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“1 Thessalonians can not contain prophecy that was fulfilled in Matthew 27 because Thessalonians was written years after the crucifixion by the Apostle Paul.”

I never wrote that it was.

In your post #121 you wrote:

However, the first resurrection is recorded in Matthew 27:51-53.

in response to my question originally posted at #104 as to whether the prophecy at 1 Thessalonian 4:16-17 has come to pass. I pointed out that the Thessalonian prophecy was written after the events of Matthew 27:

"52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

Of course, those events do not describe the dead going up into the clouds and meeting with Christ and still-living believers, but into Jerusalem and appearing to people.

You also implied the prophecy has already been fulfilled in your post #113 when you said "Jesus said it would happen..." and asked me "Don't you believe Him ?":

Have these things already taken place ?

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

“16 For 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:

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.”

Jesus said it would happen while some His disciples still lived. Don’t you believe Him?

So you believe that 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 has already happened, that is it NOT a prophecy of a future Day of the Lord, or Day of Judgement.

However, again, you’re pulling passages explicitly written for the Thessalonians and trying to, somehow, make them as appear as though they are written to us.

If they were written to the Thessalonians and have already happened, there should be some historical record of them happening. Please cite a historical record of that prophecy happening in the past:

a) Jesus descending from heaven with a shout
b) with the voice of the archangel
c) with the trump of God
d) the dead in Christ rising first (into the clouds)
e) living Christians caught up together with them in the clouds
f) all of these people meeting Jesus Christ in the air
g) all of them remaining with the Lord Jesus Christ for ever after that.

That’s pretty much the climax of the resurrection, and it is a classic hope passage. In fact we are bidden to share the gospel as a meek explanation of the hope that is within us. Thunderous question begging (not from you, but from some others) doesn’t qualify.

Missing future prophecy due to imagined near term fulfilment is missing the forest for not even the trees, but for the moss on the trees.

It’s also noteworthy that sometimes large future events have small contemporary pre-echos. The limited resuscitations of the dead when Christ died on the cross are one such pre-echo.

At some point it will be all behind us and we will be in glory, but right now we need to keep faithful in the perspective we have.

The poem about the blind men and the elephant might have been written with an overall skeptic or universalist point of view, but it humorously also illustrates how specialists in this, or that, or the other Christian viewpoint will get into wrangles. Throw in a little pride, and it becomes mutual condemnation. Sometimes the answer really is both-and.

And our dear fishy friend doesn’t speak for me when he implies that a futurist view must beget spiritual lassitude. No, I have already proven out a Christ who both follows the scriptures in their small and large sweep and can be counted on to keep promises. If the future was going to be devoid of special feature, Christ would simply be lying. However, I do not have the privilege of knowing where on an earthly calendar that will transpire. As a dear pastor I know explained, we are now 2000 years closer to it than when the scriptures were penned.

“And they overthrow the faith of some.”

What is really noticeable to me about “Stingray” is the name itself speaks of a menace among aquatic life (Christian fish watch out!), and the repetitive condemnatory prattle. Little or no reasoned “Well, this viewpoint is better than that one because.” I stress reasoned, because there isn’t much reason in it. Once one accepts the frankly supernatural, one can reason to things that one otherwise couldn’t.

“If they were written to the Thessalonians and have already happened, there should be some historical record of them happening. Please cite a historical record of that prophecy happening in the past:

a) Jesus descending from heaven with a shout
b) with the voice of the archangel
c) with the trump of God
d) the dead in Christ rising first (into the clouds)
e) living Christians caught up together with them in the clouds
f) all of these people meeting Jesus Christ in the air
g) all of them remaining with the Lord Jesus Christ for ever after that.”

And if these had actually been physical events, and not spiritual, there would be a historical record of them.

However, had you read the link I posted from David Curtis, you would’ve seen how all this played out, ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE! I’d strongly suggest going back to read that link I posted to you so that you can understand this!