Pretribulationism traces its roots in the post-apostolic era as far back as "The Shepherd of Hermas" (ca. A.D. 140), which alludes to the idea that believers in Christ will not suffer the tribulation, suggesting a possible pretribulation view. Other antecedents of pretribulationism can be found in "The Apocalypse of Elijah", "The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem", and "The History of Brother Dolcino" which present clear, early forms of pretribulationism though less refined. Modern pretribulationism gained rise in the seventeenth century with the Puritan preachers Increase Mather and Cotton Mather. It was popularized extensively in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren and was further promoted in the United States through the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible in the early 20th century.