapture." 

 

Dave MacPherson has dedicated his life to disrupting belief in the pre-tribulation rapture, since, according to his interpretation, it has been the cause for great disruption in his own life. 

"Back in 1953, I had a jolting encounter with the Rapture," is the first sentence in one of MacPherson's books (The Great Rapture Hoax). 

 

This is a reference to his expulsion from Biola Christian college in California for propagating views that conflicted with the Pre-Tribulational view. He suggests that this experience was so devastating that it accounts for a setback in his Christian life. Because of his discouragement, MacPherson and a friend went on a drunken, fornicating binge in Mexico. MacPherson says this was a brush with death because of the many dangers that could befall someone in that condition in Mexico. Later he was involved in a wreck with a car while riding his motorcycle, and he almost lost his left arm. But these were not the beginnings of his nor his family's troubles because of the Pre-Tribulational rapture.

 

In his book, Looking for the Blessed Horrible Holocaust, Robert L Sumner has noted that MacPherson had a bad habit of attributing all kinds of personal tragedies to the pre-trib teaching. 

 

It attributed to his mother's death, his sister’s inability to have more children, leading to her early death, his father’s ministerial woes of losing his church, and his own failure to follow through on his calling as an evangelist, and many other matters. Dave goes so far as to blame hundreds of thousands of deaths in Communist China to the rapture view. Every distress in his life was due to his fracas with pre-tribulationalism.

 

Sumner also states that MacPherson's lovable dog, Wolf, apparently became demon possessed just about the time MacPherson was about to write his first anti-pretribulation book, savagely biting his writing hand several times, delaying his writing for six months (Hope? Or Hoax? The Biblical Evangelist).

 

In the final analysis, Dave MacPherson’s scholarship consists of nothing more than hate filled attacks from assumptions underwritten by a daisy chain of vastly unknown bibliographical references all underwriting him and his dubious sources. What’s equally troubling is his rowdy refusal to be civil by insisting everyone disagreeing with him is by default in league with Lucifer. Nastiness notwithstanding, here’s a small list of unimpeachable Biblical scholars MacPherson by default consigns to heresy if not to Hell purely and simply for disagreeing with his crass, clumsy conclusions:

 

Isaac Watts, JN Darby, CI Scofield, John Gill, Morgan Edwards, DL Moody, RA Torrey, Clarence Larkin, Lewis Sperry Chafer. William R. Newell, J. Vernon McGee, David Jeremiah, Lehman Strauss, Merrill Unger, Dave Reagan, Sir Robert Anderson. Charles Swindoll, Jerry Falwell, Jack Hyles, John Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, Dave Hunt, Noah Hutchings, J. Dwight Pentecost, Zola Levitt, J. Randall Price, Dave Breese, Jimmy DeYoung, AC Gaebelein, MR DeHaan, JR Church, HA Ironside, Gary Stearman, Tommy Ice, Hal Lindsey, Ed Hindson, Grant Jeffrey, Chuck Missler, Jack Van Impe, and many more. 

 

It is sad that to this day, many amillennialists have joined the chorus with the likes of MacPherson in order to demean and embarrass those who hold to a pre-trib/rapture view by linking them to a demon possessed little girl from Scotland in 1830.

 

John Nelson Darby

Darby was born in London in 1801. He was of great stock. He was a nephew of Admiral Henry D’Esterre Darby who served with Lord Nelson at the Battle of the Nile, and it was in recognition of this family connection that John was given his middle name.

 

Darby was educated at Westminster and Trinity College Dublin where he graduated Classical Gold Medalist in 1819. Darby embraced Christianity during his studies. 

The future Bishop of Meath and evangelical Joseph Singer tutored him at Trinity. He, therefore, chose ordination as an Anglican clergyman in Ireland. In 1825, Darby was ordained deacon of the established Church of Ireland and the following year as priest. He was a staunch defender of Calvinism, election, and predestination.

 

He was a Master Scholar, able in every field of study, fluent in multiple languages, producing translations of the Bible in German, French, a Dutch New Testament, and one in English. He traveled widely all over Europe and authored multiple other works and his presence and influence persisted until his death in 1882 where he was buried in Dorset, England.

 

In October 1827, he fell from a horse and was seriously injured. While convalescing in his sister’s home, he devoted himself to the study of God’s Word and specifically, ecclesiology. He stated that it was during this time that he began to believe that the "kingdom" described in the Book of Isaiah and elsewhere in the Old Testament was entirely different from the Christian Church.

 

Darby himself claims the illumination of the rapture came to him when he realized the distinction between Israel and the church. He has been labeled a dispensationalist. If so, he is a two-point dispensationalist. 1) The Church, and 2) Israel are not the same and God has and will dispense two distinct future dispensations for Israel and the Church.

