Rapture: Encyclopedia II - Rapture - Scriptural basis

Rapture - Scriptural basis

Supporters for this belief generally cite the following primary sources in the New Testament:

• "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left." (Matthew 24:40-41)

• "[Christ] shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (Philippians 3:21)

Generally, an elaborate set of predictions about the end times is constructed from these sets of verses, together with various interpretations of the Book of Revelation and the predictions of Christ's return in Matthew 24:30-36. In general, believers in the rapture consider the present to be the end times, and offer interpretations of the various symbolisms in the book of Revelation in terms of contemporary world events.

Rapture - Criticism

• Matthew 24:40-41 is not referring to the Rapture.

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.

Look at the same verse in Luke 17:35-37

Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, (literal translation) Wheresoever the dead body fallen in battle is, there will the vultures be gathered together.

This is not the rapture of the church. Jesus answers that these people are taken to a battlefield and are dead and putrefying having fallen in battle which is pointing to an event later in time referred to in Revelation 16:14.

For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

The rapture is a relatively new doctrine. It was only discovered/revealed in the 1800s.

Many do not accept the "rapture" interpretation because they feel it is not clearly expressed in the Bible, and instead relies on extrapolations and inferences made from a patchwork of disjointed verses. Many further feel that if anything this significant were intended to be a major part of Christian teaching, then surely Christ would have made a plain reference to it in his own sermons as recorded in the Gospel, and not buried such a major prophecy in a few obscure, unconnected verses of the Apostle Paul.

One common criticism of the rapture is based on the principle that the necessity of believing in Christ would be proven, by the events of the rapture, to anyone left behind. Thus anyone left behind who had knowledge of the rapture theory, but previously did not believe in Christ, would essentially be forced, by the proof of this miracle, to believe. This would prevent any type of Antichrist from having any credibility.

Most Roman Catholics and many Protestants do not accept the concept of a rapture in which some are "taken up into Heaven" before the end of the world; this idea did not exist in the teachings of any Christians whatsoever until the 1800s, so it cannot be said to belong to Apostolic Tradition. Instead, most Catholics and many Protestants interpret 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 literally, and assert that the rapture will immediately follow the general resurrection on Judgement Day, when the living and the newly-resurrected-dead will rise up to meet Christ as he descends from heaven to judge the world. These people consider the rapture to be merely a minor detail in the Biblical description of the Second Coming of Christ.

Eastern Orthodox do not accept it either, as such a thing as "rapture" was never taught by any of their bishops, from the beginning. Instead of "being taken up into Heaven", these churches follow the scriptures (such as Isaiah) clearly describing a physical Kingdom of Heaven that will be on a renewed Earth, following the Great Tribulation, the Resurrection of the Dead, and Judgement Day. In this view, there is no "being taken up into Heaven", except perhaps in the sense that departed souls await their earthly Resurrection in some sort of Purgatory.

Barbara R. Rossing, a Lutheran minister, challenges the idea of the rapture in her 2004 book The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation. In it, she discusses the history of dispensationalism, arguing that the Biblical verses cited in support of the rapture are grossly taken out of context and misinterpreted.

There are also a number of other scriptural problems with the rapture theory. Those scriptures offered in support of the rapture do not require a rapture for their fulfillment; there is no New Testament scripture that states there will never be a planet Earth that is absent the New Testament church. Plus, inasmuch as the rapture theory requires belief that Christ will visit the Earth not once more- but twice- it's important to note that the New Testament speaks of Christ's return in the singular only.

The question to ask is, does the church meet Christ, then exit the area, or meet Christ as he returns in fulfillment of the angel's description in Acts 1:9-11: "After [Jesus] said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'" Thus, we find Jesus standing on the ground, taken up into the sky, then hidden in a cloud. The angel said Christ would return the same way: He will appear from a cloud, descend to the ground, and place his feet on the earth. From this it would appear likely that Christ will return just as the angel foretold, and that the church will simply meet him upon his return.

The word "meet" in the New Testament (Strong's, 529) is always used in the context of intercepting someone who is on their way toward the person meeting them.

As for Christ's words, "as it was in the days of Noah", we again find reason to question the pre-tribulation rapture theory. The Bible indicates that in the days of Noah, it was the wicked who were taken, and the righteous (the eight members of Noah's family) were first lifted from the earth, then returned to it; the righteous thus remained. Fallen angels also married human women according to one interpretation of Genesis 6:1-2, Genesis 6:4, Daniel 2:43, 2 Peter 2:4, and the Book of Enoch. However, the older interpretation is that these verses refer to intermarriage between descendants of Seth and those of Cain. The "Left Behind" series is liberal since its conception because Matthew 24:36 is largely ignored; fallen angels don't fornicate with human women and Nephilim don't walk the Earth in the series even though this is what Jesus is thought to have indirectly implied would come to pass in the Last Days.

The post-tribulation rapture is entirely consistent with the primary rapture text in I Thessalonians 4:17. The text there could just as easily be interpreted to mean that the church will rise to meet Christ as he returns to earth, the wicked below will be swept to destruction as it was in the days of Noah, (they will worship fallen angels) and then the church will descend to the earth with the Eternal King.

Rapture - Rebuttal

• Furthermore, the Old Testament book of Exodus records that God appeared to the Israelites in a Theophany, as a visible pillar of fire or smoke, and bestowed daily miracles, yet many of the people rebelled against God.

• Additionally, in Luke 16:31 Jesus states of unbelievers, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." (NIV)

• When comparing the end times to the Flood, the Rapture of the Church can correspond to the translation of Enoch in Genesis 5:24. "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." (NIV) Meanwhile, Noah and his family who endure the judgement and survive correspond to redeemed Israel. It is theorized that those that became believers during the tribulation and were not martyred would retain their physical bodies for Christ's 1000 year rule on Earth after the Beast was vanquished to hell. This would explain an Earth "in the days of Noah", when the righteous were left.

• After Revelation chapter 3, we see God calling John to, "Come up here." Some believe this refers to the end of the church age because it follows the passages in Revelation about the churches and because John is called and taken up.

• Some believe that Jesus refers to the rapture in Matthew 24. These same people generally believe that Matthew 24:37 ("But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be") correlates to Genesis 5:24 ("And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him"). In Matthew, Jesus may be referring to a future rapture by referencing a past one.

• The doctrine of the rapture may be a new discovery (e.g. found in the 1800s), but this doesn't discount its validity. Some cite Daniel 12:4 because it reads, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Scriptural basis", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki