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Ask An Eastern Orthodox Christian: The Rapture
Spokane favs ^ | July 2021 | Nicholas Damascus

Posted on 07/14/2021 5:25:10 AM PDT by Cronos

Does the Eastern Orthodox Church believe in the Rapture?

Eastern Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and some mainline Protestants view the Rapture as heretical teaching of the Christian faith. It was not preached or believed prior to 1830 A.D. when John Nelson Darby individually proclaimed that his teaching is what the Bible says Christ will do when he comes again. Jesus, Paul, Peter, John or any of the writers of the Bible or Christian church fathers did not preach about the Rapture.

The Rapture teaches the four comings of Jesus — first, his birth in Bethlehem; second, his secret coming to snatch away (Rapture) the select few; third, his thousand-year reign; and fourth, the final judgment at the end of time. In the Bible, there are only two, not four, comings of Christ.

Passages of Scripture that allude to the event of the Rapture are in actuality referring to the second coming or final judgment of Christ. He will return a second time to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

The Rapture teaches that select born-again Christians will float into the clouds — no matter where they are or what they are doing — to meet the Lord in the clouds.

If they are driving, their passengers may die. If they are a pilot flying a plane, their passengers may most likely die in a plane crash. If they are a surgeon in the middle of surgery, the patient probably might die. If they are parents with young children and babies, who will take care of the abandoned children?

A better explanation of this heretical teaching can be viewed below


TOPICS: Orthodox Christian; Theology
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To: Cronos; fso301

The pre-tribulation rapture is a 19th century made up philosophy, that’s why it wasn’t thought of before.


No, Cronos, it was “tweaked” in the 1800’s by Darby and others. The PTR theory started with your sneaky Jesuit friends in the 1500’s with Futurism (and preterism). They were getting slammed by the reformers as RIGHTLY being the Antichrist power and they had to try and do something to throw them off the scent. Of course the reformers said (paraphrasing) “no sale, liars”. The Catholic church said “nope, the Antichrist can’t be us because the Antichrist comes either before the Catholic church (preterism), or after (Futurism). I’m surprised and shocked that you never mention these theories from your church. (/s)

http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm

Here’s Futurism:

Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) was a Jesuit doctor of theology, born in Spain, who began writing a lengthy commentary in 1585 on the book of Revelation (Apocalypse) titled In Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin Commentarij, and published it about the year 1590. He died in 1591 at the age of fifty-four, so he was not able to expand on his work or write any other commentaries on Revelation. In order to remove the Catholic Church from consideration as the antichrist power, Ribera proposed that the first few chapters of the Apocalypse applied to ancient pagan Rome, and the rest he limited to a yet future period of 3 1/2 literal years, immediately prior to the second coming. During that time, the Roman Catholic Church would have fallen away from the pope into apostasy. Then, he proposed, the antichrist, a single individual, would:

Persecute and blaspheme the saints of God.
Rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
Abolish the Christian religion.
Deny Jesus Christ.
Be received by the Jews.
Pretend to be God.
Kill the two witnesses of God.
Conquer the world.

So, according to Ribera, the 1260 days and 42 months and 3 1/2 times of prophecy were not 1260 years, but a literal 3 1/2 years, and therefore none of the book of Revelation had any application to the middle ages or the papacy, but to the future, to a period immediately prior to the second coming, hence the name Futurism. A 1591 edition, 1593 edition, and a 1603 edition of his commentary are now online.

(Then, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (and others), continued to push the futurism lie with his published work, here:)

Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, one of the best known Jesuit apologists, published a work between 1581 and 1593 entitled Disputationum Roberti Bellarmini De controversiis Christian fidei adversus hujus temporis haereticos, (Polemic Lectures Concerning the Disputed Points of the Christian Belief Against the Heretics of This Time), in which he also denied the day = year principle in prophecy and pushed the reign of antichrist into a future period of 3 1/2 literal years. (See Froom, Prophetic Faith, Vol. 2, pgs. 495 - 502).

Cronos, did all of this just slip your mind? It’s from your church.

THE PTR THEORY STARTED WITH CATHOLIC FUTURISM. THAT’S A FACT!


