In Search Of The Origins Of The Pretrib Doctrine: Part 4: The Birth Of The Pretribulation Doctrine In The 1800s

Bef ore get t ing int o t his chapt er, an import ant st at ement has t o be made concerning Fut urism. Hist orism believes t hat t he Ant ichrist and all t hat surrounds his appearing develops t hroughout hist ory all t he way t o when Christ ret urns at t he end of t he age. This was t he viewpoint of t he Ref ormers who applied t hese prophecies direct ly t o t he pope and Rome. A Count er Ref ormat ion was implement ed t hrough t he Jesuit s of t he Middle Ages t hat count ered Hist orism's prophet ic view wit h one called "Jesuit Fut urism." This view as int roduced by t he Jesuit s st ipulat ed t hat prophecies concerning t he appearing of Ant ichrist had not hing at all do wit h Papal Rome of t hat t ime, but wit h t he man of sin's appearance at t he end of t he age. This, act ually, was t he viewpoint of t he early Church, t hough it must be t aken int o considerat ion t hat t he Cat holic Church had not yet come int o exist ence. The point t o made here is t his: t he early Church f at hers, as shown in Part 2, held t o Fut urism, but not f or t he purpose t he Jesuit s developed it , which has been called "Jesuit Fut urism." The early Church f at hers promot ed Fut urism because t hat is what t he Script ures said. Fut urist s t oday do not negat e t he probabilit y t hat Rome and it s pope will indeed have somet hing t o do wit h t he appearance of t he endt imes. More and more it appears Rome will have a part in t he last days, and Christ ians t oday are wat ching and praying as we draw near t o t he t ime of Ant ichrist 's coming on t he scene. The Cat holic syst em and pope is cert ainly a major player in what will be manif est ed in t he f ew short years ahead. Because of t he Hist orical view of prophecy f rom t he Middle Ages up t o t he Ref ormat ion, a series of writ ings by various aut hors were published t o count er t he Hist oric view of prophecy. These books were writ t en f rom a Fut urist point of view t o t ake Rome out of t he f ire regarding t he pope at t hat t ime being t he Ant ichrist . They were not writ t en because of a desire t o ret urn t o t he doct rine of Fut urism held by t he early Church. FRANCISCO RIBERA (1537-1591), FUTURISM JESUIT Priest and Doct or of Theology The Spanish Ribera was a Jesuit , a doct or of t heology, who st art ed writ ing (1585) a 500 page comment ary on t he book of Revelat ion six years bef ore his deat h (1591). The comment ary was writ t en f rom an Hist oric
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viewpoint because of t he belief t hat Cat holicism and it s pope were t he Ant ichrist syst em and t he Ant ichrist himself . It was t hat t he heat would be t aken of f of t he Cat holic Church as a candidat e f or t he Ant ichrist and his rule. It placed t hese event s int o a f ut ure period of t hree-and-a-half years just prior t o t he ret urn of Christ (t his agreed wit h t he t eachings of t he early Church f at hers). The conclusion t hat was t o be drawn f rom Ribera's comment ary, it was hoped, was t hat t he Cat holic Church of his t ime could not , t heref ore, be t he Ant ichrist syst em headed by t he Pope of Rome. Ribera's comment ary would have some inf luence on t hose who would event ually put t he Pret ribulat ion doct rine t oget her.

In his comment ary, Ribera believed t hat t he rapt ure would occur 45 days bef ore t he end of t he 3-1/2 year t ribulat ion period (also shades of t he f ut ure PreWrat h doct rine). This was t he f irst t ime t he second coming was split int o t wo separat e comings, one f or t he Church and t hen one at t he end of t he age wit h t he rapt ured Church ret urning wit h Christ in wrat h. CARDINAL ROBERT BELLARMINE (1542-1621), FUTURISM JESUIT Scholar, t he most prominent of his t ime Also during t his period, acclaimed Jesuit apologist Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, wrot e "Polemic Lect ures Concerning t he Disput ed Point s of t he Christ ian Belief Against t he Heret ics of This Time." His purpose in doing so was t o ref ut e t he Hist oric t heory of f iguring Daniel's 1260, 1290 and 2300 days as years, relegat ing t hese t o act ual days, e.g., 1260 days, et c. By doing so, t he reign of Ant ichrist was pushed int o a f ut ure t ime and negat ed Cat holicism and it s pope as t he man of sin and his syst em during his t ime.

