Posted on 05/21/2016 8:38:01 AM PDT by Salvation
Q. Many of our Protestant brethren say that, before Jesus comes, there will be a rapture wherein all the faithful will be taken up, I guess, to meet Him in the sky. When I tell them that the Bible says we will “see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven” (Mt 24:30) and “he will send his angels ... and they will gather his elect from the four winds” (Mt 24:31), and then ask them who will be left to “gather” if everyone has previously been “raptured,” they say it will be the Jews. What is the Church’s teaching on this? Will there even be such a thing as the rapture? I’m confused! Any light you can shed on the subject will be greatly appreciated!
Rich Willette, Springfield, Vt.
A. 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. Fundamentally, the theory asserts that before the final tribulations of the last times, faithful Christians will be snatched away. Rapture theorists disagree about the exact moment of the snatching. Some say it will be pre-tribulation, others midway through the tribulations, and some even say post-tribulation.
The root text for evangelicals who hold rapture theory is a text from the First Letter to the Thessalonians: “Indeed. we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words” (4:15-18).
The context is the second coming of Christ. There are not two second comings taught in Scripture, but rapture theory posits two — the one described in First Thessalonians and another one, some 1,000 years later. Note, too, that in First Thessalonians there is no mention of some people being left behind. There is no mention of a 1,000-year reign. Nor does St. Paul indicate that what he is describing here is a different coming of Christ, distinct from other texts in the Gospel wherein Christ describes His own second coming.
Thus we are left with a text that simply does not support what rapture theorists say. They further strive to unnaturally stitch this account with other texts in the Book of Revelation. The result is a highly debatable account of the last days that even rapture theorists hotly debate in terms of the details. The whole enterprise amounts to an attempt to shoehorn biblical passages into rapture theory that more clearly call it into question. To say the “elect” are merely the Jews is speculative at best and fanciful and contrived at worst.
As for Catholic teaching on these matters, the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes it as follows: “Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers [see Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12]. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. [see 2 Thes 2:4-12; 1 Thes 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18-22]” (No. 675).
Class, discuss.
The Rapture was not found among Protestants until around the middle of the nineteenth century, when a couple of influential British Protestants invented the idea. It’s not biblical, it was not thought of in the early Church, and Martin Luther never said anything of the kind.
Personally, I think too many people are trying to be prophetic and read into current events and correlate them to Revelations.
To suggest the rapture is a new understanding is to ignore the scriptures that teach such an event. Those scriptures have been with the church from the beginning, and really the argument is not about the existence of a ‘rapture’ but in the timing or interpretation of that event.
These are not new ideas.
1 Th 4:15-17 - …15By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 17After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.…
bookmark
bookmark
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-rapture
That is something that SOME Protestants really, really care about. Why???
Well put.
Yeah, Hal Lindsay may have jumped the shark back in the 70's.
Yep. I’m not very convinced.
If the main argument against rapture is that it was not discussed until mid 1900, then wouldn’t the same logic work against the gospel writers seeing Jesus revealed in the Scriptures of the old testament?
The rapture is the translation of all the saved sinners caught up in the air by Christ before the 7 year tribulation that will begin after the saved Jew and Gentile body of Christ is taken out of the way as they are not under the wrath of God. Paul was given relelation of these mysteries of God by Christ when God took him to Mt. Siani in Arabia, as Galations teaches, where the apostle to the gentiles was instructed in these mysteries for the body of Christ, the Church, that began after Jesus Christ departed from the mount of Olives east of Jerusalem. At His 2nd advent, He will return to the same mount and begin His 1000 year rule over all the earth after destroying the armies led by the anti Christ and his false prophet in Israel who ruled on the earth for the 7 year tribulation. Christ will then descend to the earth to bring all nations under the Kingship of His rule as God the Father almighty will do for those who trust and believe and love Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. It is God at work to bring in His Kingdom for 1000 years, as the prophets of the Scriptures teach beginning at Moses and ending with Paul and Johns books in the New testament teaching. Paul was taught of these revelation by Jesus Christ Himself and became the apostle to the gentiles and jews, as the Book of Acts teaches. Would to God that Christians read the whole Bible and believed every Word God has spoken there in.
True Luther didn’t teach it That s the one area he did not get far Enough away from the Catholic Church Rapture is also present in the OT the first instance is actually in Genesis Enoch and Elijah were raptured quite a bt before the mid 1800s
Please show us the seven year tribulation in the Bible. Revelation plainly says numerous times that it is 42 months, 3.5 years, or 1260 days. Your only hope is 1(!) passage in Daniel, that has numerous interpretations.
Many of the early Church Elders belived & taught about the Rapture. John The Apostle, Paul (Saul of Tarsus), Irenaeus, Cyprian, Ephraim The Syrian, Ignatius, Barnabas, and many others.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 through 5:4:
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.”
Or, he did not teach it because it had not been “discovered” yet. Try finding the pre-trib rapture in Polycarp, or Iraneus, or any of the church fathers other than pseudo-Ephraem.
I began studying the Book of Revelation in 1968 when it seemed like the End Times were upon us. That was 48 years ago. Whether the time of the Tribulation is even closer now than before is a matter of intense debate.
But after reading Revelation through, I thought, “This book would make one heck of a movie!”
Took a while, but the “Left Behind” series came out in...2003?
Rapture theory is not popular among Catholics, but Sunday readings include predictions of “there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars” and “when you have seen the abomination of desolation” that point to End Times.
“Be ready, for you know not the hour.”
It is taught by Paul Is that an early enough church father for you?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.