You may have heard it asserted that Bishop Irenaeus of
Lyons, the early Church Father, was premillennial and held to a pretribulation
rapture in his theology. This argument is often raised in opposition to those
who say that the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture was a novel invention of the
J.N. Darby, and does not have any real standing in Church history. And it would
appear that those who make this assertion have a leg to stand on, because regarding
the tribulation Irenaeus writes, “And therefore, when in the end the Church
shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall be tribulation
such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.”[1] Here the venerable Church
father appears to be affirming the idea that there will be a pre-tribulation
rapture. So let’s examine this.
First we should note that Irenaeus was premillennial in
his eschatology, for he writes,
“Daniel also says
particularly, that the end of the fourth kingdom consists in the toes of the
image seen by Nebuchadnezzar, upon which came the stone cut out without hands;
and as he does himself say: “The feet were indeed the one part iron, the other
part clay, until the stone was cut out without hands, and struck the image upon
the iron and clay feet, and dashed them into pieces, even to the end.”[4678]
Then afterwards, when interpreting this, he says: “And as thou sawest the feet
and the toes, partly indeed of clay, and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be
divided, and there shall be in it a root of iron, as thou sawest iron mixed
with baked clay. And the toes were indeed the one part iron, but the other part
clay.”[4679] The ten toes, therefore, are these ten kings, among whom the
kingdom shall be partitioned, of whom some indeed shall be strong and active,
or energetic; others, again, shall be sluggish and useless, and shall not
agree; as also Daniel says: “Some part of the kingdom shall be strong, and part
shall be broken from it. As thou sawest the iron mixed with the baked clay,
there shall be minglings among the human race, but no cohesion one with the
other, just as iron cannot be welded on to pottery ware.”[4680] And since an
end shall take place, he says: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of
heaven raise up a kingdom which shall never decay, and His kingdom shall not be
left to another people. It shall break in pieces and shatter all kingdoms, and
shall itself be exalted for ever. As thou sawest that the stone was cut without
hands from the mountain, and brake in pieces the baked clay, the iron, the
brass, the silver, and the gold, God has pointed out to the king what shall
come to pass after these things; and the dream is true, and the interpretation
trustworthy.”[4681]
2. If therefore the great
God showed future things by Daniel, and confirmed them by His Son; and if
Christ is the stone which is cut out without hands, who shall destroy temporal
kingdoms, and introduce an eternal one, which is the resurrection of the just;
as he declares, “The God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which shall never
be destroyed,”—let those thus confuted come to their senses, who reject the
Creator (Demiurgum), and do not agree that the prophets were sent beforehand
from the same Father from whom also the Lord came, but who assert that
prophecies originated from diverse powers. For those things which have been
predicted by the Creator alike through all the prophets has Christ fulfilled in
the end, ministering to His Father’s will, and completing His dispensations
with regard to the human race.[2]
Here we see that Irenaeus is showing that an evil final
kingdom will rise up, but then be defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ, the stone, and this stone will establish the eternal kingdom of the Lord, wherein he and
his people will reign. He also notes about the antichrist that,
“It is manifest, therefore,
that of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the
remainder to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them. And
they shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their
kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. After that they shall be
destroyed by the coming of our Lord.”[3]
So, we can see here that Irenaeus believed that there was
a future time where the antichrist would rise up, that he would take power,
then persecute Christians, and then Jesus would come again and destroy him and
his kingdom and set up his own kingdom. This is premillennial theology. The
millennial reign of Christ comes after the revealing of the antichrist, after the tribulation, and the future coming of Jesus precedes the millennium. This is what contrasts
premillennial teaching from both Amillennial and Postmillennial. And we know
that Irenaeus saw this as all still future because he says, “If therefore the
great God showed future things by Daniel,…”[4]
Notice also what Irenaeus says is the activity of the
antichrist? He will “put the Church to flight…” Does this mean that the
antichrist will cause the rapture? No, of course not, it means that he will
persecute the church during the great tribulation. But does this not contradict
what he said in the passage we began with?
No, because this is what he said in context,
“And therefore, when in the
end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall
be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall
be.”[4699] For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they
overcome they are crowned with incorruption.”[5]
That which the church is caught up from, according
to Irenaeus, is the world in which we live in which we are tested to see
whether or not we will follow the Lord. As he says just before this,
“And therefore the creation
is suited to [the wants of] man; for man was not made for its sake, but
creation for the sake of man. Those nations however, who did not of themselves
raise up their eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished
to behold the light of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the
depths of ignorance, the word justly reckons “as waste water from a sink, and
as the turning-weight of a balance—in fact, as nothing;”[4698] so far useful
and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces towards the growth of the
wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold.[6]
The tribulation is not something the Church is exempted from, it is the final test of the righteous, “For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.” The "last contest," I like that. Its the final proving ground of God's people against evil. It's not something we are snatched away from prior to its occurance, it is what God is preparing the Church for. In this world at least.
So, how can Irenaeus believe in a pretribulation rapture, if he explicitly taught that the tribulation was the final test of the church and during the tribulation the antichrist persecuted the church? He could not of course.
What he taught was exactly what the Lord Jesus taught as
well. Jesus noted that the tribulation would be cut short for the sake of the elect,
“22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.
But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Matt. 24:22). And
he also noted that he would not return to gather his elect until immediately
after the tribulation,
“29 Immediately after the
tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give
its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and
then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send
out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:29-31).
So, Jesus tells us that the tribulation is cut short for
the sake of the elect, and that he will not gather his elect until it is finished.
Irenaeus teaches the precise same thing noting that the tribulation is the final
test of the righteous, and the time which the beast comes after the church. Yet
there are those who say that both Irenaeus and Jesus taught a pretribulation
rapture? Incredible. It is clear that they did not.
The warnings of the tribulation for Christians are always
geared towards encouraging us to persevere and share the gospel, as Jesus says,
“13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the
kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:13-14). Why would we be
encouraged to endure till the end, if we are raptured before they end? Because
that is not the plan and that is not how the early Church father Irenaeus, or
any other that I have been shown, understood it. The consistent teaching in the
Scriptures and in the early church, was that the tribulation is a time of testing
for God’s people the Church.
Irenaeus did not teach a pretribulation rapture. Not when
read in context. He was however premillennial in his understanding of the connection
between the millennium and the return of Christ. This view, which is the view I
hold to, is called historic premillennialism. It is not the same as dispensational
premillennialism, though it is not uncommon for dispensationalists to see that
Irenaeus was premillennial and therefore that he must have agreed with their
other doctrines on this matter. He did not. He, along with the historical
church and those within the schools of amillennial and postmillennial
theologies, agreed that the church is the Israel of God, and that the promises
of and plans of God were working themselves out in the Church, not the physical
kingdom of Israel. Read him for yourself and you will see this is the case.
List of References
[1] Horn,
Thomas; Roberts, Alexander; Donaldson, James. The Researcher’s Library of
Ancient Texts VOLUME II: The Apostolic Fathers: Includes Clement of Rome,
Mathetes, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin ... Library of Ancient
Texts Book 2) . Defense Publishing. Kindle Edition.
[2] Ibid.
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Ibid.
[5]
Ibid.
[6]
Ibid.
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