Tres Puntos de Vista Del Milenio y El Más Allá (FLET) - Darrell Bock y Varios
Tres Puntos de Vista Del Milenio y El Más Allá (FLET) - Darrell Bock y Varios
Tres Puntos de Vista Del Milenio y El Más Allá (FLET) - Darrell Bock y Varios
ON THE
PRE-, MID-, OR
POST-TRIBULATIONAL?
Stanley N. Gundry
Series Editor
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THREE VIEWS-
ON THE
P R E ; MID; O R
POST-TRIBULATION?
B o o k s in t h e C o u n t e r p o i n t s Series
-THREE VIEWS-
ON THE
PRE; MID; O R
POST-TRIBULATION?
ZondervanPublishingHouse
Grand Rapids, Michigan
A Division ofHarperCollmsPttblishers
Three Views on the Rapture
Copyright © 1984,1996 by The Zondervan Corporation,
Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ZondervanPublishingHouse
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49S30
01 02/<· DH/10 9 8
CONTENTS
PREFACE 7
1 A HISTORY OF T H E DEVELOPMENT OF
THE RAPTURE POSITIONS
R I C H A R D R. REITER 9
2 T H E CASE FOR T H E PRETRIBULATION
RAPTURE POSITION
P A U L D . FEINBERG 45
R E S P O N S E : D O U G L A S J. M O O 87
R E S P O N S E : G L E A S O N L. A R C H E R 103
3 T H E CASE F O R T H E M I D - S E V E N T I E T H -
WEEK RAPTURE POSITION
G L E A S O N L. A R C H E R 113
R E S P O N S E : P A U L D . FEINBERG 147
R E S P O N S E : D O U G L A S J. M O O 159
4 T H E CASE FOR T H E POSTTRIBULATION
RAPTURE POSITION
D O U G L A S J. M O O 169
R E S P O N S E : G L E A S O N L. A R C H E R 213
R E S P O N S E : PAUL D . F E I N B E R G 223
NOTES 233
PERSON INDEX 255
SUBJECT INDEX 259
SCRIPTURE INDEX 262
PREFACE
T H E N I A G A R A B I B L E C O N F E R E N C E ERA:
1878-1909
meet the Lord in the air, not the later glorious return of Christ
14
to the earth, was the event that was possible any m o m e n t .
A few years after the 1878 conference Robert Cameron,
a Canadian Baptist pastor w h o joined the Niagara program
committee, restudied the Rapture issue. He abandoned the
pretribulational view for the posttribulational. Later at one of
the conferences the constant reiteration of the idea that Christ
might appear at any m o m e n t irritated him; he n o w believed
that an extended series of prophesied events lay between the
present time and the Rapture.
While at that conference in the early 1880s, Cameron
urged Presbyterian theologian Nathaniel West, a charter m e m
ber of the Niagara group and leading historical theologian
among American premillennialists, to give the any-moment
view his serious attention. West promised to do so but also
declared, "If I find the Scriptures teach contrary to what is
taught in this Conference, I will reverse myself and boldly
15
defend the t r u t h . " By this statement West acknowledged the
any-moment view was dominant at Niagara.
Although there is evidence from an ecclesiastical dispute
a few years later that West had the capacity for dogged deter
16
mination and even intransigence, Cameron has overstated
the intensity of West's response to the Rapture issue at that
time. First, Cameron recalled this watershed conversation about
fifty years later, after a lengthy and often harsh dispute in
which the majority of American premillennialists rejected the
position he held with West. Also, the internal evidence from
West's treatment of premillennial themes before 1892 portrays
West as a champion of premülennialism as over against post-
millennialism, not as an ardent defender of posttribulationism
vis-ä-vis the any-moment Rapture view.
For example, in his massive, scholarly work, The Thou
17
sand Years in Both Testaments (1889), he introduced to Amer
ican premillennialists the history of salvation, or Heilsgeschichte,
perspective as developed by such noted German scholars as
Franz Delitzsch of Erlangen and Leipzig and J. C. K. von
Hofmann of Erlangen. West aimed to demonstrate "the or
ganic and genetic character of revelation and of prophecy" or
the "organic structure" of "sacred [salvation] history" as a
15
THE RAPTURE
the Olivet Discourse from the church and the church from
23
the Tribulation. Later on proponents of the any-moment
Rapture would confirm his view of the issue's importance,
but would reject his evaluation of the postulate. In addition
West derided pretribulationism for snatching the church from
the Tribulation, for Paul regarded suffering for the name of
24
Christ "her highest honor on e a r t h . "
The confrontation over doctrinal issues was aggravated
by West's tone, which ranged from paternalistic to denuncia
tory. Since his research refuted the "any-moment" theory, his
"devout, evangelical, brave and true" friends w h o "received
it as true . . . without a thorough examination" should aban
25
don i t . The entire series exuded criticism and irritation, a
number of ad kontinent arguments, and the label "errorists" for
pretribulationists. A different attitude was appearing within
the Niagara fellowship, which its leaders had avoided in their
o w n publications up to that time.
Conference president James H . Brookes of St. Louis p u b
lished a short reply to West early in 1894. In addition to de
fending pretribulationism he referred to the quarrel over the
Rapture among British Plymouth Brethren more than fifty
26
years before. When West continued his cannonade, Brookes
published an extended series, "The Imminency of the Second
Advent," by George Ν . H . Peters, a Lutheran minister from
2 7
O h i o . Apparendy both Brookes and Peters regretted this
debate, yet Peters replied to West thoroughly and confidently.
D u t y led him to influence others "to remain faithful and firm
in their scriptural belief and attitude of constant watchfulness,
. . . that it may honor the precise and plain command given
28
by the S a v i o u r . " Since West used the language of constant
expectancy several times, Peters concluded that West had con
ceded his point. The language of expectancy for Peters (but
not for West) forbade the intervention of any future events
between the present m o m e n t and the Rapture, a position he
29
believed the early church fathers h e l d . Interposing events
before the Lord's coming made "watching in the true Scrip
30
tural sense a moral impossibility." Peters' main thrust drew
from Article 2 of the N e w York conference resolutions and
a parade of speakers at the 1878 and 1886 prophetic conclaves.
J7
THE RAPTURE
T H E P O P U L A R I T Y A N D P R E D O M I N A N C E OF
P R E T R I B U L A T I O N I S M : 1909-1952
Pretribulational dispensationalism advanced during this
era because Gaebelein, Scofield, James M . Gray at M o o d y
Bible Institute, Ruben A. Torrey at Bible Institute of Los An
geles, Harry A. Ironside at M o o d y Memorial Church, and
Lewis Sperry Chafer at the Evangelical Theological College
(later Dallas Theological Seminary)
popularized its doctrines widely. The pretribulation rap
ture became the standard position of most Bible confer
ences and Bible institutes. Of greater influence than any
other single factor was the Scofield Reference Bible (im
proved edition, 1917), which inculcated the eschatology
of dispensationalism even while making its primary con
tribution as a popular defense of evangelicalism, when all
else seemed to be falling before the flood of twentieth-
56
century modernism.
As a result, "soon the badge of N o r t h American evangelical
57
ism was the Scofield B i b l e . "
By way of contrast, posttribulational theology in the gen
eration after Niagara lacked the leadership, the institutional
bases, and the extensive literature to match its premillennial
24
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAPTURE POSITIONS
28
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAPTURE POSITIONS
32
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAPTURE POSITIONS
T H E R E S U R G E N C E OF P O S T T R I B U L A T I O N I S M :
1952 T O T H E P R E S E N T
to support." Ladd did not think the claims were indeed equal,
for he concluded that the location of the resurrection—placed
at the return of Christ in glory (Rev. 20)—
38
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAPTURE POSITIONS
CONCLUSIONS
44
2
THE CASE FOR THE
PRETRIBULATION
RAPTURE POSITION
Paul D. Feinberg
Paul D . Feinberg is Associate Professor of Biblical and Sys
tematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in
Deerfield, Illinois. He is a graduate of Talbot Theological
Seminary ( B . D . , T h . M . ) and Dallas Theological Seminary
(Th.D.), and has received a P h . D . degree in philosophy at the
University of Chicago. D r . Feinberg has contributed articles
to Baker's Dictionary of Christian Ethics and the Wycliffe Bible
Encyclopedia and has written a chapter in Inerrancy. H e is an
ordained minister in the Evangelical Free Church of America.
The time of the Rapture is neither the most important nor the
most unimportant point of Christian theology. For some the
Rapture question is a bellwether; its surrender marks the first
step on the proverbial slippery slope that leads one to the rocks
of liberalism. But such is neither logically nor actually the
case. When one considers the whole spectrum of Christian
theology, eschatology is only a small part of it. Moreover, the
Rapture question constitutes only a small segment of escha
tology. The contributors of this volume are in substantial
agreement on matters of individual, or personal, eschatology
and are all convinced of the same view with respect to the
larger issues of premillennialism.
There are those w h o find the question of the Rapture
insignificant and uninteresting; they pride themselves in being
above the battle. But this is w r o n g . Theologically, no aspect
of revealed truth is unimportant. The Rapture touches the
extremely important issues of biblical interpretation, the re
lationship between the church and Israel, and the course of
human history. Practically, the time of the Rapture is signif
icant because we aspire to k n o w the whole counsel of God.
Furthermore, this matter touches the important issue of the
nature of the Christian's hope and expectation. A m I to expect
Christ's return at any moment? O r , is m y hope the protection
in and deliverance by God from a time of worldwide tribu
lation? Thus, the task before us is an important one.
O n the Ecclesiological B a c k d r o p
es
PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE
Presuppositions and A s s u m p t i o n s
A R G U M E N T S FOR A P R E T R I B U L A T I O N
RAPTURE
T h e P r o m i s e o f E x e m p t i o n F r o m D i v i n e Wrath
ing to the Exodus (Rev. 15:3). (8) Protection from the trumpet
judgments could be afforded the saints in the Tribulation just
as it had been given to Israel in Egypt.
These considerations are supplemented by two arguments
that Gundry has given elsewhere. First, he argues that the Day
of the Lord does not begin until the close of the Tribulation
period, near the time of the sixth seal (Rev. 6:14-17, cf. 2:32-3:1;
Zeph. 2:3-3:11, 16). The period of divine wrath is connected
25
with the Day of the L o r d . Therefore, the church will be on
the earth until the day dawns. Second, Revelation 6:16-17 is
the announcement (in connection with the sixth seal) that the
wrath of God has broken forth (ingressive aorist) or is on the
verge of breaking forth (dramatic aorist).
Gundry concludes, "Divine wrath does not blanket the
entire seventieth week, probably not even the latter half of it,
26
but concentrates at the c l o s e . " It is only from divine wrath
that the church is exempt, and Gundry has the church raptured
right before the end, before Armageddon. This does not, h o w
ever, mean that the church will be exempt from persecution
and death from Satan or from mankind.
Moreover, even if divine wrath began before the bowls,
this would not be decisive against posttribulationism, "for the
Church would receive protection throughout the whole time
just as any other tribulation saint and the 144,000 will receive
27
protection."
The midtribulationism of J. Oliver Buswell bears some
similarity at important points to Gundry's posttribulationism.
T h e church will be present during the Tribulation, but this
presence does not imply divine wrath against the church. In
Matthew 24:29-31, our Lord enumerated signs that will follow
the Tribulation. There will be great cosmic upheavals "im
mediately after the tribulation of those days" (Matt. 24:29; cf.
Matt. 13:24-25; Luke 21:25-26). These cosmic upheavals are
related to the bowls; they do not come during the Tribulation
but after it. While the Tribulation will be quantitatively unique,
it will not be qualitatively unparalleled. Tribulation is usually
man's wrath against God s people. Therefore, it is the lot of
28
His people in all a g e s .
Divine wrath, for Buswell, is another matter. Salvation
57
THE RAPTURE
view. ^
Pretribulationists agree among themselves on t w o points
relating to the question of wrath. First, it is their contention
that the whole, not just a part, of the seventieth week is a time
of divine wrath. Second, the means of protection for the church
30
is removal from this period by the R a p t u r e .
Let me summarize the argument to this point. There is
general agreement with regard to the principle that God has
promised the church exemption from divine wrath. The dis
agreement arises as to the time that divine wrath commences
and as to the method of divine protection. I would like n o w
to turn to examine the first area of disagreement. When does
divine wrath begin?
O n e way in which one might try to resolve the dispute
is to observe the usage of the w o r d wrath in Revelation. The
words όργή and θυμός occur six times and ten times respec
tively in the book. Two occurrences are related to the return
of Christ to the earth (in Rev. 19:15, both words appear). In
Revelation 12:12 the wrath of the dragon against the w o m a n
is in view. Nine uses clearly deal with judgments at the end
of the Tribulation (e.g., Rev. 14:8, 10, 19; 15:7; 16:1, 19; 18:3).
This would be at a time when midtribulationists and Gundry
would have the church raptured.
There are, however, four places where one of the t w o
words appears that deserve comment. The first is Revelation
15:1. The context relates the plagues spoken of to the bowl
judgments. In these judgments the wrath of God is "finished"
(έτελέσθη). The verb "finished" is an aorist; it may be under
stood as constative, complexive, or effective. This aorist may
be conceived as a whole without reference to beginning, p r o g
31
ress, or end, and represented as completed. It could refer just
to the bowl judgments in which case it would be indecisive
with regard to our question as it would assert that they finish
the wrath. However, it is possible that the plagues have a
58
PRETRIBULA TION RAPTURE
recognize that divine wrath begins with the first seal and the
commencement of the Tribulation period.
O n e might object that the argument just presented does
39
not show the inevitability of a pretribulation R a p t u r e . All
that the argument shows is that the church has been promised
protection, not Rapture, from divine wrath, and that wrath
begins with the commencement of the Tribulation period.
Thus, I n o w turn to the second of the arguments.
