A history of the rapture is of necessity a history of pretribulationism, since most other views do not distinguish between the two phases of Christ\u27s return—the rapture and second advent. The partial rapture and midtribulationism have been developed only within the past 100 years

Ice, Thomas D.

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Liberty UniversityDigitalCommons@LibertyUniversityArticle Archives Pre-Trib Research CenterMay 2009Myths of the Origin of Pretribulationism (Part 1)Thomas D. IceLiberty University, tdice@liberty.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/pretrib_archThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Pre-Trib Research Center at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has been acceptedfor inclusion in Article Archives by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For more information, please contactscholarlycommunication@liberty.edu.Recommended CitationIce, Thomas D., "Myths of the Origin of Pretribulationism (Part 1)" (2009). Article Archives. Paper 114.http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/pretrib_arch/114MYTHS OF THE ORIGIN OF PRETRIBULATIONISMPart IThomas IceA history of the rapture is of necessity a history of pretribulationism, since most otherviews do not distinguish between the two phases of Christ's return—the rapture andsecond advent.  The partial rapture and midtribulationism have been developed onlywithin the past 100 years.THE POST APOSTOLIC CHURCHThat the earliest documents (in addition to the New Testament canon) of the ancientchurch reflect a clear premillennialism is generally conceded, but great controversysurrounds their understanding of the rapture in relation to the tribulation.Pretribulationists point to the early church's clear belief in imminency and a fewpassages from a couple of documents as evidence that pretribulationism was held by atleast a few from the earliest times.As was typical of every area of the early church's theology, their views of prophecywere undeveloped and sometimes contradictory, containing a seedbed out of whichcould develop various and diverse theological viewpoints.  While it is hard to find clearpretribulationism spelled out in the fathers, there are also found clear pre-trib elementswhich if systematized with their other prophetic views contradict posttribulationism butsupport pretribulationism.Since imminency is considered to be a crucial feature of pretribulationism byscholars such as John Walvoord,1  it is significant that the Apostolic Fathers, thoughposttribulational, at the same time just as clearly taught the pretribulational feature ofimminence.2  Since it was common in the early church to hold contradictory positionswithout even an awareness of inconsistency, it would not be surprising to learn that theirera supports both views.  Larry Crutchfield notes, "This belief in the imminent return ofChrist within the context of ongoing persecution has prompted us to broadly label theviews of the earliest fathers, 'imminent intratribulationism.'"3Expressions of imminency abound in the Apostolic Fathers.  Clement of Rome,Ignatius of Antioch, The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, and The Shepherd ofHermas all speak of imminency.4  Furthermore, The Shepherd of Hermas speaks of thepretribulational concept of escaping the tribulation.You have escaped from great tribulation on account of your faith, andbecause you did not doubt in the presence of such a beast.  Go, therefore,                                                 1John F. Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation  (Grand Rapids:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), pp.24-25.2Kurt Aland, A History of Christianity, Vol. 1 (Philadelphia:  Fortress Press, 1985), pp. 87-93.  Millard J. Erickson,Contemporary Options in Eschatology  (Grand Rapids:  Baker Book House, 1977), p. 112.  J. Barton Payne, TheImminent Appearing of Christ  (Grand Rapids:  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1962), pp. 12-19.3Larry V. Crutchfield, "The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation in the Apostolic Fathers" in Thomas Ice & TimothyDemy, editors, When The Trumpet Sounds (Eugene, OR:  Harvest House Publishers, 1995), p. 103.4Crutchfield, "The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation in the Apostolic Fathers", pp. 88-101.www.pre-trib.org 2and tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beastis a type of the great tribulation that is coming.  If then ye prepare yourselves,and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for youto escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of thedays of your life in serving the Lord blamelessly.5Evidence of pretribulationism surfaces during the early medieval period in a sermonsome attribute to Ephraem the Syrian entitled Sermon on The Last Times, TheAntichrist, and The End of the World.6  The sermon was written some time between thefourth and sixth century.  