Was Pre-Trib Rapture Invented in the 1800s? The Lie You Were Taught
Excerpted from They Lied to You About the Rapture.
For me, the claim that John Nelson Darby invented the Pre-Tribulation Rapture serves as a kind of litmus test.
When someone trots this out, I know they probably got their information from someone else’s YouTube video or an echo chamber of bad theology. You know how easy it is to spot when someone’s perspective has been shaped solely by one political news source, leaving them out of touch with reality? The same principle applies to the claim that Darby invented the Rapture: it’s a misconception that’s remarkably simple to disprove. The concept of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is not a new idea cooked up in the 1800s.The evidence proves otherwise. There’s some incredible research out there that puts this lie to bed once and for all. If you want to further explore the history of these doctrines, pick up and read: Dispensationalism Before Darby: Seventeenth-Century and Eighteenth-Century English Apocalypticism by William C. Watson.
Watson meticulously lays out how Pre-Tribulation and dispensational beliefs were very much present well before Darby came on the scene, quoting ministers of those eras in their own words and in full context. Two additional great resources: Pre-Trib Findings in the Early Church Fathers by Lee W. Brainard and The Rapture: The Pretribulational Rapture of the Church Viewed From the Bible and the Ancient Church by Ken Johnson.
The evidence is out and the verdict is in. The idea that God will take His people out before the outpouring of His wrath has been present in every century of the Church. To assert that the Pre-Tribulational Rapture is something Darby dreamed up is like looking at the ocean and saying water doesn’t exist. It’s ignoring the facts.
Now some might say that Christians throughout history didn’t always articulate the Rapture the way we do today. That’s fair. But to suggest the essence of this belief, the anticipation of Christ’s return, and the transformation of the faithful before the tribulation wasn’t there is simply false. The early church fathers, medieval theologians, and even the reformers spoke of this hope in various forms.
The way the conversation normally goes is that these detractors say, “There is zero evidence that a rapture of any kind was taught before Darby. ”Then once you show them evidence, they say, “Well in context they weren’t really pre-tribbers, they were more pre-wrath.” Now they’re moving the goalpost. To be clear, the only main difference between Pre-Tribulation and Pre-Wrath is when they say the wrath of God starts. They both teach that the Church is not appointed to wrath, which is the heart of Pre-Tribulation theology and what the critics attack. They started this by saying that the concept of being delivered from the wrath of the tribulation was not taught throughout church history, and they can’t squirm out of it now that history is not on their side. This idea was only able to survive as long as we didn’t have internet and people couldn’t research this on their own.
They Lied to You About the Rapture
Alan DiDio
The Darby Deception
The story that Darby was influenced by a young Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald is another one of those baseless myths that somehow refuses to die. According to this narrative, MacDonald had a supposed prophetic vision in the 1830s about the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, which some claim was demonic, and that this is where Darby got his idea. But when you dig into the historical documents and her writings, her vision doesn’t even match what we understand today as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. In fact, it leans more toward a Mid or even Post-Tribulation view, with believers enduring tribulation and facing the antichrist. There’s also no evidence that Darby ever even met her or drew from her vision. It’s simply a lie that’s been repeated so often that people take it as fact.
What Darby did was systematize Dispensationalism, organizing and articulating a framework that helped believers understand the sequence of end-time events more clearly. He provided a theological lens through which we could view the Rapture, Tribulation, and the Millennial Reign. He actually got this from his pastors who got it from theirs and it wasn’t new. Darby simply helped to popularize it.
Keep in mind that those who insist there is no reference to anything resembling the Pre-Tribulation Rapture are actually boxing themselves into a corner. They bear a much higher burden of proof compared to those who believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. It’s like someone trying to argue that there’s no gold in China.They would have a much harder task than someone claiming there is. Why? Because proving there’s no gold would require scouring all of China, every mine, every jewelry box, every bank vault, every corner. But the person who claims there is gold only needs to find one earring to prove his point.
In the same way, those denying any Pre-Tribulation references have set an impossible standard for themselves. All I need is a single quote, clearly in context, that supports what we believe about the Rapture, and suddenly, their sweeping argument crumbles.
Let’s look at a few quotes from church history:
Pre-Darby Writings
Ephraem the Syrian, writing in the fourth century, said: For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord, lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.
—Pseudo-Ephraem (4th Century)[1]
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.”
—Irenaeus of Lyon (AD 120–202)[2]
Go therefore and declare to the elect of the Lord his mighty deeds and say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation which is to come. If you therefore prepare yourselves and with your whole heart turn to the Lord in repentance, then shall ye be able to escape it, if your heart is pure and blameless….
—The Shepherd of Hermas (AD 150)[3]
After this, [is] our gathering together unto Christ at His coming… [that is, the] saints being translated into the air… [so that] they may be preserved during the conflagration of the earth, and the works thereof: 2 Pet. 3.10. that as Noah and his family were preserved from the deluge by being lifted up above the waters in the ark, so should the saints at the conflagration be lifted up in the clouds, unto their ark, Christ, to be preserved there from the deluge of fire, wherein the wicked shall be consumed.
