Secret Pre-Rapture Christians – A fairy tale written by Jesuits

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Large parts of the evangelical churches are waiting for a secret early rapture of believing Christians before the great tribulation begins, including the appearance of a future Antichrist. Hardly any theory has misled as many people as the ideas of some Jesuits and their useful henchmen. Formulated around 430 years ago and today waiting for the fulfillment of a fairy tale. A master class confusion game and Rome laughs her head off.

Everything is waiting spellbound for saving rapture

In the end-time scenario that is already underway, a large part of the evangelical world is expecting a rapture of the Christian communities (dispensationalism) soon. A rapture to where? The thesis, which is particularly widespread in the USA, assumes that Jesus Christ will take his faithful people, the Christians, from this earth in one fell swoop in order to place them in the safe realm of the heavenly kingdom. The godless, i.e. atheists and people of other faiths, on the other hand, have to experience a subsequent phase of tribulation. This period of severe tribulation is caused by the appearing “Antichrist”.

This end-time scenario is justified on the basis of the Bible, but a question about the corresponding passages in Scripture usually remains unanswered, or only individual verses are given. However, context cannot be established and this is not surprising. This “secret rapture” or “pre-rapture” simply does not exist in the Bible and therefore will not occur in this way.

Something that does not exist in the Bible is very difficult to prove and is only possible by reading the Scripture together, line by line, from beginning to end, only to find that there was nothing there. Therefore, anyone who postulates such a thesis as the “secret rapture” must also prove this using Scripture.

The widespread end-time scenario

A very popular picture of the process begins with the sudden (secret) rapture of the Christian community. This will be brought to safety in the kingdom of heaven. Only now will Satan lose his position in heaven and be thrown to earth. This great adversary of God would immediately conclude a covenant between the “prince” and “the people”. This is followed by 3.5 years of “peace and security”.

Afterwards, a “sudden doom” befell the people of Judah for another 3.5 years. Jerusalem will be destroyed and Babel will become the capital of this world. Now Jesus Christ will appear on the Mount of Olives and the great tribulation over the nations will begin for a period of 33 years. The proclamation of 144,000 Israelites ushered in the founding of Christ’s kingdom on earth. At the same time, “anti-Christian empires” are being established.

With the completion of 33 years, martyrs will be brought back to life to rule alongside Jesus Christ. Babel will be laid waste and Jerusalem will become the capital of the new kingdom. The beast and the false prophet are seized. Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit and bound there for 1,000 years. This is the beginning of the 1000-year kingdom of peace on earth. Afterwards the great final judgment will be held against Satan and every single human being. The “End of the Age” or “Judgment Day”. Finally, the open ending of eternity follows.

There are also other scenarios with deviations. But they all have in common that there will be a (secret) early rapture and also a 1000-year kingdom of peace on earth.

Bible says something completely different

This description of the final process, which is widespread in evangelical circles, is supported by Hollywood productions such as the series “Left Behind”. The first episode focuses on the sudden disappearance of many people, i.e. the so-called pre-rapture.

What is the basis for this narrative, which has long since found its way into larger circles of congregations in Germany (e.g. Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics)? This sequence cannot be found in the Bible and this story did not fall out of the blue. The authors of the end-time scenario that is widespread today were exclusively “spiritual minds” from the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church, primarily Jesuits. The contradictions of these end-time descriptions compared to the Bible’s statements are obvious – here.

The numerous descriptions in the Old and New Testaments about the state of the earth after “everything has happened” are also clear. A 1000-year kingdom of peace on (inhabited) earth is completely out of the question. The evidence for this is there here.

Occasion and motives

With the beginning of the Reformation in 1517, the Roman Catholic Church felt compelled to use all possible means to combat its increasing loss of power and the knowledge it had gained from the Bible. With the Council of Trent (1545 to 1563), the Roman Church positioned itself behind its own dogmas and strongly condemned the “heretical activities” of the Reformation. The church could hardly do anything about the distribution of the Bible, recently translated into German by Martin Luther, and the English counterpart by William Tyndale. The Papacy was no longer able to continue to spread their erroneous teachings without the people being able to test it for themselves against the written Word of God.

One of the greatest disasters for the Church of Rome was the recognition of God’s earthly adversary, the Antichrist, which is described in many places in the Bible (Info). The Reformers undoubtedly recognized the papacy with all its characteristics as the “son of perdition” and the “man of sin.”

Today, this insight is often attributed to the reformer Martin Luther as an individual. This “confused monk” may have looked a little too deep into his beer tankard. And today this thesis about the anti-Christian papacy no longer appears to be “up to date” anyway. But such a claimed monopoly insight by Luther is already such a deception. Between the 14th and the beginning of the 19th century, there were at least 80 well-known theologians and reformers who unanimously recognized the Roman Catholic Church as the Antichrist based on the biblical description (here).

