The Rapture - Darby's child - the belief that Christ returns, exits His church and His Spirit, and offers the end times sinners and 1/3 of the Jews an additional 3.5 - 7 years to come to repentence!
I just noticed your new signature line. It is absolutely and positively incorrect that any of this doctrine originated with Darby.
Irenaeus wrote, (it is thought between the years 186 and 188):
And then he points out the time that his tyranny shall last, during which the saints shall be put to flight, they who offer a pure sacrifice unto God: And in the midst of the week, he says, the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation [shall be brought] into the temple: even unto the consummation of the time shall the desolation be complete.Now three years and six months constitute the half-week. (Against Heresies, by Irenaeus, book V, chapter XXV, section 4)
He also wrote:
Now all these things being such as they are, cannot be understood in reference to super-celestial matters; for God, it is said, will show to the whole earth that is under heaven thy glory. But in the times of the kingdom, the earth has been called again by Christ [to its pristine condition], and Jerusalem rebuilt after the pattern of the Jerusalem above, of which the prophet Isaiah says, Behold, I have depicted thy walls upon my hands, and thou art always in my sight. (Against Heresies, by Irenaeus, book V, chapter XXXV, section 2)
And Hyppolytus wrote, (it is thought sometime between the years 202 and 211):
For after sixty-two weeks was fulfilled and after Christ has come and the Gospel has been preached in every place, times having been spun out, the end remains one week away, in which Elijah and Enoch shall be present and in its half the abomination of desolation, the Antichrist, shall appear who threatens desolation of the world. After he comes, sacrifice and drink offering, which now in every way is offered by the nations to God, shall be taken away. (Commentary on Daniel, by Hyppolytus, book 4, 35.3)
He also wrote:
Just as also he spoke to Daniel, And he shall establish a covenant with many for one week and it will be that in the half of the week he shall take away my sacrifice and drink offering, so that the one week may be shown as divided into two, after the two witnesses will have preached for three and a half years, the Antichrist will wage war against the saints the remainder of the week and will desolate all the world so that what was spoken may be fulfilled, And they will give the abomination of desolation one thousand two hundred ninety days. Blessed is he who endures to Christ and reaches the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days! (Commentary on Daniel, by Hyppolytus, book 4, 50.2)
And the pre-tribulation rapture was clearly taught in a document, whose age and author is unknown, but which is known to have been in Church libraries before the year 800. Based on events referred to in this document as impending, various scholars have estimated its date from as early as 373 to as late as 627. As scholars do not believe the unknown author could have been the famous Ephraem the Syrian, (who is also known as Ephraem of Nisbis) they call this unknown author Pseudo-Ephraem. This document says,
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. (On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World, author unknown but called Pseudo-Ephraem, section 2.)
