The Rapture. I don't get it?

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I was going to post on Margeret McDonald and the “rapture” and “dispensational” doctrines having their origins in her “visions”, but Matt already beat me to it.

One thing that Matt neglected to mention was that Miss McDonald was sick at the time of her so-called visions, and her “visions” were the result of a high fevers.

Also the rapture doctrine is formulated by taking disparate short proof texts from very different parts of the Bible and then cobbling them together.
 
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Maccabees:
I think your wrong I have read some recent articles where the rapture doctrine has all but fallen aparart on evangelical bible seminaries and theological schools.

[snip]

So to me at evangelical higher scholarship its dying out.
However it is hot as ever in fundamentalsim and lower level scholarship of evangelicals which rarely take an objective viewpoint outside of their fundamentalist viewpoint.
Well that’s what makes them fundamentalist to begin with.
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Yes, our mental and educational inferiorities are pretty easy to spot.

But my original claim is easily enough reasserted if we just put it in the past tense. “The theology USED TO command the allegiance of top scholars.” Now, if you will grant me that much, I’ll point out again that, if you cannot see the merits which caused it to command such respect, (whether or not you agree with it), you still don’t understand the doctrine.

This is just a plea for moderation and caution as you slash and burn. You’re revealing more than you realize.
 
Who is a top scholar in evangelical Protestantism is entirely subjective.
And I don’t want to get into circular arguments about who qualifes as a top scholar in evnagelical circles.
My postion is thus that the rapture doctrine has lost a lot of steam in evangelical scholarhsip. It has never been popular in mainstream protestant scholarshop or catholic scholarship or orthodox scholarship so you are ruling out over 80 percent of the body of christiantiy right there assuming that most evangelicals believed in this doctrine at its height which is itself is highly unlikely. The root of this doctrine has been fundamentalism and I think right now the scholars who still beleive this are on the fundamentalist fringe. Did this doctrine at its height seep into mainstream evangelical theology and scholarship. Yes I would grant you that. But that is not longer the case but given that is such small percentage of the christian body as a whole and that is appears to be a doctrine of innovation in the 1800’s it really doesn’t matter.
Fudamentalist overplay their pet doctrine and its importance to the the theology of the christian body as a whole but in reality their pet doctrines rarely seep into becoming christian church teaching and remain relegated to the fundamentalist branch of christiantiy. DO these teaching confuse other members of the body of christ? Yes they certainly do but much like a heresey they are stamped out in catholic church sooner or latter.
 
Looks like I’m out of my league on this one. Thanks for your response.
 
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ruzz:
This is a dedicated site to the topic.

raptureready.com/

It will explain it all.
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Wow it has a link to Hal Lindsay since you new to this rapture thing let me remind you that he has been predicitng the end of the world would come tomorrow since the 1960’s. I think he will be seeing his end before any rapture.
 
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My4sons:
I am looking for an explanation of where this idea of the rapture comes from. I have heard some scripture quoted but I am unclear of the specifics. My intent in asking this is two fold. First I am unable to present a clear Catholic position on this when speaking with others who believe in it; and second, it seems that the “anti-christian” folks out there are beginning to pick up on certain fundamentalist sects that are infatuated with the coming rapture. The most common arguments are coming from environmentalists who feel that these fundamentalists simply wish to ignore environmental problems because the coming rapture will “set everything right”. I am not a staunch environmentalist but I do believe in the Christian responsibility to be good stewards of the resources that God has given us. Any insights on these 2 issues would be greatly appreciated.
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The best scripture i can give you is John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Also, Jesus is very clear about rescuing those who love him in Luke 22:34-36, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

I do not know if your Bible version says the same thing, but for an accurate reading of God’s Word, read the KJV. For information on which Bible is God’s Word, take a look at this Bible version comparison chart… geocities.com/big_guy144/337verse.html?1109355965937
 
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big_guy144:
The best scripture i can give you is John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Also, Jesus is very clear about rescuing those who love him in Luke 22:34-36, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
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I don’t see how these quotes answer the original posters questions. Neither do they imply a Rapture theology. They can rightfully be understood as referring to the necessity of always being ready for our own death and judgment, as well as Jesus’ one and only Second Coming at the end of time.
I do not know if your Bible version says the same thing, but for an accurate reading of God’s Word, read the KJV. For information on which Bible is God’s Word, take a look at this Bible version comparison chart… geocities.com/big_guy144/337verse.html?1109355965937
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Please spare us the crude anti-Catholic websites. King James only-ism sites are bad enough --when it is linked to Catholic bashing articles, it leads one to doubt your good will.
 
Wow, what a super list of responses!!! I am truly appreciative to all of you and have obviously come to the right place to get answers. I am of the opinion that the whole idea of the “rapture” is dangerous and can lead to despair in those who anxiously await it without result.While I understand that it may be losing steam in the upper eschalons of Protestant theologians it is certainly alive in the bread and butter variety. I also think that the failure of certain popular protestant radio personalities to put down these flawed theologies adds fuel to the fire. I heard “The Bible Answer Man” indicate that there are many views of the rapture which fit into what he calls the “pail of orthodoxy”. Not a good thing in my opinion.
 
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Mickey:
The truth is not biased. 😉
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Well, mine isn’t; but I’m still suspicious of yours…😃
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My4sons:
I heard “The Bible Answer Man” indicate that there are many views of the rapture which fit into what he calls the “pail of orthodoxy”.
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Although that is an intriguing figure of speech, I believe Hanegraff is saying “pale of orthodoxy.”
 
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Mickey:
The truth is not biased. 😉
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The truth cannot by definition be biased. The ONLY absolute truth is GOD.

However, people can be biased.

And unfortunately many people think they are speaking the truth.

Conviction and amplitude is not truth.

.
 
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ruzz:
The truth cannot by definition be biased. The ONLY absolute truth is GOD.

However, people can be biased.

And unfortunately many people think they are speaking the truth.

Conviction and amplitude is not truth.
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How right you are. People can be biased. But divinely revealed truth cannot.
 
What is THE best site and/or article to show to Protestants re this “Rapture Theory”???
 
Interesting on what I found about the rapture: isbushantichrist.blogspot.com/2005/03/tracing-rapture-heresy.html (Yes, it’s an anti-Bush site, but it has many other good tidbits about the rapture and on Hal Lindsey). Anyone can confirm what he posted: The notion of a secret rapture was first proposed by a Chilean Jesuit priest from Spain, a certain Emmanuel Lacunza, who in 1812 wrote a book entitled ‘The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty’. Lacunza, a Catholic Priest, published his book under the assumed name of Rabbi Ben Ezra, a converted Jew, in order to avoid exposure. That’s because the Catholic Church never taught the notion of a secret rapture, and still doesn’t. The church hierarchy in Rome promptly placed his heretical book on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1824, where it remains today. BTW, Stephen Hanchett is against the rapture (as you can see from the title) and is convinced Bush is the anti-Christ (but that’s another topic).
 
Do the people who believe in a “secret rapture” ever worry that it already happened years ago in secret?
 
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