Posted on 09/30/2014 11:41:47 AM PDT by NYer
Five Myths About the “Rapture” and the “Left Behind” Industry | Carl E. Olson | CWR
On the (short) history, (bad) theology, and (continuing) appeal of premillennial dispensationalism
This year has marked a sort of second coming of “the Rapture”. On June 29th, HBO launched a new series, "The Leftovers", based on the 2011 novel of the same title, written by Tom Perrotta, which follows the struggles of various characters living in the aftermath of the sudden disappearance of millions of people. “And then it happened,” states the novel's Prologue, “The biblical prophecy came true, or at least partly true. People disappeared, millions of them at the same time, all over the world.” The twist is that Perrotta apparently uses the Rapture as a plot device, but does not adhere to the dispensationalist belief system which features the Rapture (more on that below).
The recent movie, “The Remaining”, however, is completely dedicated to the “left behind” theology, as co-writer and director Casey La Scala explains:
And ever since I was a kid, I wondered what would happen if the Rapture were to happen and all of the sudden we were in seven years of hell. So, I went through Revelations and I got to the sixth trumpet, in which the Abyss is opened and the demons are released, and I said, ‘There it is!’ ... In the process of writing The Remaining, once I was sure the project would stand up to an evangelical base, I did a lot of work on making sure the rules of the Rapture were biblically accurate.
If La Scala really did refer to The Apocalypse as “Revelations”, then readers will be forgiven for questioning the depth of his research and knowledge of Scripture. Then again, being “biblically accurate” has never been a strong suit of the “left behind” theology (again, more on that below).
And then there is the new “Left Behind” movie, in theaters this coming Friday, starring Nicholas Cage (yes, he's still acting—or at least appearing in movies). The verbiage is boilerplate and sensational, a combination that has been an essential part of Rapture fiction since British author Sydney Watson published a trilogy of end times novels a hundred years ago—Scarlet and Purple (1913), The Mark of the Beast (1915), and In the Twinkling of an Eye (1916):
In the blink of an eye, the biblical Rapture strikes the world. Millions of people disappear without a trace. All that remains are their clothes and belongings, and in an instant, terror and chaos spread around the world.
With all of this eschatological excitement in the pop culture air, it's not surprising that I've received e-mails and questions about the newest round of Rapture roulette. The biggest question is simply, “Are the 'Left Behind' books and movies compatible with Catholicism?” Others follow. I addressed those and many, many other questions several years ago in my first book, Will Catholics Be Left Behind? A Catholic Critique of the Rapture and Today's Prophecy Preachers (Ignatius Press, 2003; e-book). I also write a number of articles about the “Left Behind” phenomenon, including pieces about the unoriginal nature of the Tim LaHaye/Jerry B. Jenkins novels, a short history of the “left behind” theology, a comparison of dispensationalism and Catholicism, and a rather scathing review of the Glorious Appearing, the twelfth Left Behind novel.
With that in mind, I am reposting an article I wrote in late 2003 for Crisis magazine, which examines five of the central myths, or misunderstandings, about the Rapture and related matters. I've not updated it (for example, there are a total of sixteen Left Behind novels, and they have sold around 65 million copies in all), but the main points are still just as good today as they were then.
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Three years ago I mentioned to a Catholic friend that I was starting to work on a book critiquing the Left Behind novels and premillennial dispensationalism, the unique theological belief system presented, in fictional format, within those books. “Why?” she asked, obviously bewildered. “No one really takes that stuff seriously.”
That revealing remark merely reinforced my desire to write that book, Will Catholics Be “Left Behind”? (Ignatius, 2003). Other conversations brought home the same point. Far too many people, including a significant number of Catholics, do not recognize the attraction and power of this Fundamentalist phenomenon. Nor do they appear to appreciate how much curiosity exists about the “end times,” the book of Revelation, and the “pretribulation Rapture”—the belief that Christians will be taken up from earth prior to a time of tribulation and the Second Coming. In addition, I hoped to pen the sort of book I wish that I, as a Fundamentalist, could have read while studying and approaching, by fits and starts, the Catholic Church.
In the course of writing articles, giving talks, and writing the book, I have encountered a number of questions and comments—almost all from Catholics—that indicate how much confusion exists about matters of eschatology, not to mention ecclesiology, historical theology, and the interpretation of Scripture. The five myths I present here summarize many of those questions, and I seek to provide basic and clear answers for them.
“The Left Behind books represent a fringe belief system that very few people take seriously.”
Exactly how many copies of the Left Behind books must be sold before the theology they propagate can be taken seriously?
Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.
“I think we all need to clearly keep front and center is that understanding prohpesie is NOT required for salvation.”
That certainly is true. However, if you are going to dip your toe into the pool of interpreting prophecy, then you should expect counter-arguments, and passionate ones at that. There is nothing personal about it, but false teaching is to be avoided, whether that teaching is crucial to salvation or not. So you must expect people to be critical if they see apparent errors, even on topics not central to salvation.
