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The Rapture is an event in certain systems of Christian Eschatology ('' the study of the End Times '') whereby it is believed that all Christians will be taken from Earth by God into Heaven . Although almost all forms of Christianity believe that those who are "saved" will enter Heaven, the term "rapture" is usually applied specifically to the belief that Christians will be taken into heaven prior to the second coming of Christ, and there will be a period of time where non-Christians will still be left on earth before Christ arrives to set up his earthly kingdom. ETYMOLOGY The word "rapture" comes from the reference to the event in question, ''rapiemur'' "we shall be caught up" translating the original ''harpagēsometha'' (passive mood, future tense of ''harpazō''). VARYING VIEWS There are two main viewpoints (within the Premillennial school) which concern the timing of the Rapture. Pre-tribulation A popular view, and the view taught in Dispensationalism , is referred to as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture , or simply "Pre-Trib". This is the belief that the Rapture will occur at the beginning of the 70th Week of Daniel , the final seven years of this age. Christian believers will be translated into immortal bodies in the Rapture before the great persecutions by the Antichrist as he comes into his Beast role midway through the final seven years. According to this view, the Christian Church that existed prior to that seven year period has no vital role during the seven years of Tribulation. However, one should keep in mind that the Bible affirms that the Church is made up of individual Christians. If the rapture occurs according to pre-trib doctrine, many others will believe in the Jesus Christ of the Bible and will be saved, despite having missed the "rapture" and will now have to go through that Tribulation period with everyone else on the Earth. When those people become new Christians, they will be part of "the Church" on earth during this time period. They will witness during the first three and one half years, and they will also witness during the last three and a half years, or 1260 days of the Great Tribulation, which follow. The pre-trib rapture is sometimes presented as minority opinion among Christians, but it has become popular in recent years around the world and through the work of dispensational preachers such as Tim LaHaye and Hal Lindsey. Post-tribulation The other main view is termed the judgement when the wrath of God falls and the wicked are carried off at the end of the age. Both Pre-tribulation Rapture advocates, and post-Tribulation advocates would agree with the following:
It is called the Great tribulation because the saints of God are cast into prison for not worshipping the antichrist. This is also known as the hour of temptation and when the saints are cast into prison for ten days. This is also the time that the days are shortened for the elects sake. They will not take his mark therefore they face great tribulation. God is not absent from the earth but speaks through them by his spirit while they are in prison that even the gainsayers can't resist. The two witnesses preach for three and one half years and the spirit of God raises them up at Christ return. Mid-tribulation A third view is that believers will remain on Earth for the first half of the Tribulation and will be raptured at the mid-point of the seven-year Tribulation, which is the start of the Great Tribulation. Each of these Tribulation theories has added credibility through various scriptures; however, each has weaknesses that can diminish theory credibility as well. For example, an argument against the Pre-Trib theory exists in Mark 13: 19, 24-26 (NAS) which reads, “For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will…But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” “…After that tribulation…, Then they will see…!” Surely this provides substantial footing for those who advocate the mid-trib stance. The words “after” and “then” render the question, “After, or Then what!?” To these questions one must answer, “After the tribulation!” The problem with these assertions is found in verses such as Matthew 24:42 (NAS), “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” and Mark 13:33 (NAS), “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.” Pre-tribulation rapture already in process The fourth view is a more recent addition that claims that the Rapture is a three step process according to I fulfilled the first part of turning the hearts of the fathers (old covenant) to the children (new covenant)] Therefore, the Rapture has already started and will be completed with the Voice of the Resurrection and the Trump which calls them to the feast in the sky also called the wedding supper. TRADITION AND THE TIMING OF THE RAPTURE Some challenges of the validity of The Rapture are based in the famous "fig tree" parable of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, specifically Matthew 24:36: "''But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only''". However, it should be noted that Matthew 24:36 does not specifically refer to the Rapture, but rather to that time when Heaven and Earth pass away. This event takes place at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Another biblical reference frequently cited by Rapture theorists, 17:35-37: "''Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, (literal translation) Wheresoever the dead body fallen in battle is, there will the vultures be gathered together.''" This does not refer to the rapture of the church. Jesus answers that these people are taken to a battlefield and