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Showing posts with the label dispensationalism

Built to Nurture: The Quiet Power of a Faithful Influence

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by Bart Denny Mother’s Day can land differently for each of us. For some, it brings warmth and gratitude. For others, it brings grief, regret, longing, or pain. So before we say anything else, we should say this clearly: we don’t need to pretend every family looks like a greeting card. We don’t need to pretend every home has always felt safe, healthy, or whole. That’s not real life. And it’s not the Bible either. The Bible gives us families with beauty and brokenness, promise and pain. And right there, in the middle of real life, God works. God doesn’t build faith in perfect homes. He builds faith by grace. He builds faith through ordinary people who show up, pray, teach, forgive, encourage, correct, comfort, and keep loving. Most of us can look back and see that our faith didn’t appear all at once. For many of us, faith came slowly. Maybe it came through a mother or grandmother. Maybe through a teacher, mentor, neighbor, pastor, or someone in the church who cared enough ...

Did the Early Church Fathers Believe in a Pretribulational Rapture?

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by Bart L. Denny, Ph.D., Th.M. I wrote this article years ago, and while I still see value in some of the arguments presented, my view has become more settled with time. Let me say it plainly: No, the early church fathers did not believe in a pretribulation rapture —at least not in the way John Nelson Darby and modern dispensationalists since the 1800s have taught it. They didn’t believe in it for one very good reason: the Bible didn’t teach it that way , and they were far closer—both chronologically and culturally—to the apostles than we are. But what did they believe? Let’s explore. Reading the Fathers with a Clear Eye Some scholars and popular writers have tried to find early traces of the pretribulation rapture among the church fathers. The argument often goes like this: If these early Christians believed in the imminent return of Christ and held to a millennial reign, then maybe—just maybe—they also believed in a secret rapture of the church before a Great Tribulation. Sounds in...