* * *
WHAT IS THE PRE-TRIB
RAPTURE?
The word rapture
comes from the Latin word rapturo,
which means caught up. The
corresponding Greek word is harpazo,
which means to seize or catch away.
This Greek word is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where it is translated
“caught up”. Dr. Charles Ryrie writes:
"The
Greek word from which we take the term 'rapture' appears in 1 Thessalonians
4:17, translated 'caught up.' The Latin translation of this verse used the
word rapturo. The
Greek word it translates is harpazo, which means to snatch or take away.
Elsewhere it is used to describe how the Spirit caught up Philip near Gaza and
brought him to Caesarea (Acts 8:39) and to describe Paul's experience of being
caught up into the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2-4). Thus there can be no doubt
that the word is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 to indicate the actual removal of
people from earth to heaven."[1]
Some people don’t believe in the rapture because the
word “rapture” is not in the Bible. But that way of thinking is self-refuting. These people probably have no problem believing in the Trinity even
though the word “Trinity” is never once mentioned in the Bible! Jordan Ballard similarly
points out that the word “Sunday” is not found in the Bible, neither is the
phrase “the Lord’s prayer”.[2] The word responsibility is never found in the Bible either.[3]
Although the exact word “rapture” is not specifically
found in the Bible, the rapture is clearly described in other ways. For
example:
- Jesus described the rapture to His disciples with
these words: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also
in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you
may be also” (John 14:1-3). Dr. Scofield affirms that "an exceedingly important part of our Lord's prophetic ministry has to do with the future state....the Lord Jesus was the greatest of the prophets. He foretold...the rapture (John 14:3)". (Scofield, Scofield Bible Correspondence Course [Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1960, 1977], 6 Volumes, Vol. 6, p. 1498.)
- The apostle Paul wrote the following words to the church in Thessalonica: “For
this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain
until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air” prior to
the Tribulation (see 1 Thess. 4:15-5:11).
- In the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus said to the church in Philadelphia: “I
will keep you from (Greek ek = “out
of”) the hour of testing which is about to come on the whole world” (Rev. 3:10).[4 This speaks of a particular hour of testing, "the hour of testing” that is about to come “upon the whole world”. This is a reference to the coming world-wide Tribulation, and the Church (of which the Philadelphian church is
representative) will be glorified and taken up to heaven to be with the Lord
prior to the Tribulation that is about to be unleashed upon planet earth.
- In Revelation chapter 4, the apostle John wrote: “After these things [the church
things of Revelation chapters 2-3], I saw a door open in heaven and a voice
like a trumpet saying, ‘Come up here!’” (Rev. 4:1; cf. 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess.
4:16). The apostle John (a member of the Church, the bride of Christ) is caught
up to heaven before the Tribulation that is described in Revelation chapters 6-19.[5
In summary, the Pre-Trib Rapture is the teaching that
the Church will be caught up
(raptured) to be with the Lord prior to the Tribulation described in Revelation
chapters 6-19 in the Bible.
THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE IN
THE EARLY CHURCH
I quote Dr. Paul Lee Tan from his book The Interpretation of Prophecy:
“The early church
believed that the coming of the Lord was imminent. The doctrine of imminency
means that Christ may come at any moment and that no prophesied event stands
between the Christian and that hour. A common greeting in the early church was
‘Maranatha!’ or ‘The Lord is coming!’ (I Cor 16:22). Even the non-literal interpreter
Murray admits that ‘the early church definitely believed in the second coming
of Jesus Christ, and seemed to cherish the conviction that His coming was
imminent.’
Some detractors of
pretribulationism observe that the early Christians could not possibly have
expected the Lord to come at any moment for the bible does not really depict the
coming of the Lord as imminent. The key passage usually cited in John 21:18-19
where Jesus tells Peter, ‘When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy
hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee where though wouldest not’
(signifying his death). The argument of critics is that as long as Peter was
still alive, the early believers would surely not have expected the Lord’s
imminent return.
In reply, it must be
pointed out that this text in the Gospel of John was written some 20 years after Peter’s death. There was no
grounds therefore for the early believers’ use of this text to deny the Lord’s
imminent return. The early Christians actually expected their Lord to come during the life-time of John (cf. John
21:20-23). This is the whole emphasis of John 21.
Moreover, in Acts
12:15-16, the early believers (including Peter himself) expected that he would
die that very night under the hands of Herod who had just killed James and had
already seized Peter (Acts 12:1-3). Peter could have died suddenly without most
people knowing it. The early church, therefore, was not waiting for the death
of Peter but for the imminent coming of her Lord.
Since the early
Christians expected Christ to return at any moment, it can be inferred that
they did not expect any event (such as the Great Tribulation) to come in
between. Since the early church accepted the return of Christ as imminent, she
certainly was not expecting to go through a period of ‘great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be’ (Matt. 24:21). The early church’s doctrine of the coming of Christ must
therefore have been pre-tribulational. ‘If imminent, then pretribulational.’
A most interesting
illustration of pretribulationism from early church writings is The Shepherd of Hermas (Book I, Vision
Fourth, Chapter ii). This early church narrative describes the vision of the
shepherd of Hermas who meets a wild beast but is not harmed by the beast. The
shepherd reports his harrowing encounter with the wild animal to the heavenly
interpreter, ‘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.’ The heavenly interpreter explains to the shepherd that his escape from the
beast means that the elect of God will escape the Great Tribulation, saying,
‘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 the beast is a type of
the great tribulation that is coming.’
Another illustration of
pretribulationism may be found in Irenaeus’ book Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter xix). [Editor’s note: There is a typo here in Dr. Tan’s statement. The correct reference in Irenaeus’ book Against Heresies is Book V, Chapter xxix. So chapter 29, not chapter 19. Thank you to Grant for pointing this out in the comments!] After describing the
sinfulness of the present age, the church father Irenaeus comments: “And
therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this
[evil age], it is said, ‘There shall be tribulation such as has not been since
the beginning; neither shall be.’”
