In Christian eschatology, the Rapture is a reference to the being caught up referred to in the Biblical passage 1 Thess 4:17, when in the End Times the Christians of the world will be gathered together in the air to meet Jesus Christ.[1]
The primary passage used to support the idea of the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:15–7, in which Paul cites \"the word of the Lord\" about the return of Christ to gather his saints.
...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.1 Thess 4
There are many views among Christians regarding the timing of Christ\'s return (including whether it will occur in one event or two), and various views regarding the destination of the aerial gathering described in 1 Thessalonians 4:
One event or two
1. Some Dispensationalist Premillennialists (including many Evangelicals) hold the return of Christ to be two distinct events, or one Second Coming in two stages. 1 Thessalonians 4:15–7 is seen to be a description of a preliminary event to the return described in Matthew 24:29–31. Although both describe a return of Jesus, these are seen to be separated in time by more than a brief period. The first event may or may not be seen (which is not a primary issue), and is called the Rapture, when the saved are to be \'caught up,\' from whence the term \"Rapture\" is taken. The \"Second Coming\" is a public event, wherein Christ\'s presence is prophesied to be clearly seen by all, as he returns to end a battle staged at Armageddon, though possibly fought at the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The majority of Dispensationalists hold that the first event precedes the period of Tribulation, even if not immediately (see chart for additional Dispensationalist timing views);
2. Amillennialists deny the interpretation of a literal 1,000-year rule of Christ, and as such Amillennialism does not necessarily imply much difference between itself and other forms of millennialism besides that denial. However, there is considerable overlap in the beliefs of Amillenialists (including most Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans), Postmillennialists (including Presbyterians), and Historic Premillennialists (including some Calvinistic Baptists, among others) with those who hold that the return of Christ will be a single, public event. Those who identify the Rapture with the Second Coming are likely to emphasize mutual similarities between passages of scripture where clouds, angels or the archangel, resurrection, and gathering are mentioned. Although some (particularly some Amillennialists) may take the Rapture to be figurative, rather than literal, these three groups are likely to maintain that the passages regarding the return of Christ describe a single event. Some also claim that the "word of the Lord" cited by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–7 is the Olivet Discourse which Matthew separately describes in Matthew 24:29-31. Although the doctrinal relationship between the Rapture and the Second Coming is the same in these three groups, Historic Premillennialists are more likely to use the term \"Rapture\" to clarify their position in distinction from Dispensationalists.
Destination
1. Dispensationalists see the immediate destination of the Raptured Christians as being Heaven, with an eventual return to Earth. Roman Catholic commentators, such as Walter Drum (1912), identify the destination of the 1 Thessalonians 4:17 gathering as Heaven.[2]
2. While Anglicans have many views in all areas of theology, some Anglican commentators, such as N. T. Wright, identify the destination as a specific place on Earth.[3][4] Often the destination identified is Jerusalem.[5] This interpretation may sometimes be connected to Christian environmentalist concerns.[6]
The Koine Greek text of the Bible uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα [harpagēsometha], which means \"we shall be caught up\" or \"taken away\", with the connotation that this is a sudden event. The dictionary form of this Greek verb is harpazō (ἁρπάζω).[7]
Latin
The Latin rapiemur is Saint Jerome\'s translation of the Greek word ἁρπαγησόμεθα. This is a faithful translation, using a form of the Latin verb rapiō, meaning \"to catch up\" or \"take away\".[8] It is found in the Vulgate rendering of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.[9]
English
\"Rapture\" is an English noun derived from the Latin verb rapiō, with a literal meaning of \"I catch up\" \"or \"I snatch\" (from the infinitive form of the verb rapere, \"to catch up\"; \"rapture\" is also cognate to the English words \"rapids\", \"ravish\", and \"rape\").
