In this brief article, Fr. Anthony expresses with clarity the truth of the false teaching known as the “Rapture” and how much it distorts the teachings of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures.Posted on 07/27/2016 8:46:41 PM PDT by NRx
By Fr. Anthony M. Coniaris
In this brief article, Fr. Anthony expresses with clarity the truth of the false teaching known as the “Rapture” and how much it distorts the teachings of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures.
As I was driving one day I encountered a bumper sticker admonishing me:
“WARNING! In the event of Rapture, this car will be driverless.”
The strange belief in the Rapture teaches that some day (sooner rather than later), without warning, born-again Christians will begin to float up from the freeway, abandoned vehicles careening wildly. There will be airliners in the sky suddenly with no one at the controls! Presumably, God is removing these favored ones from earth to spare them the tribulation of the Anti-Christ which the rest of us will have to endure.
Unfortunately the Rapture has been promoted widely by the Left Behind series of books that have sold over 70 million copies.
The Rapture represents a radical misinterpretation of Scripture. I remember watching “Sixty Minutes”a year ago and was appalled to hear the announcer say that “the Rapture is an unmistakenly Christian doctrine”. It is not!
It is a serious distortion of Scripture.
It is astonishing that a belief so contrary to Scripture and the tradition of the Church could be propagated by so-called “Christians”.
According to the Bible and according to the belief not only of Orthodox Christians but also of the Roman Catholic and most Protestant mainline churches, the true Rapture will not be secret; it will be the great and very visible Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the world. That is the one and only “Rapture”. It will not be a separate, secret event but one that every eye shall see (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
The word rapture is not found in Scripture but hearkens to 1 Thess. 4:17 where St. Paul says that when the Lord comes again
“we who are alive…shall be caught up…in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
This “being caught up…in the clouds”—arpagisometha in Greek, is translated by some as “raptured”. The word itself is not found in Orthodox theology.
The notion of a rapture in which Christ comes unseen to take believers away secretly, and only later comes back again for everyone else publicly—this whole teaching is quite novel. It was almost unheard of until John Nelson Darby formulated it in the 1800s as part of a new approach to the Bible, sometimes called “dispensationalism”.
The purpose of the “Rapture” is to protect the elect from the tribulations of the end times. Yet Jesus said nothing about sparing anyone from tribulation. In fact, He said,
“In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”
Nowhere did Jesus ever say that He would return secretly to rapture the elect. Rather, He promised to be with His elect in all tribulations.
“Lo, I am with you always. I will never leave you or forsake you.”
He even had something good to say about being persecuted:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10).
Those who espouse the Rapture claim that Matthew 24:40-41 refers clearly to the rapture of the just,
“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
The entire passage, however, refers to Christ’s second coming where He will judge the living and the dead and separate the just from the unjust.
Darby taught as dogma that when the Scriptures reveal that the Lord will reign on earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4), this figure is to be taken literally, rather than as a symbol for eternity as we believe. The Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 condemned as heresy this teaching which is called chialiasmos (millenianism or 1000 years).
In fact, the Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787 A.D.) in which the essential truths of the Christian faith were defined never mention a rapture. Yet evangelical Christians and Pentecostals keep using obscure passages of the book of Revelation which purport to give a detailed timetable of what will happen at the end of the world, despite the fact that Jesus Himself warned that no man knows either the day or the hour when the Son of Man shall return.
A major problem with the Rapture is that it ends up teaching not two but three comings of Jesus—first His birth in Bethlehem; second, His secret coming to snatch away (rapture) the “born-again”; and third, His coming at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead and to reign in glory. Yet only two not three comings of Christ are mentioned in the Bible. We have the clearest definition of this in the Nicene Creed when we confess that
“the Lord Jesus Christ…will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. His Kingdom will have no end…. I expect the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the ages to come.”
There is no mention of a “Rapture”.
As already stated, most Christians, Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Protestants do not believe in the Rapture. In fact, one Protestant pastor, John L. Bray, summarized magnificently what we Orthodox and most other Christians believe about the Rapture when he wrote these remarkable words,
Though many believe and teach this “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” theory, they erroneously do so, because neither Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, nor any of the other writers of the Bible taught this. Nor did the early church fathers, nor any others for many hundreds of years…. Did you know that NONE of this was ever taught prior to 1812, and that all forms of Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaching were developed since that date? …. If I were to preach something, or believe something, supposedly from the Bible, but cannot find that ANYONE ELSE before 1812 ever believed it or taught it, I would seriously question that it is based on the Bible.
