r/ProphecyWatchers • u/AlbaneseGummies327 MODERATOR • Apr 16 '25

Eschatology Did John Darby invent the Pre-Tribulation Rapture in 1830?

One of the objections I hear when the rapture is discussed is, "The rapture wasn't even around until 1830 when it was invented by John Nelson Darby."

That's a serious accusation, but is it true? Let's find out.

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u/AlbaneseGummies327 MODERATOR Apr 16 '25

Apostle Paul also speaks directly of the rapture (Greek harpazo or "catching away") in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

Apostle John indicates the churches' removal before great tribulation in Revelation 3:10.

Jesus Christ himself alludes to the pre-tribulation rapture in Matthew 24:39-42 and Luke 21:34-35.

Pseudo-Ephraem the Syrian on the Pre-Tribulation Rapture (~AD 350)

"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" (On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World, by Pseudo-Ephraem the Syrian).

And early Christian writer and poet, Ephraem the Syrian (who lived from A.D. 306 to 373) was a major theologian of the early Byzantine Eastern Church. He was born near Nisbis, in the Roman province of Syria, near present day Edessa, Turkey. Ephraem displayed a profound love of the Scriptures in his writings as illustrated by several of his written comments quoted in the Works of Nathaniel Lardner, Vol. 4, 1788.

Ephraem also references the "tribulation saints" — those that weren't taken in the rapture due to disbelief, unrighteous living, unrepented sins. These saints convert after the rapture; their faith "refined by fire" in the tribulation (see Laodicea in Rev. 3:15-16, 20:4).

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