Did The Early
Church Teach
A Pre-Tribulation Rapture?
Recently, I was challenged on an internet discussion board, to show where the Early Church believed that the Church would go through the Tribulation, and not be raptured. Actually, what couple of the posters there said was that the Early Church believed in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, and I was a liar. So, here we go, folks. Here is the refutation to the claims that the Earth Church believed in a pre-tribulation Rapture. Please forgive me its length, but I have found that, quite often, pre-tribulation teachers will take things out of context to try to prove their point, and so felt the need to give context for the citations. Before I begin, let me say that I found these quotes on the Ages Christian Library CD-ROM (Heritage Edition), and on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, (http://www.ccel.org/) and the Internet Christian Library (http://www.iclnet.org).
Written about 100 A.D., the epistle of Barnabas follows on the heels of the last apostle, John, in immediacy. John wrote Revelations, it is thought, about 90-95 A.D. Writing to Christians with the intent of tryuing to refute Judaizers, in the fourth chapter of the epistle, the writer (who was NOT the Barnabas of the NT) deals with future events, quoting Enoch and Daniel:
"The Þnal stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch says, "For for this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He will come to the inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth, and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under one three of the kings. In like manner Daniel says concerning the same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage than all the beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them a little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of the great horns." Ye ought therefore to understand. And this also I further beg of you, as being one of you, and loving you both individually and collectively more than my own soul, to take heed now to yourselves, and not to be like some, adding largely to your sins, and saying, "The covenant is both theirs and ours." But they thus Þnally lost it, after Moses had already received it. For the Scripture saith, "And Moses was fasting in the mount forty days and forty nights, and received the covenant from the Lord, tables of stone written with the Þnger of the hand of the Lord;" but turning away to idols, they lost it. For the Lord speaks thus to Moses: "Moses go down quickly; for the people whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed." And Moses understood [the meaning of God], and cast the two tables out of his hands; and their covenant was broken, in order that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might be sealed upon our heart, in the hope which þows from believing in Him. Now, being desirous to write many things to you, not as your teacher, but as becometh one who loves you, I have taken care not to fail to write to you from what I myself possess, with a view to your puriÞcation. We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will proÞt you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becometh the sons of God."
Please note that he speaks about the time when the anti-Christ will rise up. If you are a pre-tribulation believer, then you know that the anti-Christ is supposed, at about the middle of the Tribulation, to take over the 10 Kingdoms. This is referred to by both Daniel and John. The writer has to be referring to the time of the Tribulation. Please note the last sentence, again:
"We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will proÞt you nothing, UNLESS NOW IN THIS WICKED TIME WE ALSO WITHSTAND COMING SOURCES OF DANGER, as becometh the sons of God."
The writer is speaking about the end-times, and is exhorting the readers, who are Christians, to persevere in their faith, to withstand these attacks, as beÞts Christian brothers and sisters. The writer exhorts them to withstand, not to look for escape in a Rapture. There is no rapture teaching in the epistle of Barnabas.
The Didache is a sort-of handbook on Christian living and service, that is dated from about 125 A.D. Some scholars think that several parts of the book date from 60-80 A.D. One of my sources says that the Didache, which means "The Twelve," was the sort of writing that a small congregation, that didn't have copies of the scriptures, would use to teach Christian believers about what they believe and how to live the Christian life. The last chapter deals with end-times teaching:
"For in the last days false prophets and seducers shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; and because iniquity aboundeth they shall hate each other, and persecute each other, and deliver each other up; and then shall the Deceiver of the world appear as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands; and he shall do unlawful things, such as have never happened since the beginning of the world. Then shall the creation of man come to the Þery trial of proof, and many shall be offended and shall perish; but they who remain in their faith shall be saved by the rock of offence itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth; Þrst the sign of the appearance in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet, and thirdly the resurrection of the dead - not of all, but as it has been said, The Lord shall come and all his saints with him; then shall the world behold the Lord coming on the clouds of heaven." The Didache, 16:3-8
We can see that the Didache copies the New Testament end-times teachings, in warnings about how mankind would be in the last days. He then tells how the anti-Christ will come as a Messiah, doing signs and wonders. In the last sentence, the writer speaks about the end of the Tribulation and the second coming of Christ. Please note that this book (popular in its day) speaks of Christians being on the earth (" they who remain in their faith shall be saved by the rock of offence itself") and the resurrection of Christians ("thirdly the resurrection of the dead - not of all, but as it has been said, The Lord shall come and all his saints with him"). These Christians are not raised up before the Tribulation, but after the time of the anti-Christ's appearing and deceiving. These pre-tribulation Christians are being warned about the anti-Christ, not being told that they won't see the anti-Christ. The Didache says nothing about Christians going up in a pre-tribulation Rapture, but speaks of them being saved during the time of the anti-Christ.
