The Rapture

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Here is a topic that I know very little about, primarily because I don’t really know what is believed by non-Catholics about it. On a facebook debate forum, the topic was brought up and my comments was along the lines of “…the word “Rapture” does not appear in Scripture…”.

One person has responded privately to me the following:

“…I just looked up the dictionary meanings of ‘The Rapture’ and compared it with the Scripture which seems to me to be consistent with it’s meaning, I Thessalonians 4:16 and 17…Protestants…or I atleast, are not too keen on ‘definitions’…just the meaning…”

So, regardless of whether if carries the name “Rapture” or not…can anyone shed some light on the what is believed by non-Catholics in regards to the Rapture…and what is the Catholic view, especially in regards to 1Thess 13-18 (the context in which 1Thess 16-17 appears)?
 
There are a number of postings on the subject of “The Rapture”. Do a search on “rapture” and you will be kept busy for several days reading about it. As for the Catholic teaching with regards to “The Rapture” there is no such thing as “the Rapture”. Do your search on all the forums. A very good book on “The Rapture” is David B. Currie’s Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind.
 
Protestants would be truly confounded if they did a little research as to where the word “rapture” actually comes from. It actually comes from the Latin Vulgate, a Catholic version of the Bible translated by St. Jerome under the order of Pope Damasus in the 4th century!

Belief in the Rapture as we know it and hear it preached on TV and radio was devised in the year 1827 by a man named John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren and later popularized by the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. Darby believed in what is known as “Dispensationalist” theology, a theology that teaches that secret “dispensations” of grace will be given to certain Christians during a time of great tribulation to come that is spoken of in various places throughout Scripture.

Hope this helps as a start.
 
ahs said:
Here is a topic that I know very little about, primarily because I don’t really know what is believed by non-Catholics about it. On a facebook debate forum, the topic was brought up and my comments was along the lines of “…the word “Rapture” does not appear in Scripture…”.

One person has responded privately to me the following:

"…I just looked up the dictionary meanings of ‘The Rapture’ and compared it with the Scripture which seems to me to be consistent with it’s meaning, I Thessalonians 4:16 and 17…Protestants…or I atleast, are not too keen on ‘definitions’…just the meaning…"

So, regardless of whether if carries the name “Rapture” or not…can anyone shed some light on the what is believed by non-Catholics in regards to the Rapture…and what is the Catholic view, especially in regards to 1Thess 13-18 (the context in which 1Thess 16-17 appears)?
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Especially if that meaning fits with their private interpretation of God’s word. But hey, anything that conforms to “their” opinion/understanding, then it’s all good right? 🤷
 
-]non denominational churches, /-] persons with personal relationships to Jesus believe in “sola scriptura” a made up term to mean they only read from the bible. some of them come up with some real colorful stuff that’s on the brink of happening 😃
 
The Catholic Church does not teach a rapture because there ain’t one.

This did not even occur as a teaching until the 1800s.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
The Catholic Church does not teach a rapture because there ain’t one.

This did not even occur as a teaching until the 1800s.

ICXC NIKA
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But indeed at the end of time, those who are in the state of grace and are still alive at the coming of the Lord will be raptured, that is, caught up in the sky to be with the Lord, no? Of course, the world will end and there will be nobody left behind who will survive, because the end has come. I didn’t read the links so kindly provided by Church Militant, but I am sure they thoroughly explain the subject.
 
Thanks everyone for the info. I could not sleep last night so I read 1 tract on it and got maybe a grade-school understanding. I’ll need to get the facebook friend to give me their take on it so I know whether they are premillennial…and then post, mid, or pre-tribulationist.

From what I read, most of Christianity at one time, and the Catholic Church still today, is ammillenial. (I know I spelled that wrong.)

Church Militant, thanks very much for collecting the links here. I will read those this evening and tomorrow. Once I get a better understanding of it, I’ll try a brief summary here before responding to my facebook friend.

Happy Sunday to all…and Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms reading this! 🙂
 
Okay, so I studied to a great extent about it, and I think the simplest statement might be:

The Catholic view is most similar to “Amillennialism”. While we thoroughly believe that 1Thess 4:16-17 is absolutely true, there is absolutely no Biblical support for the modern day evangelical belief that this “rapture” occurs before the “period of tribulation”, or during it, such that all the holy people will be taken up while sinners are “left behind”.

Also worthy of note is that it’s nearly a moot point. At some point, every person, regardless of when or how, is going to face God and undergo final judgement. We should all be striving to live out our Christian Faith regardless of when/how any prophesies will/won’t occur. I think it’s more important to focus on preparing for our own death than it is to be concerned about when the end of the world will be or when this “rapture” will occur. There is nothing we can do to effect change in God’s timing. But there is everything we can do to accept God’s Grace in our lives and choose to life as Christians.

Personally, I think the modernevangelical idea of the “rapture” is more of a scare tactic than anything else.

catholic.com/tracts/the-rapture (for a description of amillennialism, etc…)
 
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