T h e Church Is P r o m i s e d E x e m p t i o n N o t O n l y F r o m
D i v i n e Wrath but A l s o F r o m the T i m e o f Wrath
78
PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE
79
THE RAPTURE
CONCLUSION
God's wrath" (Rom. 5:9) and the sacrifice of Christ once for
all accomplished involved the propitiating of God's wrath
(Rom. 3:25). To assert that only some believers (the church)
are delivered from divine wrath would appear to demand the
existence of two different forms of salvation—one for believ
ers in this age (the church); another for Tribulation saints.
While I am sure Feinberg does not want to go this far, it is
difficult to avoid that conclusion if his argument is allowed.
But if salvation in Christ by its very nature removes the believer
from the sphere of divine wrath, Feinberg's whole argument
relating to wrath in the Tribulation becomes irrelevant. For
he admits, as anyone must do, that believers are on earth
during the Tribulation (see Rev. 13:7, passim). But if every
believer saved by the blood of Christ is exempted from divine
wrath, then so, of course, those Tribulation saints will be.
Therefore, exemption from divine wrath during the Tribula
tion will clearly not require physical removal—the divine wrath
present during the Tribulation does not logically entail a pre-
tribulational Rapture of the church. At the same time, of
course, it does not logically speak against such a Rapture. And
the positive need to postulate a pretribulation Rapture is found
by Feinberg in Christ's promise to the church of Philadelphia.
Revelation 3:10 has always figured prominently in the
debate over the time of the Rapture. Proponents of the pre-
tribulational Rapture have often seen in this verse a direct ref
erence to such a Rapture; Christ promises "a removal from
1
the sphere of testing." However, the use of the verb τ η ρ έ ω
("keep") creates a real difficulty for this view, since removal
would much better be conveyed with a verb such as α ϊ ρ ω (cf.
John 17:17a). Therefore, Feinberg, relying heavily on the ar
gument of J. Townsend, seeks to establish a different meaning
for the verse, according to which preservation outside the time
of testing, rather than removal from the time of testing, is
promised. Such an interpretation still demands a pretribula-
tional Rapture as the event that brings the church into this
"outside position." The amount of space Feinberg devotes to
this point demonstrates its importance in his argument; our
evaluation must be correspondingly thorough.
Basic to the Feinberg-Townsend interpretation is the
90
RESPONSE: DOUGLAS J. MOO
94
RESPONSE: DOUGLAS J. MOO
es
RESPONSE: DOUGLAS J. MOO
Wl
RESPONSE: GLEASON L. ARCHER
103
THE RAPTURE
104
RESPONSE: GLEASON L. ARCHER
106
RESPONSE: GLEASON L. ARCHER
112
3
THE CASE FOR THE
MID -SEVENTIETH-WEEK
RAPTURE POSITION
Gleason L Archer
Gleason L. Archer is Professor of Old Testament, Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School. He holds degrees from Prince
ton Theological Seminary (B.D.), Suffolk University Law
School (LL.B.), and Harvard Graduate School (Ph.D.). Among
other books, Dr. Archer has written In the Shadow of the Cross,
Survey of Old Testament Introduction, and Encyclopedia of Bible
Difficulties. H e has served as president of the N e w England
Association of Christian Schools and is a member of the
Council of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy.
INTRODUCTION
In the light of current world events it is only natural for
earnest attention to be directed to the teaching of Scripture
concerning the return of the Lord Jesus for the Rapture of His
church. This doctrine is set forth in 1 Thessalonians 4 and
related passages. Does the Bible teach that this momentous
event will take place on the threshold of the seventieth week
of Daniel's vision (Dan. 9), which is the pretribulation view,
or will it take place at the conclusion ofthat seven-year period,
just prior to the Battle of Armageddon, which is the posttrib-
ulational theory? Within the ranks of sincere Evangelicals,
w h o believe in the inerrancy of Holy Scripture and the fulfill
ment of all biblical prophecy, there is a difference of opinion.
There are energetic advocates of each interpretation. Between
these t w o views there stands a third, the view that the Rapture
will occur at the midway point between the beginning of the
final seven-year period and its end. This mediating approach
succeeds in avoiding the difficulties of each of the other t w o
theories and also does justice to the two periods of three and
a half years each that are mentioned in Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 12:7,
11; and also in Revelation 11:2. Neither the pretribulationists
nor the posttribulationists have been able to furnish a con
vincing explanation for this emphasis on the midpoint of Dan
iel's seventieth week.
T H E R A P T U R E WILL P R E C E D E T H E S E C O N D
A D V E N T OF CHRIST
The posttribulation theory holds that the church will
have to endure all of the persecutions and plagues to afflict the
115
THE RAPTURE
Flesh-and-Blood-Believers in the M i l l e n n i u m
C E R T A I N S I G N S WILL P R E C E D E T H E R A P T U R E
half of the "week" rather than to the entire seven years prior
to Armageddon. In verse 27 the Parousia of the Son of Man
is specifically mentioned, and this is the same term as is used
in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 in connection with the Rapture ("those
who are left until the coming of the Lord"). But this Parousia
seems to be connected more definitely with a startling public
display, like the flash of lightning, followed by a scene of
carnage (such as the Battle of Armageddon) to which the birds
of prey are invited (v. 28). At the end of the Tribulation (v. 29)
will come the terrifying signs in the heavens, such as the dark
ening of the sun and the moon and the falling of the stars.
After mankind has been thrown into despair and panic, then
the triumphant Christ will send out His angels to gather to
gether His elect from the four compass directions (which could
either refer to the saints at the Rapture, or to the saints con
verted during the Tribulation) in response to the signal of a
celestial trumpet (which also figures in the 1 Thess. 4 passage
and in 1 Cor. 15:52). Perhaps such a trumpet blast might be
appropriate for both occasions, both the Rapture and the Sec
ond C o m i n g for j u d g m e n t .
But if the precise timing of the Rapture cannot be clearly
ascertained from the text of the Olivet Discourse—beyond
the conjectural suggestion of verse 14 offered above—there
can be little debate as to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, which specifies
signs preceding the Rapture.
Concerning the coming [Parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our being gathered to him (surely a reference to the
Rapture), we ask you, brothers, not to become easily un
settled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter sup
posed to have come from us, saying that the day of the
Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in
any way, for [that day will not come] until the rebellion
[apostasia should really be rendered the apostasy here] oc
curs and the man of lawlessness [anomias] is revealed, the
man doomed for destruction.
Actually the word translated "has already come" is the
Greek ένέστηκεν, which in 2 Timothy 3:1 and 1 Corinthians
7:26 clearly means "impend, be imminent"—and it may have
that meaning here. The KJV renders it here as "the day of
125
THE RAPTURE
Christ is at hand," and the ASV has "the day of the Lord is
just at hand." If this is so, it seems clear that the teaching Paul
was rebuking as erroneous was an any-moment Rapture! Some
were arguing that the Day of Christ, involving the gathering
together of all Christian believers to Himself, was impending
already. But the aposde here responds with a firm negative.
H e says, N o it is not n o w at hand, nor can it be until certain
signs are first fulfilled, namely the outbreak of apostasy in the
church and the rise of the Beast ("the man of lawlessness").
H e then goes on to specify h o w this agent of Satan will man
ifest himself. "He opposes and exalts himself over everything
that is called God or is worshiped, and even sets himself up
in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God" (v. 4).
From this passage in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 we deduce
that there are t w o more signs that must be fulfilled before the
Rapture: the erection of a temple of God—presumably on the
site of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem—and the enthronement
of the Antichrist in that temple as the embodiment of the
divine. Paul clearly notifies his contemporaries in the Christian
church of his day (a predominandy Gentile church in the Greek
city of Thessalonica, at that) that they cannot expect the Rap
ture until the apostasy (already foretold in the Olivet Dis
course) takes place, and with it the desecration of the rebuilt
temple of the Lord through the arrogance of the Antichrist,
w h o will there display himself as God. Thus we n o w have a
total of possibly ten signs that are to be fulfilled before the Lord
comes to receive up His church. We also have a clear denial of
the doctrine of the any-moment Rapture, for Paul unequivo
cally denies that the Day of the Lord is at hand (ένέστηκεν).
T h e R e m o v a l o f the Restraining P o w e r o f
the H o l y Spirit
what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" In the
context this can only imply an amazing burst of evangelistic
energy and power leading to the enrichment of the world as
a whole. Compare verse 12: "But if their transgression means
riches for the world, . . . h o w much greater riches will their
fulness bring!" So also in Revelation 7:9 there is a reference
to "a great multitude that no one could count, from every
nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne
and in front of the L a m b . " A little later on, in verse 14, this
innumerable host is identified as "they w h o have come out of
the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the L a m b . " In other words, during
the Tribulation there will be more astonishing success in evan
gelistic outreach than has ever yet occurred in the history of
the church. Since no sinner can ever be brought to repentance,
faith, and surrender to the lordship of Christ except by the
power of the Holy Spirit, it is utterly inconceivable that during
an era of total removal of the Spirit Himself from the world
scene there could be so much as a single conversion, to say
nothing of such a numerous company as this!
If then w e are to conclude, as surely w e must, that the
Holy Spirit is not personally removed from human society
during the reign of the Beast, but only His restraining influence
toward evil is removed, then there can be no inference drawn
as to the removal of the church. T h o u g h He withdraws His
restraining hand at the commencement of the seventieth week,
H e is still very much present to give power to the saints to
maintain their steadfast faith in the face of all satanic pressure.
H e will be present during the Tribulation of the last half of
the week as well, and large numbers of people from every
race and tribe will be converted. This will remain true even
after the church itself has been raptured, whether at the be
ginning or in the midpoint of the final seven years.
T h e A p o s t o l i c A t t i t u d e Concerning the I m m i n e n c y
o f the Rapture
and that Peter would have to die by crucifixion (ca. A.D. 67).
This necessarily precluded Peter from the hope that he would
be included in an any-moment Rapture, and it served notice
on the rest that they could not look for the Rapture until after
Peter had laid d o w n his life after he had become old.
2. In Acts 23:11 Paul is told by the risen Christ in a vision
at Jerusalem after his arrest in the temple: "Take courage! As
you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also
testify in R o m e . " This prediction left no doubt but that Paul
would survive to journey all the way to R o m e and witness
for Christ in the capital of the Empire. There was therefore
no possibility of the Rapture taking place before Paul got to
Rome. Hence there could have been no justifiable expectation
of an any-moment Rapture until that event, which probably
took place in 63 A.D. A shorter time-interval is involved, but
the same general principle is involved in Acts 18:10, where
the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision and said to him, "I am
with you, and n o one is going to attack and h a r m you, because
I have many people in this city [i.e., Corinth]." This meant
that no Rapture could occur until there had been a sizable
ingathering of n e w believers at Corinth. Again, in connection
with the storm at sea that threatened shipwreck t o Paul and
his fellow passengers, an angel of God appeared to him and
said (Acts 27:24): " D o not be afraid, Paul. You must stand
before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of
all w h o sail with y o u . " Paul therefore knew that the Rapture
could not occur before he had made it to R o m e and would
be presented before N e r o Caesar on appeal from the provincial
court at Caesarea. Until after that happened, there could be
no possibility of an any-moment Rapture.
3 . In Luke's version of the Olivet Discourse Jesus foretells
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70. Luke
21:24 ends this paragraph with this prediction: "They will fall
by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.
Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times
of the Gentiles will be fulfilled." The events following the
destruction of Jerusalem and the sale of its 97,000 survivors
on the slave market are certainly involved in this prophecy.
T h e statement following makes it clear that the subjugation
131
THE RAPTURE
132
MID- SEVENTIETH-WEEK RAPTURE
i34
MID-SEVENTIETH-WEEK RAPTURE
seeing His face? Is this not far more significant than our es
caping a few years of earthly agony through which the rest
of our generation must pass? Even if the posttribulationists
were right, could we condemn the Rapture promises of
1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, and Titus 2 as "devoid of
comfort" when they assure us that our risen Redeemer is
going to return to earth to vindicate His righteousness, to
crush the wicked, and to establish His rightful authority over
all the earth for a thousand years? A temporary period of
struggle and pain does not necessarily cancel out the j o y of
ultimate victory after the trial is over. Concerning the Lord
Jesus Himself, w e read in Hebrews 12:2, "Let us fix our eyes
on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, w h o for the
j o y set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and
sat down at the right hand of the throne of G o d . " From this
standpoint, then, the glorious vindication and triumph of our
Savior would be of immeasurable comfort to us, whether or
not we escape passing through the Tribulation. Therefore we
must discount this argument for pretribulation Rapture as of
little weight. Other considerations of a far more compelling
nature have already been cited in its favor.
138
MID - SEVENTIETH-WEEK RAPTURE
T H E R A P T U R E OF T H E C H U R C H T O O C C U R IN
T H E M I D D L E OF T H E WEEK
tuary: " A n d he will make a firm covenant with the many for
one week [i.e., a heptad of years], but in the middle of the
week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on
the wing of abominations will come one w h o makes deso
late." In other words, the Antichrist will for strategic reasons
allay apprehensions concerning his future tyranny by entering
into a solemn pact with the believing community (here re
ferred to as Ο'ϊΠΠ, "the m a n y , " a term derived from Isaiah
53:11). The pact guarantees freedom of religion for the next
seven years. But after three and a half years have elapsed, the
Antichrist will feel confident enough of his dictatorial power
to abrogate this covenant and to terminate the worship serv
ices being carried on by the believing Jewish community in
their newly rebuilt temple. At this point he involves himself
in a heinous breach of faith which is soon followed by sacri
lege. Presumably this sacrilege is the same as that foretold in
2 Thessalonians 2:4 (as discussed above), which states that he
will enthrone himself as the incarnate God right in the temple
itself. Very much like Adolph Hitler, he will attempt to coerce
all of his subjects to worship himself alone as the embodiment
of the divine upon earth.