The rapture statement reads as follows:Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepareourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from theconfusion, which overwhelms all the world? . . . For all the saints and elect ofGod are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to theLord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because ofour sins.This statement evidences a clear belief that all Christians will escape the tribulationthrough a gathering to the Lord.  How else can this be understood other than aspretribulational?  The later second coming of Christ to the earth with the saints ismentioned at the end of the sermon.THE MEDIEVAL CHURCHBy the fifth century A.D., the amillennialism of Origen and Augustine had won the dayin the established Church–East and West.  It is probable that there was always someforms of premillennialism throughout the Middle Ages, but it existed primarilyunderground.  Dorothy deF. Abrahamse notes:By medieval times the belief in an imminent apocalypse had officially beenrelegated to the role of symbolic theory by the Church; as early as the fourthcentury, Augustine had declared that the Revelation of John was to beinterpreted symbolically rather than literally, and for most of the Middle AgesChurch councils and theologians considered only abstract eschatology to beacceptable speculation.  Since the nineteenth century, however, historianshave recognized that literal apocalypses did continue to circulate in themedieval world and that they played a fundamental role in the creation ofimportant strains of thought and legend [emphasis added].7                                                 5The Shepherd of Hermas  1.4.2.6For more information on this matter see Timothy J. Demy and Thomas D. Ice, "The Rapture and an Early MedievalCitation," Bibliotheca Sacra (Vol. 152, No. 607; July-Sept. 1995), pp. 306-17.7Dorothy deF. Abrahamse, introduction to The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition, by Paul J. Alexander (Berkeley:University of California Press, 1985), pp. 1-2.www.pre-trib.org 3It is believed that sects like the Albigenses, Lombards, and the Waldenses wereattracted to premillennialism, but little is know of the details of their beliefs since theCatholics destroyed their works when they were found.It must be noted at this point that it is extremely unlikely for the Middle Ages toproduce advocates of a pretrib rapture when the more foundational belief ofpremillennialism is all but absent.  Thus, the rapture question is likewise absent.  Thiscontinued until the time of the Reformation, when many things within Christendombegan to be revolutionized.THE REFORMATION CHURCHPremillennialism began to be revived as a result of at least three factors.  First, theReformers went back to the sources, which for them was the Bible and ApostolicFathers.  This exposed them to an orthodox premillennialism.  Specifically significantwas the reappearance of the full text of Irenaeus' Against Heresies, which included thelast five chapters that espouse a consistent futurism and cast the 70th week of Danielinto the future.Second, they repudiated much, not all, of the allegorization that dominatedmediaeval hermeneutics by adopting a more literal approach, especially in the area ofthe 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 betaken 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 topremillennial 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 factorwithin the mainstream church after more than a 1,000 year reign of amillennialism.  Withthe flowering of biblical interpretation during the late Reformation Period, premillennialinterpreters began to abound throughout Protestantism and so did the development ofsub-issues like the rapture.It has been claimed that some separated the rapture from the second coming asearly as Joseph Mede in his seminal work Clavis Apocalyptica (1627), who isconsidered the father of English premillennialism.  Paul Boyer says that IncreaseMather proved "that the saints would 'be caught up into the Air' beforehand, therebyescaping the final conflagration–an early formulation of the Rapture doctrine more fullyelaborated in the nineteenth century."8  Whatever these men were saying, it is clear thatthe application of a more literal hermeneutic was leading to a distinction between therapture 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 toheaven before the battle of Armageddon.  He spoke of a secret Rapture prior                                                 8Paul Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More:  Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture (Cambridge, MA:Belknap Press, 1992), p. 75.www.pre-trib.org 4to His coming in glory and judgment at Armageddon.  Philip Doddridge'scommentary on the New Testament (1738) and John Gill's commentary onthe New Testament (1748) both use the term rapture and speak of it asimminent.  It is clear that these men believed that this coming will precedeChrist's descent to the earth and the time of judgment.  The purpose was topreserve believers from the time of judgment.  James Macknight (1763) andThomas Scott (1792) taught that the righteous will be carried to heaven,where they will be secure until the time of judgment is over.9Frank Marotta, a brethren researcher, believes that Thomas Collier in 1674 makesreference to a pretribulational rapture, but rejects the view,10 thus showing hisawareness that such a view was being taught.  