Plymouth Brethren

According to popular consensus, a doomsday cult that is still active today was established in 1831 close to Dublin, Ireland. John Darby, a clergyman, and his non-clergy partners, including John Bellett, an attorney, and Anthony Groves, a dentist, formed it. Since they all claimed to directly study the bible, the group did not really see a problem with having a distinct clergy from the congregation. In 1860, it arrived in America and quickly grew to 50,000+ members.

According to John Spinks, a member for 22 years, it picked up some strange beliefs along the road. For instance, members are not permitted to watch television or even go to the movies. All pets were to be put down, according to a 1964 regulation, because they served as a distraction from God. Members are required to attend a service every day, save Sunday, as a sign of their dedication to the doctrine. They are expected to attend five on Sunday.

The Left Behind film series is the best-known example of how the Plymouth Brethen's ideology has affected popular rapture media in modern times. John Darby avoided a blunder that many of the other doomsday cults described here avoided, which contributed to its growth and survival. He only stated that the rapture and tribulation would occur at the conclusion of the "Church Age," the final of the seven ages he identified in his division of human history. He did not give a specific date or even a year.