 

Darby reported that he discovered the rapture teaching in 1827, three years before MacDonald had her vision. 

 

It is impossible to believe that a man of this caliber could have ever been duped by or pilfered the “demonic” vision of a 15-year-old Scottish girl. There is zero connection between the two.

 

There are also works of conjecture that key elements of the doctrine of the Pre-tribulational rapture originated with either Edward Irving (1792–1834) or the broader Irvingite movement and then stealthily incorporated into the theology of John Nelson Darby (1800–1882) and the Brethren. The Irvingites were predominately historicists, believing that future prophecy had already come about. Anyone who is interested in pursuing this trail may do so, but I will neglect building upon this connection for the sake of brevity and relevance.

 

No pre-trib person would ever say, “I believe in the rapture because Margaret MacDonald told me so.” I have not met any pre-trip/rapture persons who have even heard of her.

 

The Catholics revere Mary. The Mormons revere Joseph Smith. The Jehovah Witnesses herald Charles Taze Russell and the Scientologist, L. Ron Hubbard. Yet, there is no tribute to Margaret Macdonald for a pre-tribulation rapture from the pre-trib community, none.

 

There is no evidence whatsoever that points to MacDonald as the source of pre-tribulationism. Every major prophetic author alive today claims the Word of God as the foundation for belief in the rapture. Both Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul made statements that clearly establish the rapture doctrine. Jesus said, in Matthew 25:13, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Paul affirmed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

 

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so, shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 

 

Last, a little on the dating of the pre-millennium/pre-trib view.

 

This following piece turned out a little longer than expected, but it is very informational and comforting to know that the pre-millennialist/pre-tribber is not alone. (And thanks to Tommy Ice for his contribution).

 

Those who attack the pre-trib view state that it is a relatively new position that has not been held prior to the 1830’s. This statement is more false than true. It was Darby, for sure, that systematized the pre-mil/pretrib view, but prior to that it was mostly oral tradition since during the reign of the Roman Catholic Church, it was certain death to espouse any other doctrine or beliefs that contradicted the Catholic Church. 

 

Since imminency is considered to be a crucial feature of pre-tribulationism by scholars, it is significant that the Apostolic Fathers, though somewhat post-tribulational, at the same time just as clearly taught the pre-tribulational feature of imminence. Since it was common in the early church to hold contradictory positions without even an awareness of inconsistency, it would not be surprising to learn that their era supports both views. Larry Crutchfield notes, "This belief in the imminent return of Christ within the context of ongoing persecution has prompted us to broadly label the views of the earliest fathers, 'imminent intra-tribulationism.'"

 

Expressions of imminency abound in the Apostolic Fathers. Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, and The Shepherd of Hermas all speak of imminency. Furthermore, The Shepherd of Hermas speaks of the pre-tribulational concept of escaping the tribulation. 

 

Evidence of pre-tribulationism surfaces during the early medieval period in a sermon some attribute to Ephraem the Syrian entitled Sermon on The Last Times, The Antichrist, and The End of the World. The sermon was written sometime between the fourth and sixth century. The rapture statement reads as follows: 

 

“Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? . . . For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.”

 

This statement evidences a clear belief that all Christians will escape the tribulation through a gathering to the Lord. How else can this be understood other than as pre-tribulational? The later second coming of Christ to the earth with the saints is mentioned at the end of the sermon. 

 

The Medieval Church 

 

By the fifth century A.D., the amillennialism of Origen and Augustine had won the day in the established Church- East and West. It is probable that there were always some forms of premillennialism throughout the Middle Ages, but it existed primarily underground. Dorothy Def Abrahamse notes: 

“By medieval times the belief in an imminent apocalypse had officially been relegated to the role of symbolic theory by the Church; as early as the fourth century, Augustine had declared that the Revelation of John was to be interpreted symbolically rather than literally, and for most of the Middle Ages Church councils and theologians considered only abstract eschatology to be acceptable speculation. Since the nineteenth century, however, historians have recognized that literal apocalypses did continue to circulate in the medieval world and that they played a fundamental role in the creation of important strains of thought and legend [emphasis added].

It is believed that sects like the Albigenses, Lombards, and the Waldenses were attracted to premillennialism, but little is known of the details of their beliefs since the Catholics destroyed their works when they were found.”

 

It must be noted at this point that it is extremely unlikely for the Middle Ages to produce advocates of a pretrib rapture when the more foundational belief of premillennialism is all but absent. Thus, the rapture question is likewise absent. This continued until the time of the Reformation, when many things within Christendom began to be revolutionized. 

