the rapture

[teresa06]

What are the Catholic beliefs on the rapture??

 

[Church_Militant]

Here ya go Teresa!
The Rapture

You might also wish to have a look at this interesting white paper on The Left Behind Series
Pax tecum,

 

[Liberian]

teresa06:

What are the Catholic beliefs on the rapture??

Teresa,

Quite apart from what the Catholic Church officially teaches, it is my personal opinion that a pre-Tribulation Rapture is a case of collective Protestant wishful thinking.

• Liberian

 

[jusher7281]

teresa06:

What are the Catholic beliefs on the rapture??

Try this, if you haven’t alread:

catholic.com/library/rapture.asp

My personal belief is that in the case of a Rapture, there would have to be two Second-Comings, not one. In other words, Christ would come back twice, once to get the “good” people (so they don’t have to endure hard times during the so-called Tribulation) and then again to finally establish His Kingdom.

JU

 

[Fidelis]

There are already several trillon threads on this. It seems to be one of the most common questions asked here. I suggest you use the “Search” feature and type in “Rapture.”

Or, you could probably go to the most comprehensive Catholic site on this issue run by Carl Olsen:

www.carl-olsen.com

 

[Nan_S]

The Rapture is a Protestant invention that most Catholics don’t take very seriously. Rather, we interpret the Book of Revelation, Chapter 7, to mean that the blessed who have died in Christ and been found worthy are welcomed into heaven immediately.

This little urban legend Rapture myth has about as much credence as any other I’ve seen:

ARKANSAS CITY (AP) – A Little Rock woman was killed yesterday after leaping through her moving car’s sun roof during an incident best described as “a mistaken rapture” by dozens of eye witnesses. Thirteen other people were injured after a twenty-car pile up resulted from people trying to avoid hitting the woman who was apparently convinced that the rapture was occurring when she saw twelve people floating up into the air, and then passed a man on the side of the road who she claimed was Jesus.

“She started screaming “He’s back, He’s back” and climbed right out of the sunroof and jumped off the roof of the car,” said Everet Williams, husband of 28-year-old Georgann Williams who was pronounced dead at the scene. “I was slowing down but she wouldn’t wait till I stopped,” Williams said. She thought the rapture was happening and was convinced that Jesus was gonna lift her up into the sky," he went on to say.

"This is the strangest thing I’ve seen since I’ve been on the force,"said Paul Madison, first officer on the scene. Madison questioned the man who looked like Jesus and discovered that he was dressed up as Jesus and was on his way to a toga costume party when the tarp covering the bed of his pickup truck came loose and released twelve blowup dolls filled with helium which floated up into the air.

Ernie Jenkins, 32, of Fort Smith, who’s been told by several of his friends that he looks like Jesus, pulled over and lifted his arms into the air in frustration, and said “Come back here,” just as the Williams’ car passed him.

Mrs. Williams was sure that it was Jesus lifting people up into the sky as they passed by him, according to her husband, who says his wife loved Jesus more than anything else. When asked for comments about the twelve dolls, Jenkins replied “This is all just too weird for me. I never expected anything like this to happen.”

 

[BibleReader]

The Catholic Faith features a “rapture” of sorts.

Let’s begin with some words from the Apostle’s Creed…

“…and from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.”

The Apostle’s Creed is a creed – a straightforward recitation of beliefs. So that line is probably not figurative. In other words, it refers to Christ coming at the end of time, to judge, and some will still be alive, to see Him coming.

Next, how will Christ come at the end of time?

Paul describes the beginning of the process…

“[T]he Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven…” 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Let us also go to Acts 1…

“9 When he had said this, as they were looking on, **he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. **10 While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. 11 They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.’” Acts 1:9-11.

So, we will apparently hear something that sounds like a trumpet blast, and then He will come down out of the sky on a cloud.

Next, what will happen to the people?

Paul continues, “16 **[T]he dead in Christ will rise first. **
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.So, those living when Christ comes will actually be taken-up into the sky!

What happens to the Earth itself at this time?

Peter provides the answer…

“[T]he heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.” 2 Peter 3:10.

So, there’s your “Catholic rapture.”

We’ll hear what will sound like a powerful, probably very piercing – almost devastating? – trumpet blast. We’ll see Christ coming in the sky on a cloud. The dead will be raised from their graves (and probably taken to their judgment). One gets the feeling that the living who are taken up into the air to meet Christ in the sky will be the saved. Then, the world will be incinerated beneath them.