Bible versions
English versions of the Bible have translated Jerome\'s rapiemur (\"we shall be caught up\") in various ways:
* The Wycliffe Bible (1395), translated from the Latin Vulgate (405), uses \"rushed\".[10]
* The Tyndale New Testament (1525), and then the Bishop\'s Bible (1568), Geneva Bible (1587) and King James Version (1611) have \"caught up\"[11]
* The New English Bible, translated from the Greek[12] uses \"suddenly caught up\" with this footnote: \"Or "snatched up." The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb "suddenly" to make this implicit notion clear.\"
Literature
The Oxford English Dictionary provides two pages describing the history of usage of the word in English. From the 17th century onwards, the word is attested as rapture with similar senses to the older form rapt. The OED provides the etymology as from Latin rapere: to seize, especially abduct; it likens the words capture and rapture. Of particular note are the various distinctions involving either literal or figurative transport of the body or emotions to Heaven or from one place to another on Earth.[13]
* circa 1400: Þe visions of seynt poul wan he was rapt into paradys. – Vernon manuscript[14]
* 1412-20: In this wyse were the brethren twayne To heauen rapt, as thes poetes fayne. – John Lydgate, Chronicle of Troy[15]
* 1432-50: Helyas was rapte in this tyme. – Ranulf Higden, Polychronicon[16]
* 1526: Whan he was rapt & taken vp in to the thyrde heuen. – William Bond, Pilgrim of Perfection[17]
* 1610: To this place ... were Enoch, Elias and Paul rapt up fore their deaths. – John Guillim, Display of Heraldry [18]
* 1667: Rapt in a Chariot drawn by fiery Steeds. – John Milton, Paradise Lost[19]
* 1866: He was rapt up on high and saw S. Peter. – Charles Kingsley, Hereward the Wake[20]
Doctrinal history
The concept of the Rapture, in connection with premillennialism, was expressed by the 17th-century American Puritan father and son Increase and Cotton Mather. They held to the idea that believers would be caught up in the air, followed by judgments on the Earth, and then the millennium.[21][22] The term Rapture was used by Philip Doddridge[23] and John Gill[24] in their New Testament commentaries, with the idea that believers would be caught up prior to judgment on the Earth and Jesus\' Second Coming.
There exist at least one 18th-century, and two 19th-century, pre-Tribulation references: in an essay published in 1788 in Philadelphia by the Baptist Morgan Edwards which articulated the concept of a pre-Tribulation Rapture,[25] in the writings of Catholic priest Emmanuel Lacunza in 1812,[26] and by John Nelson Darby himself in 1827.[27] However, both the book published in 1788 and the writings of Lacunza have opposing views regarding their interpretations. Emmanuel Lacunza (1731–1801), a Jesuit priest, was born in Chile but came to Italy in 1767. Posing as a converted Jew (under the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben Ezra), he wrote, in Spanish, a lengthy apocalyptic work entitled La venida del Mesías en gloria y majestad [The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty]. The book appeared first in 1811, 10 years after his death. In 1827, it was translated[citation needed] into English by the Scottish minister Edward Irving, who was an acquaintance of, and possible[original research?] influence on, John Darby.
Dr. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875), a prominent English theologian and biblical scholar, wrote a pamphlet in 1866[28] tracing the concept of the Rapture through the works of John Darby back to Edward Irving.
