Recently, I was interviewed by Chris White, who asked me basic questions about the prewrath perspective. For those who are new to the position, this should be instructive. (And you get to hear my WiscOnsin accent!)
Category:
Prewrath
5 Views on the Antichrist to Avoid
written by Alan Kurschner
Pretribulationism: The Antichrist is a literal future man, but this view sees the Church being raptured before his Revelation and persecution.
Preterism: The Antichrist was fulfilled in the first century, so there is no future Antichrist.
Historicism: The Antichrist is manifested in oppressive leaders throughout Church history, so there is no future Antichrist.
Spiritualism: The Antichrist is not literal, instead, he is symbolic of an evil principle in the Church age, so there is no future Antichrist.
Skepticism: God does not want us to know if the Church will encounter the Antichrist, therefore, don’t teach that the Church will encounter the Antichrist.
The prewrath position teaches though that the Church will encounter the Antichrist’s persecution in the future. It is the only view that has the natural reading of Paul’s words:
“Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, (2) not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. (3) Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. (4) He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. (5) Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. (6) And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time. (7) For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way, (8) and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. (9) The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, (10) and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved.” (2 Thess 2:1-10.
“waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” (Titus 2:13 ESV).
This verse is part of a larger sentence:
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, (12) training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (13) waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14 ESV).
My intent here is not to provide a full exegesis of this passage, but instead to comment on just a couple of elements in v. 13.
The pretribulational interpretation of this verse finds its origin in the misleading rendering found in the King James Version:
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13 KJV).
Notice the KJV rendering indicates that the “blessed hope” and the “glorious appearing” are two separate events. So pretribulationists in the past two centuries have interpreted the blessed hope being the secret rapture, and the glorious appearing as Christ at Armageddon.
The Greek, however, will have none of that. It reads:
προσδεχόμενοι τὴν [the] μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα [blessed hope] καὶ [and] ἐπιφάνειαν [appearing] τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, (Titus 2:13).
There is a rule in Greek grammar that says:
“when two nouns are connected by kai [“and”] and the article precedes only the first noun, there is a close connection between the two. That connection always indicates at least some sort of unity. At a higher level, it may connote equality. At the highest level it may indicate identity.” Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 270.
This is precisely what we have in Titus 2:13. The literal Greek reads: “the blessed hope and appearing.”
So what is this relationship between blessed hope and the appearing? The grammatical rule can only tell us that there is a unity, but it cannot tell us what exactly that unity is. However, we can be informed by the meanings of the words themselves, and theological context.
It is my contention (and the vast majority of Greek scholars) that the referents of “blessed hope” and “appearing” are referring to the same thing, that is, the latter is a clarification of the former: The appearing is the blessed hope itself. First you have an abstract notion or desire (“blessed hope”), then followed by a concrete event (“appearing”). The object of hope is the appearing of Christ. The blessed hope is not the rapture in itself—it is the result of the rapture, being present with our Lord with our newly resurrected bodies.
It could be rendered more precisely as “the hoped-for blessed manifestation.” The New English Translation (as does the ESV and NIV) brings this out best by identifying the hope as the glorious appearing:
“as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13 NET).
Theologically, we know from other passages from Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John who identify our waiting for this hope with the appearing of Christ:
“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” (Matt 24:30).
“to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Tim 6:14).
“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim 4:8).
“Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1John 2:28).
“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4).
“And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet 5:4).
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
Notice that all these passages teach that the Church will be on earth at the Appearing of Christ.
There will also be someone else on the earth with the Church when Christ appears:
Antichrist: “Then that lawless one [Antichrist] will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming” (2 Th 2:8).
Therefore, since the Church and the revealed Antichrist will be present at the Appearance of Christ, (1) the rapture cannot be imminent, since the Antichrist must be revealed prior to Christ’s Appearing, and (2) the Church will be here during Antichrist’s rule.
The pretribulational secret rapture is not a glorious event, since it disconnects the blessed hope from the glorious appearing of our Lord. The Return of Christ will be glorious because as the world is hating and putting to death his Church, our Great Rescuer will blast through the sky and deliver his people! And subsequently, the Lord will pour out his wrath upon this wicked world—that is a glorious Return! Not this secret pretrib rapture that robs Christ of his glorious rescue and vindication.
Finally, I want to address a hackneyed pretrib objection that I hear from time to time. It goes something like this: “I am looking for the true Christ, not the Antichrist.” They think that since we have an exhortation to look for the blessed hope, therefore we will not have to endure persecution, such as the Antichrist persecution against the Church.
I don’t have much to say about such an inane false piety. According to the thinking of pretribulationists, apparently the persecuted underground Chinese Church cannot look forward to the blessed hope, since they are being persecuted! But of course, that is absurd.
(Keep in mind that the escapist theology of pretribulationism is a very recent British/American teaching that originated in the early 19th century. And if it is found in other parts of the world, it is only because it has been exported by American pretribulational missionaries and their literature.)
It is actually more of a blessed hope to look forward to Christ’s Return if the Church is in the midst of persecution. Knowing that difficult times are coming would intensify our hope to be with the Lord. Tell me: Which group of believers will have more expectancy for the Lord’s Return: Complacent believers sitting on a couch in front of a television stuffing their face with Twinkies? Or, believers standing for their faith in the Lord undergoing persecution from the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation? I think the answer is clear.
