Ok, Major and Abdicate. I will assume that you are simply unaware of the truth of the matter. I will illustrate the folly of placing trust in some other man, rather than performing due diligence via the available primary and secondary documentation.
A portion of this response you are about to read had been posted in another forum, since rendered unavailable by the admin here. And it dealt with two of the three quotations posted below. The relevant players are aware of who they are.
There are men laying in wait for you. And they have an entire theology, a system of dogma, waiting to snare the unsuspecting and lazy.
For a con to work effectively, those being conned must participate in the game. Alert, critical questioning audiences cannot be conned. The importance of all this is not merely the existence of liars in high places. Liars cannot succeed unless they find people willing to cooperate.
So for those who would complain about the length of this post, you are evidently not the truth seeker you would claim to be. Perhaps others are, and would benefit from knowing the truth about the oft-posted cut-and-paste “rebuttals” to the
fact that the pre-trib “rapture” theory is a relatively new arrival.
Have YOU personally read the
whole of Irenaeus’
Against Heresies, or Ephraem The Syrian's, or The Shepherd of Hermas’ works? What I'm suggesting is, if you present someone else's ideas from their web site, without doing the research yourself, without performing the Scripturally mandated
due diligence,
you are being used! -- effectively placing your fate in the hands of others..
"And through
covetousness shall they with
feigned words make
merchandise of
you" (II Peter 2:3). The "rapture" dogma is promoted by these greedy men in leadership positions protecting their sacred cow, BUT, they can't stand for close Scriptural scrutiny largely because their theory is NOT a stand-alone doctrine. A
package of Scriptural falsehoods floats their boat; thus, they cannot afford to spring a leak anywhere, lest their rapture ve$$el become very soggy very quickly...
Thus, there is wholesale deception occurring on multiple fronts. In addition to the more mundane practice of plagiarism, the list of authors that utilize distortion and outright
intellectual dishonesty in the presentation of their case is heavily populated by rapture campers. In this regard, an extremely common tactic is that of selective citations in a deceitful attempt to make a historical source
appear to support the rapturist position, when in fact, it does not.
The fact is, the
Rapture Camp is a previously tiny cultic group that spread their perspective so effectively that they have emerged as the dominant party in what is presently called evangelical Christianity. In the process, they quietly shed various early doctrinal arguments of extremely dubious value, revised the record concerning their original historical roots, and criminally covered up the actual source of the cultic system.
Many rapture writers have a nasty habit of quoting some early writer on the subject of prophecy, and then cutting off the quote just when the statement shows the writer was
post-tribulationist. They then assert that the ancient authority believed in the pre-tribulation rapture!
The interesting thing about this practice is that virtually
anyone can
prove the rapture writers are intentional liars (not by slur, but by Scriptural definition) with just a bit of research. Thus, those that continue in error will be without excuse.
In an effort to suppress the truth about the pre-trib rapture theory's relatively new arrival, proponents endeavor to obscure the date of origin of the doctrine.
So let us begin with the first of your three citations.
Irenaeus (130 A.D. – 202 AD) was a bishop of the church in Lyons, France. He was an eyewitness to the Apostle John (who wrote the Book of Revelation) and a disciple of Polycarp, the first of the Apostle John’s disciples. Irenaeus is most-known for his five-volume treatise,
Against Heresies in which he exposed the false religions and cults of his day along with advice for how to share the Gospel with those were a part of them.
On the subject of the Rapture, in
Against Heresies 5.29, he wrote:
“Those nations however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the word justly reckons “as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of a balance — in fact, as nothing;”(1) so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces towards the growth of the wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold.
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.”(2) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.”
Irenaeus is a close link to the disciples, for he was taught by Polycarp, who was a disciple of the apostle John. Concerning the 10 kings of the Apocalyptic period, Irenaeus wrote “And they will...give their kingdom to the Beast and
put the church to flight.” (Irenaeus,
Against Heresies, 5.26.1).
In another quote, Irenaeus again places the church in the tribulation, as he quotes Revelation’s author John: “But he indicates the number of the name now [666]
in order that when this man comes we may avoid him by being aware who he is.” (Irenaeus,
Against Heresies, 5.30).
In truth, we see that Irenaeus was “post-trib.”
And now we move to the second of three citations.
Ephraim (306 AD – 373 AD) was made a deacon in the church in Syria in 338 and later became the bishop of Nisibis. Although he was made a “saint” in the Roman Catholic Church, he was not involved in Catholicism and did not even live in the Roman Empire until the final years of his life. The book
Pseudo Ephraim was one of his still existing works. It was called “Pseudo” because of later dispute over authorship. However the book’s one reference to the rapture is very compelling:
In his work,
On The Last Times 2, he wrote:
"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."
There are countless rapture writers who continue to pitch the now discredited theory that
Ephraem The Syrian, a 4th century pastor, had written about the pre-tribulation rapture,
1,600 years ago. That short quote, posted by Major, is frequently read out of context, so it sounds like a genuine reference to pre-trib from the 4th century. As usual, the truth is decidedly different. Later, in
the very same document, the author clearly states that Christ comes for his church
after the tribulation. Predictably, that portion of the ancient writing is never posted. Not only that, but the document in question was not even written by Ephraem The Syrian! Students and scholars fluent in church history call this work
Pseudo-Ephraem because it is believed to be a forgery from the 7th century, written by an unknown author who put Ephraem's name on it!
