For Further Study
Books - The Rapture Trap by Paul Thigpen and Will Catholics Be Left Behind? by Carl Olson
CD - The Rapture Files by Tim Staples
Posted on 03/31/2012 8:03:04 PM PDT by Salvation
The Rapture
by Sebastian R. Fama "The Rapture" is a term that is used by Bible Christians to describe the belief that at some point in time Jesus will come, and all true believers will literally rise up and meet Him in the air and be whisked away to heaven. All non-believers will remain on the earth to be dealt with later. The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus will come and judge the living and the dead. The righteous will be saved and the unrighteous will suffer eternal damnation. No one will be left on the earth. Belief in such a rapture was first taught in the late 1800’s. Interestingly enough there seems to be little agreement among Bible Christians as to what exactly will happen or when. One of the passages used to support belief in the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Verse 17 says, "Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." This simply speaks about the end of the world when true believers will be saved. Paul's purpose is not to explain the judgment of the living and the dead, but rather he is assuring believers that the dead will participate in the Second Coming of Christ. Notice what the first and last verses of the passage say: "But we would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep…therefore, comfort one another with these words." The words "caught up in the clouds" are used to illustrate how quickly things will transform at the Second Coming of Christ: "We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Matthew 24:36-44 is also used to support belief in the Rapture. It reads in part, "Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left." This means that the righteous will be saved and the unrighteous will be left for destruction (Hell). The conclusion of the passage (verses 45-51) makes this clear: "Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites. There men will weep and gnash their teeth." Whenever the term "weep and gnash their teeth" appears in Scripture, it refers to those who are in hell. Note that verse 45 begins with the words "who then." This shows us that we are still on the same subject as we were in verses 36-44.This is important because it illustrates that on the appointed day the righteous are being saved and the unrighteous are going to hell. Keeping that in mind, who does that leave on earth? No one! If we combine all of the verses of Scripture that deal with this issue we find that the Rapture is simply not possible. Consider the following: Jesus will be coming back to earth one more time not two. The Rapture requires a second coming, (the Rapture) and a third coming (the end of the world). Some try to get past this by claiming that the Rapture is not the Second Coming because we meet Jesus in the air and not on the earth. But even the verses used to support the Rapture such as 1 Thessalonians 4:15 speak of it as "the coming", which indicates that it is a coming and a singular event at that. 1 Thessalonians 4:15: "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep." Matthew 24:27: "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of man." 1 Corinthians 15:22-23: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ."
1 Thessalonians 2:19: "For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at His coming?" Jesus must stay in heaven until that time. That leaves no time for the Rapture before the end of the world. Acts 3:19-21: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from old." When He comes He will be coming all the way down to the earth. He won't be hovering over it, as the Rapture requires. Acts 1:9-11: "And when He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." When He comes He will be coming to judge the living and the dead. Once again if all are going to be judged that would leave no one on earth.
Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels with him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at His right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'…Then He will say to those at His left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels'…And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." In conclusion the Scriptures teach us the following: 1. Jesus will be coming back to earth one more time not two. In John 16:13, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would lead His apostles into all truth. And yet we find no support for the Rapture in the scriptures. Likewise, the writings of the early Church fathers are silent on the issue. Since some of them were contemporaries of the apostles, we can reasonably assume that they would have known about the Rapture if it were a part of the deposit of faith. The Rapture is also not mentioned in any of the creeds. As we noted earlier, the idea of the Rapture was first taught in the late 1800's. If the apostles and their successors were ignorant of the Rapture for eighteen centuries, it would mean that Jesus lied in John 16. That in itself rules out the Rapture.
2. Jesus must stay in heaven until that time.
3. When He comes He will be coming all the way down to the earth.
4. When He comes He will be coming to judge the living and the dead.
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For Further Study
Books - The Rapture Trap by Paul Thigpen and Will Catholics Be Left Behind? by Carl Olson
CD - The Rapture Files by Tim Staples
Catholic Ping!
BTW, this book was written in 1881; you wouldn't believe how accurate it is!