The Shepard of Hermas is another book from the second century. The Internet Christian Library dates it at about 150 A.D., and says that it deals with practical matters of church purity and discipline in second century Rome. This book has been cited by pre-Tribbers as teaching a pre-Tribulation rapture. This phrase is what is referred to:
"Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for you to escape it,"
However, if one looks that the context of this sentence, the pre-tribulation statement isn't as obvious as is claimed.
In the book of the Fourth Vision, Chapter 1 Þnds the Shepard walking down a road, and he encounters a frightening beast that terriÞes him, but trusting in God, he passes by the beast:
"while I was glorifying Him and giving Him thanks, a voice, as it were, answered me, "Doubt not, Hermas;" and I began to think with myself, and to say, "What reason have I to doubt - I who have been established by the Lord, and who have seen such glorious sights?" I advanced a little, brethren, and, lo! I see dust rising even to the heavens. I began to say to myself, "Are cattle approaching and raising the dust?" It was about a furlong's distance from me. And, lo! I see the dust rising more and more, so that I imagined that it was something sent from God. But the sun now shone out a little, and, lo! I see a mighty beast like a whale, and out of its mouth Þery locusts proceeded. But the size of that beast was about a hundred feet, and it had a head like an urn. I began to weep, and to call on the Lord to rescue me from it. Then I remembered the word which I had heard, "Doubt not, O Hermas." Clothed, therefore, my brethren, with faith in the Lord and remembering the great things which He had taught me, I boldly faced the beast. Now that beast came on with such noise and force, that it could itself have destroyed a city. I came near it, and the monstrous beast stretched itself out on the ground, and showed nothing but its tongue, and did not stir at all until I had passed by it. Now the beast had four colors on its head -.black, then Þery and bloody, then golden, and lastly white."
In Chapter 2, after passing the beast, the shepard meets a woman who explains to him what just occured:
"And she answered. and said to me, "Has nothing crossed your path?" I say, "I was met by a beast of such a size that it could destroy peoples, but through the power of the Lord and His great mercy I escaped from it." "Well did you escape from it," says she, "because you cast your care on God, and opened your heart to the Lord, believing that you can be saved by no other than by His great and glorious name. On this account the Lord has sent His angel, who has rule over the beasts, and whose name is Thegri, and has shut up its mouth, so that it cannot tear you. You have escaped from great tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not doubt in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for you to escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the days of your life in serving the Lord blamelessly. Cast your cares upon the Lord, and He will direct them. Trust the Lord, ye who doubt, for He is all-powerful, and can turn His anger away from you, and send scourges on the doubters. Woe to those who hear these words, and despise them: better were it for them not to have been born."
Do you see that? This beast is the Great Tribulation. The Shepard of Hermas faces this Great Tribulation, and walks right by it. Yes, he escapes, but he isn't taken away from the Tribulation; he isn't raptured from the beast's presence.
