History of the Rapture – Part 3

The Oldest Recorded Christian End Time Belief

So far we have looked at the effects that society has played on Christian eschatology throughout history. We have seen the effects that media, scholastics, and the threat of heresy has had on the end time belief system of mainstream Christianity. But amidst all of the different beliefs, there is one theory that is older than any other form of recorded Christian eschatology. This theory is termed Historic Premillennialism by Bible scholars because of the strength of its historic authenticity.

Many of the disciples had disciples of their own. Actually, this was a common practice in the early church that the modern church has forgotten, but that is another blog altogether. The Apostle John had several men he had discipled that had written records of John’s beliefs. One of these men was named Polycarp. Jerome records the following concerning Polycarp, “Polycarp disciple of the apostle John and by him ordained bishop of Smyrna was chief of all Asia, where he saw and had as teachers some of the apostles and of those who had seen the Lord”. It is believed that John was writing to Polycarp when he wrote to the church in Smyrna, Revelation 2: 8-10.

Polycarp did not have written accounts of his end time beliefs, but several of his pupils had many written records leaving no doubt of their end time beliefs. Because so many of Polycarp’s students were unanimous on their views, it is extremely probable that they were taught this view from Polycarp who was directly discipled by John, the author of Revelation, the Book of John, I John, II John, and III John. Here are a few examples of Polycarp’s pupils’ writings and other church fathers:

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." (Matt.24:21) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome, they are crowned with incorruption. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5:29:1 (A.D. 180)

“O unreasoning men! understanding not what has been proved by all these passages,
that two advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as
suffering, inglorious, dishonoured, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come
from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against
the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the
Christians, who, having learned the true worship of God from the law, and the word
which went forth from Jerusalem by means of the apostles of Jesus, have fled for safety
to the God of Jacob and God of Israel.” Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 110 (A.D. 155)

“But he indicates the number of the name now, that when this man comes we may
avoid him, being aware who he is: the name, however, is suppressed, because it is not
worthy of being proclaimed by the Holy Spirit. For if it had been declared by Him, he
[Antichrist] might perhaps continue for a long period.” Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5:30:4 (A.D. 180)

“[Taught, I say, to wait], in order that the world may first drink to the dregs the plagues
that await it out of the vials of the angels, and that the city of fornication may receive from
the ten kings its deserved doom, and that the beast Antichrist with his false prophet
may wage war on the Church of God; and that, after the casting of the devil into the
bottomless pit for a while, the blessed prerogative of the first resurrection may be
ordained from the thrones; and then again, after the consignment of him to the fire, that
the judgment of the final and universal resurrection may be determined out of the
books.” Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 26 (A.D. 220)

“’And the dragon,’ he says, ‘saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the
man- child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might
fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time,
from the face of the serpent.’ That refers to the one thousand two hundred and
threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute
the Church,” Hippolytus, On Christ and Antichrist, 61 (ante A.D. 235)

“The little season signifies three years and six months, in which with all his power the
devil will avenge himself under Antichrist against the Church. Finally, he says, after that
the devil shall be loosed, and will seduce the nations in the whole world, and will entice
war against the Church, the number of whose foes shall be as the sand of the sea.”

Victorinus, On the Apocalypse of John, 20:1-3 (A.D. 270)

“But he who reads this passage [Daniel 7:15-28], even half asleep, cannot fail to see
that the kingdom of Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church
before the last judgment of God shall introduce the eternal reign of the saints.”

Augustine, City of God, 20:23 (A.D. 419)

Believe it or not, this is only a few exerts from many documents that our church fathers left concerning an overwhelming harmonious view of their post-tribulation belief. Many proponents of a pre-tribulation rapture (dispensational pre-millennialism – see History of Rapture part 1) will claim that they adhere to the oldest form of eschatology, while in fact it is the youngest. Both pre and post tribulationist believe in a literal 1000 year reign of Christ, but before the early 1800s, there are no historical records of a belief in a pre-tribulation rapture. There are some speculations of isolated occurrences, but it is just that; speculations.

What I have written over the past few weeks is very rare information within the pulpits. Most teachers who focus on end time beliefs do not want to bring in the historical evidence, because it is strongly against modern eschatology. I will admit that the historical evidence does not prove one theory over another, but most theologians agree that the views of these men that I introduced you to today probably were passed down to them from the original apostles. But I encourage you to study this out for yourself. Please do not take my word for it.

History of the Rapture - Part 2

History of Amillennialism

In the previous thread we looked at the history of the Pre-tribulation rapture in church history. When I first heard the history behind this theory, I was truly amazed at just how young the theory is. Now we will look into the next division of eschatology which has been the overwhelming viewpoint for the longest period of time. The biggest reason for the longstanding of this theory is because this is the accepted view of the Roman Catholic Church. No matter the church that you attended, more than not, your roots began in the Roman Catholic Church. Before the protestant reformation there was one universal church, and that was the Roman Catholic Church. It always amazes me to hear some denominations state that they can trace their denomination back to the church in Acts. To make it clear once more, if you are a protestant believer in America, your church came out of the Roman Catholic Church at some point throughout history.