In the late nineteenth century, Father Charles Arminjon, a priest from the mountains of southeastern France, assembled his flock in the town cathedral to preach a series of conferences to help them turn their thoughts away from this life’s mean material affairs—and toward the next life’s glorious spiritual reward. His wise and uncompromising words deepened in them the spirit of recollection that all Christians must have: the abiding conviction that heavenly aims, not temporal enthusiasms, must guide everything we think, say, and do.
When Father Arminjon’s conferences were later published in a book, many others were able to reap the same benefit—including fourteen-year-old Thérèse Martin, then on the cusp of entering the Carmelite convent in Lisieux. Reading it, she says, “plunged my soul into a happiness not of this earth.” Young Thérèse, filled with a sense of “what God reserves for those who love him, and seeing that the eternal rewards had no proportion to the light sacrifices of life,” copied out numerous passages and memorized them, “repeating unceasingly the words of love burning in my heart.”
Now the very book that so inspired the Little Flower is available for the first time in English.
Let the pages of The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life fill you with the same burning words of love, with the same ardent desire to know God above all created things, that St. Thérèse gained from them. Let them also enrich your understanding of certain teachings of the Faith that can often seem so mysterious, even frightening:
Jesus commands us to be ever-watchful for his return, and ever-mindful that we have no lasting city on earth. The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life is an invaluable aid to inculcating in your spirit that heavenly orientation, without which true human happiness cannot be found—in this world or the next.
Essays for Lent: The Assumption
Essays for Lent: The Immaculate Conception
Essays for Lent: Mary Ever-Virgin
Essays for Lent: Praying to Saints
Essays for Lent: Indulgences
Essays for Lent: Purgatory
Essays for Lent: Confession
Essays for Lent: The Eucharist
Essays for Lent: The Mass
Essays for Lent: Baptism
Essays for Lent: Justification
Essays for Lent: Tradition
Essays for Lent: Scripture Alone
Essays for Lent: The Canon of Scripture
Essays for Lent: Papal Infallibility
Essays for Lent: The Pope
Essays for Lent: The Church
Essays for Lent: The Bible
Essays for Lent: The Trinity
Essays for Lent: Creationism or Evolution?
The Rapture was a very late development. As this article says, no one had even thought of such an idea until late in the nineteenth century. None of the Protestant denominations had made such an argument. Not even the crazy sects that arose in England during the Interregnum came up with it.
I’ve read various accounts of the idea, and frankly I find it impossible to see how they get any such idea from close reading of the Bible. It just isn’t there.
Very odd, the way it has spread.
Thanks for your input. I don’t know much about this subject at all, excepting that the word “rapture” is not in the Bible.
Two separate comings:
First coming: Thess. 4:13-18 -
Christ meets the church in the air.
Second coming: Zechariah 14:4 -
No meeting in the air, Jesus returns to earth on the Mount of Olives.
Second coming: Revelation 1:7 -
“every eye shall see him”
Unlike the rapture, Jesus will be seen by all.
There are so many words in the Bible that made it hard to read and understand.
Many words are rooted in Greek and Hebrew and have very different meanings than what one would imagine in these days.
Being raised a Catholic, I never received chapter and verse instruction concerning the Scriptures. We heard sermons, yes; the priest’s message for that Sunday. But, never actual study chapter and verse of the Scriptures, with an understanding of the Greek and Hebrew roots of the words.
I have a dear friend (non-Catholic, but very religious) that once commented how surprised she was that Catholics were “separated” from so much by their priests; that the priests “held” such an authoritative position over the parishioners; almost arrogantly so—as if we were not able to understand God without the help of the priest.
I thank God my mother raised me with religious beliefs, but I wonder what we, as Catholics, have missed by not studying the Scriptures chapter and verse with knowledge of the root language used in the Bible.
Is the rapture belief unfounded when the root of the words are misunderstood?
