Page 50 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Historical and Hermeneutical Basis of Pretribulationism

for the Lord’s coming at any hour. In the same passage, how­
ever, the writer went on to predict the coming of “the De­
ceiver,” or the Antichrist, and made this statement: “Then
humankind will undergo the fiery test.” Following this, ac­
cording to the Didache, will come the “sounding of the trum­
pet” and “the resurrection of the dead.” Posttribulationists
like Ladd usually insist that this is proof of explicit post-
tribulationism.9 The Didache does not state, however, that
“the church” will go through the Tribulation but rather
“humankind.” Even pretribulationists grant that there will be
tribulation for “humankind,” including trial of those who be­
lieve in Christ in that period. Pretribulationists also find a
sounding of the trumpet (Matt. 24:31) and a resurrection of
the dead after the Tribulation (Rev. 20:4). In other words, the
statement of the Didache could be harmonized with pre­
tribulationism as it is taught today. To claim that the Didache
is explicitly pretribulational, however, is hardly justified. It is
rather the case that the viewpoint of the early church was not
detailed and mature.
The real problems of pretribulationism versus post-
tribulationism were left unresolved. To say, however, that the
doctrine of imminency, which is the heart of pretribula­
tionism, is a new and unheard-of doctrine is, to say the least,
an overstatement. While the teachings of the Fathers are not
clear on details, some at least seem to have regarded the com­
ing of the Lord as a matter of daily expectancy. It is unwar­
ranted to assume, as the posttribulationists do, that the early
church regarded the imminent coming of the Lord as an im­
possibility. The charge that the doctrine of imminency is a
new and novel doctrine is false, but the charge that pre­
tribulationism has been developed and defined to a large ex­
tent in recent centuries is true. In any event, the thesis that the
early fathers were omniscient and once-for-all defined every
phase of theology is an unjustified limitation on the liberty of
the Spirit of God to reveal the truth of Scripture to each gener-
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