Jovial (2 Aug 2015)
"The Early Church and the timing of the rapture - part 7"

This series to date includes;

Today

Most (possibly all) Christian denominations prior to the 19th century revival have taken an official stand against the pre-trib rapture, though not necessarily a strong one.  For example, the official position of the Catholic Church is that the concept  "cannot safely be taught" (CCC 676), which is not the same as saying its wrong, just more or less that they are not convinced it will happen. 

Most denominations since Darby have tried to remain neutral on the topic.  As far as I know, there is no major denomination that has taken an official position in favor of a pre-trib rapture, but most that have remainde neutral are probably majority pre-trib within English speaking countries. 

Some worded their statement of faith so both pre and post trib believers would agree with the wording without taking a stand. For example, the official position of the Assemblies of God is

"The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on earth for one thousand years." (See http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/statement_of_fundamental_truths/sft_full.cfm#14 )

What it lacks is an explanation of how much time elapses in the phrase "followed by". Is it immediate, in a twinkling of an eye? Or is there a 3.5 year gap? Or a 7 year gap? Officially, they don't answer that and let you form your own opinion.  So whether you are pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib, you can agree with this statement, you might simply have a different opinion as to how much time elapses in the phrase "followed by."  And a lot of thought may have been put into wording the above in just such an ambiguous fashion to make as many people as possible happy.  After all, this is not what our salvation rests on, and we should be accepting of all our brothers in the faith, irregardless of how they see the timing and how much time they see passing between the blessed hope and the visible return.

The following is a table of major denominations

Catholic

1.2 billion

Orthodox

315 million

Anglicanism

85 million

Lutheran

75 million

Presbyterian

40 million

Baptist

100 million

Methodist

75 million

Assemblies of God

60 million

Vineyard

25 million

7th Day Adventist

17 million

Others

200-400 million  
(with those 
not mentioned 
at 15 million 
or below)

Those in red (1.7 billion or 75%-80% of Christiandom) have taken an official position, at the denominational level, against the concept of a pre-trib rapture.  The others have taken no official view and allow for diverse views.  There may be a denomination under the lowest membership level I have on this list that has taken a position that is different, but I don't know of an example off the top of my head.

In recent years, the trend has been towards more and more independent Churches, which is perhaps a good thing.  Denominations tend to divide, whereas non-denominational organizations tend to be more open minded and don't rest a pastor's career on keeping with the denominational position on a topic, so it is easier for more good ideas to float to the top and survive on the basis that they are good ideas rather than being the official denominational position.

 

Shalom,

Joe