THE ORIGIN OF THE PRE TRIBULATION RAPTURE THEORY

By Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

July 14, 2010

Most pre-tribulationists do not know that the teaching of the rapture being separated from the revelation by an intervening period of time has only been taught since the nineteenth century. Most do not know that this intervening period of time, between the rapture and the revelation, was first taught to be just 45 days and later expanded to 7 years. Also, when this teaching first started, it was taught that only some Christians would be caught up at the rapture - that is, there would only be a partial rapture. And did you know that none of the early church fathers taught it, and it is not found in any Bible believing Protestant creed, nor did any of the Reformers teach it. No other group or person ever published such teachings before the nineteenth century.

This teaching began with a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest by the name of Emmanuel Lacunza. He said that God appeared to him in a “vision” and told him that Jesus was coming 45 days before the end of the tribulation, and that he would catch away from the earth the faithful and spiritual Christians, then pour out his wrath upon the earth. Then 45 days later he would return with the saints to the earth to set up his kingdom. He is the first in recorded history to preach and write about a two stage coming of Christ separated by 45 days, and a partial rapture of the Church. He wrote his so-called vision down in a book that was first published in Spain around 1812.

A preacher by the name of Edward Irving got a copy of Lacunza's book, translated the book into English and printed it in 1827. Irving was a charismatic who spoke in "tongues" led a group of people called "Irvingites". After he translated Lacunza's book into English, he said he heard what he believed to be “a voice from heaven” that led him to preach that there would be 3 1/2 years between the two stages of the coming of Christ. In other words, he said that Jesus would come in the middle of the tribulation, catch away the spiritual and faithful saints, and then return to the earth with them at the end of the tribulation 3 1/2 years later.

J. N. Darby, a lawyer and Plymouth Brethren preacher, read Lacunza's book that Irving had translated into English. He also attended meetings in which Irving was the preacher. He had fellowship with members of Irving's church and heard them preach of a two stage coming of Christ separated by 3 1/2 years. Darby took the doctrine and put another spin on it. He began to preach, in about 1830, that Jesus would come before the tribulation for all of his saints, and come again 7 years later, at the end of the tribulation, with his saints. Mr. Darby visited America seven times between 1862 - 77. He held Bible conferences and had a tremendous influence on the Plymouth Brethren movement in this country, as well as promoting the pre-tribulation theory.

One of his followers and a student of Darby's writings was C. I. Scofield, a lawyer, who later published the Scofield Bible, which follows Darby's teaching concerning the so-called pre-tribulation rapture. Nothing has done more to promote the theory of a pre-tribulation rapture than the Scofield Bible. John F. Walvoord, president of Dallas Theological Seminary and a foremost proponent of the pre-tribulation rapture view, acknowledges that his view was "espoused" by J. N. Darby and the Scofield Bible. And American Christians have lapped up this spurious doctrine like a hog eating slop.