re: #223 HoosierHoops

I hate to be pedantic about such gloriously melodramatic things as the alleged “rapture” but it really has no support in the Bible. The passage which is the key to the whole thing is I Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we who are left alive will be carried off together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Even the wildest rapturettes, if that’s the right term, admit that without this passage there is no warrant for claiming that there will be a rapture. If we look at verse 17 in context, it is pretty clear that is does not support the doctrine of the Rapture. There is no reference to any Great Tribulation or to any other rapture-compatible events preceding Christ’s Return. The verse only speaks of something that will happen as part of the Lord’s Coming. The course of events that Paul presents is straight-forward. At the time of the Second Coming, the dead will be raised, and all the faithful will ascend to be with Him as He comes down. I would add that this is the universal interpretation of the Fathers of the Church who see the verse as referring to the last days. I know the Rapture sells loads of books, but it simply is not part of any traditional or scripturally sound version of Christianity.