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Monday, 21 October 2024

Was Irenaeus A Pretribber?

 



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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