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The Early Church Fathers believed in Pretribulationism?


Summary

The Church Fathers did not believe in a rapture before the tribulation: Didache, Epistle of Barnabas, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Victorinus, etc.


According to the doctrine of Pre-Tribulation Rapture, the early church of the first centuries A.D. already believed in the possibility of the rapture at any time. The rapture, which is possible at any time, is one of the main statements of the pre-tribulation doctrine.



Answer


After the writings of the New Testament were written, various Christian authors (so-called Church Fathers) wrote their own works on the doctrine of Christianity in the first centuries AD. The beliefs of the early church can be derived from these writings.


There is NO document from early church history that shows that the early church believed in a pre-tribulation rapture. Nowhere is there any mention of two future comings of the Lord - first the invisible Rapture and years later the visible Second Coming in power and glory.


If such a document existed, the proponents of the doctrine of Pre-Tribulation Rapture would have presented it long ago.


Many early Christian writings of the church fathers prove what the early church had believed, namely:

- that the Antichrist is yet to come and thus not yet here.

- the church will be confronted with the persecution of the Antichrist and will therefore only be raptured AFTER the great tribulation (i.e. after the great affliction), at the visible return of Christ.


This can be found, for example, in the following early Christian authors:



Author

Year after Christ (AD)
Quotes
The Antichrist is still future, i.e. not yet here
Quotes
The church comes into tribulation under the Antichrist

Didache

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles


Probably 1st century AD

then shall appear the world-deceiver as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders


but they that endure in their faith shall be saved


And then shall appear the signs of the truth … the resurrection of the dead;

 

Epistle of Barnabas


approx. 100 AD

The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches


in six thousand years, [since the creation] all things will be finished.


Unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger


Justin Martyr


100 – 165 AD

that two advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as suffering, inglorious, dishonoured, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come from heaven with glory,

[Continuation on the right  -> ]

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,



Irenaeus of Lyon


130 - 202

the name of Antichrist …


It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfilment of the prophecy,

, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight


the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist,

Tertullian


160 - 220

In the Revelation of John, again, the order of these times is spread out to view,


[Continuation on the right  ----> ]

in order that …

and that the beast Antichrist with his false prophet may wage war on the Church of God;

Hippolytus of Rome


170 - 235

Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: …

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,

Cyprian of Carthage


200 - 258

that the day of affliction has begun to hang over our heads, and the end of the world and the time of Antichrist to draw near,

A severer and a fiercer fight is now threatening,


Nor let any one of you, beloved brethren, be so terrified by the fear of future persecution, or the coming of the threatening Antichrist,

Methodius of Olympus


260 - 312

For it is not what is unseen but what is seen that is subject to corruption. The creation, then, after being restored to a better and more seemly state, remains, rejoicing and exulting over the children of God at the resurrection [----> Conclusion from the left: According to Methodius, the resurrection of the children of God is only at the restoration of creation. Thus the children of God = the church come into the great tribulation through the Antichrist]

Victorinus of Pettau


3rd century AD

--- He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles


4th century AD

And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips;

[Continuation on the right  -> ]

and many shall be offended at Him. But they that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;" and afterwards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the archangel; and in that interval shall be the revival of those that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him,


[----> Comment: The visible return (Mat 24:30) and the resurrection/rapture (1 Thes 4:16-17) belong together.]


[...] Text in square brackets are explanations and are not part of the quote



The text extracts belonging to the table are listed in more detail below.


More church fathers could be named, but there is NO church father who can be named as a representative of a rapture before the tribulation.


It is also not the case that the early church (the church fathers) expected the Rapture at any time, as is clear from the writings quoted below.

Rather, they expected the resurrection of the dead and thus the Rapture at a later date.


But if nowhere in the early Christian literature since the time of the apostles can we find anything about a pre-tribulation rapture, then we must ask ourselves whether it is at all possible that the apostles could really have taught the rapture before the tribulation. How could the doctrine have been forgotten so quickly?



See also:


The Apostles expected the Rapture at any moment?


Waiting for the Lord = Rapture at any moment?



The proponents of the doctrine of Pre-Tribulation Rapture (pre-tribulation doctrine) draw the conclusion from quotes from the Church Fathers about a near expectation, such as "the Lord is near" or "maranatha", that the Church Fathers believed in a possible rapture at any time.

But this contradicts the teachings of the Church Fathers. They believed that the Antichrist had yet to be revealed BEFORE the Rapture. They therefore strengthened and exhorted the church so that it would be prepared for the coming persecution under the Antichrist.


