“What is clear from all the recent work on the history of eschatology and millennialism is that John Nelson Darby did not create the dispensational system out of whole cloth by himself in the nineteenth century. Certain elements of that system pre-dated Darby. Prior to Darby, those elements existed in various non-dispensationalist theological systems. The division of history into eras pre-dated Darby in non-dispensationalist systems. Premillennialism pre-dated Darby in non-dispensationalist systems. Philosemitism pre-dated Darby in non-dispensationalist systems. There were tributaries that fed into the larger stream that became dispensationalism. In the nineteenth century, Darby and others took these already existing ideas, added a few of their own, and put them together in an altogether new way. They built a unique new house.”
— Keith Mathison, https://www.keithmathison.org/post/dispensationalism-before-darby
Did dispensational pretribulationism exist before Darby? Absolutely—at least in its “proto” stages. I’ve put together a list of key resources that track pretribulationism prior to Darby’s time. The common claim that Darby either stole the idea from Margaret MacDonald or invented it out of thin air is simply a myth.
Continue reading “Pre-Darby Pretribulationism: A Historical Survey”
