The Time of the End
Lesson #4 – Early Church & Pre-trib Beliefs
Instructions:
1. Read through the outline below.
2. When you’re finished, answer the questions at the end of the lesson.
Early Church Rapture Belief
1. The Early Church believed in a Post-tribulation rapture
A. For about the first 1800 years
B. They taught it and wrote about it
2. Two examples: Irenaus and Hippolytus
3. The early Church fathers were “discipled” in the true sense of the word
A. They were taught “at the feet” of their teachers
1) Jesus taught John (the Apostle and Revelator)
2) John taught Polycarp
3) Polycarp taught Irenaus
4) Irenaus taught Hippolytus
B. Irenaus wrote a number of books
C. Including one called “Against Heresies”
1) In that book he says:
a. the tyranny of the Antichrist will “last for three years and six
months…during which the saints will be put to flight” (Ch. 25.4)
b. “the resurrection of the just…takes place after the coming of
Antichrist” (Ch. 35.1)
c. the “just” are “those who have suffered tribulation, as well as
escaped the hands of the Wicked one” (Ch. 35:1)
D. Hippolytus was a prolific writer
1) He wrote many works:
a. In a “Commentary on the Book of Daniel” he says that the
Antichrist “will cause tribulation and persecution to the saints,
exalting himself against them” (See Dan. 7:21-22)
b. In the same book, he refers to Revelation 11, and says, “the two
witnesses shall preach three years and a half; and Antichrist shall
make war upon the saints during the rest of the week (7 last
years)” (See Rev. 11:3-7)
c. In Section 61 of his “Treatise on Christ and Antichrist” he also
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” (See Revelation 12:13-14)
Origin of the Pre-tribulation Rapture Belief
1. The Pre-tribulation Rapture Belief began in about 1812
A. It involves four people
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1) A priest from Chile, South America
2) A Presbyterian minister
3) An Anglican priest
4) And a young Scottish girl
B. In 1812, Manuel de Lucunza ( a Catholic priest from Chile, South
America)
1) Wrote a book called “The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and
Majesty”
2) Under the pen-name of Rabbi J.J. Ben-Ezra
3) In the book, he says all of the church leaders
4) For 1800 years were wrong about the timing of the Rapture
5) He says they had been “convicted of error”
C. Edward Irving, a Presbyterian minister from Scotland
1) Translated the book into English
2) And had it published in London in 1827
3) Irving then began to preach a Pre-tribulation Rapture
D. In 1827, John Darby, an Anglican priest, began to consider a Pretribulation rapture
E. Also, in the late 1820s and early 1830s
F. A group called The Plymouth Brethren (Plymouth, England)
1) That was made prominent by John Darby
2) Began to consider a Pre-tribulation rapture –
3) And in 1831, began to hold annual conferences on the subject
G. In April, 1830, Margaret MacDonald, a 15 year old Scottish girl
1) Claimed to have received a new revelation
2) About a Pre-tribulation rapture
H. Both Edward Irving and John Darby visited Margaret
1) Sometime after her revelation
2) No one knows how much influence they may have had on each other
I. What is really interesting though:
1) A reading of her own hand-written version of her revelation
2) Shows that it says nothing about a Pre-tribulation rapture
3) It basically says:
a. That those with the Holy Spirit in them
b. Will be lifted to Christ
2. Now, by the late 1800s
1) The Pre-tribulation Rapture Belief had spread to America
2) And to other parts of the world
3) And, that’s how it all began
Questions
1. For about how many years did the Early Church believe in and teach a Posttribulation Rapture before a new belief (Pre-trib Rapture) began?
2. Name two Early Church teachers of the Post-tribulation Rapture.
3. About when did the new Pre-tribulation Rapture teaching begin?
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4. Name the four people accredited with starting and teaching the new Pretribulation Rapture belief.
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