Perhaps the clearest reference to apretrib rapture before Darby comes from Baptist Morgan Edwards (founder of BrownUniversity) in 1742-44 who saw a distinct rapture three and a half years before the startof the millennium.11THE MODERN CHURCHAs futurism began to replace historicism within premillennial circles in the 1820's, themodern proponent of dispensational pretribulationism arrives on the scene.  J.N. Darbyclaims to have first understood his view of the rapture as the result of Bible study duringa convalescence from December 1826 until January 1827.12  He is the fountainhead forthe modern version of the doctrine.The doctrine of the rapture spread around the world through the Brethren movementwith which Darby and other like-minded Christians were associated.  It appears thateither through their writings or personal visits to North America, this version ofpretribulationism was spread throughout American Evangelicalism.  Two earlyproponents of the view include Presbyterian James H. Brookes and Baptist J. R.Graves.The rapture was further spread through annual Bible conferences such as theNiagara Bible Conference (1878-1909); turn of the century publications like The Truthand Our Hope; popular books like Brookes' Maranatha, William Blackstone's Jesus IsComing, and The Scofield Reference Bible (1909).  Many of the greatest Bible teachersof the first-half of the twentieth century help spread the doctrine such as ArnoGaebelein, C.I Scofield, A.J. Gordon, James M. Gray, R.A. Torrey, Harry Ironside, andLewis S. Chafer.In virtually every major metropolitan area in North America a Bible Institute, BibleCollege, or Seminary was founded that expounded dispensational pretribulationism.Schools like Moody Bible Institute, The Philadelphia Bible College, Bible Institute of Los                                                 9Paul N. Benware, Understanding End Times Prophecy:  A Comprehensive Approach (Chicago:  Moody Press,1995), pp. 197-98.10Frank Marotta, Morgan Edwards:  An Eighteenth Century Pretribulationist (Morganville, N.J.:  Present TruthPublishers, 1995), pp. 10-12.11Marotta, Morgan Edwards.12Roy A. Huebner, Precious Truths Revived and Defended Through J.N. Darby, Vol. 1 (Morganville, N.J.:  PresentTruth Publishers, 1991), pp. 63-77.www.pre-trib.org 5Angeles (BIOLA), 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,pretribulationism was adopted by many Pentecostal denominations such as theAssemblies of God and The Four-Square Gospel denomination.  Pretribulationism wasdominate among Charismatics in the 1960s and '70s.  Hal Lindsey's Late Great PlanetEarth (1970) furthered the spread of the pretrib rapture as it exerted great influencethroughout popular American culture and then around the world.  Many radio and T. V.programs taught pretribulationism as well.CURRENT STATUSAlthough still widely popular among Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, dominanceof pretribulationism began to wane first in some academic circles in the 1950s and '60s.A decline among Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Evangelicals began in the 1980s asthe result of a shift toward greater social concern emerged.  Pretribulationism is still themost widely held view of the day, but it cannot be taken for granted in manyEvangelical, 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 ofthe church.  However, it has had significant advocates throughout the last 2,000 years.It has surfaced wherever premillennialism is taught, especially when literalinterpretation, futurism, dispensationalism, and a distinction between Israel and thechurch.  Regardless of its history, belief in the rapture has been supported primarily bythose who attempt a faithful exposition of the biblical text.RECENT CHALLENGES TO PRE-TRIB ORIGINSA few years ago, pre-wrath advocate Marvin Rosenthal wrote that the pre-tribrapture was of Satanic origin and unheard of before 1830.  “To thwart the Lord’swarning to His children, in 1830,” proclaims Rosenthal, “Satan, the ‘father of lies,’ gaveto a fifteen-year-old girl named Margaret McDonald a lengthy vision.”13  Rosenthal givesno documentation, he merely asserts that this is true.  However, he is wrong.  He isundoubtedly relying upon the questionable work of Dave MacPherson.Another thing amazing about Rosenthal’s declaration is that a few paragraphs laterin the article he characterizes his opposition as those who “did not deal with the issues,misrepresented the facts, or attempted character assassination.”14  This description isexactly what he has done in his characterization of pre-trib rapture origins.  Why wouldRosenthal make such outlandish and unsubstantiated charges about the pre-tribrapture?(To Be Continued . . .)ENDNOTES                                                 13 Marvin J. Rosenthal, “Is the Church in Matthew Chapter 24?” Zion’s Fire (Nov-Dec 1994), p. 10.14 Rosenthal, “Is the Church in Matthew Chapter 24?” p. 10.

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