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MANUEL DE LACUNZA (17311801), FUTURISM JESUIT Priest In a book t it led, "Hidden Beast 2," E. H. Skolf ield writ es t his Lacunza: "There was a Spanish f amily living in Chili named de Lacunzas. In t he year of our Lord, 1731, t hey had a baby boy. Fif t een years lat er, t he lad was sent t o Spain t o become a Jesuit priest . Twent y-t wo years lat er af t er t hat , in 1767, t he Jesuit s were expelled f rom Spain because of t heir brut alit y. The now Fat her Manuel de Lacunza y Diaz had t o move. He went t o Imola, It aly, where he remained f or t he rest of his lif e. "In Imola, he claimed t o be a convert ed Jew. Under t he alias of 'Rabbi Ben Ezra' he wrot e a book. The t it le: 'The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majest y.' In t hat book he t heorized t hat t he church would be 'rapt ured' (t aken up t o be wit h t he Lord) some 45 days bef ore t he real ret urn of Jesus t o t he Eart h. During t hat 45 days (while t he church was in heaven wit h t he Lord) God would judge t he wicked st ill on eart h." This last sent ence shows shades of PreWrat h doct rine of t oday, t hough t hat was put t oget her during t he 1990s. Lacunza wrot e his manuscript in Spanish and it was published in 1812 under a pseudo-name, Juan Josaf a [Rabbi] Ben-Ezra. By doing so, his book would more easily be accept ed by Prot est ant ism. This proved t rue as it was placed on Rome's Index of prohibit ed books, which only made it sought out by t he Prot est ant s.

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Lacunza emphasized a ret urn t o int erpret ing prophecy lit erally f rom t he Fut urist viewpoint . He wrot e of a f ut ure Ant ichrist and a 1260-day (lit eral days) t ribulat ion, event s just preceding t he coming of t he Lord. He wrot e in opposit ion t o t he 'year-day' t heory of t he Hist oricist s (1260 days = 1260 years). He did not promot e a pret ribulat ional rapt ure of t he saint s at t he f ut ure t ime of t he Ant ichrist . His rapt ure of t he saint s occurred 45 days bef ore t he end of Daniel's 70t h week, probably an inf luence f rom Ribera. Lacunza's book would have a dramat ic inf luence on Edward Irving and his f ormat ion of t he Pret ribulat ion doct rine. It most likely inf luenced Irving t o add anot her coming of Christ t o t he one described in Script ure. MORGAN EDWARDS (1722-1795), FUTURISM BAPTIST Minist er Edwards wrot e t he earliest paper on t he Pret ribulat ion doct rine, using no ref erences t o anyone in t he past . It was not writ t en as a document t o be seriously considered as t he f ollowing will show: "The earliest published ref erence t o a pre-t ribulat ion rapt ure occurred in 1788. Around 1740, a young Bapt ist named Morgan Edwards wrot e an essay f or eschat ology class on his views of Bible prophecy. This essay was lat er published in Philadelphia (1788) under t he f ollowing t it le: Two Academical Exercises on Subject s Bearing t he f ollowing Tit les; Millennium, Last -Novelt ies. In t he art icle, Edwards made st at ement s which expounded his views concerning a pre-t ribulat ion gat hering of t he Church. As f ar as can be det ermined, Edwards views concerning a pre-t rib rapt ure gained no not oriet y nor was t his doct rine given any credence in t he Church" (The Fallacy of Rapt ure Theology as revealed by t he Word of God by David Redmond). Tim Warner gives ample reason why Morgan's writ ings on a Pret rib rapt ure were not t aken seriously by anybody:
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"Even t he discovery of Morgan Edwards' book does not eliminat e t he ghost of Edward Irving f or pre-t ribbers. There is a clear t racable hist ory back-t racking t he development of modern pret ribulat ionism t hrough dispensat ional seminaries (like Dallas Seminary), t he Scof ield Bible, early pre-t rib prophecy conf erences, t he Plymout h Bret hren, J. N. Darby, and f inally t he Irvingit es, and even Margaret MacDonald's visions. However, despit e t he earlier dat e (32 years earlier), t here is no apparent connect ion bet ween Morgan Edwards' (1788) "Millennium" book and modern pret ribulat ionism. So, if Morgan Edwards' t heory did not t ake hold in some group, or if his book did not f all int o t he hands of Irving or Darby, t hen he might as well have developed his t heory on Mars! Because, it had no impact at all on modern pre-t rib development . 