Thus the Rapture is foreign to the Bible and to the living tradition of the Church. It is what we call a heresy, a false teaching. False teachings, such as this, happen when people—like John Darby—believe that they have the right to interpret the Scriptures individually apart from the Living Body of Christ—the Church—where the Spirit of Truth abides and leads us to all truth.
I can think of no better words to conclude than those of Jesus when He speaks of the one and only “Rapture”, the Second Coming:
“Be on guard. Be alert! You do not know when that time will come…keep watch…if he comes suddenly, do not let Him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!” (Mark 13:32-37).
The one for five dollars I found was this one:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/rapt_hlp.htm
“We are a group of 5 adults (one Christian; four non-Christians). Four of us fully expect to remain behind if and when the Rapture ocurrs. We personally commit to work up to a maximum of 6 days a week, 10 hours a day giving highest priority to answering Email questions from those left behind who are registered with us. We will supply them answers to their personal questions. We will send them Biblically based essays explaining:
•how to be saved,
•the nature of the Rapture,
•the nature of the Tribulation,
•the Antichrist and his expected activities
so that they can make sense out of the unfolding events”
I think you need folks who aren’t Christians, or at least must not be saved, given the premise of the Rapture.
Freegards
You are referring in your post to '7' trumpets, as revealed in Revelations. Are you aware that when Paul wrote tot he Thessalonians John's Revelation had not been given yet? Paul would not have been referring to trumpets not yet disclosed.
Perhaps you are confusing the wrath of satan because he sees his time is now very short, with the wrath of GOD sent upon the Earth during the tribulation/Great Tribulation?
Setting up such a ‘trust fund’ is useless since the world’s economy will be collapsed and the stored funds will have disappeared. The anti-Christ uses a very different approach to buying and selling when he takes world-wide control of the chaos following The Rapture of The CHURCH. Use the money now to help someone in need. That money will not survive the world-wide economic collapse for later use. Use it now to help someone in need that GOD puts in your path.
Christ Himself elaborated on the trumps, seals, vials, of Revelation in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. No where does Christ instruct anybody to have their bags packed for a fly away... Rapture doctrine is a false security blanket. Do you know who the literal ‘anti-Christ’ is? Christ foretold who it is.
What about gold reserves, or just bunkers of food and medicine?
Freegards
I see this, which is directed to no one individually, but rather a collective reminder to all of us to examine ourselves for we will all pass before the Judgement Seat. Love covers a multitude of sins and we all need mercy. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Matthew, Catholic chapter seven, Protestant verses three to five,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James
There is coming such an horrendous chaos for a period that people will not believe how bad it is going to be after JESUS snatches away the innocent, the CHURCH, and the dead in Christ (the innocent are in Christ because there is no law standing between them and the Grace of God).
I consider myself a prepper, not for after the Rapture but incase of natural disasters. When I'm gone those preparations will be around and marauding hungry people will no doubt find them. Prepping is common sense in action. It need not be attached to the expectation of being Rapture thus leaving behind provisions for those not snatched away.
I do have a good Bible in the prep storage, so those left behind will have 'something to read' ... I expect there will be a lot of 'new Bereans' ...
There are many clues to the Physics of the Rapture, not the least of which is Daniel Chapter five (a different where/when is all around us, we just are not yet fashioned such that we can sense it) and the Resurrection of Jesus, when He left the tomb without rolling away the stone, entered a locked and shuttered room, and disappeared from the table where the disciples from on the Road suddenly realized Who had given thanks and broken the bread for their meal. There are many scenes from The Old Testament that give clues to the true nature of our Universe and 'other' spacetime coordinate systems which we are not now equipped to sense.
It sounds like what is needed is way for the ones that have prepared like you to disseminate the info to the right folks, but somehow only after the Rapture so your name and prep work isn’t on some list if it just gets really bad before the Rapture.
Freegards
No, he didn’t say we can’t.
Where you try to say he said we can’t, he told us the exact appointed time: The Day of Trumpets, a date found only in the Biblical calendar.
The Biblical calendar is lunar in nature, and agricultural in specific timing.
The barley growing in the Kidron must be sufficiently developed to be made into flour 14 days later for the year to begin.
For this reason, dates cannot be projected years in advance. Human inspection of a real crop is the only way to know.
No, He did not.
I never said that....things might be pretty rough going for Christians before the rapture hits. Revelation suggests such a case! I am merely looking at the raw black and white wording of such passages such as “we shall all be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye”...or “the dead in Christ shall rise first then those of us who are alive and remain shall likewise rise and meet Him in the middle of the air”...you know passages like that. You know..being caught up, being changed. It’s all in basic black and white...the same as Christ’s 1000 year reign out of the new Jerusalem which comes out of heaven. I only say the argument is simply over the placement or timing of the rapture event...its certainty is never in doubt!