Seems we are getting lost in symantics. Or I may not be clear enough. The verse we enitially discussed is having to do with "have those events begun to happen or are they about to happen". I said they had begun to happen and were already happening. Just as with the events contained within the seventh trumpet judgments. By verse 18 those events had begun. Were they all completed? No. But nevertheless the events of the last trumpet had begun. I pray that clarifies my understanding.
A pastor friend of mine said that most Christians spend their first year or two forming their opinions and the rest of their life supporting them.
And I look forward to them. Anyone who starts scoffing or belittling however will be summarily excused from any consideration on my part.
I must be an exception. I find myself testing all my beliefs. I didn't choose my moniker without reason.
cuban leaf; Boogieman
>>However, if you are going to dip your toe into the pool of interpreting prophecy, then you should expect counter-arguments, and passionate ones at that.<<
What’s kinda funny is that I argued this stuff vehemently when I was a new Christian. I still love studying it, but I’ve learned that almost certainly not a single one of us is 100% right on this, And we’re ALL dealing with partial and VERY confusing knowledge. It causes me to not “fight about it” any more.
Now, if you start arguing that Jesus was not reurrected, I might come across a bit “differently”.
LOL! Been there done that. Good thing the Lord holds the reins.
>>I still love studying it, but I’ve learned that almost certainly not a single one of us is 100% right on this,<<
One day! Probably soon.
>>Now, if you start arguing that Jesus was not reurrected, I might come across a bit “differently”.<<
Amen to that.
Awesome Thank you.
Reminds me of the Monty Python sketch
Mystico and Janet - Flats Built By Hypnosis
If we cease to believe in this building it will fall down
When the rapture folks quit believing the whole structure comes down.
“I asked Mr. Ken Verybigliar...” classic!
Very good article. I have always thought there was something wrong with the teaching that God would pull his people out of the Earth before things got hinky. It just isn’t a pattern that scripture supports. Am not a Catholic, but virtually agree with the writer on every point he made.
Noah and Lot remained on the Earth. God made a way for them to survive.
First off there is no seven year tribulation, ergo absolutely no mid trib anything. Search the book of Revelation, you'll not find a seven year reference, they're all three and a half year time periods.
So now I have to explain Daniel 9
27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
Why Didn’t the Red Ribbon on the Head of the Scapegoat Turn White in 30 C.E.?
Question:
I was wondering about a story that a “Hebrew-Christian” told me recently. He said that there was a scarlet cloth which would turn white every year when the high priest atoned for the sins of the people. When Jesus died, around 30 A.D., the cloth would no longer turn white when the priest atoned for sins because Jesus was the final atonement. I’ve read this story in other sources, and I wondered what you have to say about it...
...The Rabbis taught that forty years prior to the destruction of the Temple the lot did not come up in the [high priest’s] right hand nor did the tongue of scarlet wool become white... (Talmud, Tractate Yoma 39b)
Citing the above statement, missionaries contend that the year the scarlet ribbon ceased to turn white coincides with the time that Jesus was crucified. After all, they argue, 40 years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple corresponds to the year 30 C.E,3 which is approximately the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. They conclude, therefore, that the cessation of the whitening of the scarlet ribbon clearly indicates that God was no longer accepting animal sacrifices, and the Jewish people, therefore, needed to turn to Jesus as their only avenue for atonement. Ultimately, this argument asserts that the reason why the scarlet strip of wool did not turn white in the year 30 C.E. was due to the fact that the sins of the Jews were not forgiven because they did not accept Jesus as their messiah.
http://outreachjudaism.org/yomkippur/
Lot's of information at the above link...
Yeshua put an end to the sacrifices, It is finished! Yohannan / John 19:30
Middle of the week and shmita cycles.
Leviticus 25:4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
The current Hebrew year is 5775, a shmita year where the land is left fallow.
Simply divide by 7
5775 / 7 = 825
Passover 30 C.E. Is the middle of a shmita cycle.
30 C.E. = 3790
3787 / 7 = 541, a shmita year
Rosh Hashana 3787 + 3.5 years = Passover 3790.
In the middle of the week Yeshua put an end to the sacrifice and offering...
This is why there is no seven time period in Revelation!
Now for some fun, go over to Your Sky, choose Jerusalem as your city and put
30-04-05 20:00:00
in the universal time slot. Click update and see the full moon passing through Betulah, Virgo Ouch. New covenant being born.
https://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/cities.html
New moon does this on certain Rosh Hashana's
In Revelation I do not find any explicit 3 1/2 year references. Instead, there is a reference to “a time, and times, and half a time”. This is interpreted to refer to a 3 1/2 year period when the woman has fled from the serpent into the desert. Rev 12:14
So, then the judgement of the dead must at least begin in Rev 11 and continue all the way through Revelation 20:12 if you read it that way, and take Revelation chronologically. The duration would also have to include the 1000 years mentioned in the beginning of chapter 20, so that’s quite a long time frame.
That’s getting a little silly. I’ll just leave this conversation.
I think it’s silly too, but that’s how I’d have to interpret things if I try to apply your methodology consistently. I don’t think a proper method would yield results like that, that was my point.
Take care.
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