Page 56 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

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THE NATURE OF THE TRIBULATION

Complete Lack of Evidence for
Presence of Church in Tribulation
In the previous discussion of the scriptural revelation
concerning the Tribulation, it was shown that a careful and
literal exegesis of the Scriptures reveals no evidence whatever
that the church of the present age will go through the Tribula­
tion. In none of the tribulation passages was any rejerence
found to the church. In the Old Testament the tribulation
passages refer to both Israel and the Gentiles and to the saved
among either group but never to a corporate body of Jews and
Gentiles combined as they are in the church.
Posttribulationists, however, are not willing to concede
that the church is a distinct company of people and seize upon
the word elect as found in Matthew 24:22, 31 as evidence that
the church is in the Tribulation. Even pretribulationists are
somewhat confused on this issue.1
Pretribulationists concede and uniformly teach that there
will be elect, that is, saved people, in the tribulation time. This
fact does not in the slightest prove that these mentioned in this
way belong to the church, the body of Christ. All saved people

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