I must establish this point for you to fully understand the basis for the Amillennial theory. Today many protestant denominations along with the Catholic Church hold to this belief. One denomination that focuses strongly on eschatology claims this to be the oldest form of end time beliefs. They claim to be Amillennial yet they continually devalue the Catholic Church. Almost all of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation were Amillennialist, because they came out of the Catholic Church. In history, up to that point, any other form of eschatology was considered heresy.

The view is a simple one that fits the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church perfectly. The Amillennial view states that Christ is reigning through his church here on the earth, and that Satan is actually bound up because the gospel has spread throughout the world. They believe that we are living in the millennium right now, and have been doing so since 70AD. Of course Catholicism generally teaches that Christ is reining through the Catholic Church, and that He speaks directly through the Pope. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ has transmitted His power directly to the Pope, and this is the reason the Pope’s words are to be treated equal to Christ’s. Now you can see how this theory fits perfectly with the teachings of Catholicism.

The Amillennial belief dates back to approximately 380, with the Edict of Thessalonica, in which Christianity became the state religion of Rome. From that time to recent history, any other form of eschatology was barred from the Catholic Church. The whole premise for this belief is that some prophetic scriptures are not to be taken literally, but to be seen as poetry. The thousand year reign of Christ in Revelation 20 is not a literal 1000 years, but a long period of time in which the church is reigning on the earth.

The people that hold to this theory are waiting for the end of the Church age when Jesus comes back to the earth for his Second Coming, the rapture. They also believe that the tribulation has already occurred, in 70 AD to be exact, and that there will not be a physical anti-christ during the last days.

Although this theory has dominated the church more so then any other eschatological belief, it is not the oldest form of end time theories. We will look next time at the oldest recorded end time beliefs in church history.

History of the Rapture - Part 1

History of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Because of the business of my life it has been a while since I wrote on my blog, and for that I apologize. One of the most “eye opening” facts that has supported my beliefs of the end times is actually church history. As we have previously discussed the study of the end times is called eschatology. The mainstream theories have changed drastically throughout time and have shaped the church in some form with every change. What we see today in pulpits across the world is eschatological theories that are laden with baggage from society. Let me show you the history of the rapture to prove to my claim.

The history of the church can be divided into three main movements: the early church movement, the Roman Catholicism movement, and the Protestant movement. Each of these segments has a claim to their own eschatological belief. We will start with the most recent mainstream belief and study the origins of the end time beliefs of the Protestant movement (or more suitably labeled the modern day protestant movement).

The most modern mainstream belief about the rapture within the Protestant movement is termed as the dispensational pre-millenniallism, or pre-tribulation rapture. This view was greatly made popular among Christians because of the Left Behind series of books and movies that took the nation by storm in the 90s. The Left Behind series predecessor was a book written in the 70s called The Late Great Planet Earth. Before this book the Moody Bible Institute and a select number of other seminaries taught the pre-tribulation theory to their students. But before any of these events happened, the pre-trib theory was originally introduced in America by a pastor named Cyrus Ingerson Scofield . Most Christians know him as C.I. Scofield, because of the study Bible that he produced just after World War I. Scofield, at the time, had a couple of radical ideas that have been accepted throughout Christianity. One of the ideas was a gap theory of creation in which he introduced the theory that there was a race of humans before Adam and Eve.

The pre-tribulation theory was a very young philosophy that few in America had been introduced to. It was a belief system that was introduced by a gentlemen name John Darby from Scotland. Mr. Darby believed that history could be divided up into several dispensations of God. In the current dispensation, because Israel rejected Christ and had Him crucified, it created two separate divisions; one for the church, and one for Israel. He stated that there were certain scriptures for the church and certain scripture just for the Jewish people. Basically the gospels were written for the Jewish people and the rest of the New Testament was just for the church. In his Theory, Mr. Darby believed that the Jewish nation would be punished for their rejection of Christ with the tribulation, but the church would be raptured just before the tribulation began because they accepted Christ during his first coming. Hence in 1840, John Darby originated the birth of the Pre-tribulation rapture.

Many people are shocked to learn that a theory so widely accepted today could be so young. There are many people who try to find earlier accounts, but there is an abundance of historical proof that before the 1800s there was not a pre-tribulation rapture theory.

I will continue next time with the end time belief of the Roman Catholic Church, but until then one fact that I want you to understand is that John Darby did not originate the theory of the rapture, just the theory of a pre-tribulation rapture.

God Bless

Jacob Hildebrant