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Biblical Proofs of the Rapture?

 
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Anthony_Joseph
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PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:19 am    Post subject: Biblical Proofs of the Rapture? Reply with quote Scroll Down to Next postGo to last Post of Page

The other night I was listening to Catholic apologist John Martignoni's talk on belief in the rapture. He went through some of the Scripture texts used to prove it and I am going to very briefly go through them here.

Belief in the rapture is a part of a larger theological system known as dispensationalism. It is quite complex with many varying scenarios of how the end of the world will play out. The basic outline, popularized by the bestselling Left Behind series, looks like this.

First, there will be a "rapture" of all true Christian believers into heaven. Jesus returns in secret to whisk them away into heaven. Folks all over the world will suddenly disappear. After that, the antichrist will appear and persecute people who have been left behind and subsequently became Christians. This will last seven years and is known as the "tribulation." When the tribulation ends, Jesus will return in glory, cast the antichrist and the devil into hell, and establish a literal, physical kingdom on earth for one thousand years. After that, the devil will be released from hell to wreak havoc one last time, but will be again be defeated by Jesus.

Again, I am only here concerned specifically with the rapture. Being such an important staple in dispensationalist theology, discrediting the rapture does serious damage to it.

One of the most common passages cited as proof of the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:

"For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever."

Dispensationalists point to Christians being caught up in air to meet the Lord as indicating the secret rapture. But it is not supported by the context. The first thing I want to draw your attention to is the "cry of command," the "archangel's call" and the "sound of God's trumpet." This event does not sound very secret. You do not blow trumpets if you're trying to pass by unnoticed. This is indication that St. Paul is describing a very public event. It corresponds with Christ's words in Matthew 24:30:

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see 'the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven' with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of heaven to the other."

Again a very public event. The traditional interpretation of these passages is that Jesus and St. Paul are descrbing the Second Coming. There is more direct evidence that 1 Thessalonians is descrbing the Second Coming because it mentions the resurrection of the dead, specifically believers. Some will say that because St. Paul only mentions believers being raised and not everyone else, he cannot be talking about the Second Coming at the end of time. But John 6:54 shows otherwise:

"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day". Regardless of whether you interpret eating Jesus' flesh literally or not, He makes it very clear that believers are raised on the last day; not before. So St. Paul must be talking about the Second Coming in 1 Thessalonians.

Another passage dispensationalists use is Matthew 24:37-41:

"For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left."

See? It says one will be taken and one will be left. It must be the rapture. No, look closer. Jesus compares this event to the days of Noah, where people were swept away by the flood, and says His coming will be like that. That means the people in the field who are taken away are the ones being punished, and the ones who are left behind are the ones saved.

The most important lesson from all this is to carefully read prooftexts in context, because it is very easy to take preconceived ideas and read them into the text of Scripture and any writing for that matter.

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Anthony_Joseph
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PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:22 am    Post subject: re: Biblical Proofs of the Rapture Reply with quote Go to Top of PageScroll Up to Previous postScroll Down to Next postGo to last Post of Page

By the way, The Guardian Angel Store does carry a CD set of John Martignoni's apologetics talks, including the one on the rapture. It is called "Bible Answers to Fundamentalist Questions."
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Cheryl
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PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Go to Top of PageScroll Up to Previous post

Hey thanks!!! I am so confused by this "rapture" thing. Your writing has caused me to understand some things. I enjoy learning from you. Thanks a lot. Cheryl
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