Source
From the beginning of the Christian era until the Protestant Reformation, only one person, Ephraem of Nisibis, in 373 AD preached in one known sermon that, "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."
The source goes on to say:
Then 1400 years after Ephraem, there appeared an allusion to the Rapture in a book written in 1788 by a Catholic priest named Emmanuel Lacunza and published in Spain in 1812. John Darby, a Brethren preacher, taught the Rapture doctrine in 1827. The evangelist, William Blackstone popularized Rapture doctrine in his best seller, "Jesus is Coming." The Rapture doctrine entered mainstream Christianity with its inclusion in the Scofield Reference Bible. There is no real history to the Rapture doctrine until the 1800's.
It's a pretty good site. It seems balanced. It also gives a history of the language, and I think that's really important. I'm also including the Wikipedia link for you all because it has more information on how Puritans thought of the Rapture.
Wikipedia article
I personally don't believe in the rapture as my more evangelical mother does. Simply because I know its history and that I believe, if there is a 'rapture', it's going to have nothing to do with bodily being taken up into Heaven with God and Jesus. If anything "taken up" or "carried away" rings of death on a large scale to me. Not being sucked out of your car or off your sofa when Gabriel blows the horn. The point is to live well and live kindly, treating your neighbor as you would want to be treated. As long as we are doing our best to live by that most important commandment (found in most, if not all religions whether adherents pay attention to the law or not), I think we will be okay. Rapture or no rapture.
