Three Early Church Fathers Who Believed in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

# PROPHECY UPDATE

PROPHECY RELATED NEWS AND COMMENTARY

## Friday, October 3, 2025

### Three Early Church Fathers Who Believed in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

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**Three Early Church Fathers Who Believed in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture**

Dr. Nathan E. Jones

The Pretribulation Rapture is regularly attacked in our day. Men rail against it in books and magazine articles, on social media, in radio programs and podcasts, in YouTube videos and TV shows. We hear the same accusations over and over again. “No one taught a Pre-Trib Rapture prior to J.N. Darby.” “No early church father taught a Pre-Trib Rapture.” “Nobody learns the Pre-Trib Rapture from the Bible alone.” “The only reason men believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture is because somebody taught it to them.” These accusations all boil down to the same charge – the Pre-Trib Rapture is a recent innovation that can’t be found in the Bible.

But nobody should be intimidated by these attacks. They are not based on an honest and thorough investigation of the Bible and history. They are based on racy, anti-Pre-Trib narratives which require men to ignore most of the evidence and encourage them to fight with soundbites rather than real arguments from the Bible and history.

## Robust Investigation

The truth is, when men engage in robust investigation of the Bible and Early Church History, they discover that the anti-Pre-Trib soundbite theology is wrong. It doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

When we make a robust examination of the Bible’s teaching on the Last Days – honestly and carefully weighing all the evidence – we discover two related points.

One, the Tribulation is the final seven years of the seventy weeks of years (the 490 years) that the Lord has determined upon Israel to fix her unbelief and reconcile her to himself (Daniel 9:24-27). This time is also called the Seventieth Week and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah. 30:7). God’s purpose in the seven years of Tribulation is to