Page 129 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

Varieties of Posttribulationism
points among posttribulationists respecting their definition of
what it means for the church to pass through the Tribulation.
Some understand the Tribulation to refer to trouble that
characterizes the present age. Others regard the Tribulation
as future.
The distinction between the views within post­
tribulationism is nominal, however. Rose, after arguing
strenuously that the church is already in the Great Tribula­
tion, made a sharp distinction between (1) "the great tribula­
tion," (2) “the unprecedented ‘time of trouble,’” and (3) the
'“great day of wrath’ which will come upon the ungodly.”8 In
a word, according to Rose, the Great Tribulation is the entire
period of persecution of the elect since Adam; the “time of
trouble” is a future period of trial for the elect; the “great day
of Wrath” is the future time of judgment of the wicked. By this
device, Rose proved that the church, on the one hand, is al­
ready in the Tribulation and, on the other hand, is headed for
a future time of trouble. He could therefore prove that the
church will go through the Tribulation, indeed is already in
tribulation, and at the same time deny that the Second Com­
ing is imminent.
On one point all posttribulationists agree. If there is a
future time of trouble just prior to the Second Advent, the
church will need to pass through the period before the second
advent of Christ brings deliverance. Pretribulationists, on the
other hand, affirm that the church will be translated before
that final time of trial. As stated earlier, posttribulationism is
divided into four major viewpoints. A brief consideration of
each of these is necessary before the major arguments of post­
tribulationism may be considered.
Classic Posttribulationism
One of the major views of posttribulationism that can be
traced from the early centuries of the church to the present is
the interpretation that the church has always been in the
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