"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 siin." ['On The Last Times, the Antichrist and the End of the World' Ephraem of Nisibis (Ephraem The Syrian)]
CynicalBear wants to pit James Strong against Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, you want to pit Ephraem against Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. Ephraem is Pseudo-Ephraim, pseudo meaning false. The mass of historical evidence is against the Pretribs, neither Strong nor Pseudo-Ephraim can tip the balance.
I apologize again to FReepers for assisting the hijacking of this thread. I leave it to MHGinTN and CB to continue the hijacking. Later alligator.
Do you have a link or library reference for the quoted above? I searched and have not found one scholarly site which can produce an exact quote nor can affirm attribution.