The “rapture” was a Protestant invention. There is no agreement on where it states it in Scripture because the Catholic Church interpretation of the end of the world (as it says in John) is the correct one...all other interpretations are Protestant, that is, as one chooses/likes.
Wrong !... Emmanuel Lacunza, a Jesuit Catholic priest, who in the 1812 book The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty, first taught this theory.
Actually,
“Another suggestion traces the influence to a Jesuit priest, Manuel Lacunza (1731-1801), who was born in Chile but came to Italy in 1767 where he would spend the rest of his life. Posing as a converted Jew (under the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben Ezra), he wrote, in Spanish, a large apocalyptic work entitled The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty. The book appeared first in 1811, 10 years after his death. http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1005.asp
Another influence is said to be a Jesuit priest named Francisco Ribera (1537–1591) was a Spanish Jesuit theologian, identified with the Futurist Christian eschatological view.
“In the Dictionary of Premillennial Theology (1997) it is said that Ribera was an Augustinian amillennialist, who may have revived a “mild” form of futurism.[1] His interpretation was then followed by Robert Bellarmine and Thomas Malvenda.[2]
Thomas Brightman, in particular, writing in the early 17th century as an English Protestant, contested Ribera’s views. He argued that the Catholic use of the Vulgate had withheld commentary from the Book of Revelation, and then provided an interpretation avoiding the connection with the Papacy put forward in the historicist point of view.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Lacunza
Ribera “in the days of the Reformation, first taught that all the events in the book of Revelation were to take place literally during the three and a half years reign of the antichrist way down at the end of the age.” http://www.theologue.org/Theory-JPEby.html (Protestant source, which gives the most lengthy explanation).
==============================m
I myself also see the “rapture”- which term is derived from the text of the Latin Vulgate of 1 Thess. 4:17—”we will be caught up,” [Latin: rapiemur]) - as being the first resurrection, (Rv. 20:5,6) which is only for the saved, “the resurrection of life, (Jn. 5:29a), the “resurrection of the just,” on the “day of the Lord, in which all the bodies of believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and go on with Him to the battle of Armageddon.
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. “ (1 Thessalonians 4:14)
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. “ (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. “ (Jude 14-15)
Those who effectually believe on the Lord Jesus now have eternal life life, and if they die in the Lord they shall go to be with the Lord, (2Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:23; 1Thes. 4:17) but their rewards or loss thereof are not given out until that “day of the Lord.”
Believers will be rewarded for their good works, (Lk. 14:14; cf. 1Cor. 4:5; Acts 24:15) in distinction to “the resurrection of damnation” (Jn. 5:29b) which evidently occurs 1,000 years after, (Rv. 20:5) and in which believers will be part of the jury in the judgement of men and angels.
“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. “ (1 Corinthians 3:13)
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, “ (2 Thessalonians 2:1)
And on that “day” every believer shall “receive his own reward according to his own labour,” (1Cor. 3::8) including suffering loss of rewards:
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. “ (1 Corinthians 4:5)
And will sit with Him in judgment of men and of angels:
“Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? “ (1 Corinthians 6:3)
Those who die in their sins shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth upon them, yet their exact degree of punishment is not meted out until the Great White Throne judgment.
The “great and notable day of the Lord” ‘ Acts 2:20) culminates in the Great White Throne judgment in which the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire, (Rv. 20:11-5) with their degree of punishment being determined in accordance with how much light and grace was given. (Lk. 10:12-13; 12:47,48)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JESUS CHRIST was His Name, the SON of GOD from above:
Mighty in deed, righteous in heart, and perfect in love.
Casting out demons, and healing the sick, full of GOD’s SPIRIT & power;
But only the humble and contrite could know Him, and this was their hour.
Speaking the Truth by the SPIRIT, JESUS said He must do more;
For it is sin which damns souls, that must be atoned for.
“Without shedding of blood, there is no remission;”
To save fallen man, from his sinful condition.
GOD’s prophets of old showed how the Messiah would come;
To die on the cross and rise, our redemption be done!
So CHRIST faced the cross, and all that it meant;
To become sin for us, to spend and be spent.
