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The Rapture: For Christians Only Please

Do you believe in the rapture?

  • Yes. Jesus will save his believers without them tasting death

    Votes: 9 24.3%
  • No. There is no biblical support of such doctrine.

    Votes: 26 70.3%
  • What's the rapture?

    Votes: 2 5.4%

  • Total voters
    37

nutshell

Well-Known Member
Please complete the poll and lets discuss. I don't beleive in the rapture, but I'm trying to find out about Christians who do. Is there a particular denomination that teaches about the rapture or is its roots more in the non-denominational realms of Christianity?
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
I did a search on the Online NIV for "rapture" and got this:

Sorry. No results found for "rapture" in Keyword Search.

I guess then, that I don't believe in it. :D
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
Belief in the rapture doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy, so it must not be true.
 

Fluffy

A fool
I do not believe there is scriptural basis for the rapture. It should be noted that it is a post 1800 idea and so is very uncommon amongst Catholics and most Protestants. It is generally, as you suggested nutshell, found amongst non-denominational Christians who are also often termed "doomsday Christians" because of their common belief that the predictions about the events that lead up to the rapture and second coming are happening in our time.
 

jonny

Well-Known Member
I have no idea what the rapture is. Could someone tell me if I believe in it? I must have missed that day in Seminary. :)
 
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angellous_evangellous

Guest
jonny said:
I have no idea what the rapture is. Could someone tell me if I believe in it? I must have missed that day in Seminary. :)
It's not a Mormon or orthodox Christian doctrine ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL!!!!

A very VERY small group of Protestants made it up.

www.timlahaye.com - starts with an educational video LOL

www.leftbehind.com

www.raptureready.com

Have fun LOL

EDIT: OK, you deserve some history behind how the rapture became such a popular heresy in American life.

The doctrine is a central teaching of something called dispensationalism, and its proponents get eschatological goosebumps by getting to say big words like pre-millenial, post-millenial, or pre-tribulational, or even pre-tribulational post-millenial rapture. Very basically, a Scotsman in the 19th century came up with the concept that biblical history can be divided into seven dispensations (or eras, or epochs). Sometime near the end, the church will be literally called up into heaven in a rature (=taking), before, during, or after a great time of suffering.

A very popular edition of the bible called the Schofield bible popularized the heresy because inserted notations supported the false theology. In the 20th century and is now being proagated by Tim Lahey in the wildly popular "left behind" series in the same way.
 

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
http://bibletools.org//index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/CGG/ID/499/Rapture.htm

Rapture
(From Forerunner Commentary)


A common idea accepted by millions of professing Christians is the "Secret Rapture." According to this belief, Jesus will return to this earth in two phases. First, He will return secretly to whisk away all true Christians to heaven to protect them from "The Great Tribulation." Therefore, it is believed that the Church's promised place of safety is not on this earth, but up in heaven. The second phase is believed to be His "public" coming at which time all will be able to see and hear Him. </FONT>

But the rapture theory is actually an even more modern invention than the post-millennial theory. The early New Testament church of God never heard of it. Nor indeed had anyone else until about 1830, when it was espoused by a few people in Britain and later popularized in the famous Scofield Reference Bible. </FONT>

Those first few advocates of the rapture theory fervently believed that they were living in the last three and one half years of earth's history. When that length of time was exceeded and Christ still had not "caught them away," they were forced to alter their doctrine to a general expectancy that Christ might return—unannounced—at any moment! </FONT>

From those few people the doctrine of the "Secret Rapture" has spread to nearly all Protestantism.




The Sensational Return of Jesus Christ!








Daniel 9:27 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) This may be the most abused verse on the subject of the end times, and it is a linchpin in the Pre-tribulation Rapture theory: "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering." "He" in this verse refers to Messiah, not Antichrist, for the main subject of this section is Messiah.

Protestants, referring to Isaiah 28:15 and "a covenant with death," say that the Antichrist makes a peace treaty for one week—seven years—with the Jews. But this makes no sense! Why would the Beast "destroy the city [Jerusalem] and the sanctuary" (Daniel 9:26), and "then . . . confirm a covenant . . . for one week" (verse 27) with the vanquished Jews? The timing is wrong! Verses 26-27a speak of events that occurred in the first century.

It makes more sense to attribute this covenant to our Savior. He was "cut off, but not for Himself" (verse 26a) by His redemptive death in AD 31. He had spent 3½ years "confirm[ing] a covenant [the New Covenant] with many," and "in the middle of the week He [brought] an end to sacrifice and offering" (verse 27a) by the sacrifice of His perfect life. This simply restates what is said in verse 26a.

If this is the case, the whole idea of seven years of tribulation vanishes.



Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Caught Up in the Rapture








Zechariah 14:4 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) Christ's visible, advertised, unmistakable coming is plainly described in the Bible—in great detail—but there is not one word mentioning a secret, preliminary "rapture" of Christians to heaven.

I am surprized there are no 'takers'; personally, I don't subscribe to this idea, but my views are hardly what I would call 'conventional'.</FONT>
 

jonny

Well-Known Member
angellous_evangellous said:
It's not a Mormon or orthodox Christian doctrine ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL!!!!

A very VERY small group of Protestants made it up.

www.timlahaye.com - starts with an educational video LOL

www.leftbehind.com

www.raptureready.com

Have fun LOL
Can I get that video cannonized? I love it.

I don't think I believe in the rapture, but I've finally figured out what those Left Behind movies are all about. Kirk Cameron has come a long way since the days of Growing Pains!
 