1. Morgan Edwards apparent ly did not rely on ot her works. In f act , while he occasionally ref erred t o ot hers, he wrot e in opposit ion t o t he hist oricist / a-millennialism of t he t imes. Not once did he ref er t o anot her writ er t o support his rapt ure t heory (alt hough he did appeal t o t he Church Fat hers in support of his lit eral Millennium). That he considered his t heory 'new' and novel, is clear f rom t he verse he chose t o put on t he t it le page: "'May we know what t his new doct rine, whereof t hou speakest , is? f or t hou bringest cert ain st range t hings t o our ears: We would know, t heref ore, what t hese t hings mean. ACTS xvii. 19. 20' "2. The opening st at ement in his essay indicat es his t ot al lack of conf idence in his new t heory. And, it shows t hat Morgan was simply writ ing his essay f ollowing t he inst ruct ion of his prof essor, t o use t he LITERAL met hod in all cases except where t hat would lead t o absurd conclusions. This was cont rary t o t he accept ed Prot est ant way of t reat ing prophecy at t he t ime. Morgan also st at ed t hat his f ollowing t he lit eral hermeneut ic was st rict ly f or t his exercise alone, and t hat he did not wish t o be seen as a lit eralist . In ot her words, t his whole essay was hypot het ical! "'And is it come t o my lot t o t reat of t he Millennium, or Christ 's t housand years reign on eart h? Thousand pit ies, sir, t hat you had not allot t ed t he t ask t o one of t hese older and abler st udent s! But , since it is your pleasure, I will do my possible: and in t he at t empt will work by a rule you have of t en recommended, viz. 't o t ake t he script ures in a lit eral sense, except when t hat leads t o cont radict ion or absurdit y.' I need say no more t o inf orm you, sir, t hat I wish t o be underst ood as a minist er of t he let t er only while I t reat of t he said Millennium. Very able men have already handled t he subject in a myst ical, or allegorical, or spirit ual way: and could I rest sat isf ied wit h t heir sent iment s, and deliver t hem perhaps wit h applause; as t hat would show my reading, - and at t he same t ime, f ree a novice f rom t he af f ect at ion of singularit y and t aking t oo much upon him, like anot her son of Levi.' "His st at ement , 'I wish t o be underst ood as a minist er of t he let t er only while I t reat of t he said Millennium,' indicat es his apparent discomf ort wit h t he lit eral met hod he was required t o use by
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his prof essor! Hist oricist s of his day saw lit eral int erpret at ion as a 'Jewish' t hing. Paul wrot e t hat 't he let t er killet h, but t he spirit givet h lif e.' It was common f or a-millennialist s t o use t his verse t o just if y 'spirit ual' int erpret at ion. Hence, Morgan equat ed lit eral int erpret at ion wit h 't he sons of Levi.' Lat er in t he discourse, af t er apparent ly mont hs of st udying his t opic, young Morgan seemed t o be much more comf ort able wit h 'lit eralism.' "3. Morgan's prof essor's react ion t o his work is very t elling. Following is t he closing st at ement of his 'Millennium' essay, f ollowed by his prof essor's assessment . "Morgan: 'I wonder, Sir, if your pat ience be not exhaust ed wit h t he lengt h, and perhaps, nonsense of my sermon?' "Prof essor: 'You f inished your discourse wit h a supposit ion t hat t he lengt h and nonsense of it had t ried my pat ience. If you used light ness you are t o blame. But as I hope you are always in earnest when you st udy t he t hings of God, I have t o assure you t hat t he novelt y and ingenuit y of your at t empt have ent ert ained me not a lit t le. And when you are more mast er of t ime t han at present , I advise you t o st udy your subject closely, and you will see cause t o alt er some part s of your plan, and correct errors of ot hers.