Thus, it may be seen that
the Lord’s coming before the Great Tribulation is a concept not unknown in the
early Christian church.
It must be noted,
however, that the early fathers did not refine and think through the doctrine
of pretribulationism as a precise eschatological system. The church was then
fighting for her very existence, and other more basic doctrines were clamoring
for her attention and systemization. The question of whether the Lord’s coming
is to be before or after the Great Tribulation was not a main one at that time.
In their common distresses, the early fathers did not have much concern for a
yet-future Tribulation period.
Although the expectation
of the early Christians is certainly pretribulational in its implication, it
seems wiser to classify the early fathers as Premillennial rather than
specifically Pre- or Post- Tribulational. The doctrine of the pretribulational
rapture—like many Bible doctrines—comes from the thorough exegesis of
Scripture, not by polling the fathers.
In summary, we note that
the early church was premillennial in her doctrine because she interpreted
prophecy literally. Moreover, the early church expected the imminent return of
the Lord, and this is the product of literal interpretation of prophecy.”
Under the heading “Progressive Illumination”, Dr. Tan goes on to write:
“Down the Christian
centuries, as the Holy Spirit illumines the Word, doctrines are thought through
and refined, orthodoxy is preserved, and Christ is glorified. John F. Walvoord
traces this process of illumination, saying: ‘There is some evidence that the
church has been progressing throughout the centuries of its history through the
major areas of doctrine beginning with bibliology
and theology proper as in the early
centuries of the church, advancing to such subjects as anthropology and hamartiology
in the fourth and succeeding centuries, and dealing with soteriology and ecclesiology
in the Protestant Reformation. It has been mostly in the last century that eschatology has really come to the fore
as an area for scholarly study and debate.’
Moreover, since Christ
promises that the Holy Spirit’s work of illumination will concern even ‘things
to come’ (John 16:13), we may expect that as the church age draws to a close,
and more prophetic events are about to transpire, the Holy Spirit will grant
more illumination relative to the refinements of prophecy. It seems as if God
has allowed other doctrinal issues to be threshed out in church history before
fully opening up the study of prophecy to the church at the end age. [Cf. Daniel
12:4: “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back
and forth, and knowledge will increase.”] The phenomenal growth of interest in
the study of prophecy within the last century or so is significant. This may
partially explain why the doctrine of the pretribulational rapture—the logical
capstone of the entire eschatological structure—is now being emphasized by a
significant portion of the church.
It is now appropriate to
explain why pretribulationism as a distinct doctrine did not emerge until
relatively recent history. As we have already noted, the early church was
overwhelmingly premillennial. But premillennialism must be refined and further
systematized before the doctrine of the pretribulational rapture could be
recognized. The early church never got the chance. The refinement and
systematizing of prophecy did not get started before the Alexandrians arose
and toppled the church off premillennialism. [Dr. Tan writes on pages 72-73 of
his book that “the Alexandrian church fathers left the sure footing of the
literal interpretation of Scripture in favor of the allegorical method”.] From
then on and through the Middle Ages, the church’s very relationship to the
millennium came under attack and ridicule, and the development of
pretribulationism was of course stunted.
Then came the
Reformation. While the Protestant reformers dealt a severe blow to the
allegorization then on a rampage and brought about a revival of
premillennialism in post-Reformation
times, they had neither time nor inclination for prophetic studies—much less
its refinements. Martin Luther avoided the teachings of prophecy for years. And
John Calvin refused to write a commentary on the Book of Revelation, saying,
‘The study of prophecy either finds a man crazy, or it leaves him so.’
This disinclination of
the reformers is understandable, for vital issues such as justification by
faith and the refinements of ecclesiology were demanding the reformers’ full
attention. Since eschatology was not a major issue and the subject was actually
shunned by the reformers the Protestant churches continued to embrace the Roman
Catholic amillennialism almost in toto.
And as amillennialism remained in vogue, pretribulationism was never seriously
discussed. It was not until after the ascendancy of premillennialism in
post-Reformation times (by virtue of the literal method) that the Lord’s return
was again viewed by a significant portion of the church as before the
tribulation.
Thus, the doctrine of
progressive illumination accepts the fact that certain revelations of Scripture
will be better understood during different periods of church history. It is not
true that a doctrine is necessarily wrong just because it has been refined and
systematized, or has re-emerged, in later history.
Clarence Mason
illustrates progressive illumination in the case for modern missions: ‘The
emphasis on missions, so evident in the Early Church, was lost in the Dark Ages
under Rome….The Reformers did little or nothing to revive missionary activity
and some spoke against the idea. Today, everyone recognizes William Carey as
the Father of the Modern Missionary Era (1790)….Is the missionary truth and
emphasis, so recently developed, to be urged as dangerous and automatically
untrue because of that fact?’”
As Dr. Tan has so eloquently pointed out, there has
been a resurgence of interest in Bible prophecy (and a greater understanding of it) in
the last few centuries of the Christian church. Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost in his book Things To Come (pp. 166-168) calls this "the progress of dogma". Commenting on Revelation 3:1, Dr. J. Vernon McGee affirms: "All of the truth was not recovered by the Reformation. We need to recognize that. I think that today, eschatology, prophecy, is just being developed in our day." I recently heard Don Stewart, the internationally recognized Christian apologist and speaker, say something very interesting about Bible prophecy. After reading Daniel 12:4 in the Bible, Stewart asks: "What's he talking about? He says it's only in the last time, the last days, people will understand this. The knowledge that will increase is not knowledge per se, although it has increased, its knowledge of the book of Daniel, knowledge of Bible prophecy. Like I said, if we were doing this a hundred years ago, we'd all have blank stares trying to figure out what's going on here." In Daniel 12:4, God's angel told Daniel to “conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase” (Dan. 12:4). This is significant because the book of Daniel is like the prophetic key to the book of Revelation! In fact, Dr. Walvoord wrote an excellent commentary on the book of Daniel with that exact title: Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. The Bible confirms that we are now living in the last days (Heb. 1:2; 1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:7; 1 Jn. 2:18), and now according to God's Word, knowledge of Bible prophecy is increasing. As it is written by Daniel the prophet: “knowledge will increase” (Dan. 12:4). Some
critics might say the rapture teaching is new and therefore untrue. They might quote the old adage that says: “If it’s new it’s not true, and if it’s true it’s not new.” But it has
already been shown that the rapture
teaching is not new. And even if, in these end times, the Church is gaining
new understanding of old truths, is it not according to the words of the Lord Jesus when
He says in Matthew 13:52: “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the
kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” As the eminent theologian Dr. John Gill has said: "truths that are old in themselves, but newly discovered".
