Modern day Christianity adopts a doctrine outlining a case for a Pretribulation Rapture scenario based on scripture. However, when reading and analyzing the passages, we need the footnotes of the Scofield reference Bible to see that. By following along, it strings the passages together to fit and makes the case in the notes for this conclusion. However, is that necessarily what scripture tells forthright? So we ask how did it originate?
What this doctrine assumes is that God works in dispensations of periods, one of innocence, then of prophecy, then the 70 years of Daniel 9 with a huge gap separating the 69th from the 70th, which is the Church Age, following with the 70th week of 7 years identified as the 7 year tribulation period. In this 7 year period is half mild tribulation, of which the second half being the Great Tribulation. Before the tribulation a secret rapture occurred to take out the living and previous Christians before God returns to focus on Israel to bring in the Jews, which concludes with another resurrection into the new millennium of 1000 years of peace as the Kingdom of God represented here on earth with Jesus physically ruling in Zion. And of course a final resurrection for those who accept Christ in the millennium, before a last blast of war of nations into the eternal state.
The origin of modern Pretribulation Rapture doctrine and modern Dispensationalism comes from Scofield for the most part, who was influential with his footnotes stringing irrelevant passages together to make a case for his doctrine to promote a Zionist political State of Israel as a necessary requirement for the fulfillment of scripture prophecy, even though his concept may have predated him influenced by others who set the idea for it.
In the latter 18th century, Edward Irving, an English reverend notably credited as founder of the Catholic Apostolic Church, took the teachings of a Jesuit priest Manuel Lacunza, writing under the assumed Jewish name of “Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra”, into consideration and formatted a doctrine based on it. Lucunza had been influenced by another Jesuit, Franscisco Ribera of the 16th century, by his work, Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin Commentarii. John Darby attended several services of Edward Irving and started forming his own interpretation of the doctrine in 1830 influenced by Irving. It had not been accepted by the Christian community at the time in that same way.
Scofield, like John Darby who set up the foundation for the theory, was a lawyer. His profession skilled him in presenting cases whether they were credible or not. And his grabbing verses here and there to make a case for Pretribulation Rapture Dispensationalism is an example of this skill. His influence was the source of modern dispensationalism and futurism in the fundamental Christian community to push the agenda into the near future of the establishment of a Zionist State of Israel that he and his Zionist insiders would soon plan and fulfill. Then his doctrine would seem like a prophetic reality, when he himself was privy to the inside orchestration of such agenda.
According to Wikipedia:
C I Scofield was an American theologian, minister, and writer whose best-selling annotated Bible popularized futurism and dispensationalism among fundamentalist Christians. As the author of the pamphlet “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth” (1888), Scofield soon became a leader in dispensational premillennialism, a forerunner of twentieth-century Christian fundamentalism. Scofield’s correspondence Bible study course was the basis for his Reference Bible, an annotated, and widely circulated, study Bible first published in 1909 by Oxford University Press. Scofield’s notes teach futurism and dispensationalism, which emphasizes the distinctions between the New Testament Church and ancient Israel of the Old Testament. Scofield believed that between creation and the final judgment there are seven distinct eras of God’s dealing with humanity and that these eras are a framework around which the message of the Bible could be explained. It was largely through the influence of Scofield’s notes that dispensational premillennialism became influential among fundamentalist Christians in the United States.
You’ll notice it admits the doctrine of Pretribulation Rapture/premillennialism was based primarily off the influence of Scofield. And it became popular with its influence of MODERN fundamental Christianity in the United States. Is this (U.S.) where the faith is compromised and influenced to be diluted? Before this the church at the time of the Puritans considered it was millennial, and looked upon Vatican as the fulfilling position where the seat of antichrist presides, and the church as fulfillment of Israel. A warning went out of the Synagogue of Satan working within to influence their Pharisaic laws. But a futuristic view puts all the fulfillment somewhere in the future out of relevance with the Christian church. Makes Israel returning and a separate dispensation, and antichrist one future man whom will come AFTER the first stage of saints are beamed out in a secret Rapture, which makes Revelation (after the 3rd chapter) only applicable to the future saints (the Jews who didn’t catch the gospel by what Jesus already accomplished) after a supposed 7 year tribulation period.
During the early 1890s, Scofield began styling himself Rev. C. I. Scofield, D.D.; but there are no extant records of any academic institution having granted him the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. So he had no real credentials, only declared himself authority and given popularity by some means that I have not identified, but have suspicions. He is also known to have been a scoundrel involved in scandals. He was caught in embezzlement and pursued an affair estranged from his wife. But his popularity increased despite the ills of his reputation apparently. It is believed he was an agent of The Round Table, a secret society led by Cecil Rhodes and Milner. A political movement called Zionism developed, in which called for the land in Palestine to be segregated for the Rothschilds to revive Israel. Under the Balfour Declaration this was granted by Arthur Balfour, a member of the Society. The Zionists financed him and gave him the yielding to develop a doctrine for the Christian church to promote the Zionist cause. His case was added to footnotes of the Bible to emphasize this agenda. They gave it enough clout to introduce it to seminaries, which became popular among modern scholars of the 20th century.
His doctrine taught the necessity and requirement for a future political State of Israel for the Zionists as the fulfillment of his interpretation of scripture. Notice I say, “His interpretation of scripture.” Because he used his own ideas of fragmenting passages to make a case for the argument for the dispensationalism he proposed. I call this “Smorgasbord theology.”
This case has to be made that assumes Jesus didn’t fulfill prophecy for the Jews and that the Israel State has to be revised and presented in the future for the re-institution of sacrifices, as well as a Third Temple built to fulfill prophecy, which an Antichrist will preside (Dan 9, 2Thes 2). At which time Jesus intervenes and takes over the Temple to rule physically on earth in the millennium (Rev 20).
Christian Zionism supports the Zionist plan for the necessity of a physical State of Israel for prophecy fulfillment and assumes that it wasn’t finished by Jesus for the Jews. However, since Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets, and come for His own, yet was rejected, it would be blasphemy to say it is NOT finished and that He failed to rescue His own. But in fact, some of His own DID receive. This was a remnant. And THEY are those that became the “church,” who are the called out ones of Christ as His body. Jesus fulfilled the promise with a better promise, a better covenant (Hebrews 8). No need for yet ANOTHER covenant or gospel, which would be inferred by the Pretribulation Doctrine to reinstitute the sacrifices again after it had been made obsolete by Jesus. The one gospel is fine for both the Jew and the Gentile. Salvation is not through physical Israel, but the Israel of God, which Jesus is fulfillment of, not the nation of Israel as the end. Nor is people of Israel exempt from the necessity of Jesus just because it is called Israel.
No man comes to the Father (God), except through Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life – John 14:6. It is not by bloodline (Jews), nor by the will of man (building a Third Temple, re-instituting sacrifices, forming a nation of Israel), but by the will of God (through believing in Jesus Christ and His merit) – John 1:12,13.
Notes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._I._Scofield
For shortcut sake, see the extended article that has many of the cites used.
https://jamesperloff.com/2016/08/31/the-war-on-christianity-part-ii-the-abomination-and-blasphemy-of-christian-zionism/
David Brady, The contribution of British writers between 1560 and 1830 to the interpretation of Revelation 13.16-18 (1983), p. 202