The History of the Rapture Before the Tribulation

The rapture before the Tribulation is not too new to discount.

Some will argue that rapture before the Tribulation is just "too new" to be considered viable. Critics will point to the origin of the modern view and credit John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) with its founding. But, is that assessment historically accurate? Nope.

The Early Church fathers' such as Barnabas (ca.100-105), Papias (ca. 60-130), Justin Martyr (110-195), Irenaeus (120-202), Tertullian (145-220), Hippolytus (ca. 185-236), Cyprian (200-250), and Lactantius (260-330) wrote on the imminent return of Jesus Christ, the central argument of the partial rapture view.

Biblical truth is determined by Scripture, and not how that teaching has been perceived at different times during history. When Augustine began spiritualizing the Bible, his view of a non-literal interpretation took hold of the church until the Renaissance, obliterating the Premillennial and Partial Rapture views in favor of Amillennialism.

But, some Medieval writers such as Ephraem of Nisibis (306-373), Abbot Ceolfrid's Latin Codex Amiatinus (ca. 690-716), and Brother Dolcino wrote statements that distinguish the Rapture from the Second Coming.

When the chains of allegorical interpretation began to fall off beginning with the Reformation (justification by faith NOT Calvinism) in the 1400 and 1500s, writers such as Joseph Mede (1586-1638), Increase Mather (1639-1723), Peter Jurieu (1687), Philip Doddridge (1738), John Gill (1748), James Macknight (1763), Thomas Scott (1792) and Morgan Edwards (1722-1795) all wrote concerning the Rapture occurring separate from the Second Coming.

Even in the more modern church, those like William Witherby (1818) were precursors to John Darby in support of the view. The Partial Rapture view is indeed then not only biblical, but supported throughout Church history.

Robert Govett (1813-1901) brought us back to Partial Rapture in a big way!