An earlier passage, Daniel 7:25, gives more details as to
the program of the Antichrist as he attempts to remake the
world to suit himself. It reads: "He will speak against the
Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set
times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for
a time, times and half a time." This term for " t i m e , " the
Aramaic 'iddän, is used to mean "year," as in the account of
Nebuchadnezzar's madness recorded in Daniel 4:16. If the plu
ral, "times" ('iddanm) is meant to indicate t w o years, then we
have here again a mention of an interval of three and a half
years—presumably the second half of the seventieth week
(although the first half might also be a possible alternative).
Whether this indicates that the saints have been removed from
the domain of the Beast through the Rapture, or whether this
phase of this tyrannical rule will prevail during the second half
of the week, affecting the Jewish community until the Second
140
MID- SEVENTIETH-WEEK RAPTURE
141
THE RAPTURE
turned to the Lord after the Rapture) will hide from the Anti
christ's persecution by taking refuge in the desert.
142
MID- SEVENTIETH-WEEK RAPTURE
145
RESPONSE: PAUL D. FEINBERG
God's elect from the four winds after Christ's return (Matt.
2
24:31). O n the other hand, if the identification is based on
the fact that both trumpets are the last trumpet for the church,
then I think the argument is dubious. There is no question
that 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 deal with
the church. The problem relates to the seventh trumpet of
Revelation 11:15. Here you have the final trumpet in a series
of judgments. O n what ground should this trumpet be taken
as identical with the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15:52?
For the sake of argument, however, let us assume that
the trumpets mentioned in the three passages above are the
same. Would that show that a mid-seventieth-week Rapture
was correct? I do not think so. We must further show that the
seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15 comes in the middle of
the week. Robert Gundry thinks that the last of each series of
3
judgments takes one to the end of the week. Therefore, the
identification of the trumpets with one another could support
a posttribulation Rapture equally as well. In fairness to Archer,
he does not advance this argument because he thinks that there
are problems with it.
Archer does cite Revelation 12:14. Here again one finds
the occurrence of the three and a half years or 1,260 days.
However, as he notes the subject under discussion is the pro
tection of a righteous Jewish remnant from the wrath of this
satanic masterpiece. Could the Rapture of the church occur
before this flight by believing Jews? Surely. The problem again
is that there is no statement of such a fact here.
Finally, we come to Revelation 14 where Archer thinks
the Rapture is more likely to occur than anywhere else in the
book. In verses 1-5 we have 144,000 in the heavenly Zion.
Revelation 14:13 pronounces a blessing on those w h o are dead.
Archer thinks that this blessing suggests the immediacy of the
Rapture, and 14:14-20 pictures the Son of Man as prepared to
impose His righteous j u d g m e n t in the final conflict of
Armageddon.
The heart of Archer's argument rests with the identifi
cation of the 144,000 with raptured saints. He says that the
argumentation for this position is beyond the limits of his
presentation, so it is impossible to k n o w why he thinks as he
149
THE RAPTURE
158
RESPONSE: DOUGLAS J. MOO
are present. But the question that must be asked is: h o w long
before the scene depicted in Revelation 19:11-15 need the
Rapture be? Can it not be a few moments rather than three
and a half years or seven years? Archer gives no reason to
reject the posttribulational interpretation according to which
the saints w h o are raptured as Christ descends (1 Thess. 4:17)
accompany H i m back to earth (Rev. 19:11-15). Nowhere
does the text imply that these individuals have come from
heaven. And, as a matter of fact, Revelation provides positive
support for the view that they have come from the earth, since
those w h o are awarded white robes in 7:14 are those w h o have
come out of the "Great Tribulation."
The claim that a posttribulational scheme cannot explain
h o w nonglorified individuals enter the Millennium, Archer's
fifth and final objection to that view, is also made by Feinberg.
I find this argument the most difficult to handle—not only
because the argument presents a difficulty for the posttribu
lational view, but also because the relevant evidence is both
sparse and complex. Thus, I offer the following suggestions.
That the existence of natural processes, evil, and rebellion
against God in the Millennium (Rev. 20:7-10) constitutes a
difficulty for all premillennialists is suggested by Arthur Lewis's
3
attempt to refute premillennialism on this basis. H e suggests
that it is far easier to account for these factors if the Millen
nium is regarded as a description of the present age. But if,
as I think, the amillennial alternative is unacceptable because
of its inability to provide a satisfactory exegesis of Revelation
20:1-6, the problem remains a real one. However, Feinberg
and Archer maintain that their views have a signal advantage
over the posttribulational approach in handling this problem,
since their schemes allow for a period of time between the
Rapture and the Parousia during which individuals will be
converted and so enter the Millennium in natural bodies. These
people will, of course, be subject to natural processes and
some of their descendants will be unbelievers and will make
up the great army that gathers against God at the end of the
Millennium. A posttribulational scenario, it is argued on the
other hand, cannot account for the origin of these people,
since on this view, all living men are either raptured or de-
161
THE RAPTURE
the Parousia has the best support in the most directly relevant
texts.
We conclude, then, by asserting that the posttribulational
scheme can satisfactorily explain the existence of nonglorified
saints and wicked men in the Millennium. Jews converted at
the time of the Parousia would be included among the saints,
and there would be unbelievers left alive after the Battle of
8
A r m a g e d d o n . We said at the outset, and say here again, that
these options can be advanced only as suggestions. Scripture
is by no means clear on these matters and it is probably best
not to base too much on such problematic considerations—
either for or against a posttribulational position.
Having concluded that none of the arguments brought
against the posttribulational position by Archer is convincing,
we can turn our attention to the positive case for the
mid-seventieth-week position. But before doing this, some
comments on his response to the pretribulational position are
called for.
O f course, I agree with the points Archer makes against
the pretribulational view, but an implication of one of these
points for his o w n view must be spelled out. He maintains,
correctly in m y opinion, that the church must be included
among those addressed in the Olivet Discourse. But if this is
so, it becomes difficult to keep the church out of the whole
of the seventieth week. This is so because Matthew 24:15-28
clearly describes the second half of Daniel's week: the Antichrist
has set himself up in the temple, (v. 15) the greatest distress
in world history is being experienced (v. 21) and Christ's
coming is to take place suddenly (vv. 26-28). But the second
person plural ("you") continues to be used throughout these
verses. In other words, if the church must be included in the
first part of the discourse because of the second person plural
pronoun, it can hardly be excluded from the second part.
We turn, finally, to the positive points made by Archer
in favor of his position.
I can agree with Archer that it is necessary to distinguish
the wrath of man and the wrath of God during the Tribula
tion. But I do not believe that it is possible to separate the t w o
into neat temporal periods in the way Archer suggests. In-
165
THE RAPTURE
167
4
THE CASE FOR THE
POSTTRIBULATION
RAPTURE POSITION
Douglas J. Moo
Douglas J. M o o is Assistant Professor of N e w Testament at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He holds the M . Div.
degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the P h . D .
from the University of St. Andrews. H e has written The Old
Testament in the Gospel Passion Narratives and contributed articles
to Trinity Journal, Westminster Theological Journal, Journal for the
Study of the New Testament, and Journal of the Evangelical Theo
logical Society. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological
Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, the Chicago Society
for Biblical Research, and the Society of Biblical Literature.
PURPOSE, ASSUMPTIONS, A N D APPROACH
of this wrath nor is it stated that the wrath falls upon the
saints. But while Daniel is silent about the extent and objects
of this Tribulation wrath, it is significant that a related text,
Isaiah 26:20-21, specifically depicts the selective nature of God's
wrath: " C o m e , m y people, enter into your rooms, and close
your doors behind you; hide for a little while, until indigna
tion [D!?T] runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to
come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth
for their iniquity. . . . "
If this passage refers to the Tribulation, we possess clear
evidence that saints on earth are protected from the divine
wrath. Even if one argues that this situation obtains only for
Israel, it is still important to recognize that God's people can
remain on earth while escaping the wrath. O n the other hand,
this text may not relate to the Tribulation at all—in which
case the principle of selectivity in the exercise of God's wrath
remains. At the least, then, Isaiah 26:20-21 establishes the
possibility that God's people can escape divine wrath though
present during its outpouring.
We conclude that the depiction of the Tribulation in the
Old Testament includes severe persecution of saints at the in
stigation of a powerful leader along with a revelation of divine
wrath, undetermined in its extent and objects.
O f the forty-five occurrences of the noun θ λ ι ψ ι ς ("trib
ulation") in the N e w Testament, only five are probably related
to the final period of distress (Mark 13:19, 24; Matthew 24:21,
29 and Rev. 7:14), while t w o others may refer to it (Rom. 2:9
and 2 Thess. 1:6). Rather full descriptions of the Tribulation
occur in Mark 13:14-23 and parallels, 2 Thessalonians 2 : 3 - 8 ,
and in Revelation 6 - 1 6 . Before examining these passages in
order to delineate the N e w Testament concept of the Great
Tribulation, it is worth observing that the normal usage of
"tribulation" occurs in descriptions of the distresses and suf
ferings that the church experiences in the present age. If it is
held that the church is to be exempted from the Great Trib
ulation, it must be shown that there is something distinctive in
quality (not just in quantity) about that period in comparison
with the present age.
In keeping with the Old Testament evidence, there is
174
POSTTRIBULATION RAPTURE POSITION
T h e Vocabulary o f the S e c o n d A d v e n t
are exhorted to look for and to live in the light of this glorious
event. And, while some texts obviously place this coming
after the Tribulation, there are none which equally obviously
place it before the Tribulation. However, it may be that a
closer look at the contexts in which these terms occur will
reveal that there is, in fact, a pretribulational aspect to the
Second Coming. It is to these texts that we n o w turn.
179
THE RAPTURE
1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 5:1-11
is not entirely clear, and it will be best not to base too much
on the exclusion of the Tribulation from the Day.
However, while there is some indication that the Tribu
lation should not be regarded as an element of the Day, it
would seem that the resurrection of the saints is included. Five
times in John's Gospel Jesus proclaims that He will raise those
w h o believe in H i m on "the last day" (6:39, 40, 44, 55; 11:54).
And since the Rapture occurs at the same time as the resur
rection of believers, the Rapture, too, must be part of that
Day. That this is so finds confirmation in the fact that Paul
frequently describes the Day as an event to which believers in
this life look forward (1 Cor. 1:8; Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; 2 Tim.
4:8; cf. also Heb. 11:25)—it is a "day of redemption" (Eph.
4:30).
Thus in the N e w Testament, the Day includes the de
struction of the ungodly at the Parousia of Christ, along with
the Rapture and the resurrection o f the righteous dead. That
is, for Paul as for the other N e w Testament writers, the " D a y "
is "a general denotation of the great future that dawns with
28
Christ's c o m i n g . " The fact that the Tribulation seems not to
be part of that Day suggests that it precedes all these events,
but this is not certain. What is certain is that believers can
not be excluded from involvement in the events of
1 Thessalonians 5 simply because the Day of the Lord is the
topic.
In this passage, the emphasis is undoubtedly on j u d g
ment, which comes suddenly and certainly on those not ex
pecting it (v. 3). Does Paul suggest that the Thessalonian
believers may have a relationship to this judgment? If so, this
would constitute strong support for the posttribulational p o
sition because either (1) believers will be alive during the Trib
ulation (if this is the judgment Paul thinks of), or (2) believers
will be on earth when the posttribulational Parousia occurs
(if the j u d g m e n t occurs then). (The fact that people are saying
"peace and security" does not mean that the Tribulation period
cannot be indicated—such people were doing the same thing
during Old Testament calamities, and Revelation 13:16-17 in
dicates a high degree of normality for those following the
29
Beast.)
184
POSTTRIBULA TION RAPTURE POSITION
2 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 1-2
T H E OLIVET DISCOURSE
Jesus did not intend His words to apply to all the people of
God, including the church? Walvoord argues that the nature
of the question in Matthew 24 excludes a reference to the
church because the disciples were asking about the coming of
66
the millennial k i n g d o m . There are some real difficulties with
this argument, however. First, it apparendy demands that Jesus
answered a different question in Mark and Luke than H e did
in Matthew. But where is the indication in the text of such
a difference? The question relating to the temple is identical—
w o r d for word—in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Second, this
view assumes that Jesus answered the question about the de
struction of the temple and the question about the coming of
the kingdom in virtually identical discourses. Doesn't this de
gree of resemblance indicate that it is improper to separate
them in the way Walvoord suggests? Third, Walvoord claims
that the disciples asked about the coming of the millennial
k i n g d o m , which has n o relevance for the church. N o t only
is there no indication in the disciples' question or in Jesus'
answer that the millennial kingdom is the topic, but Jesus in
Matthew 28:20 promises the disciples, that as representative
of the church He will be with them "to the close of the A g e " —
and this is the same phrase used in the disciples' question in
Matthew 24:3. It is difficult to see why the Parousia of Christ
and the consummation of the age would not be relevant to
the church.
O n the other hand, there are a number of indications
which, taken together, make it clear that Jesus addressed the
disciples as representative of all believers (we do not want to
exclude Israel, but to include the church). First, the depiction
of the end-time events in Matthew 2 4 - 2 5 is clearly parallel to
the description of the Parousia found in Paul's epistles, di
rected to the church. Some of these have already been noted,
but it will be helpful to set them out in parallel columns. See
the chart on page 194.
Particular attention should be directed to the obvious par
allels between the Olivet Discourse and both 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18 (the Parousia and the Rapture) and 2 Thessalonians
2:1-12 (the Parousia and the j u d g m e n t on the wicked)—in
fact there are closer parallels to the former than to the latter.
193
THE RAPTURE
REVELATION
203
THE RAPTURE
STRUCTURE OF REVELATION
1
2
1
2
(12-13)
3
1
4 2
3
5 4
5
6 6
Vision of 14:1-5—Redeemed
Redeemed Resurrection 14:14-20—Rapture Proclamation of
(7:9-17) (11:11-12) Judgment and
Resurrection, Judgment
Salvation
7 _ PAROUSIA
' (19:11-21)
Binding of Satan
First Resurrection
Millennium
Eternal State
evil world system (chaps. 17-18); the union of God and His
saints (19:8-9); the binding of Satan (20:1-3); the first resur
rection (20:4-6). Based on this proposed structure and the
underlying exegesis, it can be observed that all these great
events are posttribulational.
