New Catholic Book Clears Up Confusion on 'Rapture' and End Times

Contact: Christine Valentine-Owsik Valentine Communications For: Ascension Press 215-230-8095

WEST CHESTER, PA, July 9, 2002 - Responding to the confusion many Catholics have regarding Christian teaching about the "end times" - especially in light of the recent publishing phenomenon of the Left Behind book series and its new release of The Remnant - Ascension Press announces today that its recent release of The Rapture Trap (Paul Thigpen, PhD) has received the Imprimatur, the official recognition from the Catholic Church that the book accurately reflects Catholic teaching.

The provocative "end times" industry - most recently personified in The Remnant - puts forth ideas about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ that are contrary to the historic Christian tradition. These teachings are explained and charitably debunked in this new book by Paul Thigpen. The Rapture Trap was released last November to Catholic bookstores and educators around the country.

Thigpen lays out in clear, simple terms the biblical foundations of Catholic teaching on the "close of the age." As well, he draws upon Catholic Tradition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Church history and contemporary experience to reveal the shortcomings of the rapture doctrine. He shows where the rapture idea comes from - and the large body of unfounded beliefs to which it's tied.

A renowned author of 25 Catholic and Christian books, and more than 500 published articles, Thigpen holds a Ph.D. in historical theology from Emory University and currently serves as a senior editor for Servant Publications and associate editor of Envoy Magazine. A Catholic convert, he is also a former Protestant pastor and college professor who writes and speaks on contemporary apocalyptic movements, among many other topics. His work has been translated into half a dozen languages and appears in academic and popular publications around the world.

“I had a number of reasons,” says Thigpen. “Many Catholics have been ensnared by the rapture deception, and for those who aren’t as familiar with Catholic teaching, it has led them to misread Scripture, has undermined their Catholic faith, and ultimately, has often seduced them to leave the Catholic Church.” A number of “due dates” for Christ’s return –- all put forth by end-times enthusiasts -- have come and gone over the years, “and I know all too well about Our Lord’s attitude toward command performances,” says Thigpen. “He doesn’t show.”

How well Catholics prepare for the sobering occasion of the Second Coming depends on their knowledge of Church teaching about eschatology, the study of the “end times.”

As well, Catholic teaching says that rather than hoping to be snatched up early to escape whatever trials and tribulations await the Church, the Church can look to “enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in His death and resurrection” (CCC, 677). Contrary to the secret rapture doctrine, Christians will not be spared the great tribulation foretold for the end of the age, but must be prepared and strengthened to endure it.

“As Catholics, we’re taught that the value of suffering is indeed great,” says Thigpen, “but many non-Catholics believe several fallacies about suffering –- first, that it can’t be redemptive; second, that Christians have no share in the sins that merit divine chastisement; and third, that the innocent do not suffer for the sake of the guilty. All these notions are mistaken,” says Thigpen.

“We think this is a topic of critical importance to Catholics today, especially in light of the release of The Remnant, because so many people are being taken in by this spiritual propaganda, which often masquerades as entertainment,” says Matthew Pinto, president of Ascension Press. “We hope that this much-needed Catholic response will help to expose this provocative but flawed theory and point Catholics back to the Church’s timeless teachings about the end times.”

You don't need to know how your microwave works, just keep the cat out of it.

I know how my microwave works, and it's not magic.

Apply that to politics, and you get America today.

IMHO, there are important details and unimportant details. I happen to believe in evolution, but if I'm wrong, there's not much I can do about it. Only God knows for sure. However, there's plenty I can do about the state of our nation today.

Pick your battles carefully.

THESSALONIANS 5:1-3 But of the times and seasons, breathern, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2)For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Compare this with Peter's description of the "day of the Lord" and you'll see that Paul is speaking about the very end of time. You've read this passage having already assumed as given a particular end times scheme, assumed the Paul to have had this in mind when he wrote what he did, and then you use this passage as proof that what you originally assumed was indeed what Paul was speaking of. You've simply begged the question. There is NO place in the New Testament that teaches a pre-tribulation (the tribulation referring to the time during which the anti-Christ is active and before Christ returns) gathering of the believers to Christ.