- You also dropped a hint or t wo t ouching t he New Heaven and t he New Eart h, which sounded a lit t le st range. Let us hear what you have t o say on t hose subject s, when it comes your t urn t o appear in t hat desk again'" Morgan Edwards and t he PreTrib Rapt ure By Tim Warner It is obvious t hat t he idea of a pret ribulat ion rapt ure was st range t o Edwards and his prof essor. Why would it be if t here really was such a doct rine bef ore t his? SAMUEL ROFFEY MAITLAND (1792-1866), FUTURISM ANGLICAN CHURCH Scholar, Lawyer, Librarian Scholar and Librarian t o t he Archbishop of Cant erbury, Mait land read Lacunza's book and promot ed Fut urism af t er 1826. He t aught a lit eral 3-1/2 year t ribulat ion and a personal Ant ichrist . There are st rong indicat ions t hat Mait land borrowed f rom bot h Ribera and Lacunza in his writ ings. Being t he Librarian at Lambet h Palace, London, he f ound Ribera's book on t he shelf and had it reprint ed as a mat t er of public int erest . MARGARET MCDONALD (1800-?) VISION OF SECRET RAPTURE Member of Irving's CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH At t he age of 15, Margaret was a member of Edward Irving's congregat ion and in 1830 had a vision of a Secret Rapt ure. There is debat e whet her what she saw depict ed a pret rib, part ial pret rib, midt rib, or
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post t rib rapt ure. I have read it t hrough caref ully over and over again and it even sounds post t rib. Personally, I t hink it is a bunch of demonic gibberish t hat isn't easy t o put a label on. In spit e of t he conf usion now resident amongst researchers, one t hing is f or sure: t he idea of a Secret Coming of Christ as opposed t o one f inal visible coming was int roduced t hrough her vision. This is t he main point t hat should be emphasized, regardless of whet her it is placed in any scenario. The f act of a secret coming where all t he world does not see Him was apparent ly incorporat ed int o t he pret rib doct rine by Edward Irving, who in t urn inf luenced Darby. You can read Macdonald's vision by clicking here or wait t o read it as t he next sect ion in t his series. EDWARD IRVING (1792-1834), FUTURIST, PRETRIBULATIONIST PRESBYTRERIAN Minist er, lat er f ounded CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH (charismat ic) It was Irving who t ranslat ed Lacunza's work f rom Spanish int o English in 1827, t it ling his work, "Preliminary Discourse t o t he Work of Ben Ezra - Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majest y." He was also af f ect ed by Margaret Macdonald's vision, writ ing t he f ollowing in a let t er t o a Mr. Chalmers:

Irving point s out in his let t er t o Chalmers t hat he f elt convict ion and reproof concerning her papers, which very likely had t he "secret coming" described in t hem. It is also possible he was af f ect ed in t his way because of Margaret 's emphasis on t he work of t he Holy Spirit in t he Church as t he f ire and eye of God in readying t he believer f or t ribulat ion and meet ing Christ f ace t o f ace. This lat t er subject of her vision dominat es what she saw. Script urally, t he vision raises many quest ions, let alone t rying t o decide if it is Pre-, Mid-, Pret rib Part ial or Post t rib. Though Irving most likely used t he "secret coming" of her vision and t he "split second coming" of Lacunza t o conclude a pret rib rapt ure, he also had in his church at t his t ime a rest orat ion of prophecy, t ongues and ot her manif est at ions. He is known as t he f at her of Pent ecost alism because of t hese manif est at ions. As t o whet her or not Irving used t he 45 days of Lacunza and Ribera t o, over t ime, move t heir rapt ure of 45 days bef ore t he end of t he t ribulat ion t o a f ull seven year Pret rib rapt ure, t he f ollowing quot e would seem t o support t hat idea: "Because t he symbolism of t ypes can be int erpret ed according t o ot her inf luences, once sound Biblical hermeneut ics are ignored, t he int erpret at ion of t he f east s varied signif icant ly f rom year t o year. Irvingit es shif t ed t he rapt ure f rom f east 6 (of Lev 23s 7 f east s) t o f east 5, t hen f east 4 and even f east 3 wit hin t he f irst f ew years"(2) Underst anding Minist ries