—Joseph Mede (1586-1639) as cited by William Watson in Dispensationalism Before Darby[4]
In a commentary on Revelation 6:14, Victorinus of Petrovium (AD 250-300) said, “And the heaven withdrew as a scroll that is rolled up.] For the heaven to be rolled away, that is, that the Church shall be taken away.”[5]
The saints shall be caught up into the air, and so escape the conflagration of the world.
—Increase Mather (1600s)[6]
The Souls of the glorified Saints shall descend and be united to their own Bodies, and then ascend to meet the Lord in the Air, and the wicked are left behind on their dunghill the earth. These congregated Saints shall be admitted into one place, and state of Glory: They are before the throne of God…there is room enough in heaven for all the saints, In my Father’s house, saith Christ, are many mansions.
—Oliver Haywood (1700)[7]
The report of these things does not disturb us, nor the spectacle itself. For the elect shall be gathered prior to the tribulation, so they shall not see the confusion and the great tribulation coming upon the unrighteous world.
—Ephraem the Syrian (AD 372)[8]
The point is, this isn’t some newfangled doctrine. The Rapture has always been part of the Church’s hope. Dismissing it as a 19th-century invention is, frankly, lazy scholarship. The historical record is rich with examples of believers who held to this view, long before Darby ever penned a word.
It’s important to note that there were seasons in church history when teaching Pre-Millennialism, or even mentioning the Rapture of the Church, would be considered outright heresy. During these times, preaching or publishing such teachings could lead to severe persecution, even death. The reason for this suppression was the rise of the state church. The idea of a coming Kingdom posed a direct threat to those in power. A message that encouraged believers to look toward a future divine Kingdom, rather than submitting entirely to the authority of the earthly regime, was dangerous. The state church needed people focused on the here and now, under their control, not looking up with hopeful anticipation of Christ’s reign. They aimed for complete control over the masses, and the concept of an impending Kingdom, where God would ultimately take over, was a narrative they could not afford to let spread. So, they stamped it out wherever possible, silencing those who dared to lift the eyes of the faithful toward a hope beyond earthly power.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what the early church fathers taught or how popular a doctrine has been throughout history. The real question is, “What does the Bible say?” This same line of reasoning could be applied to doctrines like justification by faith. Before Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church, this wasn’t a widely understood or emphasized doctrine.
Often when we discuss these topics, someone will challenge us, asking, “Why are you talking about the early church fathers? Why don’t you just quote Scripture?” They argue that no early church fathers taught this doctrine, and when we prove that they did, they suddenly pivot and ask why we’re bothering to bring them up in the first place. The reality is, the early church fathers held some unusual beliefs and many hadn’t yet systematized certain doctrines that we consider foundational today, like the Trinity. But there’s no denying that some of them held to views that align with what we would now call Pre-Tribulation beliefs.
So the next time someone brings out the Darby myth, you will be ready. The evidence out there is clear, historical, and undeniable, for anyone who takes the time to look. Let them know that the truth isn’t hiding; it’s simply waiting for those willing to take an honest look at the facts.
Footnotes
Paul J. Alexander, The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985), 210.
“Irenaeus—Ground Zero for the Rapture Controversy in the Early Church,” Soothkeep, https://soothkeep.info/irenaeus- ground-zero-for-the-rapture-controversy-in-the-early-church/; accessed November 11, 2024.
C.Taylor, The Shepherd of Hermas (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1906),Vision 4.
H. Orton Wiley, Christian Theology, chapter 34:The Second Advent (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1940).
Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2010), 6.14.
Dr. David R. Reagan, “The Origin of the Concept of a Pre- Tribulation Rapture” Lamb & Lion Ministries; https://christinprophecy.org/articles/the-origin-of-the-concept-of-a-pre-tribulation-rapture/; accessed November 13, 2024.
William Watson, Dispensationalism Before Darby (Silverton, OR: Lampion Press, 2015), 232.
Ephraim the Syrian, Sermon on Repentance and Judgement and the Separation of the Soul from the Body.
Ken Johnson, The Rapture (CreateSpace, 2009).
Nesrine Malik, “Why the World Can Get Worse by Constantly Saying It’s Getting Better,” The Correspondent, September 30, 2020; https://thecorrespondent.com/720/why-the-world-can- get-worse-by-constantly-saying-its-getting-better; accessed November 13, 2024.
Decode the Rapture. Discern the Signs. Embrace Your End-Time Assignment.
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The end-time teaching of the rapture has sparked controversy, misunderstandings, and debates among Christians. Some misrepresent it as an excuse to disengage from worldly affairs and await heavenly rescue. Others mock it as escapist theology, reject it outright, or live blissfully ignorant of the glory and crisis that will unfold on earth in the last days.
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