Jesus said, “in the world you will have tribulation.” As well as Paul’s teaching of persecution at the Lord’s blessed Appearing (2 Thess 1; 2 Th 2:8).
Pretribulationism is not only misguided on a Biblical level, but also on a basic logical level:
It confuses Expectancy with Imminency. Titus 2:13 teaches the former. At the beginning of the month of December, I can sincerely express my desire to see the New Year, and I can genuinely express its nearness and its expectancy. But at the same time, I know for a fact that it is not imminent. There are intervening events. The remaining weeks of December must transpire, and Christmas, for example, must precede the New Year. So at the same time that I can be expectant for the coming New Year, it is not imminent.
And I can look forward to being a parent, but a few things sort of have to happen first, unless a stork imminently comes along.
I am continuing my response to Pastor Bob DeWaay.
He asserts that Prewrathers use a “Psychological Argument” for their position. He says that we believe that “if we do not think we are going to be martyred, we will not be prepared.” That is true, since how can someone prepare for persecution, if they think they will be exempt from it?
And he asserts: “No Christian is prepared for martyrdom on the grounds he or she thinks it will happen.”
He misses the point since he discusses this on the psychological level, not the spiritual level. Somewhere (not in any primary prewrath literature) he was told that prewrathers believe that if you just propositionally understand that believers will encounter the Antichrist, then you are somehow prepared for it. That is a blatant strawman, a gross misrepresentation. Prewrath does not believe that it is a psychological state that prepares a believer’s heart—but a spiritual state.
I would like to point DeWaay to some primary material such as this book by Charles Cooper: Fight, Flight, or Faith: How to Survive the Great Tribulation.
Notice the book is not titled: Fight, Flight, or Assent to a Proposition: How to Survive the Great Tribulation.
How does he explain Jesus and Paul’s warning of persecution to stay faithful during the Antichrist’s persecution? Is Jesus and Paul making psychological arguments?
There is a real connection between the warning to be prepared and one’s faith. This is called God’s means to prepare the believer. What other possible purpose was there of Jesus’ warnings if not to prepare them for what lies ahead? We are not told by DeWaay.
I do not believe that a pretribulational believer who affirms that we will be raptured out of here in bed’s of ease will be “just as prepared” for the Antichrist’s Great Tribulation as a prewrather who prepares his body, mind, and soul, and has studied and taken heed to Jesus’ teaching in the Olivet Discourse.
After John describes the threat that Christians will undergo by Antichrist in Revelation 13, he warns:
“This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus.” (Rev 14:12).
How does DeWaay negate that this warning is real? Someone can ignore this warning and be “equally prepared”? I don’t accept that.
To blunt these specific warnings, DeWaay says: “People have been martyred throughout church history.” So how is that relevant to the specific warnings given by Jesus, Paul, and John? We are not told. He also says that “everybody [in Church history] who has ever been martyred was given grace by God.” That is not the point. How many in Church history denied the Lord? How many of them did not take Peter’s warnings of persecution seriously? (1 Peter 4:12-19)
Next, he asserts:
“If Christians find themselves alive during the great tribulation, God will give them grace despite what view of the rapture they had.”
Never mind the fact that the grace of God was revealed in Biblical truth to believers in Scripture, warning them that this day would come. Theology does matter. He says that it does not really matter what rapture view one has. So if I am a pretribber who rejects the Olivet Discourse, which includes the parables of the Ten Virgins and all the other “Be Ready” parables,” God is going to bless that? There will be this peanut butter grace spread evenly among all Christians at this time? So why the vigilance? Can one really read 2 Thessalonians and come to the conclusion that “it really does not matter what you believe about this”?
In conclusion, the prewrath position prepares the believer for the persecution of Antichrist. Not because we assent to the proposition “prewrath is correct” as DeWaay would have you think. Instead, the prewrath position teaches with exhortation. The pretrib position cannot teach with exhortation because they believe they will be raptured out of here before Antichrist. The Prewrath position takes the warnings of Christ, Paul, and John as real and applicable to the Church.
Incidentally, if someone says that either position is “possible,” it still blunts the warnings in the Bible—for what believer is really going to discern Biblical authority in a faint-hearted maybe.
I am continuing my response to Pastor Bob DeWaay.
He devotes a brief time in talking about what the Early Church writers believed on eschatology. He rightly states that the Early Church was premillennial. But what was conspicuously absent from his discussion was any acknowledgment of the fact that Early Church writers believed that the the Church will encounter the Antichrist, and that the resurrection would follow after the Great Tribulation. This is exactly the core of what Prewrath affirms.
It is not that every Early Church writer wrote on this subject; but everyone that actually did affirmed that the Church would go through the Great Tribulation.
Not only can someone search in vain for a pretribulational statement in the Early Church, but you will not find any pretribulational statements until the early 19th century.
As Evangelicals our ultimate authority is not in what the Early Church writers believed—it is in the inspired Scriptures. It is, however, very telling that the first generations of the Church believed what Prewrath affirms: The Church will encounter Antichrist.
Click here for primary evidence.
Click here for an audio discussion.