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Cyprian (c.200–c.258)

by Alan Kurschner
written by Alan Kurschner

Cyprian (c.200–c.258)

For you ought to know and to believe, and hold it for certain, that the day of affliction has begun to hang over our heads, and the endof the world and the time of Antichrist to draw near, so that we must all stand prepared for the battle; nor consider anything but the glory of life eternal, and the crown of the confession of the Lord; and not regard those things which are coming as being such as were those which have passed away. A severer and a fiercer fight is now threatening, for which the soldiers of Christ ought to prepare themselves with uncorrupted faith and robust courage, considering that they drink the cup of Christ’s blood daily, for the reason that they themselves also may be able to shed their blood for Christ. (Epistle 55, 1)

Nor let any one of you, beloved brethren, be so terrified by the fear of future persecution, or the coming of the threatening Antichrist, as not to be found armed for all things by the evangelical exhortations and precepts, and by the heavenly warnings. Antichrist is coming, but above him comes Christ also. The enemy goeth about and rageth, but immediately the Lord follows to avenge our sufferings and our wounds. The adversary is enraged and threatens, but there is One who can deliver us from his hands. (Epistle 55, 7)

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Church HistoryHistoricismImminencePreterismPretribulationismPrewrath

Irenaeus (c.120–c.202)

by Alan Kurschner
written by Alan Kurschner

Irenaeus (c.120–c.202)

And they [the ten kings who shall arise] shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. (Against Heresies, V, 26, 1)

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.”For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption. (Against Heresies, V, 29, 1)

It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfillment of the prophecy [Antichrist], than to be making surmises, and casting about for any names that may present themselves, inasmuch as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned; and the same question will, after all, remain unsolved. . . . But he indicates the number of the name now, that when this man [Antichrist] comes we may avoid him, being aware who he is­­. (Against Heresies, V, 30, 3, 4)

For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist . . . . [A]nd [with respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked one. (Against Heresies, V, 35, 1)

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AmillennialismChurch HistoryHistoricismImminenceOlivet DiscoursePost-TribulationismPreterismPretribulationismPrewrathThessalonians 1&2

The Didache: The Very First Commentary on the Olivet Discourse in Church History

by Alan Kurschner
written by Alan Kurschner

The following is a brief note on the very first commentary in church history on the Olivet Discourse, which corroborates the biblical veracity of the prewrath position.

Prewrath eschatology affirms that the Bible teaches expectancy, not imminency of our Lord’s return. We believe that Christ could come back in any generation of the church, not at any moment. Pretribulational imminency, however, is a relatively new British/American teaching in church history that originated in the early 19th century by the Plymouth Brethren theologian John Nelson Darby. And if it is found in other parts of the world, it is only because it has been exported by American or British pretribulational missionaries since then. In contrast, the fundamental belief of the prewrath view reaches back to the very first century of the church.

The earliest attested Christian document outside of the New Testament writings is called, The Didache, written sometime between A.D. 50–120. There are two parts to it: (1) an instruction on the “Two Ways” and (2) a manual on church practice. The document concludes with a brief but salient commentary on Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. What is highly significant about the earliest commentary on Jesus’ teaching is that it explicitly places the coming of Christ to resurrect the dead after the Antichrist’s great tribulation, not before. Thus, it recognizes that the apostle Paul’s teaching on the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4 is the same teaching that Jesus taught in Matthew 24. The Didache states:

“(4) For as lawlessness increases, they will hate and persecute and betray one another. And then the deceiver of the world [Antichrist] will appear as a son of God and “will perform signs and wonders,” and the earth will be delivered into his hands, and he will commit abominations the likes of which have never happened before [great tribulation]. (5) Then all humankind will come to the fiery test, and “many will fall away” and perish; but “those who endure” in their faith “will be saved” [delivered from the day of the Lord] by the accursed one himself. (6) And “then there will appear the signs” of the truth: first the sign of an opening in heaven, then the sign of the sound of a trumpet, and third, the resurrection of the dead [resurrection]—(7) but not of all; rather, as it has been said, “The Lord will come, and all his saints with him.” (8) Then the world “will see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven” [shekinah glory] (The Apostolic Fathers, Second Edition, Ed. Michael W. Holmes, 16:4–8).  Here is an online text of the document.

As is clearly shown the resurrection of the righteous follows after the Antichrist’s great tribulation.

The label “prewrath” is new, but its fundamental beliefs are ancient. Pretribulationism must wait 1,800 years to produce a document that teaches their theology!

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Historicism

Εὐθέως (Immediately) in Matthew 24:29 Undermines Historicism

by Alan Kurschner
written by Alan Kurschner

“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.” (Matt 24:29).

Historicism is the eschatological position that says the thrust of prophecy in the Olivet Discourse and Revelation are fulfilled in the span of the church age. So for example, they would say that the Great Tribulation was not fulfilled in the first century, nor is it to be fulfilled in the future. Instead, it spans the entire church age.
You may by surprised to learn that most Evangelical scholars are not preterists or futurists—they are historicists. But many are a mixture of preterist-historicist. Or, more inconsistently, some are preterist-historicist-futurist.
There are good reasons why historicism is not a valid interpretation. I want to point out one salient reason here. In Matthew’s account of the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24:29 he uses the Greek term έὐθέως, which means “immediately.” The event that follows the “tribulation (i.e. great tribulation) of those days” is the coming of Christ. Matthew says that the coming of Christ will occur immediately after the tribulation of those days. What is the nature of this tribulation? We are told specifically that this tribulation is caused by the abomination of desolation (Cf. Matt. 24:15, 21).
So historicism cannot be correct for two reasons:
i. The tribulation will come about by the abomination of desolation. So this tribulation cannot be described as occurring over the span of the church age. That is, believers are not going through tribulation today because the Roman general Titus destroyed the Jewish temple in A.D. 70.
ii. Since historicism believes that the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24 was fulfilled in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the temple followed by tribulation, έὐθέως (immediately) must refer specifically to that tribulation, since the term has a temporal meaning requiring that the coming of Christ to occur in the first century. In other words, it is nonsense for them to claim as they do that “immediately” will happen thousands of years later after the abomination of desolation. Therefore historicism has a strained interpretation.
Prewrath has the natural reading. We understand that the abomination of desolation for Matthew refers to a futurist event of Antichrist in the temple. That will cause a great tribulation and immediately after those days are cut short the coming of Christ will happen.

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