The founding of the Jesuit order

After the beginning of the Reformation, only a few years passed until the order “Societas Jesu” (SJ) was founded. Formed in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Peter Faber, Diego Laínez, Simão Rodrigues, Nicholas Bobadilla and Alfonso Salmerón and officially launched by Pope Paul III on September 27, 1540. The aim of this order: the destruction of Protestantism and the restoration of the originally unrestricted power of the Roman Church. Whatever the cost, the “end justifies the means”.

Interventions are only partially successful

The spread of the Bible could no longer be stopped. It was already too late for that. Even the “major attempt” by the Spanish Armada, commissioned by the Pope, against the King of England, who commissioned the translation of the Bible (King James Version), failed miserably. The terrorist attack on the English King James I and Parliament planned by the arch-Catholic officer Guy Fawkes in 1605 also went terribly wrong. This event is so deeply etched that even today “Guy Fawkes Night” and “Gunpowder Plot” are traditionally remembered.

Originator of the pre-rapture thesis

Sabotage, murder and manslaughter on the part of the Jesuit order, which was “tolerated” by the Pope, inflicted wounds here and there, but could no longer avert the Reformation. A parallel Jesuit strategy seemed far more promising. The new interpretation of biblical prophecy. Ultimately, the Church of Rome would have very bad cards in its hand if the knowledge of its identity as the Antichrist continued to spread. This knowledge based on the Bible must therefore absolutely be erased from people’s minds. This is especially true for the Antichrist, who should ultimately never be the papacy (Info).

Jesuit Francis Ribera

One of the pioneers in the reinterpretation of biblical descriptions and prophecies was the Jesuit Franciscus Ribera (Spanish, 1537–1591). He particularly devoted himself to the book of Revelation, the so-called Apocalypse of John. In no less than 500 pages, Ribera described his view of the statements of the prophecies. The Jesuit put forward the following theses about an Antichrist who would only appear in the future and his work:

– The future Antichrist will blaspheme and persecute the people of God
– He will abolish the Christian religion
– He will build a temple in Jerusalem again
– Jesus Christ is denied by him
– Rome will be destroyed
– The Antichrist will be received by the Jews
– He will pretend to be God
– He kills the two witnesses of God
– He will conquer the world

Ribera rejected the handling of the prophetic periods and interpreted information such as 1260 days, 42 months and 3.5 times as literal (prophetic times – Info). The interpretations formulated by Ribera are now also known as “Futurism”.

Jesuit Robert Bellarmine

Another important role in the reinterpretation of prophecy was the Italian and Jesuit Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621). It was Bellarmine who forced the naturalist Galileo Galilei in 1616 to renounce his knowledge of a fixed sun and the earth orbiting around it.

In 1593, Bellarmine completed the book “Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei Adversus Huius Temporis Haereticos” (“Disputations on the Controversies of the Christian Faith against the Heretics of the Time”). Probably his most influential book, especially in Germany and England. These are precisely the countries where the Bible translations of the Reformers were widespread. The Jesuit is now considered one of the greatest “defenders of the Roman Catholic Church.” Bellarmine adopted the futurism developed by his brother Ribera and refined individual statements. The aim was to (supposedly) refute the findings of the Protestant reformers.

Futurism was established

The work of Ribera and Bellarmine laid the foundation for a pre-rapture of the Christian community, although this was not necessarily the intention. Ostensibly, the two Jesuits wanted to separate the Roman Catholic Church from the identified Antichrist. Because if the Antichrist only appeared in the future, then it would follow that the Church of Rome could not be this adversary of God. Since the Jesuit order excessively took over the leadership of the “most advanced educational institutions”, especially the schools of theology, Futurism first became widespread. Unfortunately, even Protestant noble houses preferred to send their pupils to educational institutions run by Jesuits.

Jesuit Manuel Lacunza – Pre-Rapture

With the next Jesuit, Manuel de Lacunza (1731-1801), son of very wealthy parents through colonial trade in Chile, the thesis about a secret early rapture of the Christian community emerged for the first time. Under the pseudonym “Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra” (a Jewish rabbi), Lacunza completed his most important book, “The Coming of the Messiah in Majesty and Glory” in 1812. The Jesuit adopted the thesis of futurism formulated by Ribera and Bellarmine and only added individual events. This also includes the so-called pre-rapture.

It was Lacunza who related the “Day of the Lord” to the end of a phase in human history. The Jesuit had fallen out of favor with the Inquisition and the Pope. Apparently his depiction of the “Lord’s Day” did not fit with the official doctrine of Sunday observance (Info). b

Presbyterian Edward Irving

With the Presbyterian preacher Edward Irving (Scot, 1792-1834), the pre-rapture thesis, invented by Jesuits, found its way into the evangelical world. Irving stood out as a link between the Roman Catholic and Evangelical churches.