Although not using the term Rapture, the idea was more fully developed by Edward Irving (1792–1834). In 1825[29] Matthew Henry used the term in his commentary of 1 Thessalonians 4.[Full citation needed] Irving directed his attention to the study of prophecy and eventually accepted the one-man Antichrist idea of James Henthorn Todd, Samuel Roffey Maitland, Robert Bellarmine, and Francisco Ribera, yet he went a step further. Irving began to teach the idea of a two-phase return of Christ, the first phase being a secret Rapture prior to the rise of the Antichrist. According to Irving, "There are three gatherings: – First, of the first-fruits of the harvest, the wise virgins who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth; next, the abundant harvest gathered afterwards by God; and lastly, the assembling of the wicked for punishment."[30]
John Nelson Darby, considered[by whom?] by many classical dispensationalists to be the father of dispensationalism, first proposed and popularized the pre-Tribulation Rapture in 1827.[31] This view was accepted among many other Plymouth Brethren movements in England. Darby and other prominent Brethren were part of the Brethren Movement which impacted American Christianity, especially with movements and teachings associated with eschatology and fundamentalism, primarily through their writings. Influences included the Bible Conference Movement, starting in 1878 with the Niagara Bible Conference. These conferences, which were initially inclusive of historicist and futurist premillennialism, led to an increasing acceptance of futurist premillennial views and the pre-Tribulation Rapture especially among Presbyterian, Baptist and Congregational members.[32] Popular books also contributed to acceptance of the pre-Tribulation Rapture, including William Eugene Blackstone\'s book Jesus is Coming published in 1878[33] and which sold more than 1.3 million copies, and the Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967.[Full citation needed]
The early original Christian church,[34] as well as the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches[35], the Anglican Communion, and many Protestant Calvinist denominations have no tradition of a preliminary return of Christ and reject the doctrine. Some also[which?] reject it because they interpret prophetic scriptures in either an amillennial or postmillennial fashion.
Some proponents of a preliminary Rapture believe the doctrine of amillennialism originated with Alexandrian scholars such as Clement and Origen[36] and later became Roman Catholic dogma through Augustine.[37] Thus[citation needed], the church until then held to premillennial views, which see an impending apocalypse from which the church will be rescued after being Raptured by the Lord. This is even extrapolated by some[which?] to mean that the early church espoused pre-Tribulationism.[citation needed]
Some[quantify] Pre-Tribulation proponents maintain that the earliest known extra-Biblical reference to the \"pre-Tribulation\" Rapture is from a sermon attributed to the fourth-century Church Father Ephraem the Syrian, which says, \"For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the Tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.\"[38][39] However, the interpretation of this writing as supporting a pre-Tribulation Rapture is debated.[citation needed][40]
The rise in belief in the \"pre-Tribulation\" Rapture is often wrongly attributed to a 15-year old Scottish-Irish girl named Margaret McDonald (a follower of Edward Irving), who in 1830 had a vision of the end times which describes a post-Tribulation view of the Rapture that was first published in 1840. It was published again in 1861, but two important passages demonstrating a post-Tribulation view were removed to encourage confusion concerning the timing of the Rapture. The two removed segments were, \"This is the fiery trial which is to try us. - It will be for the purging and purifying of the real members of the body of Jesus\" and \"The trial of the Church is from Antichrist. It is by being filled with the Spirit that we shall be kept\".[41]
In 1957, John Walvoord, a theologian at Dallas Theological Seminary, authored a book,The Rapture Question,[Full citation needed] that gave theological support to the pre-Tribulation Rapture; this book eventually sold over 65,000 copies. In 1958, J. Dwight Pentecost authored another book supporting the pre-Tribulation Rapture, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology[Full citation needed], which sold 215,000 copies.
During the 1970s, belief in the Rapture became popular in wider circles, in part due to the books of Hal Lindsey, including The Late Great Planet Earth,[Full citation needed] which has reportedly sold between 15 million and 35 million copies, and the movie A Thief in the Night, which based its title on the scriptural reference 1 Thessalonians 5:2.[42] Lindsey proclaimed that the Rapture was imminent, based on world conditions at the time. The Cold War figured prominently in his predictions of impending Armageddon. Other aspects of 1970s global politics were seen as having been predicted in the Bible. Lindsey suggested, for example, that the seven-headed beast with ten horns, cited in the Book of Revelation, was the European Economic Community, a forebear of the European Union, which between 1981 and 1986 had ten member states; it now has 27 member states.
In 1995, the doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture was further popularized by Tim LaHaye\'s Left Behind series of books,[Full citation needed] which sold tens of millions of copies and was made into several movies.