AN AMAZING DISCOVERY
In 1994 Dr. Grant Jeffrey discovered a reference to an
ancient manuscript which indicates that the Pre-Trib Rapture was still being taught
in the early medieval church. Here is the statement that Dr. Jeffrey found:
“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.”
This statement purports to be from a sermon by Ephraem
the Syrian titled “On the Last Times, the
Antichrist, and the End of the World” (see Appendix 1). This sermon is
sometimes referred to in abbreviated form simply as De Fine Mundi, which is Latin for “On the End of the World”. The extant
manuscripts of this sermon are in Latin. The fact that these manuscripts are in
Latin and not Syriac or Greek is important in regards to dating the manuscripts.
Most scholars believe that this sermon is the work of someone else who wrote
under Ephraem’s name. Hence they call the author “Pseudo-Ephraem” (pseudo meaning false). Yet scholars
affirm, as Dr. Thomas Ice notes, that “Pseudo-Ephraem
was ‘heavily influenced by the genuine works of Ephraem.’” Just to be clear, the
name Pseudo-Ephraem should not be taken
to mean that the Pre-Trib Rapture teaching is false. Rather, the name Pseudo-Ephraem
should be understood in the sense of the word pseudonym, i.e. someone writing under another person’s name. In this
case, someone besides Ephraem the Syrian may have been writing using his name.
However, the author of the work is not
so important as the date of the work.
In other words, regardless of the author, these statements by Pseudo-Ephraem are
historically significant because of their early date, which ranges anywhere between
373 to 627 AD. Obviously,
even the most recent date precedes Darby — the man who supposedly invented the Pre-Trib Rapture teaching — by over 1,200 years![11]
J. S. ASSEMANI’S
MANUSCRIPTS
DATE OF COMPOSITION
Scholars do not know the exact date or origin of the
Greek manuscripts attributed to St. Ephraem that were cataloged by Assemani. The
date of composition assigned to these manuscripts by scholars ranges anywhere
from 373 to 627 AD. Some critics don’t think these manuscripts have any
connection to Ephraem the Syrian. For example, Roger Pearce asserts: “Ephraim
the Syrian lived from 306 to 373 AD. He wrote only in Syriac. He has nothing to
do with this work [“On Antichrist and the
End of the World”]. But his fame was such that works under his name appear
in every single language of the ancient world. A very large collection of works
in Greek can be found in the handwritten Greek books of the middle ages, where
the title says that the author is Ephraim. Very few of these are in fact
translations of his works….Most of these works are of unknown authorship.”
Yet other scholars argue for an earlier date of composition and contend that
the author of these manuscripts is indeed Ephraem the Syrian! For example, the
German scholar Wilhelm Bousset (1865-1920) writes: “For the present I assume the
genuine character of the Greek homilies here in question; nor do I know any
reasons against their ascription to S. Ephrem.”
Other scholars agree with Bousset’s assessment of the Greek sermons that are
attributed to Saint Ephraem. For example, Robert P. Smith (1818-1895), formerly
Dean of Canterbury, writes: “The first three volumes [of Ephrem’s works
published by Assemani] consist of sermons and discourses in Greek with a Latin
translation. Many of these are probably genuine, for [the historian] Sozomen
says that already in his lifetime works of Ephrem were translated into Greek,
and as both Chrysostom [347 - 407 AD] and Jerome [343 - 420 AD] were acquainted
with them, and Gregory of Nyssa quotes his Testament, it is certain that
several of his writings were very soon thus made available for general use.”
Elsewhere Sozomen affirms that Ephrem’s writings “were translated into Greek
during his life, and preserve much of their original force and power, so that
they are not less admired in Greek than in Syriac.”
Ephraem died in the year 373 AD, so it seems that the Greek homilies under
consideration could be dated as early as the middle to late 4th
century! By comparison, this early date is approximately the same as some of
the earliest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, namely the Codex Vaticanus
(325-350 AD), the Codex Sinaiticus (350 AD), and the Codex Alexandrinus (400
AD).
So in regards to the sermons of St. Ephraem in Greek, we have a very early and
reliable text.
The extracts of these sermons that relate to the Pre-Trib Rapture are reproduced below in both the Greek and Latin, followed by
the English translations. This will allow the reader to analyze the statements
more closely.
BEATITUDINES ALIAE.
The first of Ephrem’s sermons cataloged by Assemani that
we will examine is titled “Beatitudines
Aliae”. This can be translated “Other Beatitudes”. The Pre-Trib Rapture
statement is found in chapter 20 of this sermon. It’s interesting that a
statement relating to the rapture of the church is included in a sermon titled
“Other Beatitudes”. Is there a connection? If so, what is the correlation between the
pre-trib rapture and the beatitudes? Some scholars don’t see any connection at
all. Instead, they cite this apparent disparity as evidence that this sermon
was revised and edited by someone who lived many years after Ephraem’s time. They say this is proof for a late date of composition.
Roger Pearce entertains this view and speculates as follows:
“This work [Beatitudines Aliae] consists of 19 short
blessings, and then, as chapter 20, a long section of text. It is hard not to
look at the imbalance and feel that chapter 20 does not belong with the
blessings; particularly when we look at the Sermo utilis de paenitentia and find the
same ideas on the same page, although in two separate sentences. Chapter 20 is,
perhaps, a summary of material culled from the sermo utilis [de paenitentia]?”