Let's proceed a little further into the Ephraem ether.
A supposedly early example of pre-tribulationalism is found in the writings of someone known as
Pseudo-Ephraem. The term "Pseudo" means that scholars think the author was attempting to write in the style of another that would help his work to be well received -- or that the author was actually a fraud literally masquerading as another. In short, the work is a
forgery. Such is the case with the writings known as
Pseudo-Ephraem -- hardly an unimpeachable source for a radically new doctrine.
Thus, the one quote above, inaccurately attributed to "Ephraem the Syrian," is not only NOT a Pre-Trib rapture citation,
it was not even written by Ephraem!
First, while Ephraem The Syrian was indeed a noteworthy 4th century figure, the quote cited above
was not written by Ephraem. It comes from a document that is a known forgery that historians universally identify as
Pseudo-Ephraem. Incredibly, someone conveniently forgot to mention that "minor" detail. Pseudo-Ephraem is placed somewhere between the 4th and the 7th centuries.
Second, a balanced reading of
the entire text of
Pseudo-Ephraem clearly shows the writer [whoever he was], as well as the
real Ephraem, were actually both post-tribulationists! Because of other statements in the document that I will shortly cite, it becomes clear that the "...Christians are 'gathered' away from the wicked in
earthly settings before the tribulation and then are 'taken' closer to the Lord when the tribulation intensifies." [quoted from MacPherson,
The Rapture Plot, pages 270-271]
One of the world's leading scholars on Pseudo-Ephraem, a writer named
Paul Alexander, shows how the phrasing had a
non-rapture meaning to the Eastern Orthodox readers of Pseudo-Ephraem's period. Alexander writes that the phrase "taken to the Lord really means 'participate at least in some measure of beatitude.'" [quoted from Paul J. Alexander,
The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition, page 210].
Professor Robert Gundry writes "To what might a being gathered and taken to the Lord that is going on right now refer? Answer: to being evangelistically gathered and taken to the Lord in Christian conversion... compare the American evangelical lingo of 'bringing people to Christ.'" [quoted from Robert Gundry,
First the Antichrist: Why Christ Won't Come Before The Antichrist Does, Baker Books, page 176]
Furthermore, in
Section 2, the author of Pseudo-Ephraem writes "...there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one..." [quoted from Pseudo-Ephraem,
On The Last Times, The Antichrist, And The End Of The Word, Section 2]. This straightforward statement clearly
contradicts a pre-trib understanding, for Pseudo-Ephraem obviously expects the Antichrist to be revealed
before any rapture.
In
Section 4 of Pseudo-Ephraem, concerning the tribulation period, we see "In those days people will not be buried, neither Christian, nor heretic..." Apparently, Pseudo-Ephraem also sees Christians
in the tribulation in this verse.
Section 10 of Pseudo-Ephraem describes Christ's return in conjunction with "...the angelic trumpet [that] precedes Him..." The passage then says this trumpet, which sounds indentical to Paul's last trump of I Cor 15:52 & Thes 4:16, "will sound and declare 'Arise, O sleeping ones, arise, meet Christ, because his hour of judgment has come!' Then Christ will come and the enemy will be thrown into confusion, and the Lord will destroy him by the spirit of his mouth..." This is a very clear description of the post-tribulational resurrection of the church in conjunction with the destruction of the Antichrist.
It's worth noting that in addition to Pseudo-Ephraem's plain statement that "...there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one" [quoted from Pseudo-Ephraem, Section 2], the
Real Ephraem The Syrian wrote concerning his personal prophetic expectation that "Nothing remains then, except that the coming of our enemy, Antichrist, appear..." [quoted from Ephraem The Syrian,
Sermo-Asceticus 1].
The willingness of the source, from which Major quoted, to utilize a
known forgery, which the source represents as equivalent to the genuine article, is yet another effort by the Rapture Camp at scraping the bottom of the barrel in attempts to prop up its unscriptural doctrine.
And finally, we move to the third citation.
...
The Shepherd of Hermas (
1.4.2.) speaks of the pretribulational concept of escaping the tribulation.
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 this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for you to escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the days of your life in serving the Lord blamelessly.
Some have claimed that the pre-trib “rapture” was taught in 110 AD in a non-canonical book called
The Shepherd of Hermas. However, a quick read of the full document clearly shows the writer held a post-tribulational perspective. Regarding the church in the tribulation, the Shepherd writes “...so are you tested who dwell in it. Those, therefore, who continue steadfast, and are put through the fire, will be purified by means of it...” (Shepherd of Hermas, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Eerdmans,
Volume 2, page 17-18). Basically, it doesn’t seem to matter what the original document said as the rapture camp simply distorts anyone they choose to suit their doctrinal assumption.
How can you lecture us on the Rapture when you can not get the facts right on when it was began to be taught by the church
Regarding these dissimulations of the rapture camp, the reader now has the truth of the matter.
Buyer beware.