He’s a dang wingnut ain’t he?
I’ve seen him go lib on homosexuals and he loves Sikhs and hates Indians
But it’s the first I’ve seen him wax about Christianity
Which if you waste the time to see his posting history on the subject as I just did its a plethora of dodge and be nice platitude
He’s a dilletante on the forum to keep entertained
The phrase “sword of the Lord” occurs only in the Old Testament. It is not found in the Greek Writings. That it “cuts from left to right” is amusing, but not revealed by God anywhere in His Word. Paul knew? Where is that recorded? It is not likely that truth will be forthcoming from a source that bases its opinions upon conjecture, and not what God has revealed in His Holy Word. I suspect that truth is not what you are interested in, merely asserting yourself to appease a conflict within.
Largely but not completely...There are historical records of people seeing the Rapture in scripture eons ago...Not many records...But all that shows is that the records likely have been destroyed...
The fact that millions upon millions of Christians see the Rapture in the scriptures ought to cause you to pause and wonder why...
The reality is that you guys ignore the scriptures that are there that separate the Rapture from the 2nd Coming of Jesus...And when one considers ALL the scriptures and believes them, the Rapture is obvious...
quote-
Where you try to say he said we can’t, he told us the exact appointed time: The Day of Trumpets, a date found only in the Biblical calendar.
Funny thing about that..
Day of Trumpets 2014, according to Judaism was September 24 2014.
According to the woman, clothed the sun and the moon under her feet (Scripture),
it was September 26 2014.
Judiasm and those who follow it missed it by at least a day.
and then missed Yom Kippur by a day.
and missed the start of Tabernacles..
Amazing how He gave us the sun, moon and stars for signs and moeds and days and years-
and the religious tend to ignore them for traditions of men, or worse, Rome’s.
I don’t recall the 2015 dates but I suspect they did the same thing then too.
Just looked- they did miss it again.
Thanks to the book of Revelation and the Revealing of Jesus’ birth and every major event He had after that, His people can know how far off the rest of the world is.
Sometimes, it’s just a day or two. Sometimes a month- Like the old Get Smart line- Missed it by this much!
The poster, being a catholic, is still ‘striving to obtain’ that which GOD gives immediately by HIS Grace. So the idea of an immediate snatching away is something such lost folks in owrks based religions (like catholiciism) cannot allow themselves to believe because it instantly refutes their ‘working to obtain’. Don’t expect to open the mind of one so sold out to works for salvation; their egos can’t afford to be wrong even on things that are not essential for salvation, if such endanger their works base.
Poor Elsie, so full of hatred and vigor. And against what? My recitation of Jesus's commandment? What kind of person is put into a rage over Christ's command to love?
Then you claim certain commands are only for disciples, while slinging other Bible quotes like the weapons you obviously hope for them to be - but are they only for disciples, too? Do you have a database of which quotes apply to disciples, and which to the rest of us? And by disciple, do you mean only the original twelve? Really? Are you a disciple? Am I? Is anyone? How do you know - and why should anyone agree with you? What are your personal criteria?
And where is your testimony of faith, and why should anyone believe it? Why am I required to lay my faith out for your judgement - because I merely quote Jesus's greatest commandment? What do i have to do with Jesus's legitimacy? If you find fault in me, dies that mean Jesus was wrong? Then why do I matter? Or is it rather just to avoid dealing with the issue on its merits? It seems so, for you and others here. Facing Jesus's command to love has apparently put a lot of Christians in a rage. How dare I remind anyone of that! LOL!
And what is inadequate about my personal testimony of #235? How does it fail your personal judgement of my soul? After all, it's far more than anyone else wrote out on this board - including you. Who are you to judge it? And how does my admiration of certain Chinese philosophy negate my love of Christ? You can't even see its Christian allegory, yet you post it as a condemnation of me? You don't even know what you're looking at - and you think others are just as ignorant as you are. Newsflash: they're not.
You are a child, Elsie. A very, very angry child, and you don't know what you want, and you don't know what you're looking for. And as long as you run around trying to hurt people and wreck things, you're never going to get any answers that will heal your angry heart. So give it up. Just give it up. Stop trying to hurt people - it will never make you happy. You're drinking salt water and screaming with the agony of thirst. Just stop.
Judaism rejects the word of Yehova in favor of the words of men, just as the rest of the false religions do (including all of ‘corporate’ christianity)
Judaism used a babylonian projection in place of Yehova’s calendar until about a year ago. They now are using Nehemia Gordon’s Biblical determination of the Aviv each year.
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