 

The Reformation Church 

 

Premillennialism began to be revived as a result of at least three factors. 

 

First, the Reformers went back to the sources, which for them was the Bible and Apostolic Fathers. This exposed them to an orthodox premillennialism. Specifically significant was the reappearance of the full text of Irenaeus' Against Heresies, which included the last five chapters that espouse a consistent futurism and cast the 70th week of Daniel into the future. 

 

Second, they repudiated much, not all, of the allegorization that dominated mediaeval hermeneutics by adopting a more literal approach, especially in the area of the historical exegesis. 

 

Third, many of the Protestants came into contact with Jews and learned Hebrew. This raised concerns over whether passages that speak of national Israel were to be taken historically or continued to be allegorized within the tradition of the Middle Ages. The more the Reformers took them as historical, the more they were awakened to premillennial interpretations, in spite of the fact that they were often labeled "Judaizers."

 

By the late 1500's and the early 1600' s, premillennialism began to return as a factor within the mainstream church after more than a 1,000-year reign of amillennialism. With the flowering of biblical interpretation during the late Reformation Period, premillennial interpreters began to abound throughout Protestantism and so did the development of sub-issues like the rapture. 

 

It has been claimed that some separated the rapture from the second coming as early as Joseph Mede in his seminal work Clavis Apocalyptica (1627), who is considered the father of English premillennialism. Paul Boyer says that Increase Mather proved "that the saints would 'be caught up into the Air' beforehand, thereby escaping the final conflagration (the burning destruction of the end times) - an early formulation of the Rapture doctrine more fully elaborated in the nineteenth century." 

 

Whatever these men were saying, it is clear that the application of a more literal hermeneutic was leading to a distinction between the rapture and the second coming as separate events. 

 

Others began to speak of the rapture. Paul Benware notes: 

 

“Peter Jurieu in his book Approaching Deliverance of the Church (1687) taught that Christ would come in the air to rapture the saints and return to heaven before the battle of Armageddon. He spoke of a “secret” Rapture prior to His coming in glory and judgment at Armageddon.”

 

Philip Doddridge's commentary on the New Testament (1738) and John Gill's commentary on the New Testament (1748) both use the term rapture and speak of it as imminent. It is clear that these men believed that this coming would precede Christ's descent to the earth and the time of judgment. The purpose was to preserve believers from the time of judgment. 

 

James Macknight (1763) and Thomas Scott (1792) taught that the righteous will be carried to heaven, where they will be secure until the time of judgment is over.

 

Frank Marotta, a brethren researcher, believes that Thomas Collier in 1674 refers to a pre-tribulational rapture, but rejects the view, thus showing his awareness that such a view was being taught. 

 

Perhaps the clearest reference to a pretrib rapture before Darby comes from Baptist Morgan Edwards (founder of Brown University) in 1742-44 who saw a distinct rapture three and a half years before the start of the millennium.

 

The Modern Church 

 

As futurism began to replace historicism within premillennial circles in the 1820's, the modern proponent of dispensational pre-tribulationism arrives on the scene. As previously mentioned, Darby claims to have first understood his view of the rapture as the result of Bible study during a convalescence from December 1826 until January 1827. He is the fountainhead for the modern version of the doctrine. 

 

The doctrine of the rapture spread around the world through the Brethren movement with which Darby and other like-minded Christians were associated. It appears that either through their writings or personal visits to North America, this version of pre-tribulationism was spread throughout American Evangelicalism. Two early proponents of the view include Presbyterian James H. Brookes and Baptist J. R. Graves. 

 

The rapture was further spread through annual Bible conferences such as the Niagara Bible Conference (1878-1909); turn of the century publications like The Truth and Our Hope; popular books like Brookes' Maranatha, William Blackstone's Jesus Is Coming, and The Scofield Reference Bible (1909). Many of the greatest Bible teachers of the first half of the twentieth century help spread the doctrine such as Arno Gaebelein, C.I Scofield, A.J. Gordon, James M. Gray, R.A. Torrey, Harry Ironside, and Lewis S. Chafer. 

 

In virtually every major metropolitan area in North America a Bible Institute, Bible College, or Seminary was founded that expounded dispensational pre-tribulationism. Schools like Moody Bible Institute, The Philadelphia Bible College, Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA – from where MacPherson was expelled), and Dallas Theological Seminary taught and defended these views. These teachings were found primarily in independent churches, Bible churches, Baptists, and a significant number of Presbyterian churches. 

Around 1925, pre-tribulationism was adopted by many Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God and The Four-Square Gospel denomination. Pre-tribulationism was dominate among Charismatics in the 1960s and '70s. 

