Pretribulation rapture

Jan Luyken's illustration of the rapture as found in the Bowyer Bible.

The pretribulation rapture doctrine is the belief in a rapture, or gathering of the saints, that occurs before the Great Tribulation.[1]

This view is generally associated with Dispensational premillennialism, and it was popularized in the 20th century by the Scofield Reference Bible.

History

Proposed forerunners

Mark Hitchcock and Thomas Ice have suggested that Fra Dolcino (c. 1250 – 1307) taught a pretribulational rapture.[2]: 157  The relevant teaching was that when Antichrist appears, Dolcino and his followers would be taken away and preserved from Antichrist, and that following the death of Antichrist, Dolcino and his followers would return to Earth to convert those then living to the true faith.[2] However, the source is an anonymous 1316 Latin text titled The History of Brother Dolcino, so it is uncertain whether Dolcino actually taught it.[2]: 158-159 

Similarly, the Dispensational author William C. Watson in his book Dispensationalism Before Darby has argued that earlier authors such as the Puritan Nathaniel Holmes (1599–1678) held to a pretribulational rapture view.[3] The Baptist pastor Morgan Edwards (1722 – 1792) has often also been viewed as holding to a pretribulational rapture. Because his view was premillennial, he wrote in his 1788 book Millennium, Last Days Novelties of the first resurrection taking place with Christ in the air, he is referenced by dispensational premillennialists such as Tim LaHaye to support the view that a pretribulation rapture theology existed prior to John Nelson Darby (1800–1882).[4]

Darby's influence

The pretribulational rapture is often associated with John Nelson Darby (1800 – 1882), who developed the theological system that has been known as dispensationalism, which incorporated the pretribulational rapture into its system. This was strongly popularized in the 20th century by the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, which followed Darby's system which viewed Israel and the Church as being distinct peoples of God, with their own distinct purposes in God's redemptive plan for humanity. [5]

Doctrine

According to Dwight Pentecost, the pretribulational rapture is built upon the literal method of interpreting the Bible, leading to a literal premillennial understanding of prophecy. Dispensationalism understand the tribulation period as specifically being meant for Israel, due to their interpretation of "Jacob's trouble" in Jeremiah 30:7 as referring to this time period. Thus, it is argued that the scope of the tribulation prevents the church from participating in the time.[6] Advocates of the pretribulational rapture often argue that the lack of an explicit mention of the church within the book of Revelation when describing the tribulation period implies that the church was taken away.[7]

Advocates of the pretribulational rapture view the rapture as distinct from the second coming of Jesus mentioned in the Olivet Discourse, viewing it as referring to the second coming of Christ after the tribulation. [8] Thus, the rapture is viewed as the removal of all believers from the earth, where he comes to claim his bride, while in the second coming Jesus returns to the earth with his bride.[9]

Imminence

Often associated with the pretribulational rapture is the doctrine of imminence, the claim that no prophecy will necessarily precede the rapture. Thus in the pretribulational view, the rapture could happen at any moment without any signs.[10] Pretribulationalist argue that the Biblical commands in 1 Corinthians 1:7, Philippians 3:20-21 and James 5:8-9 imply the doctrine of imminency. However, these implications are rejected by those who hold to alternative views of the rapture. [11]

References

1. Archer, Gleason Leonard (1996). Three Views on the Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, Or Post-Tribulation ?. Zondervan. pp. 47–87. ISBN 978-0-310-21298-0.
2. Bennett, David Malcolm (2008-04-30). "Raptured or not raptured? That is the question". Evangelical Quarterly: An International Review of Bible and Theology. 80 (2): 143–161. doi:10.1163/27725472-08002004. ISSN 0014-3367.
3. Watson, William C. (2015). Dispensationalism Before Darby: Seventeenth-century and Eighteenth-century English Apocalypticism. Lampion Press. ISBN 978-1-942614-03-6. After pages of arguments as to why numerous prophetic events could not have yet occurred, Homes implied a pre-tribulation rapture and explicitly laid out a pre-millenial scenario, that there would be a "first Resurrection, wherein all the Saints rise; so that the ruine of Babylon, and the raising of the Saints immediately concurre with the sorrow of the one, and the triumph of the other." Homes quoted Mennasseh Ben Israel, saying that "all the Rabbis agree" that the "ruine of Babylon" would allow "the great Restauration" of Israel
4. LaHaye, Tim; Jenkins, Jerry B. (2011-04-01). Are We Living in the End Times?. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-1-4143-5130-8.
5. Alifano, John A. (2004). The Pretribulation Rapture Doctrine and the Progressive Dispensational System: Are They Compatible?. Universal-Publishers. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-1-58112-224-4.
6. Pentecost, J. Dwight (1964). Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Zondervan. p. 171-174. ISBN 978-0-310-30890-4.
7. "Systematic Theology (4 vols.)". www.logos.com. Retrieved 2025-02-03. The Church Is Never Mentioned on Earth During the Tribulation John addresses Revelation to the "the seven churches which are in Asia" (1:4 NKJV). The word church(es) is used nineteen times in the first three chapters, and then not once during the entire Tribulation (6–18). That it reoccurs after the Second Coming (19) and during the new heaven and new earth (22:16) is striking; similar exhortations earlier that had the phrase "unto the churches" (e.g., 2:7, 11 KJV) do not have them during the Tribulation, when, instead, John warns, "If anyone has an ear, let him hear" (13:9). In fact, after the description of the seven churches (2–3), in chapters 4–5 the scene shifts to heaven, where John is beckoned with a trumpetlike voice, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this" (4:1 NKJV). Some see these words as reminiscent of Paul's statement that the Rapture will take place "with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God" (1 Thess. 4:16); others disagree. In any event, like the church, from that point on John views the Tribulation from heaven. After a brief picture of the redeemed around God's throne (Rev. 4–5), from chapters 6–18 the Tribulation unfolds. In chapter 19 Christ returns to earth and then, after the "first resurrection," He reigns for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1– 7), which is followed by the new heaven and new earth (21–22). Nowhere during the entire Tribulation period is there a word about the church being on earth.
8. Meyer, Ryan (2024-01-08). "Does Matthew 24 Describe the Rapture of the Church? (Part 1)". Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
9. Pentecost, J. Dwight (1964). Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Zondervan. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-310-30890-4.
10. "Posttribulationism Today—Part VI:Posttribulational Denial of Imminency and Wrath | Walvoord.com". walvoord.com. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
11. Pentecost, J. Dwight (1964). Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Zondervan. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-310-30890-4.