The notion of rapture (a Latin word that means to be snatched away) is a very novel concept among certain (not all) evangelicals. It is a notion less than 150 years old and finds no real support in the biblical text as you point out.

So by that criteria, we can then dismiss the unscriptural nonsense about the assumption of Mary which became official church doctrine in 1950.

The rapture certainly has Scriptural support as the article shows, as it quotes the verses on which it is based, which is far more than the assumption of Mary is based on.

It's always, *Do as I say, not as I do* with the Catholic church. They are great about applying a double standard to their teachings and everyone else's.

And besides, where does it get off being an authority on a teaching that it doesn't even believe in?

Hypocrisy all the way around.

So by that criteria, we can then dismiss the unscriptural nonsense about the assumption of Mary which became official church doctrine in 1950.

Sigh; Praying for your heart to be opened.

So by that criteria, we can then dismiss the unscriptural nonsense about the assumption of Mary which became official church doctrine in 1950.

Except by that criteria (the historical record), the Assumption (a.k.a. the "dormition of Mary in the Eastern churches) was celebrated liturgically in both the Latin west and Greek east by no later than the 7th century. And this early, widely-held belief comes with no record of dispute. (That Munificentissimus Deus in 1950 made the long-standing belief into dogma doesn't negate the historical fact that it was then and before a long-held, uncontroverted belief.)

By contrast, the notion of a "Pre-Trib Rapture" is unknown till the 18th Century, and was then and now controversial, as it contradicts accepted Christian teaching of many centuries.

As to Scripture, the Assumption is not in any way contradictory (the Bible doesn't speak explicitly of Mary's final days) and is harmonious with several verses about Mary as well as the Scriptural anti-types (Enoch and Elijah).

By contrast, as has been pointed out earlier on this thread, the very verses held up in support of a Pre-Trib Rapture contain within them items which contradict that notion.

>>The notion of rapture (a Latin word that means to be snatched away) is a very novel concept among certain (not all) evangelicals. It is a notion less than 150 years old and finds no real support in the biblical text as you point out.<,

So by that criteria, we can then dismiss the unscriptural nonsense about the assumption of Mary which became official church doctrine in 1950.

To which the same argument could be applied to all of the Marian dogmas fostered by the roman catholic church.

So by that criteria, we can then dismiss the unscriptural nonsense about the assumption of Mary which became official church doctrine in 1950.

And miss out on these PROMISES??

No way!!!

"The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem,

no matter how difficult it is, wheter temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families...that cannot be solved by the Rosary.

There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary."

Sister Lucia dos Santos

The 15 promises

(Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche)

1	Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive powerful graces.
2.	I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3.	The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies
4.	It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5.	The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
6.	Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying Himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise Him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7.	Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8.	Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9.	I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10.	The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11.	You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12.	All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13.	I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death
14.	All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
15.	Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.