Remark:

The teachings of the Church Fathers do not always correspond to the teachings of the Bible. In general, the older the scriptures, the closer they are to the Word of God.




*****************************************


QUOTES FROM THE EARLY CHURCH


Sources:

- Christian Classics Ethereal Library, (1885), https://ccel.org

- Library of the Church Fathers, University of Fribourg/Fribourg, Switzerland, https://bkv.unifr.ch


[...] Text in square brackets are explanations and are not part of the quote.



Didache - The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (probably 1st century AD)


The Didache is a writing with 16 short chapters from the early period after the Apostles.


The Didache contains teachings and instructions for Christian life and ecclesiastical orders. Chapter 16 deals with the Second Coming of the Lord:



Chapter XVI.


1. Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh.


2. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time.


3. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate;


4. for when lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning.


5. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself.


6. And then shall appear the signs of the truth; first, the sign of an out-spreading in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead;


7. yet not of all, but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him.


8. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.



----> In this last chapter of the Didache, it is clearly stated that the Lord will only come after the appearance of the deceiver (= Antichrist) and after the fire of trial, and that only those who have persevered in this trial will then be resurrected.


There is no mention here of a premature resurrection or rapture before this test, i.e. a rapture before the tribulation.


There is no mention here of two future comings of the Lord - i.e. a pre-tribulation rapture and years later the visible Second Coming - but only ONE Coming:

“when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones” (1 Thess 3:13).



The Didache warns (chapter 1) to be ready, "for you do not know the hour in which our Lord is coming". The proponents of the pre-tribulation doctrine draw the conclusion from this mention that the Rapture may be imminent.

----> But it is clear from chapter 4 that the Antichrist ("deceiver of the world") must first appear and perform signs and wonders, which obviously had not yet happened.



The instructions for the celebration of the Lord's Supper in chapters 9 and 10 are also interesting:



Chapter IX.


1. Now concerning the Thanksgiving (Eucharist), thus give thanks.


2. First, concerning the cup: We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever.


3. And concerning the broken bread: We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever.


4. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.


5. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist), but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord hath said, Give not that which is holy to the dogs.



The expression "from the ends of the earth" is an allusion to Mat 24:31:


Mat 24:31  31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heavens to the other [literally: from the ends of the heavens to their ends].


Cf. Paul's instruction for the Lord's Supper of the church, with the mention of the coming of the Lord:

1
Cor 11:26  26 For as often as you may eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.


----> In his instructions for the Lord's Supper, the Didache evidently links the visible return of the Lord in Mat 24 with the coming for the church, i.e. with the Rapture.




Chapter X.



5. Remember, Lord, Thy Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Thy love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Thy kingdom which Thou hast prepared for it; for Thine is the power and the glory for ever.


6. Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent. Maran atha. Amen.


7. But permit the prophets to make Thanksgiving as much as they desire.



----> The prayer of thanksgiving after the Lord's Supper also quotes Mat 24:31 again (see Bible text above) with the expression “from the four winds".


----> Here too, the Didache links the visible return of the Lord with the coming for the church, i.e. with the Rapture.



The proponents of the pre-tribulation doctrine, however, see the expression "maranatha" as an indication that the Rapture can take place at any time. "Maranatha" is an Aramaic expression and means "the Lord comes" or “come, Lord".


----> But the allusion to Mat 24 shows precisely that for the Didache the coming of the Lord is not imminent, perhaps in the very next moment. For Mat 24:29-31 refers to the return of Christ only after the tribulation.


Basic Argument: Shaking of the Universe




The Epistle of Barnabas (approximately 100 AD)



Chapter IV.



The final 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."



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 purification. We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becometh the sons of God.


That the Black One may find no means of entrance, let us flee from every vanity, let us utterly hate the works of the way of wickedness. Do not, by retiring apart, live a solitary life, as if you were already [fully] justified; but coming together in one place, make common inquiry concerning what tends to your general welfare.




----> The final stumbling-block is approaching, but it is not yet here.

And Barnabas also exhorts us to resist in the coming sources of danger. He talks about the troubles to come. The “Black One" is probably the Antichrist.


Barnabas thus prepares the believers, that is the congregation (church), for the coming of the Antichrist.



Chapter XV.


The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it."


Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, "He finished in six days." This implieth that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifieth, saying, "Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years." Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished.


And He rested on the seventh day." This meaneth: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day.



----> Barnabas believes that everything will be completed in 6000 years after creation.