81 posted on 07/14/2021 3:59:16 PM PDT by Philsworld
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To: BipolarBob

Your assessment is quite wrong ond only based on your opinion that ignores the well-established doctrine to which the Roman Catholics were blinded, as they are in many other doctrinal matters for lack of spiritual discernment of many truths found in the Word of God.


82 posted on 07/14/2021 4:02:20 PM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: MHGinTN

Holly Deyo is spiritually blind. Unlike Cronos I did read her work and I previously commented on it. Remember?


83 posted on 07/14/2021 4:03:30 PM PDT by Philsworld
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To: imardmd1

Well awrighty then. Everyone loves a good “I’m right and you’re wrong” debate. You just left out the part about what I am wrong about. I literally copied the dictionary definition of “rapture” and printed it without theological pronouncement. If you want to argue with a thesaurus, go ahead. I can only surmise with your superior cranial properties that you can read my mind and you just “know” I’m wrong.


84 posted on 07/14/2021 4:28:19 PM PDT by BipolarBob
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To: Carpe Cerevisi
The existence of the uniplural God heard is well extablished. At the time that the Canon of Holy Scriptures were being written, the word "Trinity" did not exist. But that does not mean that the Trinity did not.

Obviously because it was coined in the English language, not yet written. But Moses, an Egyptian-schooled Jew, under God's direction used the same kind of word describing the Trinity, and the Hebrew word for it was "Jehovah Elohim," as implemented by Jesus just prior to His Ascension. He ordained the Apostles, His heralds of the Gospel, to baptized professing loyal believers "in the Name . . . "--not names--". . . of the Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit" as found in Matthew 28:19.

To say otherwise is the height of deliberate ignorance and lack of assiduous study of the Bible.

85 posted on 07/14/2021 4:43:49 PM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: Cronos

In my post 78 I mentioned tribulation saints and the everlasting gospel. To be clear, there is actually more. The tribulation is a time when Jews come to recognize Jesus as their savior. During this time, acceptance of Jesus Christ and some measure of works (Rev 12:17, Rev 14:12) is a requirement as is obeying the everlasting gospel (Rev 14:6-7).


86 posted on 07/14/2021 4:49:30 PM PDT by fso301
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To: fso301
Did Paul keep the law for salvation?

No, he kept them because he loved God.

87 posted on 07/14/2021 4:57:20 PM PDT by BipolarBob
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To: BipolarBob
No, he kept them because he loved God.

Perhaps when he was among Jews.

88 posted on 07/14/2021 5:00:14 PM PDT by fso301
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To: fso301

No, not just when he was with Jews. That would be hypocritical. That was the very thing he upbraided Peter over, remember? There is a verse in the Bible. An important verse. It reads “If you love Me, keep My Commandments”. It’s in there I guarantee it. You can find it too if want to bad enough.


89 posted on 07/14/2021 5:17:02 PM PDT by BipolarBob
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To: HombreSecreto; BipolarBob
Amusingly, we can thank the Latin Vulgate - a Roman Catholic Bible translation - for where the term "rapture" comes from:

    Rapture is derived from Middle French rapture, via the Medieval Latin raptura ("seizure, kidnapping"), which derives from the Latin raptus ("a carrying off").[13]

    Greek The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagēsometha), which means "we shall be caught up" or "taken away". The dictionary form of this Greek verb is harpazō (ἁρπάζω).[14] This use is also seen in such texts as Acts 8:39, 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, and Revelation 12:5.

    Latin The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek ἁρπαγησόμεθα as rapiemur[15] meaning "we are caught up" or "we are taken away" from the Latin verb rapio meaning "to catch up" or "take away".[16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture


90 posted on 07/14/2021 6:20:57 PM PDT by boatbums (Lord, make my life a testimony to the value of knowing you.)
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To: Zionist Conspirator
Ask any Catholic/Orthodox/Miaphysite/Nestorian/non-Calvinist Protestant about penal substitution. That's where the real fun begins!

Ask any Jew about the purpose of the Scapegoat. You might find some correlation. Fun is optional.

