In this brief article, Fr. Anthony expresses with clarity the truth of the false teaching known as the “Rapture” and how much it distorts the teachings of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures.Posted on 07/27/2016 8:46:41 PM PDT by NRx
By Fr. Anthony M. Coniaris
In this brief article, Fr. Anthony expresses with clarity the truth of the false teaching known as the “Rapture” and how much it distorts the teachings of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures.
As I was driving one day I encountered a bumper sticker admonishing me:
“WARNING! In the event of Rapture, this car will be driverless.”
The strange belief in the Rapture teaches that some day (sooner rather than later), without warning, born-again Christians will begin to float up from the freeway, abandoned vehicles careening wildly. There will be airliners in the sky suddenly with no one at the controls! Presumably, God is removing these favored ones from earth to spare them the tribulation of the Anti-Christ which the rest of us will have to endure.
Unfortunately the Rapture has been promoted widely by the Left Behind series of books that have sold over 70 million copies.
The Rapture represents a radical misinterpretation of Scripture. I remember watching “Sixty Minutes”a year ago and was appalled to hear the announcer say that “the Rapture is an unmistakenly Christian doctrine”. It is not!
It is a serious distortion of Scripture.
It is astonishing that a belief so contrary to Scripture and the tradition of the Church could be propagated by so-called “Christians”.
According to the Bible and according to the belief not only of Orthodox Christians but also of the Roman Catholic and most Protestant mainline churches, the true Rapture will not be secret; it will be the great and very visible Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the world. That is the one and only “Rapture”. It will not be a separate, secret event but one that every eye shall see (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
The word rapture is not found in Scripture but hearkens to 1 Thess. 4:17 where St. Paul says that when the Lord comes again
“we who are alive…shall be caught up…in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
This “being caught up…in the clouds”—arpagisometha in Greek, is translated by some as “raptured”. The word itself is not found in Orthodox theology.
The notion of a rapture in which Christ comes unseen to take believers away secretly, and only later comes back again for everyone else publicly—this whole teaching is quite novel. It was almost unheard of until John Nelson Darby formulated it in the 1800s as part of a new approach to the Bible, sometimes called “dispensationalism”.
The purpose of the “Rapture” is to protect the elect from the tribulations of the end times. Yet Jesus said nothing about sparing anyone from tribulation. In fact, He said,
“In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”
Nowhere did Jesus ever say that He would return secretly to rapture the elect. Rather, He promised to be with His elect in all tribulations.
“Lo, I am with you always. I will never leave you or forsake you.”
He even had something good to say about being persecuted:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10).
Those who espouse the Rapture claim that Matthew 24:40-41 refers clearly to the rapture of the just,
“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
The entire passage, however, refers to Christ’s second coming where He will judge the living and the dead and separate the just from the unjust.
Darby taught as dogma that when the Scriptures reveal that the Lord will reign on earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4), this figure is to be taken literally, rather than as a symbol for eternity as we believe. The Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 condemned as heresy this teaching which is called chialiasmos (millenianism or 1000 years).
In fact, the Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787 A.D.) in which the essential truths of the Christian faith were defined never mention a rapture. Yet evangelical Christians and Pentecostals keep using obscure passages of the book of Revelation which purport to give a detailed timetable of what will happen at the end of the world, despite the fact that Jesus Himself warned that no man knows either the day or the hour when the Son of Man shall return.
A major problem with the Rapture is that it ends up teaching not two but three comings of Jesus—first His birth in Bethlehem; second, His secret coming to snatch away (rapture) the “born-again”; and third, His coming at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead and to reign in glory. Yet only two not three comings of Christ are mentioned in the Bible. We have the clearest definition of this in the Nicene Creed when we confess that
“the Lord Jesus Christ…will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. His Kingdom will have no end…. I expect the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the ages to come.”
There is no mention of a “Rapture”.