Using the dates in the Bible, the beginning of creation can be calculated at around 4000 BC. According to the Jewish calendar, this would be 3761 B.C. Barnabas therefore reckoned that there were still around 2000 years to go until the coming of the Lord. This excludes any expectation of an imminent coming.


Moreover, Barnabas mentions only one coming of the Son of God (and not two), namely when he will put an end to evil. This can only refer to the visible return according to Mat 24. The change of sun, moon and stars is probably also an allusion to Mat 24, where the sun and moon are darkened and stars fall from the sky.




Chapter XXI.


It is well, therefore, that he who has learned the judgments of the Lord, as many as have been written, should walk in them. For he who keepeth these shall be glorified in the kingdom of God; but he who chooseth other things shall be destroyed with his works. On this account there will be a resurrection, on this account a retribution.


I beseech you who are superiors, if you will receive any counsel of my good-will, have among yourselves those to whom you may show kindness: do not forsake them.


For the day is at hand on which all things shall perish with the evil [one]. The Lord is near, and His reward.




----> Statements such as "the day is near" or "the Lord is near" are used by representatives of the pre-tribulation doctrine to show that the Rapture could happen at any time.

But you can't read that out of Barnabas' text.




Justin Martyr (100 - 165 AD)



Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew


Chapter CX.


And when I had finished these words, I continued: "Now I am aware that your teachers, sirs, admit the whole of the words of this passage to refer to Christ; and I am likewise aware that they maintain He has not yet come; or if they say that He has come, they assert that it is not known who He is; but when He shall become manifest and glorious, then it shall be known who He is.


And then, they say, the events mentioned in this passage shall happen, just as if there was no fruit as yet from the words of the prophecy. 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, dishonoured, and crucified; 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 fled for safety to the God of Jacob and God of Israel;




----> There are only two parousias (from the ancient Greek "parousia" = the coming), i.e. the first coming of Jesus 2000 years ago and the still future second coming.

Justin writes nothing about two future comings, i.e. the coming at the Rapture and years later the visible Second Coming.


The man of apostasy (from the Greek "apostasia" = desertion, rebellion) is the Antichrist.

When this man “speaks strange things against the Most High” is an allusion to Rev 13:


Rev 13:5-7  5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to act for forty-two months.

 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and, His tabernacle, those who dwell in Heaven [or: to have a dwelling/house in heaven].

 7 And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority was given to him over every tribe and ‹every› people and ‹every› language and ‹every› nation.


According to Justin, the Lord only comes when this man "preaches monstrous things" and "dares to do sinful things against us Christians". The man is obviously not here yet, but he will come.


----> The church comes under the persecution of the Antichrist.




Irenaeus of Lyon (130 - 202 AD)



Against Heresies: Book V


Chapter XXVI.


1. 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 fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming of our Lord.



-----------------------------


----> The church (congregation) is persecuted under the Antichrist / beast.



Chapter XXIX.


1. … And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, "There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be." For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.



2. And there is therefore in this beast, when he comes, a recapitulation made of all sorts of iniquity and of every deceit, in order that all apostate power, flowing into and being shut up in him, may be sent into the furnace of fire. Fittingly, therefore, shall his name possess the number six hundred and sixty-six, since he sums up in his own person all the commixture of wickedness which took place previous to the deluge, due to the apostasy of the angels. For Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world, for the sake of that most infamous generation which lived in the times of Noah. And [Antichrist] also sums up every error of devised idols since the flood, together with the slaying of the prophets and the cutting off of the just. For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar had indeed a height of sixty cubits, while the breadth was six cubits; on account of which Ananias, Azarias, and Mishaell, when they did not worship it, were cast into a furnace of fire, pointing out prophetically, by what happened to them, the wrath against the righteous which shall arise towards the [time of the] end. For that image, taken as a whole, was a prefiguring of this man's coming, decreeing that he should undoubtedly himself alone be worshipped by all men. Thus, then, the six hundred years of Noah, in whose time the deluge occurred because of the apostasy, and the number of the cubits of the image for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace, do indicate the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the whole apostasy of six thousand years, and unrighteousness, and wickedness, and false prophecy, and deception; for which things' sake a cataclysm of fire shall also come [upon the earth].



----> The church (congregation) will be lifted up (probably the Rapture is meant) and will enter the great tribulation, which is the "last battle of the righteous".



Chapter XXX.


1.

… Moreover, another danger, by no means trifling, shall overtake those who falsely presume that they know the name of Antichrist. For if these men assume one [number], when this [Antichrist] shall come having another, they will be easily led away by him, as supposing him not to be the expected one, who must be guarded against.