ISRAEL A N D T H E C H U R C H
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POSTTRIBULA Τ JON RAPTURE POSITION
for their conduct. And the force of this appeal surely does not
depend on the "any-moment" possibility of such an encounter.
CONCLUSION
211
RESPONSE: GLEASON L. ARCHER
T H E T W O P H A S E S OF T H E P A R O U S I A
T H E P R E S E R V A T I O N OF B E L I E V E R S F R O M
THE GREAT TRIBULATION
We n o w pass on to a short discussion of another key
point in Dr. Moo's argument, the statement that the promise
218
RESPONSE: GLEASON L. ARCHER
220
RESPONSE: GLEASON L. ARCHER
221
RESPONSE: PAUL D. FEINBERG
must occur before the Day of the Lord will come: the apostasy
must come and the Man of Lawlessness must be revealed. The
point that M o o draws from this for a posttribulational Rapture
is this: Had the Thessalonians been taught a pretribulation
Rapture in the first epistle, then the most decisive answer that
Paul could have given them against their belief that they were
in the Day of the Lord would be that the Rapture had not
taken place. Yet he does not, leading us to question the truth
of a pretribulation Rapture.
I think that this passage is a difficult one for any inter
pretation. M o o says it is hard to k n o w what gave rise to their
problem relating to their belief that they were in the Day of
the Lord. Why should they be agitated and unsettled (two
very strong words) about being in the Day of the Lord, if the
Rapture was to be included in that period of time? O n e would
expect that the Thessalonians should have rejoiced that the
Rapture was nearing.
Why did not Paul calm their fears by reminding them
that the Rapture had to occur before the Day of the Lord
could have begun? There are some pretribulationists w h o be
lieve that he did. They see in the w o r d αποστασία a reference
to the Rapture. They take that w o r d to mean a departure. O n
this point I think that M o o is right in saying that such a
translation is unlikely. What about Moo's point? I think that
it is fair to say that one could wish that Paul had answered in
the way that M o o suggests. It would have settled the matter.
However, there is a more pertinent question to ask here. Is
Paul's answer a legitimate answer to the problem raised by
the Thessalonians? O n this count I think that his answer is a
good one. The Thessalonians were concerned that they were
in the Day of the Lord. Paul responds by telling them that
they are not because t w o important events had not transpired
yet. The apostasy had not come, and the Man of Lawlessness
had not been revealed. Why Paul did not cite the Rapture as
a reason is only speculation. However, it well could be that
the Holy Spirit was desirous to give new revelation rather than
just confirm old revelation.
O n e last point before I leave the Thessalonian Epistles.
It has to do with the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2:6, 7. U n -
228
RESPONSE: PAUL D. FEINBERG
231
NOTES
Chapter 1
'Helpful historical studies on .this era are increasing. See George M. Marsden,
Fundamentalism and American Culture. The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelical
ism: 1870-1925 ( N e w York: Oxford University Press, 1980); Larry Dean Pettegrew,
"The Historical and Theological Contributions o f the Niagara Bible Conference to
American Fundamentalism" ( T h . D . dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1976);
Ernest R. Sandeen, The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and American Millenarianism
1800-1930 (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1970); Timothy P. Weber, Living
in the Shadow of the Second Coming: American Premillennialism, 1875-1925 (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1979). Additional material for this essay comes
from m y o w n uncompleted manuscript on the Niagara Bible Conference intended
for a P h . D . dissertation at N e w York University.
2
D e n n i s L. Reiter, "Historicism and Futurism in Historic Premillennialism:
1 8 7 8 - 1 9 7 5 " ( M . A . thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1975). T h e gratitude
I o w e m y brother Dennis for his help in organizing and evaluating this essay far
exceeds mere mention in a note.
3
Sandeen, Roots of Fundamentalism, 2 7 6 - 7 7 .
4
Nathaniel West, "Introduction," Premillennial Essays of the Prophetic Conference
Held in the Church of the Holy Trinity, New York City, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 1878, ed.
Nathaniel West (Chicago: Revell, 1879), 8.
5
Daniel Payton Fuller, "The Hermeneutics o f Dispensationalism" ( T h . D . dis
sertation, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1957), 92; C. N o r m a n Kraus,
Dispensationalism in America: Its Rise and Development (Richmond, Va.: K n o x , 1958),
8 9 - 9 1 ; Sandeen, Roots of Fundamentalism, 1 5 0 - 5 1 , 158. Niagara leaders certainly
studied Brethren literature, but m y evidence accords with the v i e w o f Charles
Caldwell Ryrie (Dispensationalism Today [Chicago: M o o d y , 1965], 8 1 - 8 2 ) . Ryrie
summarizes the distinctives of dispensational theology as (1) a clear distinction
between Israel and the church, (2) consistent literal Bible interpretation, and (3) the
glory o f God worked out in several different ways as the unifying principle o f the
Bible (ibid., pp. 211-12).
6
West, "Introduction," 8. The resolutions committee was listed, with Lord at
the top, in "The Prophetic Conference at the Church o f the Holy Trinity, N e w
York. Closing Session," The Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times 13 (January
16, 1879):205, and James H . Brookes, "Prophetic Conference in N e w York," The
233
NOTES
Truth 5 (1879): 29-30. The previous year Lord had written The Blessed Hope: or,
The Glorious Coming of the Lord (Chicago: W. G. Holmes, 1877). For a study o f
Lord and the generation o f historic premillennialists w h o preceded the Niagara era
see Robert Kieran Whalen, "Millenarianism and Millennialism in America,
1 7 9 0 - 1 8 8 0 " (Ph.D. dissertation, State University o f N e w York at Stony Brook,
1972).
'Stanley N . Gundry, Love Them In: The Proclamation Theology ofD. L. Moody
(Chicago: M o o d y , 1976), 188.
8
Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, 3 vols. ( N e w York: Scribner, A r m
strong, 1872-1873)2:373-77.
9
B . B . Leacock, " A n y - M o m e n t Theory," The Episcopal Recorder 70 (January
12, 1 8 9 3 ) : l - 2 .
10
A d o n i r a m J . Gordon, Ecce Venit: Behold He Cometh ( N e w York: Revell, 1889),
29, 33.
11
I b i d . , 2 3 - 2 4 , 66; cf. vii, where he says both historicists and futurists hold to
imminency.
"Samuel H. Kellogg, "Christ's C o m i n g — I s It Premillennial?" in Premillennial
Essays, 57.
"William J. Erdman, The Parousia of Christ a Period of Time; or, When Will the
Church be Translated? (Chicago: Gospel Publishing House, n.d.), 126. Probably
written between 1886 and 1895.
"Reiter, "Historicism and Futurism," 1 2 4 - 2 6 .
"Scriptural Truth About the Lord's Return ( N e w York: Revell, 1922), 146. But
the date of 1884 given by Cameron on p. 145 is in error. Fuller and Sandeen missed
this fact, but they were corrected by Pettegrew, "Niagara Bible Conference," 176.
Pettegrew then erred himself by saying West was already a posttribulationist by
1880, as s h o w n by The Thousand Years. But Cameron's earlier recollection, which
placed the time o f West's change to posttribulationism between 1880 and 1883, is
preferred for several reasons. See [Robert Cameron], " 'Three Mighty M e n , ' "
Watchword and Truth 36 (April 1914):104.
1 6
A congregational dispute happened in 1886 and 1887 w h e n West was a pastor
in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is found in the Presbytery and Synod records for that
region. See also a letter from Samuel Huston T h o m p s o n to Woodrow Wilson,
February 7, 1910 (The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, ed. by Arthur S. Link [Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1975] 20:84), and a later postmillennial assessment o f
West's polemical attitude in James H. S n o w d o n , The Coming of the Lord; Will It Be
Premillennial? 2nd ed., rev. ( N e w York: Macmillan, 1919), 11-12, 186, 212, 225-26,
253, 256.
"(Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1889; reprint ed., Fincastle, Va.: Scripture Truth,
n.d.). In a foreword to the reprint edition, Wilbur M . Smith evaluated this as "a
very difficult work to read, and at the same time, in many w a y s , the most learned
work on this aspect o f Biblical prophecy ever to appear in the English language,
i.e., on the subject o f the Millennium and the symbolic significance of Biblical
numbers" (viii). Many bibliographies have erred in giving the date as 1880, perhaps
because o f a broken font in the verso o f the title page, which made it easy to misread
the "9" as "0" in the copyright notice. But 1889 is clearly printed at the end of the
author's preface on page χ vi and in the text dates between 1880 and 1889 appear on
pages 146n, 169n, 173n, 192, 268η, 382η, 395η, 444n, 445n, 446n twice, and 447n.
18
I b i d . , 1 - 3 4 , 3 9 - 4 7 . I difTer with H. Philip H o o k ("The Doctrine of the
K i n g d o m in Covenant Premillennialism" [ T h . D . dissertation, Dallas Theological
Seminary, 1959], 10, 52, 54, 6 4 - 6 5 , 81, 85, 146, 1 9 4 - 9 5 , 200, 2 0 3 - 4 , 222, 2 2 6 - 2 8 )
w h o called West a covenant premillenarian. O n Heilsgeschichte see Ronald B. Allen,
234
NOTES
"The Theology of the Balaam Oracles," in Tradition and Testament: Essays in Honor
of Charles Lee Feinberg, ed. John S. Feinberg and Paul D . Feinberg (Chicago: Moody,
1981), 8 3 - 1 0 5 , especially 111, n. 9; 116, n. 40; and 117, n. 56.
19
[ T . B . Ashton], "Encouraging," a letter to Watchword and Truth 36 (October
1914):279. West taught at M o o d y sometime between the summer o f 1889 and N o
vember 1891, according to R. A. Torrey, " H o m e Life," The Institute Tie 1 ( D e c e m
ber 8, 1891):19. Thomas Bert Ashton attended M o o d y from January 1891 to February
1892 according to the Records Office, M o o d y Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois.
20
Biblical theology was the focus in "Jesus Christ on the ' A n y - M o m e n t ' T h e
ory," The Episcopal Recorder 71 (June 29. 1893): 1 - 3 ; and "The Apostle Paul and
the 'Any-Moment' Theory," ibid., 71 (March 30, 1893):4, 10; and (May 4, 1893):2-3,
1 4 - 1 5 ; reprint ed. The Apostle Paul and the "Any-Moment" Theory (Philadelphia:
James M. Armstrong, 1893). Historical theology ranged from "Professor J. C. K.
von Hofmann on the 'Any-Moment' Theory," ibid., 71 (February 2, 1893):3-4 to
"Cyrill of Jerusalem on the 'Any-Moment' Theory," ibid., 71 (February 9, 1893):1-
2. For all concerned a theory was an intellectual scheme (with the negative con
notations of scheme) or pattern into which the Scriptures were forced to fit. In the
thinking of the Bible conference teachers it was contrasted with the common-sense
meaning of the Word of G o d , so it was always a label used of one's opponents in
debate. For the pervasive influence of common-sense philosophy, see Marsden,
Fundamentalism and American Culture, 55-62, 212-21.
2 1
The Apostle Paul and the 'Any-Moment' Theory, 24; cf. 3, 12, 2 2 - 2 7 .
"Ibid., 14; cf. 12, 2 2 - 2 4 .
23
I b i d . , 2 6 - 2 7 ; cf. 2 8 - 3 1 .
"Ibid., 9.
"Ibid., 31.
26
" W h o Shall B e Caught U p , " The Truth 20 (April 1894):204-7. There is no
question mark at the end o f the article's title. West replied directly in "The Church
and the Tribulation," The Episcopal Recorder 72 (May 10, 1894):2-3.
"The Truth 21 (1895):45-51, 9 3 - 1 0 1 , 1 4 8 - 5 4 , 2 0 6 - 1 3 , 2 7 5 - 8 1 , 3 3 8 - 4 1 .
28
I b i d . , 45.
29
I b i d . , 4 6 - 4 8 , 9 4 - 9 6 , 2 0 9 - 1 0 , 339.
30
I b i d . , 280; cf. 2 7 5 - 7 7 .
"Ibid., 2 0 7 - 1 3 , 2 7 7 - 8 1 .
32
Ibid., 93-94, 150-51.
33
I b i d . , 340.
34
Ibid., 47-50.
35
[ " N o t e " ] , The Watchword 10 (June 1888):73.
36
" T h e Parousia," Our Hope 2 (March and April 1896):213; cited from Ecce
Venit, 211; cf. 246.
"Maranatha; or, Behold He Cometh ( N e w York: Revell, 1889 reprint o f 1870
ed.), 1 8 - 1 9 .
38
"Important N o t i c e , " The Truth 21 (October 1895):463.
3,
G u n d r y , Love Them In, 1 8 9 - 9 3 , 220; D . L. M o o d y , "Letter," Prophetic
Studies of the International Prophetic Conference, Chicago, November, 1886, ed. by
George C. Needham (Chicago: Revell, 1886), 41.
4
°"When Did the Stone Strike? Dan. ii. 3 4 , 3 5 , " The Truth 21 (1895):175-76.
Cf. Lord, The Blessed Hope, 89-90.
4 1
"Discrediting the Second Advent," The Truth 21 (1895):166-71; ibid., The
Watchword 17 (June 1895):72-75.
42
" T h e Turkish Crisis," Our Hope 2 (March and April 1896):223-27.
"""Our Lord's Second C o m i n g , A Motive to World-Wide Evangelism," in
235
NOTES
236
NOTES
"Gaebelein, History of the Scofield Reference Bible, 44.