are dead and putrefying, having fallen in battle, pointing to an event later in time referred to in Revelation 16:14: "''For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.''" EXPECTED EVENTS According to the Rapture interpretation, in the near future dead believers in Jesus will be brought back to life and believers who have never died will be changed in the "twinkling of an eye" and both groups will be taken up to heaven. word is pronounced "''harpazo''", which means to "be caught up".]] "Secret rapture" A common interpretation that is quite popular is sometimes referred to as the "secret Rapture". Corinthians says Christians will all be transformed ''in the twinkling of an eye''. Thessalonians says Christians will be ''caught up''. This seems to be quickly, as ''snatching up'' is not a slow process. However, when Jesus returned to heaven his followers saw him go up. When Elijah was taken up Elisha saw him go up. Some views posit that there is no scriptural instance of a person vanishing instantly in the past, which is what the "secret Rapture" interpretation teaches; however, in the Old Testament, Enoch was "raptured" by God instantaneously: "''And Enoch walked with God: and he (was) not; for God took him''" (Genesis 5:24). Nevertheless, the rapture does not necessarily have to have a precursor of the same type to make it possible. In Russ Doughten's '' A Thief In The Night '', the Rapture was depicted as people disappearing. In '' Left Behind '', it was depicted as people disappearing, but leaving their clothes behind in a pile. If they were driving cars, they careen into other cars upon losing their drivers. The view is echoed in the popular Bumper Sticker which reads "In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned." In Mark E. Rogers ' "The Dead", those chosen for salvation disappear in a blinding flash of light. It is possible for people who have been left behind to redeem themselves in the eyes of God; those who do are immediately Raptured. Sacrificing oneself to help others is one way of being redeemed. Some characters are actually under attack by the reanimated corpses, or by Legion himself, at the time of their Rapture. The blinding flash of light totally disorientates the corpses who witness it, rendering them incapable of any action at all for a short period of time. The humans are literally "caught up" "in an instant" by God. While some of these views may have been popular for many years beforehand, there is no doubt that these movies and novels have influenced some people's thinking on the "rapture". SCRIPTURAL BASIS Supporters for this belief generally cite the following primary sources in the New Testament :
Generally, an elaborate set of predictions about the s in the book of Revelation in terms of contemporary world events. Criticism The rapture is a relatively new doctrine. It was first formulated in the 1800s . Many do not accept the "rapture" interpretation because they feel it is not clearly expressed in the Bible, and instead relies on extrapolations and inferences made from a patchwork of disjointed verses. Many further feel that if anything this significant were intended to be a major part of Christian teaching, then surely Christ would have made a plain reference to it in his own sermons as recorded in the Gospel, and not buried such a major prophecy in a few obscure, unconnected verses of the Apostle Paul. One common criticism of the rapture is based on the principle that the necessity of believing in Christ would be proven, by the events of the rapture, to anyone left behind. Thus anyone left behind who had knowledge of the rapture theory, but previously did not believe in Christ, would essentially be forced, by the proof of this miracle, to believe. This would prevent any type of Antichrist from having any credibility. Most Roman Catholics and many Protestants do not accept the concept of a rapture in which some are "taken up into Heaven" before the end of the world; this idea did not exist in the teachings of any Christians whatsoever until the 1800s, so it cannot be said to belong to on Judgement Day , when the living and the newly-resurrected-dead will rise up to meet Christ as he descends from heaven to judge the world. These people consider the rapture to be merely a minor detail in the Biblical description of the Second Coming of Christ. Eastern Orthodox do not accept it either, as such a thing as "rapture" was never taught by any of their bishops, from the beginning. Instead of "being taken up into Heaven", these churches follow the scriptures (such as Isaiah) clearly describing a ''physical'' Kingdom of Heaven that will be on a renewed Earth, following the Great Tribulation, the Resurrection of the Dead, and Judgement Day. In this view, there is no "being taken up into Heaven", except perhaps in the sense that departed souls await their earthly Resurrection in some sort of Purgatory . Barbara R. Rossing, a Lutheran minister, challenges the idea of the rapture in her 2004 book ''The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation''. In it, she discusses the history of Dispensationalism , arguing that the Biblical verses cited in support of the rapture are grossly taken out of context and misinterpreted. There are also a number of other scriptural problems with the rapture theory. Those scriptures offered in support of the rapture do not require a rapture for their fulfillment; there is no New Testament scripture that states there will never be a planet Earth that is absent in the New Testament church. Plus, inasmuch as the rapture theory requires belief that Christ will visit the Earth not once more -- but twice -- it's important to note that the New