The sermo utilis
that Mr. Pearce mentions is another sermon by Ephraem which contains a nearly
identical pre-trib rapture statement. We will look at that sermon next. But first
I would like to say a few words in regards to Beatitudines Aliae. In contrast to Mr. Pearce, I would like to set
forth another interpretation of the facts. I propose that Ephraem’s statement
on the pre-trib rapture fits perfectly with the blessings mentioned in Beatitudines Aliae. I believe that the
connection with beatitude is to be found in Titus 2:13, which says, “Looking
for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and
Savior Jesus Christ.” The rapture is “the blessed hope”! The rapture is a blessing!
The rapture is a beatitude! In support of this understanding, the Byzantine
scholar Dr. Paul J. Alexander writes: “the Elect are ‘taken to the Lord,’ i.e.,
participate at least in some measure in beatitude”.
Clearly, Dr. Alexander understands Pseudo-Ephraem’s words as referring to the
Elect being removed from the Antichrist’s persecution.
Dr. Alexander refers to this removal from persecution as “beatitude”!
Let’s move on to examine the Beatitudines Aliae sermon in more detail,
first in Greek and then in Latin. The Beatitudines
Aliae pre-trib rapture statements are reproduced below.
The Beatitudines Aliae Pre-Trib
Rapture Statement in Greek:
“Oi eklektoi sunagontai
pro thlipseōs tou mē idein tēn sugchusin kai tēn thlipsin tēn megalēn erchomenēn
eis ton kosmon ton adikon.”
“The elect are gathered before tribulation they do not
see the confusion/disturbance and the great coming tribulation upon the
unrighteous world.” (personal translation)
The Beatitudines Aliae Pre-Trib Rapture
Statement in Latin:
“Electi ne videant magnam
illam confusionem, atque pressuram, quae iniquum hunc mundum obruet,
colliguntur.”
“Lest the elect see that great confusion, and distress,
which will overthrown this unjust world, they are gathered.” (personal translation)
The Greek and Latin statements essentially say the
same thing. In both statements it’s clear that the elect are gathered before the tribulation so they do not
see the confusion and distress that is coming upon the unrighteous world.
DE PAENITENTIA.
Another sermon attributed to St. Ephraem that is
cataloged by Assemani is titled “De Paenitentia, et Judicio, et Separatione Animae, et
Corporis” which is translated: “On
Repentance, and Judgment, and the Separation of the Soul, and Body”. Like Beatitudines Aliae, the De paenitentia sermon is also written in
both Greek and Latin. The pre-trib rapture statement from De Paenitentia is reproduced below.
The De Paenitentia Pre-Trib Rapture
Statement in Greek:
“Oi eklektoi sunagontai
pro tēs thlipseōs, tou mē idein tēn sugchusin, kai tēn thlipsin tēn megalēn tēn
erchomenēn eis ton adikon kosmon.”
“The elect are gathered before the tribulation, they
do not see the confusion/disturbance, and the great coming tribulation upon the
unrighteous world.” (personal translation)
The De Paenitentia Pre-Trib Rapture
Statement in Latin:
“Congregantur Electi ante
tribulationem, ne confusionem videant, atque ingentem angustiam impendentem
mundo iniquo.”
“The Elect are gathered before the tribulation, lest
they see the confusion, and the great anguish threatening a hostile world.” (personal translation)
Again, the statement in Greek is essentially the same as the statement in
Latin. Both statements say the elect are gathered before the tribulation so they don’t see the chaos and confusion
that is coming upon the unrighteous world.
C. P. CASPARI’S CRITICAL EDITION OF THE TEXT
In the 1890s a German scholar named C. P. Caspari composed a critical
edition of Ephraem’s sermon “On the Antichrist and the End of the World”. Caspari
referenced both the Greek and Latin text. Caspari’s critical edition of the
Greek text is based on the Greek text of Ephrem’s sermons that Assemani had
published. For the Latin, Caspari used two 8th - 9th century
Latin manuscripts, the Codex Barberini manuscript from the Vatican and the Codex
Sangellensis manuscript (93) of the St. Gall Abbey in Switzerland.
The Pre-Trib Rapture Statement in Caspari’s Critical Edition of the Greek Text:
“Οἱ ἐκλεκτοὶ συνάγονται πρὸ τῆς θλίψεως (πρὸ θλίψεως) τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν τὴν σύγχυσιν
καὶ τὴν θλῖψιν τὴν μεγάλην τὴν ἐρχομένην (μεγάλην ἐρχομένην) εἰς τὸν ἄδικον κόσμον
(τὸν κόσμον τὸν ἄδικον), Λόγος περὶ μετ. κ.τ.λ. III, 378 and Μακ. δευτ. I, XX, 297.”
“The elect are gathered before the tribulation (before
tribulation) they do not see the confusion and the great tribulation the one coming (great one coming) upon the unrighteous world (the world the unrighteous one), Sermon on Repentance etc. Assemani, Vol.
3, p. 378, and Other Blessings,
Chapter 20, Assemani, Vol. 1, p. 297.” (personal translation)
The Pre-Trib Rapture
Statement in the Codex Barberini Latin
Manuscript:
“Omnes enim sancti et
electi dei ante tribulatione quae uentura est colleguntur et ad dominum adsummentur
ne quando uideant confusione illa que universum propter peccata nostra obruet
mundum.”
“All the saints and elect of God prior to the
tribulation that is to come are gathered and received to the Lord lest they see
the confusion that will overwhelm the whole world because of our sins.” (personal translation)
The Pre-Trib Rapture
Statement in the Codex Sangellensis
Latin Manuscript:
“Omni enim sancti et
electri dei ante tribulationem quae uentura est colliguntur a Domino adsumuntur
ne quando uideant confusiamem illam quae universo propter peccata nostra obruit
mundo.”