""Editorial N o t e s , " Our Hope 7 (May 1901):381-82 (first quote); "Editorial
N o t e s , " Our Hope 7 (July 1900):1 (second quote). Similar remarks to the second
quote were the climax of Gaebelein's initial Sea Cliff address ("Sea Cliff Bible
Conference Addresses," Our Hope 8 [September 1901]:96). This was the result of
Gaebelein's "new commission" . . . to disseminate especially prophetic truths"
which came early in 1899 (Half a Century, 81. Cf. 7 5 - 8 5 ) . The third quote is from
"The Post-Tribulation Theory," Our Hope 7 (February 1901):262. Erdman was
speaking at a number of spiritual life conferences of the Keswick type that mini
mized eschatological issues.
" N o r m a n F. D o u t y , The Great Tribulation Debate: Has Christ's Return Two
Stages? (Harrison, Ark.: Gibbs Press, 1978), 8 - 9 ; Scofield Reference Bible, ed. C. I.
Scofield ( N e w York: Oxford University Press, 1909), title page, p. [iv]; Ladd, The
Blessed Hope, 44, 4 8 - 5 2 .
" D o u t y , Ibid., 9. The source is otherwise undocumented, but the author knew
Scofield personally.
56
J . Barton Payne, The Imminent Appearing of Christ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1962), 3 4 - 3 5 .
57
I a n S. Rennie, "Nineteenth Century Roots," 59.
58
( L o n d o n : Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1937; reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Grand
Rapids International Publications, 1975), xii, x v , xvi, 1 1 3 - 1 5 , 130, 146, 2 2 8 - 2 9 ,
239, 2 4 3 - 4 4 , 2 6 6 - 7 4 . Gerald B . Stanton regarded Reese "as the leading spokesman
for the posttribulational cause" because his w o r k was "no doubt the most v o l u
minous and important posttribulational w o r k to date" (Kept From the Hour: A
Systematic Study of the Rapture in Biblical Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1956),
23.
59
Sandeen, Roots of Fundamentalism, 216, 221; R. A . Torrey, "Montrose (Pa.)
Bible Conference," The Institute Tie 11 (October 1908):149-50; W. J. Erdman, "An
Analysis o f the Apocalypse," The Christian Worker's Magazine 13 (August
1908):767-68. Fuller ("Hermeneutics o f Dispensationalism," 117-18) showed h o w
Scofield adapted Erdman's outline for his notes on the B o o k o f the Revelation,
changing it from a posttribulation to a pretribulation view.
60
[ R o b e r t Cameron], "Another Witness," Watchword & Truth 35 (January
1913):2.
M
" D r . Erdman's Queries," The Truth 21 (1895):300; "The N e w H o p e , " Serv
ing & Waiting 3 (January 1914):310.
"Robert Cameron, "Notes by the Way," Watchword & Truth 35 (December
1913):337. In Fundamentalism and American Culture Marsden showed that premillen-
arians engaged in heated controversy with holiness advocates (pp. 94-95, 99-101)
and liberal social gospel promoters (p. 91-93, 104-8, 116-23) during this era.
" E d w a r d Pay son Vining, "Notes by the Way," Watchword & Truth 35 (Feb
ruary 1913):35; cf. 34.
6 4
" N o t e s by the Way," Watchword & Truth 37 (January 1915): 1.
65
The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth 11 (1915?):95; cf. 9 6 - 9 9 .
66
W . B . Riley, "When Will the Lord Come?" in Christ and Glory, ed. by
Arno C. Gaebelein ( N e w York: Publication Office "Our H o p e , " 1918), 239;
Charles Gallaudet Trumbull and others, " H o w I Became a Premillennialist: S y m
posium," in The Coming and Kingdom of Christ (Chicago: Bible Institute Colportage
Association, 1914), 6 5 - 7 9 .
"Watchword & Truth, passim from 1912 to 1922.
6 8
C . L. Heskett, "The C o m i n g o f the Lord As In the Thessalonian Epistles,"
Watchword & Truth 38 (December 1916):301-2.
237
NOTES
69
[ R o b e r t Cameron], "Our Critics," Watchword & Truth 37 (June-July 1915):
163.
70
" T h e C.I.M. in North America," ibid. (August 1915):202; Robert Cameron,
"Our Editorial Combination," ibid. (October 1915):270—71, quote from p. 271.
7 1
M . A. Matthews, "Christ's Second C o m i n g the H o p e o f the World," ibid.,
38 (March 1916):74-77; quote from M. A. Matthews, "The Church Vs. the Trib
ulation" Watchword & Truth 39 (June 1917):438.
7 2
D w i g h t Wilson, Armageddon Now! The Premillenarian Response to Russia and
Israel Since 1917 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977), passim.
"Robert Cameron, "Notes by the Way," Watchword & Truth 40 (January
1918):8.
74
D a n i e l P. Fuller, Give the Winds a Mighty Voice. The Story oj Charles E. Fuller
(Waco: Word, 1972), 64.
7s
W i l l i a m Dryness, "The A g e of Aquarius," in Dreams, Visions, and Oracles,
1 6 - 1 7 ; Bernard Ramm, The Devil, Seven Wormwoods, and God (Waco: Word, 1977),
120-21 in the context o f 1 0 5 - 2 4 ; Wilson, Armageddon Now! 2 1 5 - 1 8 .
76
Charles R. Erdman, "The C o m i n g o f Christ," 9 8 - 9 9 ; Weber, Living in the
Shadow, 6 5 - 8 1 ; Edwin L. Frizen, Jr., "An Historical Study o f the Interdenomina
tional Foreign Mission Association in Relation to Evangelical U n i t y and Cooper
ation" (D.Miss, dissertation, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1981), 3 - 4 , 74,
250 quoting the IFMA Confession of Faith. Henry W. Frost elaborated his posttrib-
ulationist dispensationalism in Matthew 24 and the Revelation ( N e w York: Oxford,
1924) and The Second Coming of Christ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1934). Roland
Victor Bingham explained his change o f conviction from pretribulationism to post
tribulationism in Matthew the Publican and His Gospel (Toronto: Evangelical Pub
lishers, n.d.). As a young man Bingham "became infatuated with prophetic study.
Had I been warned against systems o f prophetic interpretation and directed to the
text o f Scripture itself, I should have been saved much" (p. 11). This comment is
typical o f many w h o change v i e w s on eschatology. The w o r d system is used sim
ilarly to theory in note 20.
"Frank L. Chapell, "The Holy Spirit in Relation to Our Lord's Return," in
Prophetic Studies . . . 1886, 24; I. M. Haldeman, The Coming of Christ Both Premil
lennial and Imminent ( N e w York: Charles C. C o o k , 1906); Albert Lindsay, "The
T w o Phases o f Christ's Return, the Parousia and the Epiphany," in The Sure Word
of Prophecy, ed. John W. Bradbury ( N e w York: Revell [1942], 2 6 8 - 7 2 ; W. H . R o g
ers, "The Second C o m i n g of Christ," in Prophetic Messages for Modern Times by
Speakers at the Colonial Hills Bible Conference Conducted in the Colonial Hills Baptist
Church, Atlanta, Georgia: March 19-26, 1944, ed. Robert J. Wells (Dallas: Texas
Printing, n.d.), 106, cf. 107. Ironically Charles L. Feinberg, w h o led pretribula-
tionist interpreters to discard this view, also spoke at the Colonial Hills Bible
Conference.
78
Charles Feinberg, Premillennialism or Amillennialism? (Grand Rapids: Zonder
van, 1936), 2 0 5 - 8 ; John F. Walvoord, " N e w Testament Words for the Lord's C o m
ing" Bibliotheca Sacra 101 (July-September 1944):283-89; Keith L. Brooks, popular
Bible teacher and former editor o f The King's Business magazine, sensed the turning
from the distinction based on the use of terms: "We are fully aware o f the discussion
that has been going on over the Greek words 'parousia' (personal presence) and
'apokalupsis' (unveiling or revelation). Perhaps s o m e excellent teachers have been
mistaken in saying that the 'parousia' always indicates the moment w h e n He comes
for His saints and that 'apokalupsis' is used only for the moment w h e n He comes
in power and authority" (Appendix, The Rapture: Our Lord's Coming for His Church
[Los Angeles: American Prophetic League, 1940], 35).
238
NOTES
" G e o r g e C. and Elizabeth A. Needham, Looking Forward: 1—Will Jesus Come?
2—After the Advent. 3—The New Earth (3 vols in 1., Narbeth [Philadelphia], Pa.:
Albert W. Needham, n.d.) 1:62.
80
Clarence E. Mason, "The D a y o f Our Lord Jesus Christ," Bibliotheca Sacra
125 ( O c t o b e r - D e c e m b e r 1968):359.
8 1
N o r m a n F. Harrison, The End: Rethinking the Revelation (Minneapolis: The
Harrison Service, 1941) as cited in Millard J. Erickson, Contemporary Options in
Eschatology. A Study of the Millennium (Grand Rapids: Baker B o o k House, 1977),
168. T w o noted pretribulationist authors, Herman A. Hoyt (The End Times [Chi
cago: M o o d y , 1969], 8 2 - 8 3 ) and John F. Walvoord (The Rapture Question [Findlay,
Ohio: D u n h a m , 1957], 171-72) admit Harrison would prefer to be regarded as a
pretribulationist; they term him a midtribulationist.
82
New Light on the Rapture ( N e w York: Bible Light, 1980), 8.
8 3
E . Schuyler English, "Re-Thinking the Rapture," Our Hope 56 (May
1950):650-66, followed by replies of others in "Let the Prophets Speak . . . ," Our
Hope 56 (July 1950):717-32 and many "Letters" in Owr Hope 57 (July 1950 through
March 1951), passim. The book form was Re-Thinking the Rapture (Traveler's Rest,
S. C : Southern Bible, 1951).
84
A l l a n A. MacRae, " N e w Light on the Second Chapter of Second Thessalo
nians," The Bible Today 43 (April 1950):201-10; Kenneth S. Wuest, "The R a p t u r e -
Precisely When?" Bibliotheca Sacra 114 (January 1957):64-67. N o t e that MacRae's
article actually preceded English's in print, for it was a reply to a letter received
from English.
85
J. S. Mabie, "Will the Church B e in the Tribulation—The Great One?" Morn
ing Star 5 (November 1898): 1 2 3 - 2 4 . Other Evangelicals w h o have adopted or de
fended this interpretation more recently are some faculty of the Grand Rapids Baptist
College and Seminary in Leon J. Wood, Is the Rapture Next? (Grand Rapids: Z o n
dervan, 1956), 64; Gordon R. Lewis o f Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary,
Denver, in "Biblical Evidence for Pretribulationism," Bibliotheca Sacra 125
(July-September 1968):217-19; and James M o n t g o m e r y Boice o f Philadelphia in
The Last and Future World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan: 1974), 4 2 - 4 3 .
86
P a u l J. Oskarson, "A History o f the Doctrinal Emphasis o f the Evangelical
Free Church o f America from 1930 to 1950" ( B . D . thesis, Trinity Theological
Seminary, 1956), 62 (quoted), 7 3 - 7 4 . The Evangelical Free Church o f America
seems typical o f many small N o r t h American evangelical denominations in its con
cern for premillennial doctrine. It is used here because o f (1) recent focus o n the
Rapture issue, (2) professors at its seminary wrote the other essays in this book,
and (3) its historical materials document the issue quite well.
8 7
N o r m a n F. D o u t y , The Great Tribulation Debate. Has Christ's Return Two
Stages? (rev. ed., Harrison, Ark.: Gibbs, 1976), 134. It was formerly titled Has
Christ's Return Two Stages? (1956).
88
I b i d . , 1 3 5 - 3 7 . For similar sentiments calling for moderation see Ladd, The
Blessed Hope, 1 3 - 1 4 , 5 8 - 6 0 , 1 6 0 - 6 1 ; Payne, The Imminent Appearing of Christ,
1962), 168-69; Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today, 1965, 2 0 6 - 1 2 .
89
Wilbur M. Smith, "Preface" to Crucial Questions About the Kingdom of God
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952), 1 0 - 1 2 .
90
G e o r g e Eldon Ladd, Crucial Questions, 1 3 8 - 4 1 ; cf. 97.
91
The Greatness of the Kingdom (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959).
92
The Basis of the Premillennial Faith ( N e w York: Loizeaux, 1953), 70, 144
quoted; cf. 69.
93
I b i d . , 11, 139.
94
Walvoord, The Rapture Question, 50.
239
NOTES
95
I b i d . , 148; cf. Ladd, The Blessed Hope, 88, 1 6 5 - 6 7 .
^ W a l v o o r d , The Rapture Question (rev. e d . , Findlay, Ohio: D u n h a m , 1957),
148. N o revision w a s indicated by publisher.
97
L a d d , The Blessed Hope, 1 0 3 - 4 and 1 6 4 - 6 5 quoted.
98
W a l v o o r d , The Rapture Question, 55.
"Kept From the Hour: A Systematic Study of the Rapture in Bible Prophecy (Grand
Rapids: Z o n d e r v a n , 1957), 4, 3 0 - 3 2 , 43 quoted.
10o
J . D . P e n t e c o s t , " R e v i e w o f Kept From the Hour b y Gerald B . Stanton,"
Bibliotheca Sacra 1 1 4 (July 1957):265.
101
R i c h a r d M a r t i n Walston, "A Survey o f the Contemporary V i e w s o f the
Evangelical Free C h u r c h o f America on the Second C o m i n g o f Christ and the
A c c o m p a n y i n g E v e n t s " ( B . D . thesis, Trinity Theological Seminary, 1958), 9 1 - 9 4 .
1 0 2
P a y n e , Imminent Appearing, 105.
103
I b i d . , 3 9 - 4 0 , 1 5 7 - 5 9 , quote from 4 2 .
^Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy: The Complete Guide to Scriptural Predictions
and Their Fulfillment ( N e w York: Harper & R o w , 1973).
1 0 5
J . O l i v e r B u s w e l l , Jr., A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, 2 vols.
