In 1 Timothy, the Holy Spirit declared that in the latter times, some would be led astray by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons. The task of identifying those doctrines begins by determining the primary objective of Satan and the evil spirits-which is none other than self-preservation. From that understanding, a host of schemes (wiles) are discovered, all of which are intended to forestall their prophesied judgment. Because Jesus Christ is the agent of that judgment, the schemes are all designed to prevent (or hinder) His second coming!
Less than a century after the Lord's death, deceptive doctrines began to appear in Christian churches. Foremost among the evil spirits' schemes was the plan to destroy God's chosen people. The spirits believed that by eliminating the Jews, the Lord's second coming would no longer be feasible. Through the centuries, the evil spirits enlisted many nations to accomplish this. Moreover, the church was eventually enticed to join those efforts. History shows the early church fathers were virulent enemies of the Jews. Unfortunately, their influence has continued to the present day in the form of antisemitism and a belief that the church has replaced Israel. Also, in modern times, the church has often worked to destabilize the state of Israel, arguing that it has no right to the Promised Land, despite the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant. In addition to their attacks on the Jews, the devil and his spirits have sought to hinder "her offspring," those who hold to the testimony of Jesus. They have done this by making alterations to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the kingdom, and the doctrine of eternal punishment.
They also suppressed Biblical knowledge of the great tribulation. This was done to deprive the church of Biblical instructions needed to survive the period. This was done in two ways. First, the evil spirits introduced a series of deceptive end-time prophetic systems, most of which contained no mention of a "great tribulation." The second way was through the introduction of a doctrine known as the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. The pre-tribulation rapture is a belief that did not appear until the 1840's, though it has since gained wide acceptance, particularly in the United States. You will not find this belief explicitly stated anywhere in Scripture! Its adherents seek the doctrine's acceptance through a series of arguments linked together to create the illusion of a true Biblical doctrine. Though these arguments utilize actual Biblical passages, they are nevertheless constructed as sophistries-"reasonings that seem plausible on a superficial level but are actually unsound, or reasonings that are used to deceive."
The writings of two leading proponents are analyzed using a discipline known as informal logic. By this means, it is determined that every argument they advanced is, in fact, a logical fallacy. Therefore, they are of no use in validating the pre-tribulation rapture as a true Biblical doctrine.