“All the saints and elect of God prior to the
tribulation that is to come are gathered and taken by the Lord lest they see
the confusion that overwhelms the entire world because of our sins.” (personal translation)
The Pre-Trib Rapture
Statement in Caspari’s Critical
Edition of the Latin Text:
“Omnes enim sancti et
electi Dei ante tribulationem, quae uentura est, colliguntur et ad Dominum
adsumuntur, ne quando uideant confusionem, quae universum propter peccata
nostra obruet mundum.”
“All the saints and elect of God prior to the
tribulation, that is to come, are gathered and received to the Lord, lest they
see the confusion, that will overwhelm the whole world because of our sins.” (personal translation)
WHAT DO THE CRITICS SAY?
Of course, critics raise all kinds of objections to
these Pseudo-Ephraem statements in light of their clear implications for the Pre-Trib rapture. I would like to respond to a few of the objections that I’ve
come across in my recent studies on the subject.
Pseudo-Ephraem speaks
only of the gathering together of the elect?
One critic says that the Pseudo-Ephraem statement in Greek
“speaks only of the ‘gathering together’ of the elect.”
But this objection is obviously false and hardly warrants a response — the critic
conveniently fails to mention that the Pseudo-Ephraem statement in Greek also
says that the “gathering together” will be “before the tribulation”! Both Greek
variants say this, so this is not even in question.
What about the
God-worshippers on earth after the “taking up” of Christians to God?
The same critic asks: “Is it not inconsistent to speak
of the presence of the just and of God-worshipers after the ‘taking up’ or
‘reception’ of Christians to God?”
Interestingly, the critic goes on to conclude: “Perhaps the writer simply wasn’t very
consistent in his view of the last things?” Yes,
this is indeed entirely possible! Furthermore, the question about whether or not it
is inconsistent to speak of “the just” being on the earth after the “taking up”
of Christians to God has already been answered elsewhere by another critic who correctly
points out: “Some Left Behinders might regard these Christians in the
tribulation as referring to those
converted after the rapture.”
So any God-worshippers whom Pseudo-Ephraem says will be on the earth during the
coming tribulation could obviously be referring to “those converted after the
rapture”! These people will no doubt be converted as a result of the preaching of
the 144,000 Jewish missionaries (Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-5), and God’s two
witnesses — whom Pseudo-Ephraem names as “Enoch and Elijah” (Rev. 11:3-12), and the
angel flying in mid-heaven who preaches the everlasting gospel (Rev. 14:6-17). Dr.
Tim LaHaye affirms “that at the beginning of the Tribulation there will be a
great soul harvest throughout the world….These are Tribulation saints,
individuals who had not received Christ at the time of the Rapture, before the
Tribulation began, but did receive Him as a result of the faithful witnesses
depicted in [Revelation] chapter 7. They will be martyred ‘because of the word
of God and the testimony they had maintained.’….This will probably be the
greatest period of cruelty to Christians the world has ever known. Many of the
believers referred to in Revelation 7:9 as ‘a great multitude that no one could
count,’ will probably be slain.”
Syriac Pseudo-Ephraem
says Christians escape tribulation by death not rapture?
Another false claim about the Pseudo-Ephraem pre-trib
rapture statement that is being promoted online is from an article titled
“Pseudo-Ephraem Does Not Teach the Rapture!” In the article, the critic says: “Pseudo-Ephraem teaches that Christians escape
tribulation by death not rapture!” The critic then proceeds
to quote the following statement from Syriac Pseudo-Ephraem:
"Pronouncing the good fortune of the deceased who had avoided the
calamity: 'Blessed are you for you were borne away (to the grave) and
hence you escaped from the afflictions!” But the critic conveniently
obscures the fact that this statement from Syriac Pseudo-Ephraem is not even in
the same sermon as the Greek and Latin Pseudo-Ephraem statements that we have
been discussing! Roger Pierce is correct to point out: “It’s as well to be
clear that there is a Syriac ‘Apocalypse of pseudo-Ephrem’ which is NOT the
same work; and there are a lot of Greek sermons attributed to Ephraim, all
about the end of the world!”
We can also deduce something else based on the fact
that the critic had to appeal to the Syriac Pseudo-Ephraem to support his
contention that “Christians escape tribulation by death not rapture”. Namely,
if the critic could have proved this using the Greek or Latin Pseudo-Ephraem
statements instead of the Syriac, no doubt he would have! In other words, death
is not the means of escaping the coming tribulation, according to the Greek and
Latin Pseudo-Ephraem! This is significant because what other option is there to
escape the coming tribulation if it is not by means of death? It would seem
that the only other option according to the Bible is the Pre-Trib Rapture!
Pseudo-Ephraem was talking
about penance, not rapture?
Some critics claim that instead of referring to the Rapture,
Pseudo-Ephraem is referring to the Elect “doing
‘penance,’ because of ‘our sins,’ so that church members will be ‘sustained’
during the tribulation!”
In this scenario, God apparently gathers the elect to some undisclosed location
on earth in order for them to do penance for their sins so that they will be sustained
through the tribulation. But this interpretation has several glaring problems:
(1) The only manuscripts that include the phrase
“our sins” in the pre-trib rapture statement are the 8th and 9th
century Latin manuscripts (the Codex Barberini and the Codex Sangellensis). The
earlier Greek manuscripts cataloged by Assemani do not include it. Even C. P.
Caspari’s critical edition of the Greek text does not include this phrase.
This is significant: The oldest
manuscripts don’t contain the phrase “for our sins” — so “our sins” is not the impetus
for the gathering. The elect are gathered for a different reason (i.e. not to
do penance). Indeed, Hebrews 9:28 says, “so Christ also, having been offered
once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without
reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (2) The pre-trib rapture
statement clearly says that the elect “will not see the confusion and the great
coming tribulation”. If the elect won’t
even see the tribulation, why
will they need to do penance to supposedly be “sustained” during the
tribulation that they won’t even see? (3) The Pre-Trib Rapture statement in the
oldest manuscripts clearly says that the tribulation comes upon “the
unrighteous world” — obviously in contrast to the elect. Why would the elect have
to do penance to be sustained during the tribulation if the tribulation is not
even coming upon them?
