An acquaintance of mine on twitter suggested I read an article by Dr Thomas Ice that he said was good but probably would not convince me or other post-tribulationists to change our positions. He was right.
On June 3, 2011, Dr. Thomas Ice, a well known pre-tribulational proponent asserted in an article that Jesus Christ Himself taught the Apostles the pre-tribulation rapture in the upper room.
The main problem with the article is that it fails in any way to prove the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture. It reminds me of the proverbial shell game. In the shell game, the game operator is getting the the mark to believe that there is actually a ball underneath one of the shells when in truth there is nothing there. Instead they try to get you to focus on the movement of the shells. Ice’s article is just like the shell game, it does so by making some legitimate and questionable observations from scripture without offering a shred of proof that pre-tribulationism is being taught, instead the article simply asserts pre-tribulationism, while at the same time diverting the readers’ attention to other things.
In his article, Dr. Ice explicitly states that in John 14:1-3 Jesus first introduced the disciples to the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine. Dr. Ice does this by comparing the similarities between this passage and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. It cannot be argued that there are not major similarities between these passages. However that in and of itself fails to demonstrate the the rapture is pre-tribulational. Secondly he also muddies the waters of interpretation by taking futuristic prophetic passages and dismissing their plain meaning by saying this is or is not a Church-age truth (pre-trib teachers routinely do this). This is nothing but a diversion that prevents the average person from being able to understand what the Bible teaches about the future in general and the second coming in particular without the assistance of these pre-trib teachers to explain it to them.
Dr Ice rightly points out that when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will tell you of things to come. If the pre-tribulation rapture is the blessed hope that Christians are to be looking forward to, it is curious that such a belief is absent from the majority of Church history. Did the Holy Spirit neglect to inform Christians throughout history that the blessed hope is the pre-tribulation rapture and not the second coming? You be the judge. The blessed hope is and always has been the glorious return of Jesus to establish His Kingdom on Earth, returning in the same way that angels declared when He ascended. Returning in glory with His angels in His physical body. This has been historic Christian doctrine for more than 2000 years. No amount of feature films, books, and teachings to the contrary are going to change that. Keep watching.
This refutation of the bogus assertions of Thomas Ice is exactly correct.
A few other points could be added, but all that is stated in this extremely good refutation is accurate, well presented, and much appreciated.
Jacob Prasch
Moriel
I was taught that Pre-Trib is correct, Baptist, but now I have seen no evidence in the Bible that this is right, I read that if you Endure until the end.you will be saved, We endure with Yeshua,and live like him, be faithful and strong, so many people have been and are going through Tribulation, in the East, America’s time is coming, we haven’t seen anything yet, Stay strong in the Father.
Great post! I have not heard of this Dr. Ice nor the upper room theory. It seems pretty implausible to me. I’m glad I’m not the only one out there fighting against this pre-trib rapture stuff. It is pretty pervasive where I teach. I have written just a few posts of my own about this at a collaborative blog called Cataclysmic. I look forward to future posts!
Thank you Michelle! You’re right, pre-tribulationism is a pervasive teaching, and one that is not supported by scripture. There are many Christians that attend Churches that teach pre-tribulationism and simply do not agree with it, but are bullied into silence or asked to leave if they disagree. Its time for us to speak up. I’m not talking about causing division, but Paul even said that there needs to be healthy loving debate within the Church. 1 Cor 11:19. Much of the New Testament is dedicated to correcting error within the Church. Are we as a people so much more enlightened than the original Christians that our own Churches should be exempt from correction?
Precisely, this theory or doctrine only leads to apostasy.
And it stems from interpretation of Daniel 9:27