For the first 18 centuries of Christianity, the idea of a secret pretribulation rapture was not a part of Christian theology.

The modern concept of the Rapture was developed and popularized in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby, a British theologian and leader of the Plymouth Brethren movement, though the term "rapture" (from the Greek harpazo) meaning "to snatch away" was found in the Bible's First Epistle to the Thessalonians.

While the 1830s marks the doctrine's invention, its widespread popularity and incorporation into mainstream Christian thought came later, significantly aided by the Scofield Reference Bible (1909) and various movies throughout the years.