The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds Christians that they are surrounded by a great "cloud of witnesses." (NRSV) That "cloud" has continued to grow in size since then. In this monthly column we will be thinking about some of the people and events, over the past 2000 years, that have helped make up this "cloud." People and events that have helped build the community of the Christian church as it exists today.

John Nelson Darby was born in London in 1800 but raised in Ireland. There he entered the Anglican clergy, being appointed to a poor parish in Wicklow. A growing disillusionment with the state of the church, of which he was a member, caused him to meet – and "break bread" – with several like-minded fellow believers from mixed church backgrounds in Dublin in the 1820s.

The meetings included a strong emphasis on the study of biblical prophecy and the Second Coming of Christ. This was one of several groups who were similarly dissatisfied with existing churches, from which the fellowship known as the Plymouth Brethren would emerge. The first congregation was established in Plymouth, Devon, in 1831.

As with many breakaway groups, it tended to continue to divide over doctrine, with Darby himself being part of the group's first (and many would say most decisive and divisive) division in 1845, from which the Exclusive Brethren emerged. The Exclusive Brethren have further divided since then. Darby died in 1882 in Bournemouth.

Dispensationalism and the pre-tribulation rapture

Arguably, Darby's most striking and enduring influence and legacy was in the fields of what are often described as the "secret rapture" – also known as the "pre-tribulation rapture" – and the closely associated belief in "dispensationalism".

The dispensationalist position, at its simplest, holds that salvation history is best understood as a series of different chapters (or dispensations) in God's dealings with people, in which God wills particular revelations of himself, and decrees distinctive organizational principles and roles to characterize these periods of time. In each of these the prime focus is different: first was the focus on the Jewish people and Israel; then the age of the multinational Church; and then will come a final stage in which the focus returns to the Jewish people/Israel in an end-times conversion of the Jews (and others) to Christianity.

For most modern dispensationalists, this final stage begins with the "secret rapture" of the Church from the earth. In effect, this clears the stage for a new (and final) chapter in salvation history. Because this removal of the Church is thought to be before the final harrowing events preceding Christ's return, it is often referred to as the "pre-tribulation rapture".

In the great sweep of salvation history, the Church and the Christian dispensation since the first century represents an "Age of Grace" (in contrast to the Old Testament "Age of Law") which constitutes "a parenthesis" (a pause/break) in the long-prophesied history of Israel. According to this outlook, the prophetic programme for Israel was, in effect, paused after the dramatic events of the rejection of Christ, and the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in the year AD 70.

These linked beliefs are seen as reconciling Old Testament prophetic scriptures that focus on Israel/Jerusalem, with Christian eschatology (end-times beliefs); and Christian beliefs about salvation, with statements such as "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26), and "the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). They also offer reassurance that Christians will be spared the traumatic events immediately preceding the return of Christ.

However, it should be noted that other – equally biblical – commentators have strongly contested this view. They would agree that 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ("Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air") teaches a lifting up of Christians to meet the returning Jesus. The Latin Vulgate translation of Paul's Greek word "harpazo" ("caught up") is "rapiemur," from the verb "rapio" (hence the modern term "rapture"). But they would argue that there is nothing in the text to suggest this event significantly precedes the final visible return of Jesus; and there is nothing to signal a new dispensation starting on earth (minus the Church).

Similarly, they would argue that in the other, often-stated, proof-text (Matthew 24:37-42), those who "will be taken" at the coming of the Son of Man, far from being raptured-Christians are – in the context of these verses – the equivalents of those "swept away" by the flood in "the days of Noah." In this view, Christians will remain on the earth until the moment of the return of Christ; there will be no secret rapture; there will be no new dispensation, because the multi-ethnic Church represents "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16).

In short, what is now the settled doctrine of many millions within the evangelical community is not without its serious detractors from within that same community.

Changing ideas over time

The position of many writers within the Church by the end of the Roman Empire contrasted with the popular modern outlook. Given that dispensationalism is now mainstream among many Christians, it must be emphasized that this was not the case for over a millennium of Christian history. Instead, what developed – as the Church became a distinct multi-ethnic group, distinct from Judaism – was a very different take on providential history.

The outlook that developed over the first four centuries of the Christian era can broadly be variously described as "covenant theology," "supercessionism," and "replacement theology." In short, the New Covenant, based on faith in Jesus, was thought to have replaced (or superseded) the Old Covenant, between God and the Jewish people.

According to this understanding, the multi-ethnic Church replaced ethnic Judaism as the elect people of God and inherited what was earlier promised. Beliefs in line with this outlook can be found in the writings of many early Christians in the Roman Empire. From such a viewpoint, biblical references (including prophetic ones) to "Israel" and "Jerusalem" became synonymous with symbolic understandings regarding the Church and the creation of a multinational "new Israel".