The doctrine of the Rapture continues to be an important component of American fundamentalist Christian eschatology.[citation needed]
In the amillennial and postmillennial views, as well as in the post-Tribulation premillennial position, there are no distinctions in the timing of the Rapture. These views regard the Rapture, as it is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, as being either identical to the Second Coming of Jesus as described in Matthew 24:29-31, or as a meeting in the air with Jesus that immediately precedes his return to the Earth. Within premillennialism, the pre-Tribulation position is the predominant view that distinguishes between the Rapture and Second Coming as two events. There are also two minor positions within premillennialism that differ with regard to the timing of the Rapture, the mid-Tribulation view and the partial-Rapture view.[43]
Pretribulation
The pretribulation position advocates that the Rapture will occur before the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period, while the Second Coming will occur at the end of the seven-year Tribulation period. Pre-Tribulationists often describe the Rapture as Jesus coming for the church and the Second Coming as Jesus coming with the church. Pre-Tribulation educators and preachers include J. Dwight Pentecost, Tim LaHaye, J. Vernon McGee, Perry Stone, Chuck Smith, Chuck Missler, Jack Van Impe, Grant Jeffrey, Thomas Ice, David Reagan, and David Jeremiah.[44] While many pre-Tribulationists are also dispensationalists, not all pre-Tribulationists are dispensationalists.[45]
Midtribulation
The mid-Tribulation position espouses that the Rapture will occur at some point in the middle of what is popularly called the Tribulation period or Daniel\'s 70th Week. But since the Bible only uses \"Tribulation\" to refer to the second half of Daniel\'s 70th week, from a midtribulationist\'s point of view he is a pretribulationist. The Tribulation is typically divided into two periods of 3.5 years each. Mid-Tribulationists hold that the saints will go through the first period (Beginning of Travail, which is not \"the Tribulation\"), but will be Raptured into Heaven before the severe outpouring of God\'s wrath in the second half of what is popularly called the Tribulation. Mid-Tribulationists appeal to Daniel 7:25 which says the saints will be given over to Tribulation for \"time, times, and half a time,\" - interpreted to mean 3.5 years. At the halfway point of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will commit the \"abomination of desolation\" by desecrating the Jerusalem temple (to be built on what is now called the Temple Mount, see Third Temple). Mid-Tribulationist teachers include Harold Ockenga, James O. Buswell (a reformed, Calvinistic Presbyterian), and Norman Harrison.[46] This position is a minority view among premillennialists.[47]
Prewrath
Main article: Prewrath
The prewrath Rapture view also places the Rapture at some point during the Tribulation period before the Second Coming. This view holds that the Tribulation of the church begins toward the latter part of the seven-year period, being Daniel\'s 70th week, when the Antichrist is revealed in the temple. This latter half of the seven-year period is defined as the great Tribulation, although the exact duration is not known. References from Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are used as evidence that this Tribulation will be cut short by the coming of Christ to deliver the righteous by means of the Rapture, which will occur after specific events in Revelation, in particular after the sixth seal is opened and the sun is darkened and the moon is turned to blood.[48] However, by this point many Christians will have been slaughtered as martyrs by the Antichrist. After the Rapture will come God\'s seventh-seal wrath of trumpets and bowls (a.k.a. \"the Day of the Lord\"). The Day of the Lord\'s wrath against the ungodly will follow for the remainder of the seven years.[49] Marvin Rosenthal, author of The Prewrath Rapture of the Church, is a primary proponent for the prewrath Rapture view.[citation needed] His belief is founded on the work of Robert D. Van Kampen (1938–1999); his books \"The Sign\", \"The Rapture Question Answered\" and \"The Fourth Reich\" detail his pre-wrath Rapture doctrine.
