I've studied, and it IS happening. To help you out some:.
This is an issue that a lot of people are emotionally attached to. I admit up front that I have little respect for the pre-trib position from the view point of biblical scholarship or reason. I don't mean to offend, and I'll try not to, however, in my opinion there is virtually no basis for the pre-trib view in scripture and the things that are taught about it are outright made up, or simply rely on taking scripture grossly out of context.
I agree, however, that it shouldn't be a bar to fellowship.
The Tribulation Period was determined AGAINST Israel, not the Church which is the Body of Christ.
No basis for this idea in scripture at all. This is never stated anywhere, nor is it implied.
In fact, this idea only came into existence because the pre-trib view required it, and it is also partially based on a false dualism between the Church and Israel prevalent in some dispensationalist camps.
What the bible does teach is that both Christians and Jews will be terribly persecuted by the Beast and False Prophet (to use the revelation names).
The Church which is the Body of Christ was not formed for wrath, rather for Salvation (escape from wrath).
I agree with this point, but it is also irrelevant because the tribulation is not the wrath of God. The tribulation is a wave of terrible persecution unleashed by the devil through his servants, the Beast and the False prophet.
Christians will not suffer the wrath of God, but then neither will Israel, because by that point, all of them that remain will be Christians.
The Great Restrainer (Holy Spirit) must be removed from the earth before the events of the Tribulation Period can take place. Every child of God has the Holy Spirit living in their hearts. In fact, that child of God has his or her heart sealed with the Holy Spirit, and no combination of powers can break that Holy Seal. There will be no Holy Seal to break in the Tribulation Period by those who take the mark of the beast because the Church which is the Body of Christ has already been Raptured Home to Heaven..
The great restrainer is not the Holy Spirit. Again this idea has no basis in scripture. It is based purely on speculation designed to fit with the pre-tribulation view point.
The restrainer that Paul speaks about is described as both a personal entity and a thing. Further, it/he is restraining the Beast (who Paul refers to as the man of sin, the son of perdition). This identifies the one being restrained as the "8th beast" of revelation chapter 17, where we are told that he is currently held in prison in the abyss. Thus the restrainer is the prison itself, and also the angel who is given the key to unlock the prison.
It is undeniable in scripture that there are christians on the earth during the great tribulation. It is explicitly stated to be the case. In order to get around this, the pre-tribulation view point theorizes that these "tribulation saints" are the people, mostly Jews, who become saved after the rapture, during the tribulation.
However, if the Holy Spirit were truly removed, this would be impossible. Since the bible also explicitly tells us that no one can even say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit, and it is also clear that it is the Holy Spirit who brings conviction of sin.
IF the Holy Spirit were removed, it would be impossible for anyone to be saved.
Some others have speculated that the restrainer is the Church itself. This is also unlikely at best given that the restrainer is referred to in the masculine gender, the restrainer is both an It, and a He. The Church on the other hand, is referred to as a she, because she is the bride of Christ, and is always represented as a woman (just as Israel was).
Think about it - especially about what Salvation means in this Age of Grace. The only way that many portions of Scripture about the Rapture can agree is with a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. However, I understand other views, and this certainly isn't any bar to fellowship. A short course of this topic would take years.
In my opinion, the facts are exactly the opposite. The only way the scripture about the rapture can agree is if they describe one single event that occurs after the tribulation when Jesus Christ returns to earth with judgement.
If you insist on holding the pre-trib view you must not only believe in two returns of Jesus (one to the clouds, and one to the earth afterward), you must also believe in two seperate raptures. This is because there are scriptures which explicitly place a rapture event occuring after the tribulation. In order for this to be true, there must be two, one before and one after. Essentially one at each return of Jesus.
I think this view makes no sense according to the scripture and I don't see any reason in the text at all to divide them into two seperate events. I think all of the scripture clearly refer to one return and one rapture that happen at the same time.
I have yet to see any scripture which contradicts that understanding.
*edit* I tend to use emphatic language such as "makes no sense" etc. This doesn't mean I think pre-tribbers are stupid. However, people get locked into a given view point. They are taught that view point and then when they study they see everything based on the assumptions of said view point.
I think the pre-trib view is essentially circular. Basically you have to believe it already in order to find it in scripture. You make certain assumptions because you believe it, and then you use those assumptions to interpet the scriptures.
If, however, you don't believe the pre-trib view, those assumptions don't exist and when you look at the scriptures, they don't remotely suggest the pre-trib view.