Notice that Peter also refers to the events and significance of the "day of the Lord":

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (v. 10, II Peter 3) and "Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat" (v. 12)

and then he directly refers to Paul's teachings regarding the same subject:

"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." (v. 15 & 16)

Compare Paul's use of "day of the Lord" and "like a thief in the night" with Peter's use of "day of the Lord" and "like a thief in the night". While Paul describes what is happening to believers on the "day of the Lord" (the resurrection of the dead believers and the transformation--the mystery only then revealed--of the believers) it is Peter who describes the temporal and historical context of the action, the destruction of the heavens and the earth, the end of the world. He provided the historical context for this in his reference to the previous (more limited) destruction of the earth and all humanity by the flood. He provided the temporal context by describing the day of the Lord as the end of the universe itself: "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise", "the elements shall melt with fervent heat".

For anyone to inject into either of these passages the idea that another seven years elapses between what Paul speaks of and what Peter describes is, indeed, an example of what Peter described above: "...which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

Emory University, huh? Isn't that the same institution that produced Michael Bellisos, (sp?) author of that fairy tale Arming America, which held that there was no firearm tradition in colonial America based on the purposely fraudulent examination of phony probate records of the time?

A Catholic convert, he is also a former Protestant pastor and college professor who writes and speaks on contemporary apocalyptic movements, among many other topics.

A college professor? Well, gosh, no agenda there.

****“As Catholics, we’re taught that the value of suffering is indeed great,” says Thigpen, “but many non-Catholics believe several fallacies about suffering –- first, that it can’t be redemptive; second, that Christians have no share in the sins that merit divine chastisement; and third, that the innocent do not suffer for the sake of the guilty. All these notions are mistaken,” says Thigpen****

Anyone who simply reads the new testament will find out that suffering is part of the Christian life. Those who teach otherwise are fools.

The majority of Evangelical 'Fundamentalist' Christians do not hold to the idea of a 'rapture'. It is not part of the Christian doctrine. But we do watch the events around us in the world and compare them with the signs of the end that The Messiah tells us to be aware of.

These ARE at least the beginnings of the very End Times. This is terribly clear to all truly faithful Christians. Tell your unsaved friends that they have very little time left to make up their minds.

When you see the construction begin on the last Temple you should begin evangelization in ernest as the time will be then very short.

You scoffers should increase your efforts as well as your actions are one of the chief signs.

****Believers just need to focus on living a life that is "Chistlike"****

Could you give me some scripture for this contention. Honestly, this has always been a problem for me. How can a sinful person be Christlike? Yes I have his gentle Spirit residing within me and as long as I don't allow my sin nature to override it I'm a better person. Of course I have varrying degrees of success at this. But being Christlike? Seems impossible. Should I divorce my wife and become a celibate itinerant preacher? Should I start observing all the Jewish ritual and feasts? Should I provoke the established religionists utill they kill me?

This very likely explains why the Pope won't meet with abuse victims.

I really can't blame him for not meeting them. First, if he met a few, then every other victim (and alleged victim; remember there's been more than one case where people have lodged false accusations against their priests) would also be demanding meetings with him, something that would be hard enough for a Pope to schedule in under the best of circumstances, and would be absolute hell for someone in as poor health as John Paul.

Second, we know they're not asking for a meeting to receive spiritual guidance, they're wanting to issue orders and demands to him, which ought to be anaethema to anyone that considers themself a Catholic.

Third, it's a bit cheeky of them to demand an audience with the man at the very top. If I were on an airplane that lost its brakes on landing and skidded off the runway - an event that can seriously injure or kill passengers depending on the airport, speed of the plane at touchdown, etc - I wouldn't expect the CEO of the airline to stop by my house afterwards to say hi.

Did the brakes just have a mechanical failure, or was there a long history of violations of regulations, falsification of safety records, planes sliding off the runway and transfers of crooked mechanics from one airport to another?

Did knowledge of the problems and coverup go up to at least the level of vice-presidents in the company?

I would expect a lot more if there was a long list of problems and passengers were choosing other airlines or driving instead of flying.

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