Partial
The partial-Rapture view holds to multiple Raptures of believers at the beginning of, and during, the seven-year Tribulation period.[50] The term \"partial\" refers to the idea that only some Christians will be Raptured at a time. This is in contrast to other Rapture views, which hold that all Christians would be Raptured in a single event. The criteria for who would be Raptured are those who will be faithful and watchful. In this view, the Rapture is in essence a reward to the faithful.[51] The writers for this view interpret certain eschatology parables as revealing the partial Rapture, such as the parable of the ten virgins. All ten virgins are seen as genuine believers, in which the five who were prepared are taken while the others are left. Advocates for this view include Robert Govett (1813–1901) and George Lang.[52]
Posttribulation
Main article: Post Tribulation Rapture
The posttribulation position places the Rapture at the end of the Tribulation period. Post-Tribulation writers define the Tribulation period in a generic sense as the entire present age, or in a specific sense of a period of time preceding the Second Coming of Christ.[53] The emphasis in this view is that the church will undergo the Tribulation — even though the church will be spared the wrath of God.[54] Matthew 24:29–31; \"Immediately after the Tribulation of those days...they shall gather together his elect...\", is cited as a foundational scripture for this view. Post-Tribulationists perceive the Rapture as occurring simultaneously with the Second Coming of Christ. Upon Jesus\' return, believers will meet him in the air and will then accompany him in his return to the Earth. Authors and teachers who support the post-Tribulational view include Pat Robertson, Walter R. Martin, John Piper, George E. Ladd,[55] Robert H. Gundry,[56] and Douglas Moo.
Date
Poster in Kendall Sq., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Over the last few centuries, believers in the Rapture of the church have made predictions regarding the date of the event. The primary scripture reference cited against this position is Matthew 24:36, where Jesus is quoted saying; \"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only\" (RSV).
Any individual or religious group that has dogmatically predicted the day of the Rapture, referred to as \"date setting\", has been thoroughly embarrassed and discredited, as the predicted date of fulfillment has invariably come and gone without event.[57][58] Some of these individuals and groups have offered excuses and \"corrected\" target dates, while others have simply released a reinterpretation of the meaning of the scripture to fit their current predicament, and then explained that although the prediction appeared to have not come true, in reality it had been completely accurate and fulfilled, albeit in a different way than many had expected. Conversely, many of those who believe that the precise date of the Rapture cannot be known, do affirm that the specific time frame that immediately precedes the Rapture event can be known. This time frame is often referred to as \"the season\". The primary section of scripture cited for this position is Matthew 24:32-35; where Jesus is quoted teaching the parable of the fig tree, which is proposed as the key that unlocks the understanding of the general timing of the Rapture, as well as the surrounding prophecies listed in the sections of scripture that precede and follow this parable.
Some notable Rapture predictions include the following:
* 1844 - William Miller predicted Christ would return between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844, then revised his prediction, claiming to have miscalculated Scripture, to October 22, 1844. The realization that the predictions were incorrect resulted in a Great Disappointment. Miller\'s theology gave rise to the Advent movement. The Baha\'is believe that Christ did return as Miller predicted in 1844, with the advent of The Báb, and numerous Miller-like prophetic predictions from many religions are given in William Sears book, Thief in The Night.[59]
* 1914[60], 1918[61], 1925[62], 1942[63] - Dates set for the end by the Jehovah\'s Witnesses.
* 1981 - Chuck Smith predicted that Jesus would probably return by 1981.[64]
* 1988 - Publication of 88 Reasons why the Rapture is in 1988, by Edgar C. Whisenant.
* 1989 - Publication of The final shout: Rapture report 1989, by Edgar Whisenant. This author made further predictions of the Rapture for 1992, 1995, and other years.
* 1992 - A Korean group, \"Mission for the Coming Days\", predicted October 28, 1992 as being the date of the Rapture.[65]
* 1993 - Seven years before the year 2000; the Rapture would have to start to allow for seven years of the Tribulation before the Return in 2000. Multiple predictions.
* 1994 - Pastor John Hinkle of Christ Church in Los Angeles predicted that the Rapture would occur on June 9, 1994. Radio evangelist Harold Camping predicted September 6, 1994.[66]
* 2011 - Harold Camping\'s revised prediction had May 21, 2011 as the date of the Rapture.[67][68]
* 2060 - Sir Isaac Newton proposed, based upon his calculations using figures from the Book of Daniel, that the Apocalypse could happen no earlier than 2060.[69][70]
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