It’s clear that the Pre-Trib Rapture
statement in Pseudo-Ephaem is not
talking about doing penance for our sins in order to be sustained during the
tribulation as Dave Macpherson and others have claimed. In fact, quite the opposite is
said! Pseudo-Ephraem makes it clear that the Elect will be gathered to the Lord
“before the tribulation” so they do not see the great confusion and distress
that is coming upon the unrighteous world.
The claim that the Pre-Trib Rapture view was published by a medieval writer called
Pseudo-Ephraem in the eighth century rests on a 1985 book by Paul Alexander?
Not at all. We have the Greek and Latin manuscripts of Pseudo-Ephraem
and we can very easily examine them for ourselves. What’s more, we now know
that the Pre-Trib Rapture statement in Pseudo-Ephraem can be dated much earlier
than the 8th century. The Latin
manuscripts are 8th - 9th century, but the Greek manuscripts are much older and
could very well have been written in Ephraem’s own lifetime!
The Pre-Trib Rapture
belief is based on the meaning of a single sentence in Pseudo-Ephraem?
Lastly, I want to respond to several statements made by
Roger Pearce from his blog post “Did pseudo-Ephraem believe in the Rapture?” While I appreciate all the research that Mr.
Pearce has done, I cannot say that I agree with all his conclusions.
Particularly when he says:
“Did [Pseudo-Ephraem] believe in the Rapture, much as modern
Pre-Millennial Dispensationalists do? The cautious reader will hesitate. For we
are sifting the meaning of a single sentence; and it is generally unwise to
place too much reliance on a couple of words in a single sentence….the
statement is too brief for us to be certain. Two key
words cannot compel belief. If we know of no other evidence
that a modern teaching was present to the minds of 5th century
believers, then we would probably be very wary of asserting it based on a
single ambiguous sentence in an
obscure work.”
I find it interesting that Mr. Pearce would label
Pseudo-Ephraem’s sermon “an obscure work.” It may be somewhat obscure now, but originally it was not obscure
at all! This sermon was copied and was obviously held in high esteem by the
church fathers, of whom Isidore of Seville (c.
560-636) is but one example. Archbishop Isidore of Seville is said to have
been, in the words of the 19th century historian Montalembert, “the last
scholar of the ancient world.”
Furthermore, Mr. Pearce wants to focus on “the meaning
of a single sentence”. It sounds like he is unaware that Pseudo-Ephraem’s entire sermon has been translated into
English! Thus we are not merely relying “on a couple of words in a single
sentence” as Mr. Pearce makes it appear like we are doing. On the contrary! Dr.
Ice in his article “The Rapture in Pseudo-Ephraem” has a lengthy and detailed
list of three reasons “Why Pseudo-Ephraem’s Statement is Pre-Tribulational”.
Dr. Ice does not merely base his reasons on a single sentence in
Pseudo-Ephraem’s sermon, but instead he (Dr. Ice) takes into account the entire
sermon. Also, Dr. Grant Jeffrey has listed “A Summary of the Key Points in
Ephraem’s Text on the Antichrist” showing chronologically how Ephraem’s sermon
on the last times is consistent with the Pre-Trib view of the Rapture.
Again, Dr. Jeffrey interacts with and takes into account Pseudo-Ephraem’s entire sermon, not merely “a couple of
words in single sentence.” Mr. Pearce would do well to interact with these key summary
statements by Dr. Jeffrey, especially in light of the fact that he (Pearce) has
even provided a link on his website to Dr. Jeffrey’s work.
If we only had a single fragment of Pseudo-Ephraem’s
sermon, then Mr. Pearce’s objections might be valid. But in light of the fact
that we have the entire sermon of Pseudo-Ephraem “On the End Times” — it’s quite
clear what his views were, and they can be understood and analyzed in context.
For those who do this, as Dr. Jeffrey and Dr. Ice have done, the following
conclusion is inescapable. In the words of Dr. Ice: “Regardless of what else
the writer of this sermon believed, he did believe that all believers would be
removed before the tribulation—a Pre-Trib Rapture view.”
Similarly, Dr. Tim LaHaye writes: “There can be no doubt this fourth- (or at
the latest seventh-) century Bible scholar saw the saints gathered together
before the Tribulation by the coming of the Lord. His statement has all the
marks of a pre-Tribulation rapture of the saints as distinct from the Glorious
Appearing, which our Lord promised would occur ‘immediately after the distress
of those days . . .’ (Matt. 24:29).”
Dr. LaHaye goes on to conclude: “[Ephrem] saw a pre-Tribulation rapture of the
Church long before it became popular during the nineteenth century.”
APPENDIX 1:
“On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World” [51]
by Ephraem the Syrian
Dearly beloved brothers, believe the Holy Spirit who speaks in us. We have already told you that the end of the world is near, the consummation remains. Has not faith withered away among mankind? How many foolish things are seen among youths, how many crimes among prelates, how many lies among priests, how many perjuries among deacons! There are evil deeds among the ministers, adulteries in the aged, wantonness in the youths—in mature women false faces, in virgins dangerous traces! In the midst of all this there are the wars with the Persians, and we see struggles with diverse nations threatening and “kingdom rising against kingdom’’ (Matt. 24:7). When the Roman Empire begins to be consumed by the sword, the coming of the Evil One is at hand. It is necessary that the world come to an end at the completion of the Roman empire.
In those days two brothers will come to the Roman empire who will rule with one mind; but because one will surpass the other, there will be a schism between them. And so the Adversary will be loosed and will stir up hatred between the Persian and Roman empires. In those days many will rise up against Rome; the Jewish people will be her adversaries. There will be stirrings of nations and evil reports, pestilences, famines, and earthquakes in various places. All nations will receive captives; there will be wars and rumors of wars. From the rising to the setting of the sun the sword will devour much. The times will be so dangerous that in fear and trembling they will not permit thought of better things, because many will be the oppressions and desolations of regions that are to come.
