On Presupposing the Rapture: An Essay

This essay critically examines the notion of the pretribulational rapture of the church, arguing against its validity. The author highlights that the concept of the rapture is absent from the New Testament and is based on an overly applied hermeneutic that demands a specific systematic interpretation. The essay explores the connections between the doctrine of the rapture, the millennial views, the usage of proof texts, and the true hope of the New Testament authors. It concludes that the pretribulational rapture is an inferior eschatological position that is not supported by a sound interpretation of Scripture, while seeking to honor Christian fellowship and different views.

Introduction

Only when one presupposes the existence of a pretribulational rapture of the church will support be found for it in the Bible. Its existence is a direct result of an overly applied hermeneutic that demands a premillennial, pretribulational systematic. The New Testament authors were silent about a rapture of the church to heaven before the second coming of Christ, despite the attempts to claim otherwise by scholars and laymen alike. 

One’s position on the millennium and the rapture is not a first order issue that divides Christians from unbelievers. The body of Christ should not divide over the views discussed in the proceeding essay. Believers should be able to discuss these views from a place of humility and love, seeking to understand God’s word in a deeper, more wholistic way that draws us closer to Jesus Christ. To this end, this essay strives to present an argument against the pretribulational rapture on the grounds that it is an inferior result of interpretation driven by presuppositional positions demanding its existence first and then imposing it onto scripture. The links between the doctrine of the rapture, the millennial views, usage of proof texts, a brief historical background of the rapture, and the true hope of the New Testament authors will be examined.

Rapture Defined

It would be incorrect to clump the rapture and the second coming into one event, hence the existence of two words (rapture and second coming). The rapture is ubiquitous among dispensational premillennialism and is distinct from the return of Jesus and the consummation of time. Therefore, in order to define the rapture, one must rely on the definitions from premillennial dispensationalists because its definition is absent from both scripture^[1] and the other eschatological views. T. D. Ice claims, “a systematic, literal interpretation of all New Testament passages relating to the Rapture will lead to the pretribulational viewpoint: that, at the Rapture, all living believers will be translated into heaven at least seven years before Christ’s Second Coming.” One must ask here whether the opposite is also true: Does presupposing the existence of the rapture lead to a strictly premillennial, pretribulational reading of the Bible? Another notable scholar, J. Walvoord similarly claims, “For the sake of brevity, the term rapture or translation is used for the coming of Christ for His church, while the term second coming is uniformly used as a reference to His coming to the earth to establish His millennial kingdom, an event that all consider post-tribulational.”^[2]

From this claim we can see two things; first—according to notable supporters of the pretribulational rapture—the systematic, literal interpretation of all the New Testament passages is what leads to this eschatological view. Second, the rapture is distinct from the second coming and relates directly to a seven-year period of tribulation.  One must then ask, should all of the New Testament be read literally? Beyond that, what does it mean to read literally?

The Millennium

Support for the millennium is found in Revelation 20:1-10 where the Greek word for a thousand (χίλιοι or chilio)is used six times. The question for interpreters and readers is whether or not, in the context of an apocalyptic book^[3], this reference is to a literal one thousand years or if it is in fact figurative, indicating a long period of time. How this is answered directly impacts one’s view of the millennium, as we will see below. 

Of the millennial views, the only one that affirms the rapture is premillennialism. The rapture simply cannot exist within the other eschatological frameworks. Therefore, the alternative views will not be discussed in this essay. The topic has been addressed ad nauseam by scholars^[4]. Charts are included in Appendix A for reference.

 Premillennialism is the eschatological view that the second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth will occur before the establishment of a literal one-thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ physically on earth. The second coming, therefore, ushers in the millennium and its Christ-like conditions upon the earth and lasts until the final judgement before the New Heavens and the New Earth are established for eternity. This is often attributed to Historic Premillennialism. In such a view, there is no rapture; there is only a single return of Christ, after a period of tribulation. 

