who invented the rapture theory

The rapture theory, particularly the pre-tribulation rapture concept, is credited to John Nelson Darby, a 19th-century theologian and Christian preacher. Darby developed this idea within the framework of his dispensationalist theology around the 1830s. He taught that Christ would return secretly to "rapture" the Church before a period of tribulation on earth. This doctrine was further popularized in the United States by the Scofield Reference Bible in the early 20th century. Although ideas related to the rapture existed earlier in Christian history in various forms, Darby's teachings marked the origin of the modern rapture theory as it is widely known today.