This is the section where the passage is pulled out of its context, that is used to support the pre-tribulation rapture. Yes, it does speak of escaping the Tribulation. But what is usually not told to us, is HOW we escape the Tribulation. That occurs in Chapter 3 of the vision. The shepard asks the woman what the vision meant, what the four colors represented, and the woman responds with these words:
"Listen," said she: "the black is the world in which we dwell: but the Þery and bloody points out that the world must perish through blood and Þre: but the golden part are you who have escaped from this world. For as gold is tested by Þre, and thus becomes useful, so are you tested who dwell in it. Those, therefore, who continue steadfast, and are put through the Þre, will be puriÞed by means of it. For as gold casts away its dross, so also will ye cast away all sadness and straitness, and will be made pure so as to Þt into the building of the tower. But the white part is the age that is to come, in which the elect of God will dwell, since those elected by God to eternal life will be spotless and pure. Wherefore cease not speaking these things into the ears of the saints. This then is the type of the great tribulation that is to come. If ye wish it, it will be nothing. Remember those things which were written down before."
Did you see that? Our faith is to undergo purifying in the Þre of the Great Tribulation. Coming out on the other side, the white part that is the age to come, signiÞes the end of the Tribulation and this present age. We are told "If ye wish it, it will be nothing." The Great Tribulation will be nothing to us. Not because we have escaped in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, but because we trust in Christ to purify us.
Justin Martyr was a great Christian leader of the Second Century, famous for his writings, including a series of letters with a Christian critic named Trypho. Justin Martyr was martyred for his faith around 165 A.D., so his writings date from about 150 A.D. In the 110th letter to Trypho, Justin speaks about the prophecies that were fulÞlled at the Þrst Advent of Christ, and the prophecies that will be fulÞlled at the Second Coming of Christ. Here is one portion from this letter:
"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, dishonored, and cruciÞed; 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 þed for safety to the God of Jacob and God of Israel;"
Dialog with Trypho, chapter 110.
Please note that "the man of apostasy," who can only be the anti-Christ, will "do unlawful deeds on the earth against US Christians." Please note that Justin Martyr does not say that Christians will be raptured off the earth, but that "US" Christians will be persecuted by the anti-Christ. Justin Martyr, Early Church writer dating from around 150 A.D., does not teach a pre-tribulation rapture, but that Christians will undergo persecution by the anti-Christ during the tribulation.
Ireneaus was a Christian minister and bishop in Lyon, France, in the second half of the Þrst century, who was shocked to Þnd out how far the Gnostic inþuence had grown in Rome. Sometime between 182-188 A.D., Ireneaus wrote a series of books entitled "Against Heresies" to deal with this Gnostic threat to the Christian faith. In the Þfth book, he had occasion to deal with John's writing about the 10 Kings of Daniel, and the anti-Christ, and he wrote this, in the 26th chapter:
"In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. He teaches us what the ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, telling us that thus it had been said to him: "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power as if kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give their strength and power to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings." It is manifest, therefore, that of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the remainder to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them. And they shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with Þre, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to þight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming of our Lord."
Against Heresies, Book 5, Chapter 26, Section 1
This is a clear statement, by an important Early Church writer, to the Early Church belief that the Church would go THROUGH the Tribulation. The "beast," the anti-Christ, will PUT THE CHURCH TO FLIGHT. I don't see how it can be any clearer. The Early Church did not believe that the Church would be gone during the time of the anti-Christ, but that the Church would be persecuted by the anti-Christ, during the time of the Tribulation.
Hippolytus was a bishop in Rome who was martyred in 236 A.D. Hippolytus wrote a book entitled, "Dogmatical And Historical Treatise On Christ And Antichrist," sometime after the year 200 A.D., in which he teaches about the book of Revelation and the end-times. Hippolytus begins the 60th chapter with these words:
"Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: "And I saw a great and wondrous sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, ...."
What could be more clear? Less than 200 years after Christ's death and resurrection, this statement by an Early Church writer speaks of the persecution of the Church by the anti-Christ. Hippolytus sees the Church in the vision of the woman clothed with the sun, in Revelation 12. Speaking about the woman clothed with the sun, of Rev. 12, Hippolytus explains in the beginning of the next chapter:
"By the woman then clothed with the sun," he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father's word, whose brightness is above the sun."
Later in the same 61st chapter, Hippolytus refers even more specifically about the Church going through the Tribulation:
"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 þy 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, which þees from city to city, and seeks concealment in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defense than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens."