Having done all, He gave up the ghost,
and now reigns in Glory – but the Devil will roast!
Now if GOD did all this, both for you and for me,
you must needs repent, if Heaven you’ll see.
He alone knows all your heart, for His eyesight is pure;
To die in your sins means damnation for sure!
The time then is now, while God’s SPIRIT still draws;
Believe CHRIST to save you, for you’ve broken GOD’s laws.
can’t save yourself by your works and your deeds;
It’s CHRIST blood that saves us, and thus did He bleed.
So give Him your sins, your life and your will,
And receive Him in heart, that His SPIRIT may fill.
If you’ll believe God’s truth, a new creation you’ll be;
Be buried & risen with Christ in baptism, and walk in victory!
Why would you perpetuate that lie? I thought you Catholics thought highly of the Latin and understood what it meant.
Rapture translation 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I Thessalonicenses 4:17 deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus Caught up (Greek: harpazo - to seize, carry off by force)
Caught up (Latin: rapiemur - shall be caught up)
English Rapture.
It’s true, the Latin word “repiemur” appears there in 1 Thess 4:17. However of course, the English word “rapture” isn’t there. Perhaps that’s what Salvation was thinking. At any rate...
The “modern” idea of the “rapture” though (succinctly described by Scott), is clearly not in Scripture. I must admit, I have been befuddled by that verse, however it wasn’t until just today that I actually read the context of Scripture that surrounds it; now it seems quite clear the idea of a mysterious whisking away of believers won’t happen.
1 Thess 4:15-18.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Note verse 16; this is so overlooked in such discussions, and I guess, for good reason. I think it’s clear what’s being described here: The Catholic (and some Protestant) Eschatology. That is, that Jesus will return in a loud, very visible way. Once. First, to raise the dead and judge them, and then, during this same Second Coming, those that are alive and are in a state of Grace, will be also judged and taken up into the clouds with Him.
One return, quite visible. No mysterious whisking away of the believers first. It’s actually the opposite; the dead are raised first, then the believers (both those who have died and were raised again during the Second Coming, and those who didn’t die yet) are assumed bodily into the clouds. I hate to say it (because I always criticize similar claims), but the Bible seems quite clear on this.
And, since you are a Protestant, you are allowed to interpret Scripture ANY way you choose to. So, for you, the rapture is real and on its way.
Being Catholic, I take the word of the Church, not words of individual priests. I always look for the words nihil obstat (declaration) and Imprimature (Let it be printed.). Those words make whatever is printed official Church-backed information.
So far, I've not seen hide nor hair of nihil obstat and Imprimature.
So, the earth is empty? What happens then?
Don't tell me . . . it gets "burned up" and replaced by a superior "spiritual" world of disembodied spirits in which matter no longer exists . . . right?
So would you “clearly” describe how that passage works into the end times? Does Christ fight Armageddon at the same time we are being “caught up” or is that different?
I agree. There is no point to a "rapture". When the Lord returns *POOF* that will be that.
As for the rapture being a Protestant invention as cloudmountain points out, this Protestant would have to agree. The rapture is to Protestanism as a sinless Mary is to Catholicism. Both sound good but are simply an invention of man. Neither has any support in scripture. But the rapture isn't accepted "official" doctrine of all Protestants.
- The Shepherd Of Hermas (95 - 150 AD)
The Church “body of Christ” won’t go through the tribulation as indicated in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 -
“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
And 2 Thessalonians 2: 6-7 says that the man of sin can’t be revealed until there’s a removal of a restraining power “Church, body of Christ”
Here’s another indication of two separate events:
The Gospels say Jesus Christ returns to the earth and conquers it, and the people will be gathered from the four corners of the earth, separating the sheep from the goats.
The event described here is different in nature then what’s described in 1 Thess 4:15-18. If it’s the same event, there wouldn’t be any sheep left on earth, only goats since the sheep have already been taken to the air to meet the Lord.
- Victorinus ( Prior to 270 - 303 AD)
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