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Premillennial dispensationalism and the belief in a Rapture event separate from the Second Coming is rejected, either explicitly or implicitly, by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and nearly every major Protestant denomination.

Oh, really? Gee wiz, most Christians I know (not just those who are members of the same church) believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. I also believe that the scriptures back up the pre-trib angle.

But even if someone disagrees with this particular theology, the statement that "nearly every major Protestant denomination" rejects this view is quite false.

I bought the book on the release day. I have not had time to start reading yet, but am quite anxious to get started.

But even if someone disagrees with this particular theology, the statement that "nearly every major Protestant denomination" rejects this view is quite false.

So which "major Protestant denominations" do go in for the whole Rapture thing?

It is not a comment on the veracity of the Theological position (though as a Catholicly-minded Anglican I have no time for the actual Theology personally), but rather a statement of verifiable fact. Most major Protestant denominations do not believe in it; just about everybody I have met who does believe in it is a member of an independent Church of some form or other.

I came to the Lord through reading Hal Lindseys book "The 1980's, Countdown to Armageddon" in 1980. I became a member of an assemblies of God Church in which I stayed for 18 years. I was also a pre-tribulationist.

A year or so after reading Hal's book, I read a book called something like "Soon Coming World Changing Events as Foretold by God Almighty." This book converted me to mid-tribulationism, which I have been ever since. I was at an assemblies of God church for over 15 years as a "mid-tribulationist." Well, a teacher whom I still have a close relationship with, gave me a white paper he had written on the rapture. I was very excited because I really wanted to believe in Pre- as opposed to Mid- or Post-. Who wouldn't. I was shocked by the preposterous "proofs" he used for support for pre-tribulationism. His document actually convinced me of the falicy of that position even without reading any rebuttals by the other side.

The one that blew me away the most was his using Revelation 4 as the "rapture" when Revelation 7 is far more obvious as an example of people being taken up. But I digress into specifics.

Not ONE of the proofs I've ever seen for pre-tribulationism has been convincing for me. Oh, and about ten years after I read Hal Lindseys book, I read another of his books called "A Walk Through the Holy Land." In it there is a picture of the Upper room. As soon as I saw the picture and noticed the odd "ghostly" shapes in the picture, I recognised it as the result of a common photographic effect where you use a flash coupled with a slow shutter speed and reasonable ambient light to get "partial smearing" of subjects.

Interesting that the shapes looked, if you wanted to stretch, sort of like angels wings and a cross held up. Well, in his caption he said that photo experts had analyzed the photo and could not explain the apparitions. That was a bald faced lie - which is what is going on a lot in religious circles these days, especially regarding eschetology.

We Christians tend to be very gullible when it comes to religious stuff that supports our existing world view of Christianity. I remember hearing in the early seventies that the stones for the new jeruselem where being hewn from rock in Oklahoma and they would begin building the temple "very soon."

Yeah, whatever.

I must stick to the Bible as my source. I am currently teaching a high school Bible study on the book of Revelation. The discussions and questions are amazing. This is the most animated the class has ever been and the different perspectives on the seventy weeks of Daniel, Jesus wrestling with Jacob and Jesus' walking with Adam and all the other stuff is intriguing.