Conservative Protestant belief in the rapture
Introduction to the rapture:
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What is the rapture?
The Rapture is a future event expected by many -- perhaps most --
born-again Protestants. They are certain that they, alone, will engage in a mass migration in the
near future. They believe that those born-again Christians who have died will
have their bodies reconstituted and will ascend through the air, and meet Jesus
Christ in the sky. This will be followed by a second mass migration of the
born-again who are currently alive.
The word "Rapture" comes from the Latin word "Rapare" which
means to take away or to snatch out. This would be a remarkable event. As it is
described in Evangelical literature, pilots would
disappear from planes, truck drivers from their trucks; people from automobiles, etc.
Some born-again Christians believe that a
family will be eating dinner, when some of the members will float upwards from their seats, pass through
the roof and keep rising through the air towards Jesus.
An associated event is Christ's imminent return (also known as the "second coming" and
"parousia"). This has been expected by many Christians for almost 2
millennia. It was described by the Greek word "parousia"
(coming, arrival, presence) during the 1st century
CE. Justin Martyr introduced the term
"second coming" in the 2nd century.
Ever since Christ's death, many Christians have been expecting the second coming in
their immediate future. Most Fundamentalist and other conservative Christians believe
that The Rapture will occur when Christ first returns towards
earth. Most believe that Christ will not actually land or stay on earth at this time; the
"real" second coming will occur later, when he returns on a horse
leading an army
on horseback who will exterminate one third of the earth's population in a
massive, bloody genocide. It will be numerically the largest
mass extermination of humans in history. In terms of the percentage of humans to
be killed in a genocide, it will be second only to the flood of Noah,
which resulted in the deaths of every adult, child, infant and newborn on earth,
with the exception of Noah and seven members of his immediate family.
The rapture concept is a relatively new belief. It is essentially ignored by most other Christian faith groups.
It does not form a part of any other religion. It is dismissed
by essentially all liberal Christian theologians. Many mainline and liberal Bible handbooks, commentaries, dictionaries
and encyclopedia do not even list "rapture" in their indices.
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The main biblical passage supporting the rapture: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
In the King James Version of the Bible, the text reads:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17: "But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
them which are asleep. 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."
This passage contains the main description of the rapture. This
passage was written by St. Paul, circa 51 CE, when he was living in Corinth. It was
addressed to the Christians at Thessalonica, capital of Macedonia. This was an early
writing by St. Paul. If the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) were arranged in
chronological order, 1 Thessalonians would be the first (or perhaps the second book, after
Galatians).
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13, Paul apparently is correcting a
misunderstanding about the return of Christ by the Thessalonian Christians. Some theologians speculate that the Thessalonians
had believed that only those Christians who were alive at the second coming would
have the possibility of sharing in
the Kingdom of God at the time Christ's return. They apparently held various non-orthodox beliefs that St.
Paul wanted to correct:
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Christ will descend from the heavens with a shout. This is based on the 1st century CE
belief that the earth is the center of the universe, and that heaven is
above the firmament -- a solid interface between the atmosphere and
heaven, located just
a few hundred feet above the earth's surface.
Thus, Jesus would have to descend from on high and come through the atmosphere in order to be seen
by humans. |
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The voice of the archangel is heard. Some speculate that this will be the Archangel
Michael. |
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A trumpet call is heard. This may be similar to the trumpet sounded when the Jewish people
were gathered together (e.g. Numbers 10:2). |
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The bodies of faithful Christians will be reconstituted where they were buried. They
will rise out of their graves, and ascend into the air to meet Jesus. |
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Only after the "dead in Christ" have left their graves will "we
who are still alive and left" will also ascend to meet Jesus in the air. Paul
appears to have believed that he and many other Christians who were alive circa 50 CE would still be
alive when Christ returns. He was mistaken. |
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Those who have ascended to be with Jesus will be with him for all eternity. |
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Most of humanity will remain behind on earth. Most of today's Evangelicals believe that this will
include:
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The 67% of the world's population that are non-Christian, and
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A majority of
persons who consider themselves Christians made up of those who have never been
saved. This would include about 40% of American adults. |
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Believers in the rapture generally believe that a seven year interval of
massive devastation will occur at about the time of the rapture. It is
called the tribulation and will result in the
genocide of about two billion persons. |
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