We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging. Already there have been hunger and plagues, violent movements of nations and signs, which have been predicted by the Lord, they have already been fulfilled (consummated), and there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one in the completion of the Roman kingdom. Why therefore are we occupied with worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? Believe you me, dearest brother, because the coming (advent) of the Lord is nigh, believe you me, because the end of the world is at hand, believe me, because it is the very last time. Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” 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. And so, brothers most dear to me, it is the eleventh hour, and the end of the world comes to the harvest, and angels, armed and prepared, hold sickles in their hands, awaiting the empire of the Lord. And we think that the earth exists with blind infidelity, arriving at its downfall early. Commotions are brought forth, wars of diverse peoples and battles and incursions of the barbarians threaten, and our regions shall be desolated, and we neither become very much afraid of the report nor of the appearance, in order that we may at least do penance; because they hurl fear at us, and we do not wish to be changed, although we at least stand in need of penance for our actions!
When therefore the end of the world comes, there arise diverse wars, commotions on all sides, horrible earthquakes, perturbations of nations, tempests throughout the lands, plagues, famine, drought throughout the thoroughfares, great danger throughout the sea and dry land, constant persecutions, slaughters and massacres everywhere, fear in the homes, panic in the cities, quaking in the thoroughfares, suspicions in the male, anxiety in the streets. In the desert people become senseless, spirits melt in the cities. A friend will not be grieved over a friend, neither a brother for a brother, nor parents for their children, nor a faithful servant for his master, but one inevitability shall overwhelm them all; neither is anyone able to be recovered in that time, who has not been made completely aware of the coming danger, but all people, who have been constricted by fear, are consumed because of the overhanging evils.
Whenever therefore the earth is agitated by the nations, people will hide themselves from the wars in the mountains and rocks, by caves and caverns of the earth, by graves and memorials of the dead, and there, as they waste away gradually by fear, they draw breath, because there is not any place at all to flee, but there will be concession and intolerable pressure. And those who are in the east will flee to the west, and moreover, those who are in the west shall flee to the east, and there is not a safer place anywhere, because the world shall be overwhelmed by worthless nations, whose aspect appears to be of wild animals more than that of men. Because those very much horrible nations, most profane and most defiled, who do not spare lives, and shall destroy the living from the dead, shall consume the dead, they eat dead flesh, they drink the blood of beasts, they pollute the world, contaminate all things, and the one who is able to resist them is not there. In those days people shall not be buried, neither Christian, nor heretic, neither Jew, nor pagan, because of fear and dread there is not one who buries them; because all people, while they are fleeing, ignore them.
Whenever the days of the times of those nations have been fulfilled, after they have destroyed the earth, it shall rest; and now the kingdom of the Romans is removed from everyday life, and the empire of the Christians is handed down by God and Peter; and then the consummation comes, when the kingdom of the Romans begins to be fulfilled, and all dominions and powers have been fulfilled. Then that worthless and abominable dragon shall appear, he, whom Moses named in Deuteronomy, saying: Dan is a young lion, reclining and leaping from Basan. Because he reclines in order that he may seize and destroy and slay. Indeed (he is) a young whelp of a lion not as the lion of the tribe of Judah, but roaring because of his wrath, that he may devour. “And he leaps out from Basan.” “Basan” certainly is interpreted “confusion.” He shall rise up from the confusion of his iniquity. The one who gathers together to himself a partridge the children of confusion, also shall call them, whom he has not brought forth, just as Jeremiah the prophet says. Also in the last day they shall relinquish him just as confused.
When therefore the end of the world comes, that abominable, lying and murderous one is born from the tribe of Dan. He is conceived from the seed of a man and from an unclean or most vile virgin, mixed with an evil or worthless spirit. But that abominable corrupter, more of spirits than of bodies, while a youth, the crafty dragon appears under the appearance of righteousness, before he takes the kingdom. Because he will be craftily gentle to all people, not receiving gifts, not placed before another person, loving to all people, quiet to everyone, not desiring gifts, appearing friendly among close friends, so that men may bless him, saying, he is a just man, not knowing that a wolf lies concealed under the appearance of a lamb, and that a greedy man is inside under the skin of a sheep.
But when the time of the abomination of his desolation begins to approach, having been made legal, he takes the empire, and, just as it is said in the Psalm:—They have been made for the undertaking for the sons of Loth, the Moabites and the Ammanites shall meet him first as their king. Therefore, when he receives the kingdom, he orders the temple of God to be rebuilt for himself, which is in Jerusalem; who, after coming into it, he shall sit as God and order that he be adored by all nations, since he is carnal and filthy and mixed with worthless spirit and flesh. Then that eloquence shall be fulfilled of Daniel the prophet:–And he shall not know the God of their fathers, and he shall not know the desires of women. Because the very wicked serpent shall direct every worship to himself. Because he shall put forth an edict so that people may be circumcised according to the rite of the old law. Then the Jews shall congratulate him, because he gave them again the practice of the first covenant; then all people from everywhere shall flock together to him at the city of Jerusalem, and the holy city shall be trampled on by the nations for forty-two months, just as the holy apostle says in the Apocalypse, which become three and a half years, 1,260 days.
In these three years and a half the heaven shall suspend its dew; because there will be no rain upon the earth, and the clouds shall cease to pass through the air, and the stars shall be seen with difficulty in the sky because of the excessive dryness, which happens in the time of the very fierce dragon. Because all great rivers and very powerful fountains that overflow with themselves shall be dried up, torrents shall dry up their water-courses because of the intolerable age, and there will be a great tribulation, as there has not been since people began to be upon the earth, and there will be famine and an insufferable thirst. And children shall waste away in the bosom of their mothers, and wives upon the knees of their husbands, by not having victuals to eat. Because there will be in those days lack of bread and water, and no one is able to sell or to buy of the grain of the fall harvest, unless he is one who has the serpentine sign on the forehead or on the hand. Then gold and silver and precious clothing or precious stones shall lie along the streets, and also even every type of pearls along the thoroughfares and streets of the cities, but there is not one who may extend the hand and take or desire them, but they consider all things as good as nothing because of the extreme lack and famine of bread, because the earth is not protected by the rains of heaven, and there will be neither dew nor moisture of the air upon the earth. But those who wander through the deserts, fleeing from the face of the serpent, bend their knees to God, just as lambs to the adders of their mothers, being sustained by the salvation of the Lord, and while wandering in states of desertion, they eat herbs.