As already stated, most Christians, Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Protestants do not believe in the Rapture. In fact, one Protestant pastor, John L. Bray, summarized magnificently what we Orthodox and most other Christians believe about the Rapture when he wrote these remarkable words,
Though many believe and teach this “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” theory, they erroneously do so, because neither Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, nor any of the other writers of the Bible taught this. Nor did the early church fathers, nor any others for many hundreds of years…. Did you know that NONE of this was ever taught prior to 1812, and that all forms of Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaching were developed since that date? …. If I were to preach something, or believe something, supposedly from the Bible, but cannot find that ANYONE ELSE before 1812 ever believed it or taught it, I would seriously question that it is based on the Bible.
Thus the Rapture is foreign to the Bible and to the living tradition of the Church. It is what we call a heresy, a false teaching. False teachings, such as this, happen when people—like John Darby—believe that they have the right to interpret the Scriptures individually apart from the Living Body of Christ—the Church—where the Spirit of Truth abides and leads us to all truth.
I can think of no better words to conclude than those of Jesus when He speaks of the one and only “Rapture”, the Second Coming:
“Be on guard. Be alert! You do not know when that time will come…keep watch…if he comes suddenly, do not let Him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!” (Mark 13:32-37).
How many parents are thrilled when their child reveals that they are “gay”? I can imagine it is less than thrilling....
Why are you asking me this? I don’t think it has anything to do with with anything I wrote. What is my child told me he was a thief, an adulator? I would still love them, but will be very disappointed and tell them why.
To test the faithfullness of the believers.
Thank-you and God Bless!
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18King James Version (KJV)
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
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.
>>>>( Not all in the grave will hear Jesus’s call at his second coming, at the seventh trump, when Jesus begins his earthly reign...
Those (that have died and in the grave so to speak) that are not his in the grave, will be changed to, but not alive now. They will not hear his call but will be changed, For all (in the grave) shall be changed......, Those people will however appears at the the white throne judgement after Christ reigns a 1000 years.)
The second coming is about the resurrection of those that have passed away in Jesus. Those that are his (Jesus) at his coming are changed in the grave and alive. (Then we which are alive now again, (from the graves resurrection) and remain (from the graves separation during the resurrection) raise to meet the Lord in the air at his coming.
World without end, Gods world restored, Jesus is King. And the leader of the nations shall got to Jerusalem each year after the resurrection happens...ect...
Bmk
The ole’ dispensational straw-man ... nice ...
:)
I used to believe in a rapture until I realized there is no scriptural basis for it.
Bfl
So Jesus is going to beat His bride?
Just wanted to tag the conversation.
Blessings.
This priest explains it very well. Left Behind and the like never held my attention, but regardless, it is fiction, it is not the Bible.
I would suspect that either you are not acquainted with any true Christians or else you do not know what their real motives are or what they are doing in their private lives about the unsaved.
True Christians do not consider their actions towards people based on broad generalities or "groups" people may be classed in. For example, we know that there are some people who's hearts are so hardened that we will never convince them of Christ's Grace. We also know the rarely are we able to convince people in large groups. So we concentrate on individuals, in private. You do not see the private agony associated with knowing and loving people we know who are not saved. You do not see the work that goes into trying to witness to them. You do not see the private giving to them of whatever they need, be it money or love. Christians are not boastful of these actions so you are not aware. We can't save everyone, but we never give up trying, one soul at a time.
A true Christian does not hate gays. Rather we hate the sin. Just as our Father in heaven does not hate us, but He surely hates our sins. While I do not condone the bashing or making fun of gays, I will not condone their actions (sin).
During the tribulation there are preachers seeking to bring people tp Christ
With a few substitutions, one could make very similar arguments regarding the Trinity.
The term never appears in scripture.
The doctrine was not adopted until the fourth century.
It has been presumed to be a universally accepted tenet, yet many are not in accord with it.
I’m not sure if you believe something is probably going to be futile, you don’t at least make the attempt anyhow. In any case maybe it would make at least some folks say ‘hey these guys really believe this, it is a concrete thing they are doing while they are still here.’
Freegards
Placemarker ... I’ll chime in after satan’s workers have their say.
I thought eternal security was the really bad heresy.
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