(Grand Rapids: Z o n d e r v a n , 1 9 6 2 - 6 3 ) 2:390, 4 5 8 - 5 9 .
1 0 6
R y r i e , Dispensationalism Today, 1 5 8 - 6 1 , quote from 1 5 9 - 6 0 .
1 0 7
R o b e r t H . G u n d r y , The Church and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Z o n d e r
van, 1973). 9 - 1 0 q u o t e d , 29 quoted.
, 0 8
Ibid., 37 quoted.
1 0 ,
J o h n A . S p r o u l e , In Defense of Pretribulationism (rev. e d . , Winona Lake, Ind.:
Β Μ Η B o o k s , 1 9 8 0 ) , 10. A t the present time Sproule's 1981 T h . D . dissertation,
"An Exegetical D e f e n s e o f Pretribulationism," is awaiting publication. I a m pleased
Sproule c o r r e s p o n d e d w i t h Gundry following the first printing o f his critical re
v i e w . T h e revised edition s h o w e d s o m e changes in b o t h content and t o n e . C o m p a r e
6 - 7 , 1974 e d . , w i t h 1 2 - 1 3 , 1980 ed.; and 12, 1974 e d . , w i t h 16, 1 9 8 0 e d . This
interaction clarified Sproule's thought and corrected misunderstandings i n several
places (p. 8). Perhaps it w o u l d b e h o o v e m o r e authors engaged in such criticism to
follow suit; I think t h e process strengthened Sproule's w o r k .
110
I b i d . , 43, 4 7 , 52 quoted.
1 1 1
The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation, 7 - 9 , quote from 9.
1 1 2
Ibid., 151-58.
1 1 3
I b i d . , 1 6 6 - 6 7 , q u o t e from 166. T h e four pretribulational premises outlined
o n p p . 1 5 9 - 6 0 d o n o t s e e m t o b e exclusive t o pretribulationists (as W a l v o o r d b e
lieves) if o n e c o n s i d e r s s u c h scholars mentioned in this essay as Robert C a m e r o n ,
W. J. E r d m a n , H e n r y W. Frost, and Nathaniel West. T h e premises are probably
what Walvoord m e a n s w h e n h e says, "Pretribulationism . . . is actually t h e k e y to
an eschatological s y s t e m . " Granted this is his meaning, it w o u l d have h e l p e d if he
had constructed t h e material q u o t e d s o that it did n o t appear t o b e circular reasoning.
U 4
I recall that Richard Carlson asked the question. T h e replies w e r e b y Paul
Feinberg, G l e a s o n A r c h e r , and D o u g l a s M o o in a panel discussion o n January 12,
1981, titled "Tribulation: pre-, m i d - , or post-?" (Rolfing M e m o r i a l Library tape C -
754, Trinity E v a n g e l i c a l D i v i n i t y School, Deerfield, Illinois). Cf. A l l e n Beechick,
The Pretribulation Rapture ( D e n v e r : Accent, 1981): 2 5 3 .
' " A n d r e w E . J o h n s o n , Our Blessed Hope (Vernon Hills, 111.: b y t h e author,
1980). A s a Trinity b o a r d m e m b e r in 1963, J o h n s o n objected to recruiting seminary
faculty w h o d i d n o t interpret E F C A doctrinal statement "in t e r m s o f a
Pre-tribulational R a p t u r e " (Calvin B . H a n s o n , The Trinity Story, H e r i t a g e Series
N o . 6. [ M i n n e a p o l i s : Free C h u r c h Press, 1983], 108).
1 1 6
A r n o l d T . O l s o n , " A Perspective From the Retiring President's V i e w p o i n t , "
240
NOTES
The Evangelical Beacon 50 (October 12, 1976):10; Arnold Theodore Olson, The
Significance of Silence, Heritage Series N o . 2 (Minneapolis: Free Church Press, 1981),
201.
117
A r n o l d T. O l s o n , This We Believe (Minneapolis: Free Church Press, 1961),
328.
118
Payne, i j t
mm nen Appearing; a short popular presentation was J. Barton Payne,
"Jesus is C o m i n g Again: Pastttibulationism," in When is Jesus Coming Again?
(Wheaton, 111.: Creation House, 1974).
119
E d w a r d Kersten, "Ethical Problem?" a letter to The Evangelical Beacon 54
(March 15, 1981):19.
120
C f . notes 101, 115 above; Hanson, The Trinity Story, 108-9.
, 2
' D a v i d J. Hesselgrave, "A Subtle Shift?" a letter to The Evangelical Beacon 54
(March 15, 1981):19. Limited space prevented me from elaborating on missions and
other practical concerns related to the time o f the Rapture. Ample material exists
for extended historical study o f this area.
122
S c o f i e l d , "Dr. Erdman's Queries," 300; Ladd, The Blessed Hope, 1 4 6 - 5 2 .
T h e irony o f these accusations within premillennialism is evident to those aware o f
the 1878 prophetic conference. B y spontaneous standing vote the attenders resolved
"that the doctrine o f our Lord's pre-millennial advent, instead o f paralyzing evan
gelistic and missionary effort [as the postmillennialists contended] is one o f the
mightiest incentives to earnestness in preaching the Gospel to every creature, until
H e comes" (West, "Introduction," 9). In this essay I have concentrated on the
behavior o f premillennialists, not their motivations.
1 2 3
0 1 s o n , The Significance of Silence, 1 3 - 1 8 , 2 0 1 - 2 . According to EFCA pres
ident Thomas A . McDill, in a conversation with me on June 11, 1982, within the
past five years the E F C A Committee on Ministerial Standing issued a letter advising
ordination committees to allow candidates for ordination latitude o f meaning re
garding the term imminent in the statement o f faith. This recognizes the diversity
o f v i e w s Free Church ministers have held on eschatology, as s h o w n by Walston,
"A Survey . . . on the Second C o m i n g , " 9 1 - 9 4 .
124
R e n n i e , "Nineteenth Century Roots," 59.
125
R o b e r t D . Culver, "The Difficulty o f Interpreting Old Testament Proph
e c y , " Bibliotheca Sacra 114 (July 1957):205.
Chapter 2
241
NOTES
Coming Again? Ha) Lindsey and others (Carol Stream, 111.: Creation House, 1974),
72-73.
'Ladd, The Blessed Hope, 120.
e
G u n d r y , The Church, 97.
9
J. Oliver Buswell, Jr., A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1962), 2:389.
10
W a l v o o r d , Rapture Question, 69.
" L e o n J. Wood, Is the Rapture Next? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1956), 20.
12
G u n d r y , The Church, 4 4 - 4 5 .
1 3
H . C . Hahn, "Anger," in The New International Dictionary of New Testament
Theology, ed., Colin B r o w n (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 1:110.
l 4
G . Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,
10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 5:430, s.v. " ο ρ γ ή . "
15
Z a n e C. Hodges, "The Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 5 : 1 - 1 1 , " in Walvoord: A
Tribute, ed. Donald K. Campbell (Chicago: M o o d y , 1982), 6 8 - 7 0 . T h e wrath s p o
ken o f in 1 Thessalonians is eschatological, particularly concerned with the D a y o f
the Lord.
16
I b i d . , p. 70. See also Robert L. T h o m a s , "1 Thessalonians" in The Expositor's
Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978),
11:280-81.
" H o d g e s , "The Rapture," 7 0 - 7 4 .
«Ibid., 74-78.
19
P a y n e , Jesus Is Coming, 7 0 - 2 2 . Payne's rejection o f futurist v i e w s o f the
Olivet Discourse and Revelation make his position a minority v i e w .
20
L a d d , The Blessed Hope, 8 4 - 8 5 .
21
G u n d r y , The Church, 46.
" I b i d . , 47, 51.
^Ibid., 7 6 - 7 7 .
"Ibid., 46-47.
" I b i d . , chap 6.
" I b i d . , 63.
" I b i d . , 47.
" B u s w e l l , A Systematic Theology, 2 : 3 8 8 - 8 9 .
29
I b i d . , 389.
3 0
S e e Walvoord, Rapture Question, chaps. 3 , 5; Wood, chap. 1; Pentecost,
chap. 13; Charles L. Feinberg, Millennial ism: The Two Major Views (Chicago: M o o d y ,
1980), chaps. 10, 17.
3 ,
N i g e l Turner, in A Grammar of New Testament Greek (Edinburgh: Τ. & T.
Clark, 1963), 3:72; or Maximillian Zerwick, Biblical Greek (Rome: Scripta Pontificii
Instituti Biblici, 1963), 8 2 - 8 3 .
"Turner, A Grammar, 7 1 - 7 2 ; or Z e r w i c k , Biblical Greek, 8 1 - 8 2 .
" Z e r w i c k , Biblical Greek, 8 4 - 8 5 .
34
G u n d r y , The Church, 76.
3 5
A l v a J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1959), 465.
36
P e n t e c o s t , Things to Come, 2 3 0 - 3 1 ; or Charles C. Ryrie, The Bible and To
morrow's News (Wheaton: Victor, 1969), 143.
37
G u n d r y , The Church, 8 9 - 9 3 , 95.
38
Ibid., 94-95.
3 9
A number o f posttribulationists do in fact argue this: Ladd, The Blessed Hope,
8 4 - 8 5 , 120; or Gundry, 5 0 - 5 2 .
242
NOTES
40
Jeffery L. Townsend, "The Rapture in Revelation 3:10," Bibliotheca Sacra
137:252-66.
41
G u n d r y , The Church, 54.
42
T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," 253.
43
Turner, A Grammar; or Zerwick, Biblical Greek.
"Alexander Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ: An Examination of the
Teaching of J. N. Darby and His Followers (London: Marshall, Morgan, & Scott,
1937), 205.
45
G u n d r y , The Church, 59.
'''Townsend, "The Rapture," 254.
47
H e n r y George Liddell and Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), 4 9 8 - 9 9 . The example is from The Iliad 2.14.130.
T w o other examples are "out o f the s m o k e , " H o m e r The Odyssey 2.19.7; and "stood
aside," Herodotus 2.3.83.
""Gundry, The Church, 59.
49
T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," 254.
'"Compare also Ps. 12:8 ( L X X , 11:7). Here διατηρέω is used with ά π ό . Thus,
even in the L X X έκ is capable o f the idea o f separation usual in ά π ό . See also these
uses o f έκ with έκκλίνω in Prov. 1:5 and with ά ν έ χ ω in A m o s 4:7.
51
T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," 2 5 4 - 5 5 .
" S e e Josephus, JeiWi/i Antiquities 4.2.1. and φύομαι έκ in 12.10.5 and 13.6.3.
53
Tov<tvsend, "The Raptute," 25S.
5 4
A . T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of His
torical Research, 4th ed. ( N e w York: Doran, 1923), 598.
55
J . B. Smith, A Revelation of Jesus Christ: A Commentary on the Book of Reve
lation, ed J. Otis Yoder (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961), 3 3 1 - 3 3 . This is one of
the best treatments o f the Revelation from a pretribulation perspective. The ap
pendices are excellent.
" T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," 2 5 6 - 5 7 .
"Ibid., 257.
58
Kittel and Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 8:142,
s. v. "τηρέω." by Harald Riesenfeld, 8:142.
59
I n m y judgment some have not done this, and have conflated the ideas in the
t w o petitions and consequently the t w o uses o f the preposition (cf. Ladd, The
Blessed Hope, 85).
60
T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," 258.
" T h e Greek τ ο ΰ π ο ν η ρ ο ϋ may be either masculine or neuter; it is most likely
masculine and a reference to Satan. This is characteristic o f John (e.g., John 12:31;
14:30; 16:11; 1 John 2:13-14; 3:12; 5:18-19).
6 2
M a n y examples could be cited. T w o are Walvoord, Rapture Question, p. 70;
and Charles C. Ryrie, "The Church and the Tribulation: A Review" Bibliotheca Sacra
131:173-79.
63
T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," p. 258.
64
Ibid.
«Ibid.
« I b i d . , 259.
67
Ibid.
68
Ibid.
69
H e n r y C. Thiessen, "Will the Church Pass Through the Tribulation?" Bib
liotheca Sacra 9 2 : 4 5 - 5 0 .
70
C h a r l e s C. Ryrie, A Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: M o o d y , 1972), 170.
243
Ν
-iundry, "The Church," 60.
•'Townsend, "The Rapture," 261. See also George Johnston, "οικουμένη and
νμος in the N T " New Testament Studies 10:352-60.
" G u n d r y , 60.
74
K i t t e l and Friedrich eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 9:677,
s. v. "ώρα."
" G u n d r y , The Church, 60.
76
T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," 2 6 0 - 6 1 .
77
K i t t e l and Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 6:23,
s. v. "πείρα, κ.τ.λ."
78
S c h u y l e r B r o w n , " 'The Hour o f Trial' (Rev. 3:10)," JBL 85:309.
7 9
R . H . Charles, Revelation, in the International Critical Commentary 7:289.
80
T o w n s e n d , "The Rapture," 2 6 1 - 6 2 .
81
W a l v o o r d , Rapture Question, 9 2 - 9 5 ; Walvoord, Blessed Hope, 53; or Allen
Beechick, The Pretribulation Rapture (Denver: Accent B o o k s , 1980), 3 9 - 5 7 .
82
W i l l i a m E. Bell, A Critical Evaluation of the Pretribulation Rapture Doctrine in
Christian Eschatology (Ph. D . dissertation, N Y U , 1967), 2 4 7 - 4 8 . See also E. Michael
Rüsten, A Critical Evaluation of Dispensational Interpretations of the Book of Revelation
(Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International, 1977), 2 vols.
83
G u n d r y , The Church, 82.
"Beechick, The Pretribulation Rapture, 4 8 - 5 5 .
ss
Chanes C. Ryrie, What You Should Know about the Rapture (Chicago: M o o d y
Press, 1981), 8 0 - 8 1 .
^ B e l l , A Critical Evaluation, 2 4 7 - 4 8 .