3.

It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfilment of the prophecy, than to be making surmises, and casting about for any names that may present themselves, inasmuch as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned; and the same question will, after all, remain unsolved. For if there are many names found possessing this number, it will be asked which among them shall the coming man bear. …



4.

But he indicates the number of the name now, that when this man comes we may avoid him, being aware who he is: …



----> "await the fulfilment of the prophecy": In other words, it has not yet been proven who the Antichrist is.

----> "we" ... i.e. the Christians who are still alive should beware (and will not be raptured beforehand).


Chapter XXXV.


1. … For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and the destruction of all nations under his rule; in [the times of] which [resurrection] the righteous shall reign in the earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings; and [with respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked one. For it is in reference to them that the prophet says: "And those that are left shall multiply upon the earth,"

And Jeremiah the prophet has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to multiply those left upon earth, should both be under the rule of the saints to minister to this Jerusalem, and that [His] kingdom shall be in it, saying,

"Look around Jerusalem towards the east, and behold the joy which comes to thee from God Himself. Behold, thy sons shall come whom thou hast sent forth: they shall come in a band from the east even unto the west, by the word of that Holy One, rejoicing in that splendour which is from thy God.




----> The resurrection is only after the coming of the Antichrist. Irenaeus writes nothing about two comings (one for the invisible secret Rapture and the other coming in power and glory... Consequently, the Rapture is also only AFTER the coming of the Antichrist.




Tertullian (160 - 220 AD)



On the Resurrection of the Flesh,

Chapter XXV.


In the Revelation of John, again, the order of these times is spread out to view, which "the souls of the martyrs" are taught to wait for beneath the altar, whilst they earnestly pray to be avenged and judged: (taught, I say, to wait), in order that the world may first drink to the dregs the plagues that await it out of the vials of the angels, and that the city of fornication may receive from the ten kings its deserved doom, and that the beast Antichrist with his false prophet may wage war on the Church of God; and that, after the casting of the devil into the bottomless pit for a while, the blessed prerogative of the first resurrection may be ordained from the thrones; and then again, after the consignment of him to the fire, that the judgment of the final and universal resurrection may be determined out of the books. Since, then, the Scriptures both indicate the stages of the last times, and concentrate the harvest of the Christian hope in the very end of the world, it is evident, …




On the Resurrection of the Flesh,

Chapter LXI.


… Now the privilege of this favour awaits those who shall at the coming of the Lord be found in the flesh, and who shall, owing to the oppressions of the time of Antichrist, deserve by an instantaneous death, which is accomplished by a sudden change, to become qualified to join the rising saints; as he writes to the Thessalonians:

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we too shall ourselves be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."



----> Tertullian obviously refers the above-mentioned verses of 1
Thess 4:15-17 about the Rapture to the time after the Antichrist's battle with the church.




Hippolytus of Rome (170 - 235 AD)



Treatise on Christ and Antichrist,


60. Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: …


then Hippolytus quotes Revelation 12:1-17



61. … "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 fly 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 flees from city to city, and seeks concealment in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defence 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. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: "And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings."



----> Hippolytus quotes the persecution of Rev 12 and relates it to the persecution of the church by the Antichrist.

In the following chapters 62-67 Hippolytus quotes many Bible verses, first from Matt 24 (great tribulation), then from Daniel 12, then 2 Thess 2:1-12, and many others and finally also 1 Thess 4:13-17 (rapture) and concludes the book with chapter 67 (quoted in full):



67. These things, then, I have set shortly before thee, O Theophilus, drawing them from Scripture itself, in order that, maintaining in faith what is written, and anticipating the things that are to be, thou mayest keep thyself void of offence both toward God and toward men, "looking for that blessed hope and appearing of our God and Saviour," when, having raised the saints among us, He will rejoice with them, glorifying the Father. To Him be the glory unto the endless ages of the ages. Amen.



----> Hippolytus does not distinguish between two comings of the Lord. He quotes at the end in abbreviated form from Titus:

Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

The blessed hope is the rapture/resurrection of the saints - after the persecution of the church by the Antichrist.




Cyprian of Carthage (200 - 258 AD)


Epistle LV., 1.


For you ought to know and to believe, and hold it for certain, that the day of affliction 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 fiercer fight 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. For this is to wish to be found with Christ, to imitate that which Christ both taught and did, according to the Apostle John, who said, "He that saith he abideth in Christ, ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." Moreover, the blessed Apostle Paul exhorts and teaches, saying, "We are God's children; but if children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."




