Page 48 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Historical and Hermeneutical Basis of Pretribulationism

after, and if such doctrines as the sufficiency of Scripture and
the priesthood of the believer were not recognized until the
Protestant Reformation, it is not to be wondered at that details
of eschatology, always difficult, should unfold slowly. It is
certainly an unwarranted generalization to require a detailed
and systematic pretribulationism as in existence from the
apostolic age in order to accept the doctrine as true. The fact
is, there was no detailed and systematic form of eschatology in
general or prcmillennialism in particular. Both pretribu­
lationism and posttribulationism in many of their contem­
porary statements arc quite new.
The central feature of pretribulationism, the doctrine of
immincncy, is, however, a prominent feature of the doctrine of
the early church. Without facing all the problems that the
doctrine of imminency raises, such as its relation to the
Tribulation, the early church lived in constant expectation of
the coming of the Lord for His church.
It is true that the early church fathers were not always
consistent, as on the one hand they held that the Lord could
come at any moment and then perhaps in the next paragraph
would intimate that something had to happen first. The fact
is, however, in the early church fathers there was no clear
agreement that a specific seven-year period as is indicated in
Daniel 9:27 had to occur before the Lord could return. Gener­
ally speaking, the early church fathers, as well as the Protes­
tant Reformers, tended to identify contemporary events with
the events of the Great Tribulation and because of this could
look for the imminent return of Christ. There is also indica­
tion, however, that at least a few had the concept of being
exempt from Tribulation.
According to Moffat, it was the widespread Jewish belief
that some would be exempt from the Tribulation.3 Clement of
Rome (first century) wrote, “Of a truth, soon and suddenly
shall His will be accomplished, as the Scriptures also bear
witness, saying, ‘Speedily will he come, and will not tarry;’
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