87
Ibid.
88
I b i d . , 247.
89
G u n d r y , The Church, chap. 14.
90
I b i d . , 166.
" R y r i e , Review, 175fif.
92
G u n d r y , The Church, 1 6 6 - 6 7 .
93
G e o r g e L. Rose, Tribulation till Translation (Glendale, Calif.: Rose, 1942).
94
J o h n F. Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Z o n
dervan, 1976), 8 8 - 9 0 .
95
I b i d . , 89.
^ G u n d r y , The Church, 34, 129.
^ T h i s point was made to me in a discussion with m y colleague, S. Lewis
Johnson.
98
G u n d r y , The Church, 7 7 - 8 1 .
" I n Revelation 6 - 1 9 only these passages give glimpses into heaven: 7:9-8:6;
11:15-19; 12:7-8; 1 2 : 1 0 - 1 2 ; 1 4 : 1 - 5 ; 15:1-8; 1 9 : 1 - 8 . It is not m y purpose to argue
this point, but pretribulationists c o m m o n l y argue that the twenty-four elders (e.g.,
Rev. 4 - 5 ) and the bride clothed in fine linen (Rev. 1 9 : 7 - 8 ) represent the church in
heaven.
100
W a l v o o r d , Blessed Hope, 51.
l
) . D . Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (1958; reprint
ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1964), 216.
2
LSJ, 498.
244
NOTES
3
Gerhard von Rad, The Theology of Israel's Historical Traditions, vol. 1 o f Old
Testament Theology ( N e w York-. Harper 6c R o w , 1962), 3 8 7 - 8 8 .
4
J. H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament ( N e w York: Harper
& Brothers, 1889), 190.
5
B r o o k e Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews (1892; reprint ed., Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 126; F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1964), 100, n. 51.
'Rudolf Schnackenburg, Commentary on Chapters 5-12, vol. 1 o f The Gospel
According to St. John ( N e w York: Seabury, 1980), 383.
7
G . Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,
10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-1976), 9:677, s. v. "ώρα." It is curious
that Feinberg quotes another statement from this article, though it is not specifically
related to Rev. 3:10.
' A l t h o u g h his contention that the use o f the w o r d ( π ε ι ρ ά ζ ω , πειρασμός) sug
gests the restriction o f the trial to non-Christians is w r o n g , this w o r d is consistently
employed in Revelation for trials and temptations that Christians are subjected to.
In fact, the use o f this term with reference to the unbelieving world is one o f the
most curious aspects o f this verse (see on this Schuyler B r o w n , " 'The Hour o f
Trial' [Rev 3:10]," JBL 85 [1966]:308-14).
Chapter 3
•See J. Oliver Buswell, Jr., A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1962), 2:389-90.
2
Robert H. Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1973), 200.
3
Ibid., 7 4 - 7 7 .
4
S e e m y discussion "The Meaning o f Inerrancy," in N o r m a n L. Geisler, ed.,
Inerrancy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980), 2 8 7 - 8 9 .
5
Gundry, The Church, 29.
«Ibid., 3 6 - 3 7 .
'While de most often has an adversative force, its use as a "continuative" particle
is well established ( B A G 170; Margaret Thrall, Greek Particles in the New Testament:
Linguistic and Exegetical Studies [ N e w Testament Tools and Studies 3; Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1962], 5 1 - 5 2 ) .
2
1 Thess. 4:9, 13; 5:1; 1 Cor. 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1, 12.
3
The Dark Side of the Millennium: The Problem of Evil in Rev. 20:1-10 (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 1980).
4
A n t h o n y A . Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1979), 2 0 2 - 3 ; Lewis, Dark Side of the Millennium, 37.
245
NOTES
5
F. Delitzsch, Isaiah, Commentary on the O l d Testament by C. F. Keil and
F. Delitzsch (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), 2:491-92.
'Robert H. Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1973), 166.
7
In agreement with this, see George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Reve
lation of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), 2 6 2 - 6 3 ; G. R. Beasley-Murray,
Revelation, N e w Century Bible (London: Oliphants, 1976), 2 8 2 - 8 3 .
8
Nathaniel West pictured the Millennium as populated by three distinct groups:
the raptured church, Israel in the flesh, and "favored" nations (The Thousand Years:
Studies in Eschatology in both Testaments [Fincasde, Va.: Scripture Truth, n.d.], 3 0 8 - 9 ) .
Chapter 4
247
NOTES
23
H e n r y C. Thiessen, Will the Church Pass Through the Tribulation? (2nd ed.;
N e w York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1941), 42; Hiebert, Thessalonian Epistles, 202.
2 4
B A G , 170; cf. also Margaret E. Thrall, Greek Particles in the New Testament:
Linguistic and Exegetical Studies ( N e w Testament Tools and Studies HI; Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1962), 5 1 - 5 2 .
25
C f . Η. H. R o w l e y , The Faith of Israel: Aspects oj Old Testament Thought (Lon
don: S C M , 1956), 1 7 8 - 2 0 0 .
26
I t is probable that at least eighteen different expressions refer to this concept:
249
NOTES
46
A l t h o u g h Walvoord (Blessed Hope, 118) gives this as essentially Paul's answer
here, there is simply no evidence in the text for such a reference.
47
M o r r i s , Thessalonians, 228—29. We are assuming, with most commentators,
that the subject o f the heös clause in v. 7 is the restrainer. It is interesting to note
that some o f the church fathers already were refuting the v i e w that the restrainer
is the Spirit (Rigaux, Thessaloniciens, 261).
48
G u n d r y , Church and Tribulation, 1 2 5 - 2 6 .
49
F r a m e , Thessalonians, 2 5 9 - 6 1 ; Best, Thessalonians, 301; D . W. B . Robinson,
"II Thess. 2:6: 'That which restrains' or 'That which holds sway'?" Studia Evan-
gelica II (Texte und Untersuchungen 87; Berlin: Akademie, 1964), 6 3 5 - 3 8 .
50
Tertullian, Apolog. 32, and many othet church fathers; O t t o Betz, "Der Ka-
techon," New Testament Studies 9 (1962/1963): 2 8 3 - 8 5 .
sl
M i l l i g a n , Thessalonians, 101; William Hendriksen, New Testament Commen
tary: Exposition of I and II Thessalonians (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1955), 1 8 1 - 8 2 .
"Ladd, Blessed Hope, 95; Ridderbos, Paul, 5 2 4 - 2 5 .
"Orchard, "Thessalonians," 4 0 - 4 1 ; Rüsten, "Revelation," 4 4 9 - 5 7 ; F. Prat.
The Theology of Saint Paul (Westminster, M d . : N e w m a n , 1952), 1:80-83.
54
I n the early church Theodoret and Theodore o f Mopsuestia; Oscar Cullmann,
Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History (Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1950), 1 6 4 - 6 6 ; Johannes Munck, Paul and the Salvation of Mankind
(Richmond, Va.: John K n o x , 1959) 3 6 - 4 3 ; A. L. Moore, The Parousia in the New
Testament (Supplements to N o v u m Testamentum, 13; Leiden: Brill, 1966), 1 1 2 - 1 3 ;
J. Christian Beker, Paul the Apostle: The Triumph of God in Life and Thought (Phil
adelphia: Fortress, 1980), 161.
" T h e view o f J. Coppens, according to Giblin (Threat to Faith, 14).
S6
L e a s Sirard, "La Parousie de l'Antechrist, 2 Thess 2, 3 - 9 , " Studiorum Pauli-
norum Congressus Internationalis Catholicus 1961 (Analecta Biblica 1 7 - 1 8 ; Rome: Pon
tifical Biblical Institute, 1963) 2:94-99; Giblin, Threat to Faith, 1 6 4 - 2 4 6 .
" F o r d , Abomination, 2 1 6 - 2 2 .
5 8
B . B . Warfield, "The Prophecies o f St. Paul," Biblical and Theological Studies
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968), 4 7 3 - 7 4 .
5 9
C . Ε. B . Cranfield, "St. Mark 13," Scottish Journal of Theology 6 and 7 (1953
and 1954), 6, 1 9 5 - 9 6 ; Lloyd Gaston, No Stone on Another: Studies in the Significance
of the Fall ofJerusalem in the Synoptic Gospels (Supplements to N o v u m Testamentum
23; Leiden: Brill, 1970), 12.
60
T h i s phrase undoubtedly is taken from Daniel, where a similar expression
occurs in 8:13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. O f these, Jesus' use o f the term has most in
c o m m o n with 9:27 (Beda Rigaux, "BAELYrMA ΤΗΣ ΕΡΗΜΩΣ ΕΩΣ M c . 13,
14; Matt. 24, 15," Biblica 40 (1959), 6 7 8 - 7 9 ; Ford, Abomination, 1 5 3 - 5 4 ) . T h e
phrase is usually taken to indicate a detestable idol that causes religious desecration
(Cranfield, "Mark 13," 2 9 8 - 9 9 ; G. R. Beasley-Murray, A Commentary on Mark 13
[London: Macmillan, 1957], 55), but it may be that connotations o f physical d e
struction should not be eliminated (Rudolf Pesch, Naherwartungen: Tradition und
Redaktion in Mk 13 [Kommentare und Beiträge z u m Alten und N e u e n Testament;
Düsseldorf: Patmos, 1968], 142; Ford, Abomination, 1 6 7 - 6 8 ) .
"John F. Walvoord, "Christ's Olivet Discourse on the End o f the A g e , " Bib
liotheca Sacra 128 (1971), 208. It is sometimes argued that this phraseology is pro
verbial and need not be taken in its literal force (Beasley-Murray, Commentary, 78).
"Contra Alfred Plummer (An Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to
S. Matthew [London: Robert Scott, 1915], 335), Matthew's eutheös ("immediately")
cannot be deprived o f its temporal force in light o f Matthean usage. N o r can "in
these days" in Mark 13:27 be taken as a general expression for eschatological time
250
NOTES
(contra Henry Barclay Swete, Commentary on Mark [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1977
( = 1913)], 3 1 0 - 1 1 ; William Lane, The Gospel According to Mark, N e w International
Commentary [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974], 474).
"Marcellus J. Kik, The Eschatology of Victory (Nutley, N.J.: Presbyterian and
Reformed, 1971), 6 0 - 1 4 4 ; R. V. G. Tasker, The Gospel According to St. Matthew
(Tyndale N e w Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961), 2 2 3 - 2 7 ;
A. Feuillet, "Le discours de Jesus sur la ruine du temple d'apres Marc XIII et Luc
X X L 5 - 3 6 , " Revue Biblique 55 (1948), 4 8 1 - 5 0 2 ; 56 (1949), 6 1 - 9 2 ; R. T. France,
Jesus and the Old Testament (London: Tyndale, 1971), 2 2 8 - 3 9 .
64
L u k e seems to distinguish more carefully between A.D. 70 and the time o f the
end; many would attribute vv. 8 - 2 4 to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and
vv. 25ff. to the end (cf. M. J. Lagrange, L'Evangile selon Saint Luc [6th ed.; Paris:
Gabalda, 1941], 521; William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Exposition
of the Gospel According to Luke [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978], 937).
" H o w e v e r , David Wenham has made a g o o d case for taking Mark 13:14-23
and parallels as a description of the tribulation that will characterize the entire church
age. (His material will appear in published form shortly in a monograph on the
Olivet Discourse.) There is much to be said for this view. If adopted, it would
mean that the abomination of desolation would have reference to A D . 70 only. M y
argument about the church's relationship to this event would therefore lose its force.
But m y argument about the church's presence during the Tribulation and the wit
nesses o f the Parousia would still stand.
66
Blessed Hope, 8 6 - 8 7 . Cf. also W. K. Price, Jesus' Prophetic Sermon: The Olivet
Key to Israel, the Church and the Nations (Chicago: M o o d y , 1972), 4 0 - 4 1 .
67
Beechick, recognizing the impact o f these parallels with Paul, suggests that
Jesus describes both the pretribulational and posttribulational Parousia in the Olivet
Discourse (Rapture, 2 3 3 - 6 3 ) . But this explanation does not do justice to the clear
temporal indicators in the discourse—the Parousia occurs only after the Tribulation.
68
P a y n e , Imminent Appearing, 55. D o u t y (Christ's Return, 33) points out that as
early as c. A.D. 100 the elect were understood as the church (in the Didache).
69
Beasley-Murray, Commentary, 93. Walvoord's v i e w , that this text refers to
the gathering o f peoples into the millennial kingdom ("Olivet Discourse," 326) is
adequate as far as it goes, but fails to account for the parallels with Paul's depiction
o f the Rapture.
70
Feuillet, "Le discours de Jesus," 7 5 - 7 8 ; Hartman, Prophecy Interpreted, 158;
Lane, Mark, 4 7 6 - 7 7 .
71
W a l v o o r d , Blessed Hope, 8 9 - 9 0 . Walvoord's attempt to bolster his case by
appealing to Luke 17:37 is not successful—although this is a very obscure verse, it
is improbable that it implies that the body was thrown to the vultures.
72
James Oliver Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion (2 vols,
in one; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1962) 2:386; I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of
Luke ( N e w International Greek Testament Commentary, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1978), 668; Alan H u g h McNeile, The Gospel According to St. Matthew (London:
MacMillan, 1928), 357; Gundry, Church and Tribulation, 1 3 7 - 3 8 .
73
C f . Rüsten, "Revelation," 2 0 4 - 5 . Walvoord gives n o reason for his assertion
that this language should not here be applied to the Parousia (The Revelation of Jesus
Christ [Chicago: M o o d y , 1966], 81). N o r is it legitimate to confine the warning to
unbelievers only (contra Beechick, Rapture, 172-73).
74
A l t h o u g h Rüsten ("Revelation," 2 1 6 - 1 9 ) thinks o f the period following the
Parousia and Payne o f a historical period o f suffering (Imminent Appearing, 7 8 - 7 9 ) .
