95-150 AD, the Rapture idea was preached by the Shepherd of Hermas. 2
"You have escaped from great tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not doubt in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for you to escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the days of your life in serving the Lord blamelessly." (documented by Larry V. Crutchfield) 3
270-303 AD, Victorinus, the Bishop of Pettau, a Catholic ecclesiastical writer preached it.
Victorinus said he saw another great and wonderful sign in his commentary on Book of Revelation in AD 270:
"Seven angels having the last seven plagues, for in them is completed the indignation of God. And these shall be in the last times when the church shall have gone out of the midst."
No doubt about it, St. Victorinus proclaimed the pretrib Rapture. 4
306-373 AD Ephrem the Syrian. One of the most important evidences for rapture is an apocalyptic sermon from the 4th century titled “Sermon on the End of the World”. It is credited to Ephrem the Syrian, a Syriac deacon, theologian, and hymnographer of the 4th century who wrote many biblical commentaries. Some suggest it may not have been written until a later date of 565-627 A.D. The exact date doesn’t matter. Even if it were as late as the 7th century, it is still 1100 years prior to John Darby. Ephrem wrote:
“Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? Believe you me, dearest brother, because the coming (advent) of the Lord is nigh, believe you me, because the end of the world is at hand, believe me, because it is the very last time. Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.” 5
400 AD, Jerome in the Latin vulgate (in the Catholic Bible) used the word rapimur which means "rapture", or "caught up" to describe the Rapture. Jerome is actually the man who first coined the term – Rapture. 6
There is a long list accumulating which reveal many prior to teh Middle Ages spoke and taught about the Rapture. That the Dead Sea Scrolls dod so, hundreds opf years before even the birth of Jesus is an astonishing Holy Spirit revelation. It is no wonder cults want to deny all the evidence as it accumulates.
Show me INDEPENT VERIFICATION of that quote from someone OTHER THAN ANYONE WHO COMES ON PROPHECY WATCHERS TO SELL THEIR BOOKS. Otherwise, it is another of Satan’s lies, which you are guilty of spreading. Put up or shut up (and then apologize to everyone for spreading lies).
Photographic evidence and THEN independent verification of someone who can read the text would be nice.
If time is oprecious, go to the 21 minute 34 second mark in the Ken Johnson interview to get the bottom line of what the Essenes who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls 1 to 2 hundred years before the birth of Christ were teaching their members. IT IS AMAZING prophecy.