Conservative Protestant belief in the rapture

What will happen during the rapture?
About the "secret rapture."

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What will happen?

Conservative Theologians and Believers: Most Evangelical Christians believe that the Rapture, as described in the three biblical verses listed elsewhere in this section, will happen precisely as described, sometime in the near future. All previously saved Christians, totaling perhaps 5 to 10% of the world's population, will suddenly have their bodies converted into a different form that they will wear for all eternity in Heaven. They will rise vertically into the air. Many believe that they will pass right through ceilings, roofs of cars, etc. to meet Jesus Christ in the sky. The vast majority of humans will be left behind. There will be extensive devastation on planes, trains and automobiles as their pilots, engineers and drivers suddenly disappear and the vehicles crash. The bodies of Christian believers who have died during the previous two millennia will be reconstituted into their original bodies which will then also be converted to spirit bodies. They will rise out of their graves and ascend to meet Jesus. Apparently the spirit bodies do not require oxygen to sustain themselves, because there is little air above 30,000 feet.

Liberal Theologians: Many regard the Tribulation belief to be a fascinating myth or vision. The elements of the story:

are simply a beautiful fantasy without any grounding in reality.

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About the "secret rapture:"

There is a common theme found in many conservative Christian novels about the end times. The Rapture is predicted to cause mass confusion among those left behind. The unsaved who remain are aware of the disappearance of tens or hundreds of millions of people, but most will not seem to know the cause. Mass panic will result. According to W. Fred Rice, promoters of the secret rapture theory teach that most people left behind on Earth would believe that the missing Christians were captured by aliens or that some unexplained scientific phenomenon had occurred to make them vanish. ₁

Also part of the secret rapture is that non-saved people who are left behind would be given the option of becoming saved by repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior. ₁

It can be argued that this would never happen. There is simply too much knowledge about the rapture circulating:

References:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. W. Fred Rice, "The not so secret rapture," Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics, at: http://www.reformed.org/
2. "Left Behind Series," at: http://www.leftbehind.com/
3. Todd Strandberg, "What secret rapture?," Rapture Ready, at: http://www.raptureready.com/

Copyright © 1998 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2008-JAN-18
Author: B.A. Robinson