Testament speaks of Christ's Return in the singular only. The question to ask is, does the church meet Christ, then exit the area, or meet Christ as he returns in fulfillment of the angel's description in Acts 1:9-11: : "After (Jesus) said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'" Thus, we find Jesus standing on the ground, taken up into the sky, then hidden in a cloud. The angel said Christ would return the same way: He will appear from a cloud, descend to the ground, and place his feet on the earth. From this it would appear likely that Christ will return just as the angel foretold, and that the church will simply meet him upon his return. The word "meet" in the New Testament (Strong's, 529) is always used in the context of intercepting someone who is on their way toward the person meeting them. As for Christ's words, "as it was in the days of . However, the older interpretation is that these verses refer to intermarriage between descendants of Seth and those of Cain . The "Left Behind" series is liberal since its conception because Matthew 24:36 is largely ignored; fallen angels don't fornicate with human women and Nephilim don't walk the Earth in the series even though this is what Jesus is thought to have indirectly implied would come to pass in the Last Days. The post-tribulation rapture is entirely consistent with the primary rapture text in I Thessalonians 4:17. The text there could just as easily be interpreted to mean that the church will rise to meet Christ as he returns to earth, the wicked below will be swept to destruction as it was in the days of Noah, (they will worship fallen angels) and then the church will descend to the earth with the Eternal King. Rebuttal
HISTORY Little attention was paid to these verses before the Protestant Reformation , and consequently most Christian denominations who have beliefs concerning a "rapture" are those that appeared after the Reformation. The popularization of the term is associated with teaching of John Nelson Darby and the rise of Premillennialism and Dispensationalism in the United States at the end of the 19th Century . However, despite the work of Darby, he was only one man. Darby's work was eclipsed by an evangelist named William Blackstone (W.E.B) whose book "Jesus is Coming" sold more than one million copies back in the 1800s. Among Christians who believe in the Rapture there is substantial debate about Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib or Post-Trib. Critics of Pre-Trib often claim that Pre-Trib was started by a 15-year old Scottish-Irish girl named Margaret MacDonald (a follower of Edward Irving ) who had a vision in 1830 . However, Darby was a highly regarded preacher and biblical scholar who taught the Pre-Trib Rapture at least as early as 1827 and a detailed analysis of the text of MacDonald's description of her vision, published in 1840 , shows that she said the Holy Spirit would protect the Church ''through'' the time of trial--in other words, her statement is ''Post''-Trib. Belief in the rapture became popular in some Christian circles during the 1970s , in part thanks to the books of Hal Lindsey , including '' The Late Great Planet Earth ''. Many of Lindsey's predictions in that book, which assumed that the rapture was imminent, were based on world conditions at the time. The Cold War figured prominently in their predictions of Armageddon , and other aspects of 1970s global politics were seen as having been predicted in the Bible . Lindsey believed, for example, that the 10-headed beast cited in Revelation was the European Economic Community , which at the time consisted of ten nations. However, the importance of the work of Lindsey and other Rapture-watchers has been that they emphasized not only certain specific events that were re-starting the prophetic calendar (such as the formation of the Jewish Nation-State of Israel), but also that they emphasized the increasing speed of significant world events that would begin to act as a time line that would begin to contract, faster and faster, in bringing about the end of this Age, and the eventual personal and actual return of Jesus Christ, when he returns for the Second Coming After the Rapture. Lindsey and Tim LaHaye and other writers have pointed out that the Bible forecasts four power-blocks in the End times: A. The European Union. B. The Nations Confederated under the Kingdom of the North (Russia), C. the Nations Confederated under the Kings of the East (China) and D. the Nations confederated under Islam. Those power blocks are now consolidating in a manner that had not been politically possible until very recently. Rapture watchers note that the Bible seems specifically NOT to include the USA in any of the End-time political power blocks, leading to questions about what would happen to the U.S. (The same question was raised about the British Empire in the 1940s - Now the British Empire exists only in memory). Many Christians continue to believe in the rapture, with their interpretations of biblical Eschatology having been updated to reflect changes in world conditions. Although this belief is emphasized in the USA, where it is widespread in certain circles, these views continue to find wide resonance around the world not through the study of End-times books, the political events around the world, and the continued spreading of the Christian gospel, and particularly Evangelicalism, to all areas of the Earth. ċ THE RAPTURE IN MEDIA
SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS Denominational or Other Popular Rapture Resources
Other Rapture Websites and Articles
Alternative Rapture Viewpoints Rapture Fiction
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