Epistle LV., 7.


Nor let any one of you, beloved brethren, be so terrified by the fear of future persecution, or the coming of the threatening Antichrist, as not to be found armed for all things by the evangelical exhortations and precepts, and by the heavenly warnings. Antichrist is coming, but above him comes Christ also. The enemy goeth about and rageth, but immediately the Lord follows to avenge our sufferings and our wounds. The adversary is enraged and threatens, but there is One who can deliver us from his hands. He is to be feared whose anger no one can escape, as He Himself forewarns, and says: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." And again: "He that loveth his life, shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal." And in the Apocalypse He instructs and forewarns, saying, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, mixed in the cup of His indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever; and they shall have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image."



----> The Antichrist will come and persecute the church.




Methodius of Olympus (260 - 312 AD)



From the Discourse on the Resurrection, Part I.



VIII. And Paul clearly testifies this, saying,
"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that subjected the same in hope: because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."


For the creation was made subject to vanity, he says, and he expects that it will be set free from such servitude, as he intends to call this world by the name of creation. For it is not what is unseen but what is seen that is subject to corruption. The creation, then, after being restored to a better and more seemly state, remains, rejoicing and exulting over the children of God at the resurrection; for whose sake it now groans and travails, 6 waiting itself also for our redemption from the corruption of the body, that, when we have risen and shaken off the mortality of the flesh, according to that which is written, "Shake off the dust, and arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem," and have been set free from sin, it also shall be freed from corruption and be subject no longer to vanity, but to righteousness.




----> Methodius quotes Rom 8:19-21 and writes that if the resurrection of the children of God is at the renewal of creation... and that can only be after the great tribulation.




Victorinus of Pettau (3rd century A.D.)



Commentary on the Apocalype of the Blessed John

From the seventh chapter.


2. "And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God."] He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution. We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He says by Malachi: "Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, according to the time of calling, to recall the Jews to the faith of the people that succeed them." And to that end He shows, as we have said, that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and of the nations, is a great multitude which no man was able to number. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the prayers of the Church are sent from heaven by an angel, and that they are received against wrath, and that the kingdom of Antichrist is cast out and extinguished by holy angels; for He says: "Pray that ye enter not into temptation: for there shall be a great affliction, such as has not been from the beginning of the world; and except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved." Therefore He shall send these seven great archangels to smite the kingdom of Antichrist; for He Himself also thus said: "Then the Son of man shall send His messengers; and they shall gather together His elect from the four corners of the wind, from the one end of heaven even to the other end thereof."



---->Victorinus sees the church in the great tribulation.




Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (4th century A.D.)



Book VII,


XXXI.


… Be watchful for your life. "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye like unto men who wait for their Lord, when He will come, at even, or in the morning, or at cock-crowing, or at midnight. For at what hour they think not, the Lord will come; and if they open to Him, blessed are those servants, because they were found watching. For He will gird Himself, and will make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." Watch therefore, and pray, that ye do not sleep unto death. For your former good deeds will not profit you, if at the last part of your life you go astray from the true faith.




XXXII.


For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word; and the sheep shall be changed into wolves, and love into hatred: for through the abounding of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one another. And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips; and many shall be offended at Him. But they that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;" and afterwards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the archangel; and in that interval shall be the revival of those that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the angels of His power, in the throne of His kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his deeds. "Then shall the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous shall go into life eternal," to inherit those things "which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, such things as God hath prepared for them that love Him;" and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Since we are vouchsafed such great blessings from Him, let us become His suppliants, and call upon Him by continual prayer, and say:--


Continuation in the next chapter: XXXIII. A Prayer Declarative of God's Various Providence.


----> There is a call to wait for the Lord... but that does not mean that he will come immediately, because the Antichrist ("champion of lies") has not yet appeared.


"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven" is an exact quotation of Mat 24:30.


"the trumpet will sound by the archangel, and in the meantime the dead will rise" refers to the Rapture of 1 Thess 4:


1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shouted command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

 17 Then we who are alive, who remain shall be caught up [or: snatched away] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.


----> Thus the visible Second Coming is linked to the Rapture; there are not two events several years apart.


"The coming of all the saints with him" is also part of the Rapture according to this text



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Remark on: The Pastor of Hermas (2nd century AD)


Some have used the visions of Hermas as evidence of a pre-tribulation rapture. However, these visions are unbiblical, questionable, contradictory, mystical, strange and magical, which is why they will not be discussed further here.




Updates with new topics will come up later  -  State: December 26, 2024