The earliest discussion of a pre-trib rapture of any kind that is clear and unambiguous probably traces back to Dolcino (1250 AD to 1307 AD).  He is a priest who began what his opponents describe as a cult in which he claimed that his followers and only his followers (not all Christians) would be raptured off the earth in a few years, and he (not Yeshua) would return to earth as pope and reign over the earth as pope with his followers.

He is recorded as having made numerous other "prophecies" as well, including one that he would rise from the dead on the 3rd day after his own execution.  He is said to have relied on a "horoscope" and what other "prophets" said, along with himself having "a warm and sanguine imagination" (see below).

We don't have what Dolcino actually wrote.  What we have is what his political enemies, both civil and the Church, said about him and what some of his sympathizers said about him. The"rapture" text comes from a 1316 text called "The History of Brother Dolcino", written 9 years after he was executed, which said,

quod intra illos tres annos ipse Dulcinus et sui sequaces predicabunt adventum Antichristi et quod ipse Antichristus veniret in hunc mundum finitis dictis annis tribus cum dimidio et postquam venisset, ipse tunc et sui sequaces transferrentur in paradisum, in quo sunt Enoc et Elias et sic conservarentur illesi a persecutione Antichristi, et quod tunc ipsi Enoc et Elias descenderent in terram ad predicandum Antichristum, deinde interficerentur ab eo vel eius ministris et sic regnaret Antichristus per plura tempora.  Eo vero Antichristo mortuo, ipse Dulcinus, qui tunc esset papa sanctus, et sui sequaces reservati descendent in terram et predicabunt fidem Christi rectam omnibus et convertent eos, qui tunc erunt vivi, ad veram fidem Iesu Christi.

"within those three years Dolcino himself and his followers will preach the coming of the Antichrist. And that the Antichrist was coming into this world within the bounds of the said three and a half years; and after he had come, then he [Dolcino] and his followers would be transferred into Paradise, in which are Enoch and Elijah. And in this way they will be preserved unharmed from the persecution of Antichrist. And that then Enoch and Elijah themselves would descend on the earth for the purpose of preaching [against] Antichrist. Then they would be killed by him or by his servants, and thus Antichrist would reign for a long time. But when the Antichrist is dead, Dolcino himself, who then would be the holy pope, and his perserved followers, will descend on the earth, and will preach the right faith of Christ to all, and will convert those who will be living then to the true faith of Jesus Christ"

(The History of Brother Dolcino, 1316)

So the alleged "rapture" Dolcino predicted was slated for Dolcino's lifetime. Obviously, it did not happen.  The word used here was "transferrentur", not "raptum" ("Raptum" is the tradition Latin word for "Rapture").  Again, this is not from Dolcino, but one of his sympathizers. We don't know what Dolcino actually taught.  We just know that this is something one of his sympathizers believed, maybe because he taught it.

Also, notice the very significant anti-Biblical modification made.  Instead of the Messiah returning to earth as the Bible tells us, Dolcino is the one who returns as "Pope" and reigning over the earth instead of Yeshua.  His "Apostles" (what he called his followers) were at 4,000 at one point.

Yeshua said we had to go through Him to get to the Father.  We Amen that!  But when someone says, "You have to go through me to get to Yeshua" -> that's a cult.  That is what the Rome maintained for many years, and Dolcino was not making the situation much better ; just inserting himself into that equation.  But no you don't have to go through Dolcino to get to Yeshua.  Perhaps Dolcino wasn't this bad and it is just what his enemies circulated about him.  But either way, we can't separate what came from what.

Dolcino is described as someone who foretold the future through a "horoscope", other people's prophecies, and apparently his own, but he apparently did not foresee his own military defeat, but instead promised a "transfer" to heaven for all those who followed him (but not for all Christians).  He is also quoted as predicting that he would rise again on the third day after his own death, which did not happen.

Dolcino isn't exactly a great source to use to "prove" a pre-trib rapture.  No post-tribber is going to look at this and say, "Wow I was wrong."  In fact it might strengthen his belief that the whole pre-trib idea is wrong by crediting the concept to a cultic source.  But it is what it is and I thought I'd pass this along so you can understand it and what history records about it.

In A Historical Memior of Father Dolcino and His Times, the following was said about him...

• "The apostles of Fra Dolcino were, therefore, nothing more than the expression of the anti-papal spirit universally prevalent in that age. With this wide-spread, deep-rooted animosity against her, Rome had struggled...Rebellion had  spread among the ranks of that very Franciscan militia which had been enlisted in her service." (page 145.7)
• "We have seen that Dolcino's apostles accused the whole series of Roman pontiffs, from Sylvester to Boniface VIII., of profligacy and corruption, with the single exception of Celestine V. This latter was the real Franciscan pope."
• "That he wished for the overthrow of the Church is clear enough " (168)
• "Dolcino drew his horoscope according to the aspects of the political firmament around him." (173)
• "Happily for Dolcino, however, his own sect had no leisure for degeneracy or corruption. " (208) 
• "As a pope-hater and a patriot, Dolcino required no affiliation into any sect or party. He was so by the nature of all circumstances. A high-minded Italian" (211)
• "he coupled the date of Sagarelli's first rise, in 1260, with that assigned for the fulfilment of Joachim's alleged prophecies. On these, and on the great plausibility accruing to them from the general aspect of the political world, he grounded his own predictions, and dwelt on them with the fondness of a man of warm and sanguine imagination." (212)
• He led a war at one point.  It says, "The first captives upon which Dolcino made this formidable experiment had, probably, been taken in fair war; they were that Brussato, mayor of Varallo, and the other men of the valley who had taken up arms against him, and fell into his power by a strategic manoeuvre. " (241)
• On p269, Dolcino is said to have committed numerous cold-blooded murders, but the writer almost apologizes for his decisions. 
• p278 says his armed rebellion was finally extinguished in 1307 and he was captured while in hiding as his army fought.  He was alter executed.

In Inventing the Enemy, he is described as being tortured to death by civil authorities and quotes as saying he would "rise again on the third day." (Inventing the Enemy, page 63)

 

Shalom,

Joe