@Enoch111 G'day mate. Phoneman wasn't speaking out of thin air when he said that the rapture was but a modern theory....
The Role of the Plymouth Brethren
In 1825 a small group of men, dissatisfied with the spiritual condition of the Protestant church in Ireland, met in Dublin to spiritually strengthen one another. Soon other groups were formed in Ireland and also in England. The most famous of these was in Plymouth.
This group came to be known as the Plymouth Brethren. Among the notables in these fellowships were Edward Irving, Dr. S. P. Tregelles and John Nelson Darby (who joined in 1827). At some point during this time, according to Tregelles, Edward Irving [yes, the same Edward Irving who translated Lacunza’s* work!!] heard some mysterious utterances in an unknown tongue telling him that there was going to be a secret rapture of the church before the visible coming of Jesus.
Though some Dispensationalist historians question the testimony of Tregelles, one fact is absolutely clear: The idea of a pre-tribulation rapture first intruded into Protestant eschatology around this time. As we shall see, this new doctrine paved the way to radically dichotomize Israel and the church. It also opened the door to the concept that the events of Revelation 4-19 apply exclusively to literal Israel on earth while the church is in heaven.
This was a new development in futurism’s incredible journey. Despite Hal Lindsey’s recent unsuccessful attempt to prove otherwise,85 futurists will generally admit that this idea was alien to the Christian church until the early 19th century. Dr. S. P. Tregelles, who, as we have noted, for some time belonged to the Plymouth Brethren but later abandoned them, describes Irving’s experience:
“I am not aware that there was any definite teaching that there would be a secret rapture of the Church at a secret coming, until this was given forth as an utterance in Mr. Irving’s church, from what was there received as being the Voice of the Spirit. But whether anyone ever asserted such a thing or not, it was from that supposed revelation that the modern doctrine and the modern phraseology arose. It came not from Holy Scripture, but from that which falsely pretended to be the Spirit of God.”
From 1830 onward, a series of conferences were held at Powerscourt Castle in Ireland. We know that Edward Irving, John Nelson Darby and other key leaders of the Plymouth Brethren attended these meetings. We also know that literalistic futurism became the prophetic methodology of choice and the idea of the secret rapture became firmly entrenched. The views established at these conferences soon spread like grassfire and penetrated other denominations.
* So who is this Lacunza?
Manuel de Lacunza y Diaz (1731-1801). David Pio Gullon has done a comprehensive study of the Lacunza’s eschatology as found in his monumental work, La Venida del Mesias en Gloria y Magestad (The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty) At this juncture we will review some of Gullon’s conclusions about Lacunza’s work.
Lacunza was a Jesuit at heart and an avid student of prophecy so it can hardly be doubted that he was acquainted with the writings of Ribera. In fact, like Ribera, ( from whom futurism as a hermeneutic sprouted in the 17th century) he was an avowed futurist and loyal Roman Catholic. Lacunza’s futuristic eschatology included the following:
• The fulfillment of Revelation 4-22 is still future.
• The three and one half times of Antichrist’s dominion are literal.
• The 144,000 will be literal Jews.
• Literal Israel will be re-gathered and converted during the great tribulation which will take place immediately before the Second Coming. God will then literally fulfill all his covenant promises to the literal nation of Israel.
• The millennium will be a period of peace on earth where people will live in their mortal bodies.
• During the millennium the literal sacrificial system will be reestablished in the literal Jerusalem Temple.
It is obvious that contemporary Protestant expositors of Bible prophecy have borrowed extensively
from Lacunza. It is a sobering fact that many of the views on prophecy which are presently being taught by conservative Protestants have been borrowed from a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest!!
Lacunza, however, departed from the run of the mill futurists of his day by saying that:
• The coming of Christ will precede the millennium (Ribera and others were Amillennialists)
• The final Antichrist will not be a single individual but an apostate system which will arise at the end of the age. In Lacunza’s own words:
“If we expect to see accomplished in one man all that is said of the beast, with all that is announced to us in so many other parts of Scripture; it is much to be feared, that, all which is written will take place, and such an Antichrist not appearing, we shall be looking for him when he is already in the house. Likewise it is to be feared, that this idea which we have formed of Antichrist may prove the chief cause of the very carelessness in which men shall be found when the day of the Lord arrives.”