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angellous_evangellous

Guest
jonny said:
Can I get that video cannonized? I love it.

I don't think I believe in the rapture, but I've finally figured out what those Left Behind movies are all about. Kirk Cameron has come a long way since the days of Growing Pains!
Now that's funny. Glad we could help LOL.
 

Dentonz

Member
Okay people, the word 'rapture' is not in the Bible; but the explanation is.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 " 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: 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."

Rapture is defined in the dictionary as: the state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstacy, abduction, carrying off, or to be transported from one place to another.

It just wouldn't sound good to talk about the 'caught up', so we use a more suitable word.
 

Dentonz

Member
To add to my last post, I don't believe the rapture will save you from death, per say. One of the prerequisites for being a Christian is that you die to yourself and become born again spiritually. Jesus said if anyone was to follow him they must die daily. Meaning not doing what you want to do but what God wants you to do.
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
Dentonz said:
Okay people, the word 'rapture' is not in the Bible; but the explanation is.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 " 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: 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."

Rapture is defined in the dictionary as: the state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstacy, abduction, carrying off, or to be transported from one place to another.

It just wouldn't sound good to talk about the 'caught up', so we use a more suitable word.
The word that is actually there is parousia, the appearance of Christ. The doctrine of the rapture in dispensationalism (eg, Left Behind) completely seperates the appearance of Jesus Christ from the resurrection of the dead. In other words, your explanation should be flip-flopped to properly explain "being caught up" from this text as a suitable explanation for the rapture.

You quoted
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 " (1) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: (2) and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (3) 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."

But the rapture doctrine teaches that Jesus does not appear personally at this time, everyone is just "caught up." The application of the verse is completely out of order as the rapture folks just skip to the end of the verse.

Therefore, the explanation for the use of the word "rapture" is present in Scripture, but only if we manipulate the verse to make it say what we want.:eek:
 

Mike182

Flaming Queer
i voted no, there is no scriptural basis, but if someone wants to prove me wrong, my mind is very much open :D
 

Dentonz

Member
angellous_evangellous said:
The word that is actually there is parousia, the appearance of Christ. The doctrine of the rapture in dispensationalism (eg, Left Behind) completely seperates the appearance of Jesus Christ from the resurrection of the dead. In other words, your explanation should be flip-flopped to properly explain "being caught up" from this text as a suitable explanation for the rapture.

You quoted
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 " (1) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: (2) and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (3) 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."

But the rapture doctrine teaches that Jesus does not appear personally at this time, everyone is just "caught up." The application of the verse is completely out of order as the rapture folks just skip to the end of the verse.

Therefore, the explanation for the use of the word "rapture" is present in Scripture, but only if we manipulate the verse to make it say what we want.:eek:
No the rapture doctrine teaches that he will not set foot on the earth at this time. But he will appear to the ones that are raptured. He will set foot on the earth in the second coming when he sets up his kingdom, that's the distiction. This verse is where the rapture doctrine comes from. Or one of the main verses it comes from.
 

dawny0826

Mother Heathen
Dentonz said:
Okay people, the word 'rapture' is not in the Bible; but the explanation is.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 " 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: 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."

Rapture is defined in the dictionary as: the state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstacy, abduction, carrying off, or to be transported from one place to another.

It just wouldn't sound good to talk about the 'caught up', so we use a more suitable word.
I'm another Pentecostal who believes the same.
 

jonny

Well-Known Member
I was reading this article looking for some info on the Rapture. It makes this statement:


For eighteen hundred years the saints did not believe in the rapture, pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, or mid-tribulation. The teaching is new. In the light of church history, it’s new. Again, perhaps that’s a shock to some of us.

I find it very interesting—both the rapture theory and the restoration of the gospel came forth in the same year: 1830! When the Lord moves in the earth, the Devil usually attempts his imitation of the real.

For instance, which does the Bible teach: removal or restoration?

Joseph Smith, Jr. was called to restore primitive Christianity to the Church in 1830 and Margaret MacDonald, a fourteen year-old Scottish girl, went into a trance that same year. She described a vision where she saw the saints leaving the earth at the return of the Lord. Her "revelation" occurred while living in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The vision was recorded in two books written by R.N. Norton, M.D., and printed in London, England in 1861. Two Brethren ministers, Edward Irving and John Darby, popularized her vision. The Plymouth Brethren accepted the vision as valid and the rapture doctrine "took off" during prophetic meetings at Powerscourt House in Ireland.

Irving’s views influenced C.I. Scofield, whose Bible notes popularized the new theory among fundamentalist/evangelical Christians in the West. The rest is history. However, as I said, many fundamentalist/evangelical Christians today have second thoughts about the doctrine, having re-evaluated their position. They no longer believe Christians will be "raptured out" of the tribulation.

There they are—two Protestant myths that must be dealt with before one is likely to take the Book of Mormon seriously: the doctrines of canonization and the rapture.

Ignore the stuff abut Joseph Smith. Is the story about Margaret MacDonald true? Is this the source of the doctrine of the rapture?
 

Dentonz

Member
jonny said:
I was reading this article looking for some info on the Rapture. It makes this statement:




Ignore the stuff abut Joseph Smith. Is the story about Margaret MacDonald true? Is this the source of the doctrine of the rapture?
As quoted earlier the doctrine of the rapture is biblical. Just because the first church didn't call it the 'rapture' does not mean they did'nt believe it. The verses that Scott1 mentioned along with the verses that I quoted pretty much some up the whole doctrine.
 
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