Hippolytus, d. 236 A.D., taught that the Church would go through the Tribulation, not be raptured out of it.
Cyprian was bishop of Carthage until his martyrdom in 258 A.D. As bishop, he wrote many letters to Christians and churches encouraging and teaching them. In the Epistle to the People of Thibaris, Cyprian wrote to encourage them to be faithful unto death. He tells these Christians that they are nearing the time of the anti-Christ, and that they must be prepared for martyrdom:
"For you ought to know and to believe, and hold it for certain, that the day of afþiction has begun to hang over our heads, and the end of the world and the time of Antichrist to draw near, so that we must all stand prepared for the battle; nor consider anything but the glory of life eternal, and the crown of the confession of the Lord; and not regard those things which are coming as being such as were those which have passed away. A severer and a Þercer Þght is now threatening, for which the soldiers of Christ ought to prepare themselves with uncorrupted faith and robust courage, considering that they drink the cup of Christ's blood daily, for the reason that they themselves also may be able to shed their blood for Christ."
Cyprian warns these pre-Tribulation, Church-Age Christians that the time of the anti-Christ is drawing near. He tells them to prepare to do battle, to be willing to die as martyrs in the coming persecution of the anti-Christ. Does this sound like a man looking for an escape by a pre-tribulation Rapture?
With Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem, we move to the next century. Cyril was a minister in Jerusalem who gave a series of lectures on Church Doctrine to catechumens, new believers. In his 15th lecture, about the Second Advent of Christ, he wrote the following passage:
"But since it was needful for us to know the signs of the end, and since we are looking for Christ, therefore, that we may not die deceived and be led astray by that false Antichrist, the Apostles, moved by the divine will, address themselves by a providential arrangement to the True Teacher, and say, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world"
You can see that Cyril believes that his hearers, who are Christians might have the chance to be decieved by the anti-Christ. Ths wouldn't be possible, if they are raptured off of the earth before the anti-Christ comes to power during the Tribulation. Apparently Cyril, early church writer, didn't believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture.
In another passage of this lecture, he warned his listerners to make their salvation secure before the anti-Christ comes:
"...make safe thy soul. The Church now charges thee before the Living God; she declares to thee the things concerning Antichrist before they arrive. Whether they will happen in thy time we know not, or whether they will happen after thee we know not; but it is well that, knowing these things, thou shouldest make thyself secure beforehand."
Again, no hint of
a pre-tribulation Rapture, but an address to Christians to be sure that they are
in Christ, and can't be deceived by the Anti-Christ. Instead, we see the concerned
heart of a pastor who believes that the people that he is teaching may or may
not face the persecution of the anti-Christ, during the time of the Tribulaiton.
If the Church were to be raptured from the earth before the Tribulation and the
arriving of the anti-Christ, this wouldn't make sense.
As you can tell by my posts in the Moral Government section of this page, I don't think much of Augustine. However, since he is considered authoritative by many Christians today, it should be interesting to look at what he had to say about the Church and the anti-Christ.
In 412, Rome was sacked by the Vandals, and pagans began to make accusations that this was due to weakness brought about by Rome becoming Christian. Augustine wrote his magnum opus, "The City of God," to counter this accusation. In it, you will find this:
"But he who reads this passage [Daniel 12], even half asleep, cannot fail to see that the kingdom of Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church..."
The City of God, Book XX, Chap. 23
Do you see that? Augustine, at the beginning of the Third Century, teaches that the anti-Christ will assail the Church. It is doctrine to him (let's not forget that Augustine basically set up the church's doctrine for the next 1000 years) that the Church will not be raptured out of the Tribulation, but will be on earth until the Second Coming of Christ, and that the anti-Christ will persecute the Church.
Conclusion
We have looked at writings of the Early Church from the time of John the Apostle to the time of Augustine, a period that covers over 300 years. After reading these quotes, in context, and seeing the concern for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, warning them to stand firm in face of the persecution that may come to them, it is impossible to hold to a pre-tribulation Rapture escape. The Early Church did not have such a teaching.