Page 127 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

Varieties of Posttribulationism
however, partially contradicted by the view of some futuristic
and some dispensational posttribulationists that certain
judgments follow the Rapture but actually precede the formal
inauguration of the millennial kingdom. Because post­
tribulationists disagree among themselves on the nature of
the fulfillment of the Tribulation, confusion reigns in their
interpretation of how the Rapture fits into the prophetic
program. Almost all degrees of spiritualization, as opposed
to literal interpretation, prevail in posttribulationism today.
Illustrations are not hard to find.
George L. Rose declared plainly in his defense of post­
tribulationism that the Tribulation began with the early
church: “The record left us in the book of The Acts of the
Apostles leaves no room to doubt that, ‘tribulation’ began
almost as soon as the Church was born. ... At the time of
Stephen’s death ‘there was a GREAT PERSECUTION
against the church which was at Jerusalem . . . Saul made
havoc of the church, entering into every house, arresting men
and women committed them to prison’ (Acts 8:1-3). This ‘great
persecution’ mentioned in Acts 8:1 is called ‘tribulation’ in Acts
11:19 therefore, ‘great persecution’ is ‘great tribulation.’ The
same Greek word, thlipsis, being used in the same manner
that Jesus used it in Matt. 24:21, in speaking of‘great tribu­
lation.’ . . . ”3 On the basis of this concept of the Tribulation,
there is no room left for argument—the church is already in
the Tribulation and has been since the first century. The
whole issue is settled by identifying the Great Tribulation with
the trials of the church throughout the present age.
Fromow dismissed the argument for pretribulationism in
much the same fashion as Rose did. Fromow stated: “The
Church is already passing through ‘the Great Tribulation.’ . . .
This term Great embraces the whole period of the Church’s
course on earth, and should not be confined to the final SVa
years or the second half of Daniel’s seventieth week of inten­
sive tribulation. It began with the first saints after the Fall,
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