theseed said:
I've read a book that cited an early church father that believed in the rapture (300 AD), it his name started with an "E", do you know who this might be?
Theseed, God give you Peace.
The person with an "E" that you are referring too is St. Ephraem, a 4th Century Syrian writer. In the writing in question it is written:
"Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly action and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that He may draw us from the confusion which overwhelms all the world? ... For the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they ever see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins."
A later passage adds:
"The elect ones are gathered together before the tribulation in order that they might not see the confusion and the great tribulation which is coming upon the unrighteous world."
There are a few issues with this commonly used "support" for an earlier belief in the "rapture." First, the authorship is seriously in question. So much so that the author is listed as "Pseudo-Ephraem." Next, these lines are out of context. Neither line mentions any of the basic elements of the Second Advent, such as Christ's Coming down from heaven, a resurrection of the dead and the glorification of the saved's bodies. Also, within this same writing are phrases telling how Christians will suffer in the final tribulation. Finally, this writing overall was on the topic of Judgement Day, not a day prior to it.
Then, when we look at other, verified, writings of St. Ephraem, we see that they explicitly address how the Church will suffer through a period of tribulation. Moreover, there is an indication in these writings that any gathering and being taken to the Lord refers to an act of conversion rather than a rapture-like event. Personally, I can see that in re-reading the quote above as being a possible application.
Many early Church Fathers spoke of the parousia. But as I wrote in the earlier post, this, which is commonly now referred to as a "rapture", is different from the modern day sense of a rapture as we know it though books like the "Left Behind" series.
The term "rapture" itself comes from the latin verb which was used in the Latin Vulgate for the verb "caught up" in 1 Thess 4:17.
There is no instance of any early Church Fathers describing an event which meets the "Left Behind" notion of a "rapture." That is, a catching up of the faithful in order to be spared suffering (whether it be from a period of tribulation or otherwise).
St. Justin Martyr (c. 100 - c. 165 A.D.) wrote about the two advents of Christ in "Dialogue With Trypho" as found reprinted in "The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325" which makes it clear that he believed the faithful would have to endure tribulations just like the unfaithful. In other words, no rapture (modern sense).
St. Irenaeus (c. 125 - c. 205 A.D.), who happened to come to a belief in a physical millennial reign, though it was contrary to the Church's teaching likewise never indicated anywhere that the faithful would be spared suffering during a period of tribulation. No rapture (modern sense).
The list goes on, St. Hippolytus, Tertullian, Lactantius, Melito of Sardis, Methodius, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St. John Chrysostom.
Thanks for an outstanding question! I had to go digging to find the person with an "E" that you were talking about! And every time I go digging, I find God's gold
God Bless,
P12