 

Current Status 

 

Although still widely popular among Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, dominance of pre-tribulationism began to wane first in some academic circles in the 1950s and '60s. A decline among Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Evangelicals began in the 1980s as the result of a shift toward greater social concern emerged. Pre-tribulationism is still the most widely held view of the day, but it cannot be taken for granted in many Evangelical, Charismatic, and Fundamentalist circles as it was a generation ago. 

 

The doctrine of the rapture has not been the most visible teaching in the history of the church. However, it has had significant advocates throughout the last 2,000 years. The rapture view has surfaced wherever premillennialism is taught, especially when literal interpretation, futurism, dispensationalism, and a distinction between Israel and the church is highlighted. Regardless of its history, belief in the rapture has been supported primarily by those who attempt a faithful exposition of the biblical text. 

 

Recent Challenges to Pre-Trib Origins

 

A few years ago, pre-wrath advocate Marvin Rosenthal wrote that the pre-trib rapture was of Satanic origin and unheard of before 1830. "To thwart the Lord' s warning to His children, in 1830," proclaims Rosenthal, " Satan, the ' father of lies,' gave to a fifteen-year-old girl named Margaret McDonald a lengthy vision." Rosenthal gives no documentation; he merely asserts that this is true. However, he is wrong. He is undoubtedly relying upon the questionable work of Dave MacPherson, who had already made his attacks. 

 

Another thing amazing about Rosenthal' s declaration is that a few paragraphs later in the article he characterizes his opposition as those who "did not deal with the issues, misrepresented the facts, or attempted character assassination." This description is exactly what he has done in his characterization of pre-trib rapture origins. Why would Rosenthal make such outlandish and unsubstantiated charges about the pre-trib rapture? 

 

Some early Church Fathers:

 

Irenaeus – 130-202 AD

 

Irenaeus taught two separate comings of Christ – a rapture followed years later by the revelation. Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp. Polycarp learned his Christian faith from the apostle John, “...the disciple whom Jesus loved...” (John 21:7). As well as writing the gospel that bears his name and a number of early letters, John wrote the Book of Revelation. Irenaeus later became bishop of the church in Lyons, France and is famous for his five-volume treatise, Against Heresies, which described and challenged all false teaching from the emerging cults of his day. 

 

Irenaeus believed in the three-and-a-half-year reign of the Antichrist as ruler of the world before the Second Coming of Christ. He also believed in a literal millennial reign of Christ on earth following the Second Coming and in the resurrection of the just. 

 

 

Irenaeus also believed in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church occurring apparently about mid-way in. In Against Heresies 5:29 he wrote: “And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, ‘There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.’ For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome, they are crowned with incorruption.” 

 

Note Irenaeus’ use of the “caught up.” It is the exact same Rapture terminology used in 1Thessalonians 4. The word used is 1 Thessalonians 4, is “harpazo”, meaning to be “caught up.” Irenaeus believed that the Rapture of the Church occurred prior to Israel’s Tribulation. Emphasizing that his position was in 130-202 AD.

 

Ephraem the Syrian – 306-373 AD 

 

As early as the 4th century a Pre-Trib rapture exponent nicknamed Pseudo-Ephraem wrote this:

 

“All the saints and elect of God are gathered together before the tribulation, which is to come, and are taken to the Lord, in order that they may not see at any time the confusion which overwhelms the world because of our sins.”

 

Actually, Ephraem the Syrian was not alone in interpreting Bible prophecy literally in his day. 

He was living one generation from the era of Augustine (354-430), whenever there was a dramatic change. 

 

When Ephraem died in 373, Augustine was 19 years old. It was in the era of Augustine that allegoricalism widely replaced the previous method of interpretation. Prior to this, it was common among Bible believers to interpret prophecy literally. They believed that Christ would return literally (and imminently), bind Satan, and establish a literal millennial kingdom (see end time’s kingdom in Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14) on earth. 

 

This is attested to by scholars and historians: 

 

William Newell says: “The early Church for 300 years looked for the imminent return of our Lord to reign, and they were right” (Newell, Revelation). 

 

Phillip Schaaf said, “... the most striking point in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene age [prior to 

AD 325] is the prominent chiliasm, or millenarianism, that is the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years, before the general resurrection and judgment” (History of the Christian Church, 8 vols, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1960, 2:614). 

 

Dr. Henry Thiessen says, “It is clear ... that the Fathers held not only the pre-millennial view of Christ’s coming, but also regarded that coming as imminent. The Lord had taught them to expect His return at any moment, and so they looked for Him to come in their day. Not only so, but they also taught His personal return as being immediately, with the exception of the Alexandrian Fathers, who also rejected other fundamental doctrines” (Thiessen, Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology, p. 477). 