In keeping with the “Oxford Movement” within the Anglican Church of England, which began in 1830. The former Anglican pastor John Henry Newman particularly stood out here. Little by little he brought Roman Catholic customs into the church and quickly converted to the Catholic faith. It didn’t take long for Newman to be named a cardinal almost straight away.

Edward Irving did preliminary work by opening “Catholic-Apostolic” communities, later also called “Irvingianism”. Acting as a mole, Irving spread the thesis of a pre-rapture in the evangelical world through the translation of the book written by the Jesuit Lacunza.

John Nelson Darby – Dispensationalism

The Englishman John Nelson Derby (1800-1882) made an immense contribution to the spread of the pre-rapture thesis. Under his influence, the so-called dispensationalism also became popular in the Protestant churches. Darby traveled to the USA, Australia and New Zealand and saw it as his main task to disseminate the writings of the Jesuit Lacunza, translated by Edward Irving. Belief in dispensationalism spread throughout the United States, as well as the British colonies and Europe.

Although Darby turned against the Roman Catholic Church as part of the brothers’ movement he founded, he still spread (consciously or unconsciously) the teachings of a pre-rapture, which could no longer be more Catholic due to his Jesuit origins.

Cyrus I. Scofield – Pre-Rapture Bible

In order to top off the spread of the pre-rapture thesis, the US theologian Cyrus I. Scofield (1843-1921) wrote his own Bible. The “Scofield Reference Bible” was first published in 1909 and received a revision in 1917. Scofield emphasized the secret pre-rapture thesis based on his commentary on the Bible.

This font was particularly well received in the USA. For example, Scofield commented on the prophecy in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 38, that Russia would play a major role in the Battle of Armageddon. A thesis that has also found a certain following in Catholic circles in Germany.

Summary of career pre-rapture thesis

• At the end of the 16th century, the Jesuit Franciscus Ribera interpreted the Antichrist as a first appearance in the future (futurism)

• The Jesuit Robert Bellarmine refined Futurism with a few details

• The Jesuit Manuel Lacunza was the first to formulate a secret pre-rapture of the Christian community (Dispentationalism)

• The Presbyterian Edward Irving translated Lacunza’s writing and initiated its distribution

• Evangelical preacher John Nelson Darby spread the pre-rapture thesis on various continents

• The US theologian Cyrus I. Scofield wrote a Bible in which commentaries support the pre-rapture thesis

Everything is waiting for the pre-rapture

So much interpretation and effort when everything had already been in the Bible for around 1,400 years at the time of the Jesuit Franciscus Ribera? The dilemma for the Church of Rome began with the distribution of the Holy Scriptures in the native language of the common people. Instead of the biblical report, new stories had to be spread. While the intended destruction of the Bible was a complete failure, the reinvention of an end-time thesis turned out to be a resounding success. This is proven by the widespread misconception today of a pre-rapture, a future Antichrist and a 1000-year kingdom of peace on earth.

Everything looks spellbound at an ominous third temple in Jerusalem, just as the Jesuit Ribera once imagined. Hiding behind the name of a Jewish rabbi doesn’t exactly indicate honorable intentions on the part of the Jesuit Lacunza. So it happens that this combination of futurism and dispensationalism also fits wonderfully with the expectations of the Jewish communities. They are still waiting for the (first) appearance of the Messiah, who will put an end to the evil doings of a tyrant (Antichrist) and then establish his kingdom on earth. The same expectation prevailed in the time of Jesus Christ. At that time it was the tyranny of the occupying power of Imperial Rome.

Self-fulfilling your own “prophecy”.

The prophecies of the Bible, as they are written, cannot be influenced by man, let alone prevented. Events will occur exactly as stated. A story of one’s own, which began around 430 years ago, can certainly form the basis for an equally self-staged development. What a feat to let things happen the way they were scripted hundreds of years ago. Fatal for all people who continue to blindly follow it without caring about the truth by simply studying the scriptures themselves (thinking).

After the political disempowerment in 1798 and especially after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), today’s papal Rome is extremely peaceful, understandable, humble and committed to ethics and morals under the sign of ecumenism (Info). The current whispering from Rome (not Jerusalem!) will one day turn into a strong, ice-cold storm. However, the (minor) tribulation at the end of time, which is certainly described in the Bible, will not affect those who hold on to the expectation set by Jesuits and accepted by the majority, but rather those who will firmly hold on to the written word of God and thus the truth.

References to the statements of the Bible

The Antichrist recognized by the reformers has long been active – here
There is no 1000-year kingdom of peace on earth – here
There is no pre-rapture or a future Antichrist – here
The Bible describes the details of the end of time – here
The papacy has the “famous 666” in its own title – here
The final persecution will affect only a few – here

Bible verses from King James Version