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According t o Bob Gundry, Edward Irving was most likely t he f irst t o publicly make t he suggest ion of a pret ribulat ional rapt ure of t he Church. A minist er of t he Church of Scot land, he at t ended t he prophet ic conf erences (1826-1830) held by Henry Drummond at Albury Park, England. When Irving f irst suggest ed t he secret coming of Christ , t he cont roversial idea split t hose in at t endance int o f act ions. Iain H. Murray, in The Purit an Hope - A St udy in Revival and t he Int erpret at ion of Prophecy, IX. The Eclipse of t he Hope, says t hat it was during Irving's at t endance at Albury (1826-1830) t hat he shared t he "secret rapt ure" bef ore t he t ribulat ion wit h anot her ret urn at t he end of it . He says t his was also prevalent in Irving's London congregat ion. There are some ref erences in lit erat ure of t he 1800s st at ing t hat t he secret coming was never ment ioned bef ore Irving st art ed promot ing it in it s various st ages of assemblance. These may not have had knowledge of Macdonald's relat ing her vision t o Irving: Thomas Croskery (Londonderry, Ireland) - "...t his idea of t he Lord removing his church secret ly...was never heard of t ill it was proclaimed in one of t he delusive ut t erances of t he Irvingit es in 1832."(3) In 1880, William Reid in a book on Bret hrenism, wrot e t hat "Edward Irving cont ribut ed t o t he not ion of ...t he secret rapt ure of t he saint s."(4) Irving also t he Secret Coming Rapt ure at t he Powerscourt prophecy conf erences at Powerscourt Cast le in Dublin, Ireland in 1830. JOHN NELSON DARBY (18001882), FUTURISM, PRETRIBULATIONISM ANGLICAN Minist er, lat er leader in t he PLYMOUTH BRETHREN Darby at t ended t he Powerscourt prophecy conf erences in 1830. It was t here t hat he most likely heard about Macdonald's vision of a Secret Rapt ure promot ed by Irving. Irving most likely int roduced t hese ideas which were picked up by Darby, but it was Darby who synt hesized t he various point s of t he Pret ribulat ion doct rine over a period of years t o bring it t o it s f inal f orm (Irving died in 1834). This did not happen overnight , but it t ook a period of many years t o f inalize t he doct rine. The doct rine did not f ind easy accept ance, caused divisions and bred conf usion during t he years he worked on it . I have read where it was
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during Darby's visit s t o Swit zerland f rom 1838 t o 1845 he began t o pull t he doct rine t oget her and share it openly. Years lat er (1859-1874), Darby would t ake t he message t o America where it was readily accept ed. WILLIAM KELLY (1820-1906) Revised Darby's not es t o make it appear t hat Darby was t he one who st art ed t he Pret rib doct rine and not Irving. A t horough report can be read at William Kelly's Journal The Pinnacle of Pre-Trib Pilf ering! By Dave MacPherson. CYRUS INGERSON SCOFIELD (1843-1921), FUTURIST, PRETRIBULATIONISM TRINITARIAN CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Past or Emerit us Based his not es on t he writ ings of J. N. Darby in his 1909 Scof ield Ref erence Bible. By 1930, one million copies were print ed and hit t he Bible Colleges in America, spreading t he Secret Coming doct rine.

The pieces Irving put t oget her f or t he beginnings of t he Pret ribulat ion doct rine came f rom Ribera, Bellarmine, Lacunza - all Jesuit s - and Margaret Macdonald's vision. Most damaging was Macdonald's vision, which was based on an occult experience t hat inject ed int o t he Church a Secret Coming of Jesus f or t he Church. From t he Middle Ages on, many would f all f or t he f alse hope of t his pieced t oget her doct rine. -----------(1) Mrs. Oliphant , "The Lif e of Edward Irving," biography, Hurst and Blacket t , London, 1865. (2) Edward Irving's "Morning Wat ch." (3) Dave MacPherson, William Kelly's Journal The Pinnacle of Pre-Trib Pilf ering! cit ing Thomas Croskery, "The Plymout h Bret hren," Art . III (The Princet on Review, Jan., 1872), pp. 61-62.
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(4) Ibid., cit ing William Reid, Plymout h Bret hrenism Unveiled and Ref ut ed (Edinburgh: Wm. Oliphant & Co., 1880), p. 10. Part 1: Is Pret ribulat ionism Found In The Early Church Fat her's Writ ings? Part 2: Psuedo-Ephraem Depict s A Post t rib, Not Pret irb, Rapt ure Part 3: The Early Church Was Fut urist In It s Prophet ic Out look Part 4: The Birt h Of The Pret ribulat ion Doct rine In The 1800s Part 5: Margaret Macdonald's Original Secret Coming Vision Part 6: Discerning The False Spirit That Delivered The Secret Coming Doct rine Part 7: The Pret rib Doct rine Came From A "Revival" Similar To Today's Part 8: Is The Pret ribber In Danger Of Accept ing A New Age Christ ? Home Page

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