 

Dr. Thiessen further states: “The early Church was keenly interested in the doctrine of the return of Christ. The Apostles had held out the possibility of His returning in their day, and the next generations kept alive the “blessed hope” as something that was imminent. 

Not until the third century was there any great exception to this rule; but from the time of Constantine onward this truth began to be rejected until it was finally entirely set aside.”

 

Although these and many more Pre-Trib writings exist, you’ll NEVER get ardent Pre-Trib rapture antagonists to admit it or be honest with their content since the crux of their hook or crook book campaign is based on allegations of a satanic conspiracy occurring in the early 19th century between a group of unlikely victims no one has ever linked together. 

 

Paradoxically, while their battle boasts strict Biblical auspices it hasn’t been waged sola scriptura. It has risen instead on the back of untruthful accusations disguised as “scholarship” from disgruntled men conflating God’s plan for Israel with His plan for the church that over time has proven to be part of an irrational but profitable scheme with impure motives first surfacing about 40 years ago. 

 

Round-Up…The Pre-Trib Rapture Teaching is NOT NEW 

 

After author and apologist Doc Marquis wrote, “The blatant lie (knowingly or unknowingly) that the “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” of the Church is a new concept that can only be traced back to 1830 is simply that ... a lie! I shall now present to you good people another literary list and, this one will prove, once and for all, that the “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” of the Church is “not” a new concept, but was a teaching that came directly from the Apostles themselves (dating back) “before” 1830” . . . to the 1st Century A.D.”  (The following list are more prominent figures with some repetition from above)

 

1) 1792 – Thomas Scott – he taught that the righteous will be carried to Heaven where they will be secure until the time of the judgment is over. 

2) 1763 – James Macknight – he also taught that the righteous will be carried to heaven until the judgment is complete. 

3) 1748 – John Gill (Commentary on the New Testament) – teaches of the imminent return of Christ, first in Rapture, and then He will return again to judge the earth (Armageddon). 

4) 1744 – Morgan Edwards (founder of the Ivy League School, Brown University) wrote of his “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” beliefs. 

5) 1738 – Phillip Doddrige (Commentary on the New Testament) teaches along the same lines of John Gill; a “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” perspective. 

6) 1687 – Peter Jurieu – (“Approaching Deliverance of the Church”) Christ would return during the Rapture and take His saints to Heaven and later return at the Battle of Armageddon. 

7) 1674 – 1748 – Isaac Watts (known as the Father of the English Hymn) wrote of his “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” belief. (As a side note, Isaac Watts was solely responsible for writing over 1,000 Christian hymns. His life was truly a miraculous one by all definitions of the word). 

8) 1674 – Thomas Collier – makes reference in the belief to the “Pre-Tribulation Rapture”. 

9) 1532 – 1591 – Francisco Rivera wrote of his “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” of the Church beliefs 

10) 431 – 1500 – Any mention of Pre-Tribulation (Millennial) Rapture of the Church perspectives are outlawed by the Catholic Church and deemed heretical and punishable by death!!! 

11) 431 – The Council of Ephesus; the Catholic Church decrees and condemns Pre-Millennial views as heresy. Books and such are destroyed or altered.
The following all wrote of the “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” of the Church: 

12) 354 – 430 – Augustine, Bishop of North Africa 

13) 306 – 373 – Ephraem of Nisibus
14) ? – 204 – Victorinus, Bishop of Petau
15) 200 – 258 – Cyrian 

16) 170 – 236 – Hippolytus of Rome 

17) 150 – 272 – Apocalypse of Elijah (an Extra-Biblical book) 

18) 120 – 202 – Ireaneus (“Against Heresies”) 

19) 36 – 108 – Ignatius of Antioch, the Third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch (who as a student of John the Apostle) – His “Letters of Extra-Biblical works are: 

1. Letter to the Ephesians
2. Letter to the Magnesians
3. Letter to the Trallians
4. Letter to the Romans
5. Letter to the Philadelphians
6. Letter to the Smyrnaeans
7. Letter to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna 

20). ?– 99 A.D. – Clement of Rome, “Letter to the Corinthians” also known as “I Clement” (an Extra-Biblical book). 

 

So, the next time your premillennial-rapture view is challenged by someone who says that your belief originated in the 1830’s from a 15-year-old, demon-possessed Scottish lass in 1830, you can relax. 

 

You may even challenge his intellectual integrity. He gave credibility to a 15-year-old Scottish demon possessed girl in Scotland from the 1830’s who parallels his own post/millennium view. Will he now recant his view and join you?