Then, when this inevitability has overwhelmed all people, just and unjust, the just, so that they may be found good by their Lord; and indeed the unjust, so that they may be damned forever with their author the Devil, and, as God beholds the human race in danger and being tossed about by the breath of the horrible dragon, he sends to them consolatory proclamation by his attendants, the prophets Enoch and Elijah, who, while not yet tasting death, are the servants for the heralding of the second coming of Christ, and in order to accuse the enemy. And when those just ones have appeared, they confuse indeed the antagonistic serpent with his cleverness and they call back the faithful witnesses to God, in order to (free them) from his seduction...
And when the three and a half years have been completed, the time of the antichrist, through which he will have seduced the world, after the resurrection of the two prophets, in the hour which the world does not know, and on the day which the enemy of the son of perdition does not know, will come the sign of the Son of Man, and coming forward the Lord shall appear with great power and much majesty, with the sign of the wood of salvation going before him, and also even with all the powers of the heavens with the whole chorus of the saints, with those who bear the sign of the holy cross upon their shoulders, as the angelic trumpet precedes him, which shall sound and declare: Arise, O sleeping ones, arise, meet Christ, because his hour of judgment has come! Then Christ shall come and the enemy shall be thrown into confusion, and the Lord shall destroy him by the spirit of his mouth. And he shall be bound and shall be plunged into the abyss of everlasting fire alive with his father Satan; and all people who do his wishes shall perish with him forever; but the righteous ones shall inherit everlasting life with the Lord forever and ever.
References:
Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology, p. 462.
See Grant R. Jeffrey, Triumphant Return: The Coming Kingdom of God
(Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Press, 2001), pp. 173-174; cf. Thomas Ice and
Timothy Demy, General Editors, When the
Trumpet Sounds [Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1995], p. 108.
Thomas Ice, “The Rapture
in Pseudo-Ephraem” (May 2009), Liberty University. Article Archives. Paper 32.
John McClintock and
James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical,
Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper & Brothers
Publishing, 1891), 10 Volumes, Vol. 3, p. 256, under the heading “Ephrem or
Ephraem Syrus”.
See J. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri
Opera omnia quae extant graece, syriace, latine (Rome: 1732),
6 Vols., Volume 1 (Greek and Latin),
pg. 297. http://dl.ub.uni-freiburg.de/diglit/ephraem1732-1/0545/image?sid=1bcb106928e2db4b6637aa9af846bc38#current_page (accessed 7/28/20).
Interestingly, the same Greek phrase “tou
mē idein” (“he would not see”) is found in Hebrews 11:5, referring to Enoch
and his being taken up (raptured) to heaven: “By faith Enoch was taken up so
that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up”
(Heb. 11:5, NASB).
J. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri
Opera omnia quae extant graece, syriace, latine (Rome: 1746),
6 Vols., Vol. 3, p. 378. http://dl.ub.uni-freiburg.de/diglit/ephraem1746-3/0454/image?sid=3ac3402b91f20311f627525e0806df75#current_page (accessed 7/29/20).
J. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri
Opera omnia quae extant graece, syriace, latine (Rome: 1746),
6 Vols., Vol. 3, p. 378. http://dl.ub.uni-freiburg.de/diglit/ephraem1746-3/0454/image?sid=3ac3402b91f20311f627525e0806df75#current_page (accessed 7/22/20).
C. P. Caspari, Letters, Treaties and Sermons from the Last
Two Centuries of Ecclesiastical Antiquity and the Beginning of the Middle Ages,
Chapter XIV, “A Sermon by Ephraem the Syrian and Isidore of Seville about the
Last Days, the Antichrist and the End of the World”. From two manuscripts, the
Barbarini and the St. Gallen. (Christiania: Mallingschen Book Printer, 1890),
p. 447. https://archive.org/details/briefeabhandlung00caspuoft/page/446/mode/2up (accessed 7/22/20).
C. P. Caspari, Letters, Treaties and Sermons from the Last
Two Centuries of Ecclesiastical Antiquity and the Beginning of the Middle Ages,
Chapter XIV, “A Sermon by Ephraem the Syrian and Isidore of Seville about the
Last Days, the Antichrist and the End of the World”. From two manuscripts, the
Barbarini and the St. Gallen. (Christiania: 1890), p. 211. www.archive.org/details/briefeabhandlung00caspuoft (accessed 7/22/20).
“Pseudo-Ephraem does not
teach the Rapture!” The Interactive Bible
website. www.bible.ca/rapture-pseudo-ephraem-latin-syraic-texts.htm
Thomas Ice, “The Rapture
in Pseudo-Ephraem” (May 2009), Liberty University. Article Archives. Paper 32. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=pretrib_arch (accessed 7/22/20).
Similarly, Dr. Jeffrey writes: “Pseudo-Ephraem clearly presents at least three
important features found in modern pretribulationalism: (1) there are two
distinct comings: the return of Christ to rapture the saints, followed later by
Christ’s Second Advent to the earth; (2) a defined interval between the two comings,
in this case three and one-half years; and (3) a clear statement that Christ
will remove the church from the world before the tribulation.” See the book
edited by Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy titled The Return: Understanding Christ’s Second Coming and the End Times
(Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1999), pp. 65-66.
Jeffrey, “A Pretrib
Rapture Statement in the Early Medieval Church,” Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy,
General Editors, When the Trumpet Sounds,
pp. 116-117. www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Ephraim-Latinus-De-fine-mundi-Jeffrey-A-Pretrib-Rapture-Statement-in-the-Early-Medieval-Church-1995.pdf (accessed 7/22/20).