75
I n light o f Jesus' explicit assertion in the same verse that the disciples will
remain in the world, it is difficult to see h o w John 17:15 could indicate noncontact
251
NOTES
with the "Evil O n e . " And there is no indication that the spiritual realm o f Satan
is intended (contra Jeffrey L. Townsend, "The Rapture in Revelation 3:10," Bib-
liotheca Sacra 137 [1980]: 2 5 8 - 5 9 ) .
76
F o r example, the combination airö ek, used in John 17:15, would have plainly
indicated "take out of."
7 7
G . R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation ( N e w Century Bible; London:
Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1974), 101; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation,
N e w International Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 119; Schuyler
B r o w n , " 'The Hour o f Trial' (Rev. 3:10)," Journal of Biblical Literature 85 (1966):
310.
^Revelation, 103.
79
Revelation, 30-31.
80
B u s w e l l (Systematic Theology 2:389-90) and N o r m a n B. Harrison (The End:
Re-thinking the Revelation [Minneapolis: T h e Harrison Services, 1941], 1 1 6 - 2 1 ) argue
that the Rapture o f the church is indicated here and that the time is the middle of
Daniel's seventieth week.
8 1
G . B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine (Harper's
N e w Testament Commentary; N e w York: Harper & R o w , 1966), 190; Beasley-
Murray, Revelation, 228; Gundry, Church and Tribulation, 8 3 - 8 4 .
82
H e n r y Barclay Swete, Commentary on Revelation (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1977
[ = 1913]), 189-90; Gundry, Church and Tribulation, 8 3 - 8 8 ; Rüsten, "Revelation,"
516-21.
8 3
S o , apparently, Walvoord, Revelation, 2 2 1 - 2 2 .
84
B e a s l e y - M u r r a y , Revelation, 228; M o u n c e , Revelation, 2 7 9 - 8 0 ; Isbon T.
Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1967 [ = 1919]), 662.
85
W a l v o o r d , Revelation, 2 9 6 - 9 7 ; M o u n c e , Revelation, 3 5 5 - 5 6 .
86
S i n c e tas psuchas ("the souls") is accusative, it is best taken as a second object
after eidon (Swete, Revelation, 262).
87
C o n t r a R o y L. Aldrich, "Divisions o f the First Resurrection," Bibliotheca
Sacra 128 (1971): 1 1 7 - 1 9 .
88
T h i s is probably w h y John in Rev. 13:9 omits "to the churches" from the
familiar refrain, "He w h o has ears let him hear . . . " (in response to Walvoord,
Revelation, 103; and Beechick, Rapture, 1 7 9 - 7 9 ) .
89
G u n d r y , Church and Tribulation, 78.
^Caird, Revelation, 63; Leon Morris, The Revelation of St. John, Tyndale N e w
Testament C o m m e n t a r y (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), 88; George Eldon Ladd,
A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), 75; Beasley-
Murray, Revelation, 114; M o u n c e , Revelation, 135.
9,
C f . especially Andre Feuillet, "The Twenty-four Elders o f the Apocalypse,"
Johannine Studies (Staten Island: Alba House, 1965), 1 8 5 - 9 4 ; J. Massyngberde Ford,
Revelation, Anchor Bible (Garden City, Ν . Y.: Doubleday, 1975), 72.
92
T h i s reading is certainly preferred over the weakly attested variants.
93
S e e Rüsten, "Revelation," 2 3 1 - 5 3 .
'"Rüsten, "Revelation," 1 3 3 - 3 4 .
9 5
M o s t o f the differences held out as requiring a distinction between the pre
tribulational Rapture and the posttribulation c o m i n g (cf. Pentecost, Things to Come,
2 0 6 - 7 ; Walvoord, Rapture Question, 1 0 1 - 2 ) are to be explained o n the basis o f this
selectivity. Unless clear contradictions are involved, such differences do not estab
lish a need to separate in time the Parousia events.
^Pentecost, Things to Come, 168; Walvoord, Rapture Question, 82.
97
lmminent Appearing.
9 8
S e e the excellent refutation by Gundry (Church and Tribulation, 1 9 3 - 2 0 0 ) .
252
NOTES
"Church and Tribulation, 2 9 - 4 3 .
, 0 0
S e e particularly Gundry (Church and Tribulation, 3 0 - 3 2 ) for studies o f these
words. O n gregoreö, nephö and agrupneö, see the excellent treatment o f Lövestam,
Spiritual Wakefulness.
""Evidence from Qumran indicates that "generation" could be used to denote
the last generation before the end (E. Earle Ellis, The Gospel of Luke, N e w Century
Bible, rev. ed. [London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1974], 2 4 6 - 4 7 ) .
102
C f . Frost, Matthew Twenty-four, 34-36; Gundry, Church and Tribulation, 4 2 - 4 3 .
103
C o n t r a Payne, Imminent Appearing, 8 9 - 9 1 ; Walvoord, Rapture Question,
150-51.
104
M i l l a r d J. Erickson, Contemporary Options in Eschatology: A Study of the Mil
lennium (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977), 142; Gundry, Church and Tribulation, 37.
I05
S e e , for instance, Ep. Barn. 4; Justin, Dial, with Trypho, 110; Shep. of Hernias,
1:4, 1-3. I cannot agree with Payne (Imminent Appearing, 1 2 - 1 4 ) , w h o seeks to
establish the doctrine o f the any-moment Parousia in the Fathers.
253
PERSON INDEX
255
PERSON INDEX
Milligan, George, 246, 249 Reese, Alexander, 25, 41, 237 , 243,
M o o . Douglas J., 4 3 , 1 5 1 - 5 2 , 155, 157, 246, 247
2 1 3 - 1 5 , 2 1 7 - 1 9 , 2 2 3 - 2 4 , 2 2 6 - 3 0 , 240 Reiter, Dennis L., 233, 234
M o o d y , D . L., 13, 19, 234, 235 Rennie, Ian S., 44, 236, 237, 241
Moore, A. L., 246, 250 Ribberdos, Herman, 248, 249
Moorehead, William G., 21, 2 4 - 2 5 , 27, Rigaux, B . , 246, 249, 250
236 Riley, W. B . , 27, 237
Morris, Leon, 246, 247, 248, 249, 252 Robertson, A. T., 65, 242
Moses, 108, 110, 144 Robinson, D . W. B . , 250
Motyer, J. Α . , 247 Rogers, W. H., 238
Mounce, Robert H . , 251 Rose, George L., 7 8 - 7 9 , 244
Munck, Johannes, 250 R o w l e y , Η, H . , 248
Murray, 64 Rüsten, Ε. Michael, 243 , 248 , 249,
251, 252
Nebuchadnezzar, 62, 140 Ryrie, Charles Caldwell, 35, 39, 69, 233,
N e e d h a m , Elizabeth Α., 31, 239 240, 242, 243
N e e d h a m , George C . , 21, 3 1 , 235, 239
N e r o , Caesar, 129-31 Sandeen, 233, 234, 236, 237
N i c o d e m u s , 76 Satan, 51, 55, 62, 64, 68, 73, 84, 1 0 6 - 7 ,
N o a h , 127, 176, 196 112, 120, 121, 1 2 6 , 1 4 4 , 190, 197, 205,
219, 243, 251
Oepke, Α., 248 Saul, 92
Olson, Arnold Τ., 42, 241 Schnackenburg, Rudolf, 94, 245
Orchard, J. Β . , 247, 249 Scofield, C. I., 2 0 - 2 1 , 2 3 - 2 5 , 28, 33,
Oskarson, Paul J., 239 4 3 , 236, 237, 241
Scott, Robert, 64, 91, 243
Parson, 21 Sirard, Leas, 250
Paul, the apostle, 16, 20, 53, 82, 95, 99, Smith, J. B . , 242
111, 117, 1 2 6 - 2 7 , 129, 131, 1 3 3 - 3 4 , Smith, Wilbur M . , 34, 234, 239
137, 152, 156, 160, 164, 166, 1 7 9 - 8 1 , S o l o m o n , 126
1 8 3 - 8 5 , 1 8 7 - 9 0 , 193 - 9 4 , 197 , 205, Sproule, John Α . , 4 0 - 4 1 , 239, 240
210, 2 2 4 - 2 6 , 2 2 8 - 3 0 , 235, 246, 247, Stahlin, 53
248, 249, 250 Stanton, Gerald B . , 37, 237, 239
Payne, J. Barton, 38, 4 1 - 4 3 , 50, 54, 207, Stroeter, Ernest, 22
237, 239, 2 4 0 - 4 1 , 246, 248, 250, Swete, Henry Barclay, 250, 252
251, 253
Pentecost, J. D . , 97, 185, 240, 241, 242, Tasker, R. V. G., 251
244, 245, 252 Tertullian, 250
Pesch, Rudolf, 250 Thayer, J. H., 93, 245
Peter, 16, 1 3 0 - 3 1 , 134, 152, 157, 208, Theodore of Mopsuestia, 250
210 T h e o d o r « , 250
Peters, George Ν . H . , 1 7 - 1 9 Thiessen, Henry C , 243, 248
Pettegrew, Larry Dean, 233, 234 Thomas, Robert L., 242, 253
Pharaoh, 108 T h o m p s o n , Samuel Huston, 234
Philetus, 130 Thrall, Margaret, 245, 247
Pierson, Arthur T., 20 Toombs, L. E . , 130
Pilate, Pontius, 138 Torrey, Ruben Α . , 2 4 - 2 5 , 234, 237
Plummer, Alfred, 250 Townsend, Jeffery L., 6 3 - 6 4 , 67, 70, 9 0 -
Prat, F , 249 92, 95, 97, 243, 252
Price, W. K., 251 Tregelles, S. P., 236
Trumbull, Charles Gallaudet, 237
R a m m , Bernard, 237 Turner, Nigel, 242
257
PERSON INDEX
258
SUBJECT INDEX
259
SUBJECT INDEX
260
SUBJECT INDEX
261
SCRIPTURE INDEX
262
SCRIPTURE INDEX
263
SCRIPTURE INDEX
24:31 77, 82, 98, 149, 13:24 175, 191 6:55 184
164, 1 7 9 - 8 0 , 190, 13:24-25 192 7:30 65
194, 195, 206, 13:24-27 80, 190 8:20 65
2 3 0 - 3 1 , 248 13:27 190, 195, 10:27-29 68
24:31-32 231 2 3 0 - 3 1 , 250 11:24 248
24:32 123 14 250 11:25-26 248
24:32-33 209 14:36 66 11:54 184
24:32-35 209 14:62 216 12:23 94
24:32-51 80 12:23-24 65
24:32-25:13 153 Luke 12:27 65, 66,
24:33 80, 154 Book of 192-93, 9 3 - 9 4 , 96
24:34 209 250-52 12:31 94 , 243
24:36 209, 248 4:28 52 12:48 248
24:36, 42, 44, 50 194 12:35-40 12 13:31 94
24:36-25:13 195, 206 12:36 208 14 206
24:37 177 12:39-46 195 14-17 178
24:39 177, 196 12:46 208 14:1-3 100, 134,
24:40-41 196, 230 16:19-31 78 153, 158
24:42-44 185, 197 17:30 248 14:1-4 178, 179, 182
24:42, 44 209 17:31 248 14:1-14 80
24:42-25:13 194 17:34-35 196, 231 14:2 178
24:45-51 151, 209 17:37 251 14:3 84, 100, 178,
24:50 208 19:11-27 151, 196, 206, 230
25 77 195, 209 14:30 243
25:5, 19 151, 209 21:5-36 250 15:27 67
25:13 194, 209, 248 21:8-24 250 16:11 243
25:19 209 21:20 192 16:33 51
25:31 77, 78, 163 21:20-24 191-92 17:11 67
25:31-32 77 21:23 53 17:11, 12, 15 198
25:31-46 7 3 - 7 7 , 163 21:24 131 17:11-16 68
25:32-51 80 21:25 250 17:15 66, 67, 68,
25:46 78 21:25-26 57 71, 94, 197, 198,
26:31 111 21:25-27 80 219, 251
26:39 66 21:28 50, 153 17:17 90
26:64 216 21:34 185, 210, 248 17:17-18 68
27:52 218 21:34-36 185 21:18-19 130, 152,
27:54 130 21:35 185 155, 210
28:2 130 22:42 66
28:20 193 Acts
John 1:8 152, 155, 210
lark 2:13 208 1:9 198
Book of 192-93, i3-5 76 2:20 183, 248
250-51 3:36 52 3:12-21 48
8:38 119, 246 5-12 244 14:22 160
13 122, 247, 2 4 9 - 5 0 5:22 61 15:29 65, 9 4
13:1-2 190 5:24 93 16:26 130
13:6 249 5:28-29 218 18:10 131, 152
13:14 175, 188, 5:29 78, 162, 187 19:28 52
191, 246 6:39 184, 248 23:11 131, 152, 2 1 0
13:14-23 174, 251 6:40 184, 248 24:15 208
13:19 191 6:44 184, 248 27:24 131, 152, 2 1 0
13:19, 24 174 6:54 248 28:15 181
264
SCRIPTURE INDEX
5:3 53, 76, 182, 2:8 30, 177, 194, 2:5 127
206, 218, 227 206, 213 2:12 248
5:4 185, 248 2:9 206 4:5 157
5:4-5 5 3 - 5 4 , 186, 2:12 76 4:7 157
218 4 217 4:12- 13 51
5:4-8 227 4:13-18 100 4:13 177
5:4-11 227 4:17 217 4:17 157
5:5 186
5:6 154 1 Timothy 2 Peter
5:6-8 54, 186, 194, 1:20 130 2:9 248
206 4:1-2 153 3:7 248
5:9 50, 5 2 - 5 5 , 118, 4:1-3 154 3:10 122, 248
176, 186, 221 6:12 51 3:12 248
5:10 53-54 6:14 177 3 : 1 2 - 14 208
266
SCRIPTURE INDEX
267
SCRIPTURE INDEX
268