91 posted on 07/14/2021 7:02:08 PM PDT by boatbums (Lord, make my life a testimony to the value of knowing you.)
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To: Cronos

You should know that reading the books is not the same as believing the actual words. It amazes me that some will hang on every word of a 2000 page catechism but not bother with the 1000 page book where God speaks.


92 posted on 07/14/2021 7:17:12 PM PDT by fatboy
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To: MHGinTN; aMorePerfectUnion; Mark17; metmom; daniel1212
On the subject of God sparing the righteous from His wrath during the Tribulation, I was reading Genesis 18 where Abraham is pleading with the Lord to spare the city of Sodom from His righteous judgment and destruction because of their great evil. He was bargaining with Him that if 50 righteous could be found, then 45, no, make that 40, on second thought make it 33, then 20, down to if 10 could be found with the whole city God agreed that He would not destroy it. Abraham said of the Lord:

    Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” (Genesis 18:23-35)

Of course, even that number wasn't found and Lot, Abraham's nephew and his family would be spared and they were hurried out of the city by the two angels the Lord sent right before He rained down sulfur and brimstone and annihilated the city and all the inhabitants. But what struck me was that God would NOT treat the righteous the same way as the wicked. He would not kill the righteous with the wicked. The Tribulation will be such a time where God's righteous, holy wrath is brought down upon the evil, God-hating world and God will have removed His elect, His righteous ones before then. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Yes, He shall.

    Deuteronomy 32:4
    He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He

93 posted on 07/14/2021 8:21:23 PM PDT by boatbums (Lord, make my life a testimony to the value of knowing you.)
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To: boatbums

The Angel told Lot that he (the angel) could do nothing until Lot was outta there (in Zoar). God withheld the flood until Noah was sealed in the Ark. 2 Thess 2:3 is where we find our removal: apostasia is apos-away from + a form of histemi-to stand. Thus Paul indicates the redeemed will be made to stand away from where the man of sin will burst forth. And in chaopter five of the Revelation we see ourselves - the redeemed - in Heaven when the Lamb opens the first seal of the wrath of the Lamb seven sealed scroll.


94 posted on 07/14/2021 8:28:53 PM PDT by MHGinTN
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To: boatbums
When you see the Christmas decorations goin up in the stores in early November, you know Christmas is near. And it also means Thanksgiving Day is even nearer.

Maranatha

95 posted on 07/14/2021 8:30:22 PM PDT by MHGinTN
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To: MHGinTN; aMorePerfectUnion
Isn't it rather curious that Catholicism has NO problem with rationalizing their own evolving doctrines and dogmas (see Rome’s New and Novel Concept of Tradition - Living Tradition: (Viva Voce – Whatever We Say)) but they totally reject as HERESY a developed doctrine like the end-time Rapture?
96 posted on 07/14/2021 8:40:44 PM PDT by boatbums (Lord, make my life a testimony to the value of knowing you.)
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To: Carpe Cerevisi

Orthodox have been suffering for their faith a lot longer than spoiled American Evangelicals.

Even at the hands of the Catholics in the Baltic countries.


97 posted on 07/14/2021 11:06:56 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change with out notice.)
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To: faucetman

You’re missing the point.

The Bible has been around for thousands of years.

It was only in the 1800s or so that a bunch of the stuff about the Rapture was, hmmm, call it explicitly formulated in something like its present form.

The funny part is, the Americans who believe it got high on their own supply and proclaimed they were returning to the TRUE Christianity™ to the point they believed they were the only real Christians, and those who followed an unbroken set of teachings dating back to Apostolic times didn’t really follow Christianity.

I must admit I’m not as impressed by that attitude as I used to be.


98 posted on 07/14/2021 11:12:24 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change with out notice.)
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To: Zionist Conspirator
Ask any Catholic/Orthodox/Miaphysite/Nestorian/non-Calvinist Protestant about penal substitution. That’s where the real fun begins!

Let's leave the LBGTQWXAN... talking points for another thread,

99 posted on 07/15/2021 3:29:28 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: grey_whiskers

Thousands..

of words in this thread so far...

and a few of them from the bible.

100 posted on 07/15/2021 3:31:07 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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