This understanding largely dominated the outlook of the Church from the second to the sixteenth century and is still influential today (though less so in some evangelical communities); although since the Holocaust some denominations have become wary of it, given its past (though by no means inevitable) association with antisemitism.

Most Roman Christians who expected the imminent return of Christ believed it would occur after a time of tribulation – a time of persecution which the Church would experience. However, there was a minority of writers who thought the Church would be spared experiencing the traumas preceding Christ's return.

The invention of "dispensationalism" and the "pre-tribulation Rapture"?

Many modern writers have described Darby as being – in effect – the inventor of dispensationalism and the first to teach the pre-tribulation rapture. Closer study shows this is not the case. Several Puritans theologians, and those influenced by their writings in the period 1600 to 1800, looked to the restoration of the Jews, including to their ancient homeland. Oliver Cromwell's consideration of the readmission of Jews to Britain in the 1650s (having been expelled in 1290) was a response to this belief and the hope it would hasten Christ's return.

Similarly, there were a number who wrote about the rapture of the Church, and some in ways like the later views of Darby. These included Morgan Edwards (1722–95), who helped found Rhode Island College, which eventually became Brown University, and Edward Irving (1792–1834). However, not all who referred to the rapture assumed it would significantly precede the visible return of Jesus.

Consequently, Darby did not invent these beliefs, although arguably he systematised dispensationalism, which had previously lacked coherency. However, regarding the secret rapture, there is much stronger evidence for arguing that it was Darby who both focused and amplified a belief that had previously been a minority position.

The historic impact

The teachings associated with Darby, and those who came after him, spread in the US through so-called prophecy conferences such as the Niagara Bible Conferences (1883–97). Allies and sympathisers included Dwight L Moody and Cyrus I Scofield. Moody founded the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and this, and other comparable foundations, gave dispensationalism institutional permanence. These included the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (1907), and the Philadelphia College of the Bible (1914). Consequently, generations of US students of the Bible came to see salvation history through this lens.

This was accelerated by the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909, in which Scofield incorporated many of Darby's ideas in his annotations. By 1943 it had sold two million copies and remains highly popular. In fact, in 2011 it had become the best-selling book in the five-hundred-year history of the Oxford University Press; and the best-selling reference Bible in US history with over ten million sales, although strict verification is difficult to achieve. Today, belief in dispensationalism (and the attendant belief in the pre-tribulation rapture) dominates Christian prophetic beliefs, with tens of millions of adherents.

Other developments have added to this impact. In recent times, the Left Behind series of books – produced by the writing team of Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins – has sold somewhere in the region of eighty million copies. As a result, what might be called the Darby view of salvation history and the related end-times timetabling of the rapture, has become a global phenomenon.

The evangelical Church has been hugely influenced by these teachings. Attitudes towards the State of Israel within many evangelical communities are largely framed within this dispensationalist framework. In 2011 it was estimated that somewhere in the region of forty million Americans subscribed to dispensational beliefs. Assuming that these were adults, this amounted to almost 17% of the entire US adult population at that point in time.

The same level of support can be assumed regarding belief in the rapture, where the pre-tribulation form of the doctrine is now an integral part of eschatological timetabling. Globally, many more tens of millions of Christians also subscribe to these beliefs.

So, how should we evaluate the impact of Darby, and his contemporaries who – at the very least – systematized and amplified these doctrines? For the millions who subscribe to them, they provide an essential key for unlocking the sequence of prophesied end-times events, through looking towards the future actions of Judaism and Israel in a post-rapture renewal of a "paused" dispensation.

For those who do not accept these beliefs, they have distorted the Christian view of the nature of salvation history and eschatology to an extraordinary degree. In addition, some fear, it reduces Christian engagement with current crises (including climate change and Middle East conflict) by thinking that raptured-Christians will not have to live through the consequences of current policies (assuming Christ's return is imminent).

The jury may be out, but the historic significance of the case being reviewed is beyond doubt.

Martyn Whittock is an evangelical historian and a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England. As an historian and author, or co-author, of fifty-five books, his work covers a wide range of historical and theological themes. In addition, as a commentator and columnist, he has written for several print and online news platforms; has been interviewed on radio shows exploring the interaction of faith and politics; and appeared on Sky News discussing political events in the USA. Recently, he has been interviewed on several news platforms concerning the war in Ukraine. His recent books The End Times, Again? (2021) and Apocalyptic Politics (2022) explore the history and impact of end-times beliefs.