What is the origin of the rapture theory?

Every follower of Jesus Christ longs for the time of His return. Belief in the second coming of the Lord Jesus to judge wickedness and establish His kingdom is based on a literal interpretation of Scripture. Interpreting the Bible contextually, grammatically, and historically has led some believers to believe in a coming of Christ Jesus (referenced as the “rapture”) that is entirely different from His return in glory and power.

The word rapture is not found in English translations of the Bible. The term is derived from the Latin rapere in the Vulgate to translate the Greek word harpazó (“to snatch, take away”), a form of which is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Rapture is a theological term that utilizes Latin terminology to express a biblical doctrine. According to the doctrine of the rapture, Jesus will come in the clouds to snatch away His church from the earth and will later return with His saints in glory and power.

Christians are not in agreement regarding the second coming. Throughout the history of the church, there have been three primary views concerning the nature of the Lord’s return: (1) amillennialism, (2) postmillennialism, and (3) premillennialism. Interpretive differences are the reason for the three views, such as whether to understand one thousand in Revelation 20 as literal or symbolic. Amillennialists and postmillennialists do not believe in a thousand-year reign of Christ; therefore, they understand the second coming as a single event that will be climaxed by a general resurrection and judgment of all people. Among premillennialists, there are three principal viewpoints as to Christ’s return in relation to the kingdom: midtribulationism (and pre-wrath rapturism as a variation), posttribulationism, and pretribulationism.

The midtribulational view is relatively new and gained some prominence in the twentieth century. Postribulationists will often refer to their view as “historic premillennialism.” However, that terminology is not accurate because the prophetic beliefs of the early church are difficult to classify. That complexity is the result of frequent contradictory perspectives on the part of early church fathers. As opposed to affirming a contemporary form of posttribulationism, the early church more accurately held a position of “imminent intratribulationism.” In the midst of continual persecution, the early church believed a time of tribulation was already upon them, and they anticipated the imminent return of Jesus Christ within that context. The early church fathers’ belief in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus is, in fact, a primary aspect of pretribulational thought.

Pretribulationism is the belief that the church will be raptured prior to the beginning of a seven-year period of tribulation. Opponents of pretribulationism have often asserted that such an understanding is a novelty and that the doctrine was unknown until 1830 with John Nelson Darby’s acceptance of a prophetic utterance by a thirteen-year old girl named Margaret MacDonald. The truth is that it was the Powerscourt Conferences of 1831 to 1833 that influenced Darby. The transition from the present church age to the millennial kingdom in which Israel has prominence under Christ’s rule was understood by interpreting the seventieth week of Daniel 9 as future. Based on a resolute belief in a literal interpretation of Scripture, Darby developed a precise design for eschatological events. He believed in a distinction between Israel and the church that extends into eternity. He also taught that dispensations are economies of God and that the church age is a parenthesis. Darby first began to articulate his views of a pretribulational rapture and to develop his (dispensational) thinking during a period of convalescence (Dec. 1826—Jan. 1827). By 1833, he had developed a complete systematization of premillennial dispensationalism.

Although dispensationalism was not systematized as a doctrine until the 1800s with John Nelson Darby, there were individuals throughout the history of the church who affirmed a dispensational system of some type. These include Baptist James R. Graves (1820—93) and Presbyterian James H. Brookes (1830—97). Dispensationalism was communicated widely by means of annual Bible conferences, such as the Niagara Bible Conference (1878—1909), and numerous publications.

Undeveloped aspects of dispensational theology can be identified among the early church writings and the centuries prior to Darby. As already stated, aspects of imminency, a primary assertion of pretribulational thought, are evident among the early church fathers. During the medieval period, evidence of pretribulational ideas can be identified in a sermon attributed to Ephraem the Syrian titled “Sermon on the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World” and in a fourteenth-century text, The History of Brother Dolcino.

During the Protestant Reformation, evidence of individuals who distinguished the rapture from the coming of Christ to earth is found in the writings of Peter Jurieu, Increase Mather, Joseph Mede (et al.), and later within an eighteenth-century treatise by Baptist minister Morgan Edwards. Also predating Darby was Pierre Poiret (1646—1719), who articulated a complete system of theology that was premillennial and dispensational. Issac Watts (1674—1748) gave an extensive outline of dispensations in his works. C. I. Scofield’s (1843—1921) dispensationalism is more similar to the teaching of Watts than Darby. Thus, the obvious conclusion is that individuals prior to Darby taught dispensational concepts.