Within premillennialism, there is a view called Dispensational Premillennialism.  This view maintains the one-thousand-year reign of Christ will only occur after the rapture^[5] of the church and then following the second coming.^[6]It is often suggested that we are currently in the “church age” which occupies the sixth of the seven dispensations. Following the church age we enter the culmination, that is the “kingdom age” wherein one finds the millennium reign of Christ which lasts for a literal one-thousand-years.^[7]

Some have gone as far as stating that Premillennialism is the only result possible if one is to read and interpret the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in a literal manner.^[8] This is of course because a wooden, literal method of interpretation is applied. This is evident in Scofield Reference Bible’s note regarding interpretation, “Not one instance exists of a ‘spiritual’ or figurative fulfilment of prophecy… Jerusalem is always Jerusalem, Israel is always Israel, Zion is always Zion… Prophecies may never be spiritualized but are always literal.”^[9]  This might be the case, but it ignores a fatal flaw in the hermeneutic; you would be in error to approach the entire Bible as if it were to be understood literally in all contexts. As mentioned, Revelation is apocalyptic literature and therefore must be understood and interpreted differently than a book like Philemon, or Judges. 

The Position of the Church

It is remarkable to note that there is no credal confession on a millennium position to be found among the Church.^[10] Again, the only position that can maintain a rapture is premillennialism. Though for most of history, the predominant view among Christians has been postmillennialism. This is important because it highlights the non-essential nature of one’s view of the millennium. In other words, your salvation is not at stake if you believe in one millennial view over another.  This is an idea supported by Justin Martyr (AD 100 – c. AD 165). Martyr was explicitly clear in his conviction that the Christian must believe in the bodily resurrection^[11] (of Christ, and of believers), as evidenced by the Lord Jesus Christ. This belief was in direct contrast to the Gnosticism of the day which affirmed a spiritual survival of the soul after death^[12]. Therefore, to believe in the bodily resurrection was to stand firm in the foundation of the Christian faith (1 Cor. 15:12-19). In his Dialogue with Trypho, Martyr affirmed his expectation that the dead in Christ would rise from the dead and reign with Christ for a thousand years in a rebuilt Jerusalem. This is classic premillennialism, but there was no expectation of a rapture before this millennial reign found in his writings. 

Virtually all who hold a position in the rapture have a particular view on the millennium that unites them; that of dispensational premillennialism^[13].  This is because without the rapture fitting neatly into a specific order of eschatological events it is illogical; simply put, a rapture necessitates its occurrence in a dispensational premillennial timeline^[14]. Due to this, if one comes to scripture with an a priori presupposition that the bible ought to be interpreted through a systematic of dispensational premillennialism, they will likewise have to fit the rapture into scripture. This interpretive method is often supported by the use of proof texts.

The Use of Proof Texts

Is context more important than a systematic? Simply look at the rapid growth and use of proof texts to examine the answer to such a question. The usage of proof texts to support the rapture is borderline out of control. As an example, Walvoord dedicated a book (Walvoord 1979) to a number of arguments (50 in all) that support a pretribulation rapture of the church prior to the second coming of Christ, and it was composed almost entirely of references to proof texts, mostly individual verses. One thing must be made clear from the outset; proof texting often leads to gross misinterpretation of a passage by withdrawing it from its proper context in favor of a doctrinal, propositional, or systematic position. This is succinctly stated in the 1883 edition of The Old Testament Student, 

“To detach them from their place and use them as if they stood alone and deduce from them all that the words and sentences may be constrained to give, as absolute statements, is an abuse of logic and the Bible. Such a use of other books would be open to the charge of misrepresentation. Such a use of the Bible’s an adding unto the Word of God new meanings and taking away from it the true meaning. Against this we are warned by the Bible itself (Rev. xxii., 18-19).”^[15]

The texts examined here will be limited to the following: John 14:1-3, 1 Thess. 4:13-18, 2 Thess. 2:1-17, Rev. 20:1-15, Matthew 24:29-31, and 1 Cor. 15:50-58. The format will consist of the premillennial rapture position on the text, and then an alternative interpretation. Further sources will be provided for a more in-depth study. 

John 14:1-3

Support of Rapture. This is often used as a proof text for the rapture because of a few characteristics. (a) The passage speaks of the return of Jesus to then take his followers to his Father’s house. (b) No judgement is mentioned, whereas other passages about his return depict judgement. (c) Jesus comes specifically for believers. (d) This return has parallels to what Paul describes in 1 Thess. 4:13-18. These four reasons lead many to believe this is Jesus telling his disciples about the rapture, prior to the tribulation or after the tribulation, but nonetheless distinct and prior to the Second Coming^[16]. There is little regard for the context since it is simply fodder for proof texting the rapture. The view is maintained that this simply cannot be about the second coming, not because of exegesis, but because of an imposed doctrinal position on the passage. 

Alternative View. In the immediate context, Jesus has just told Peter and the disciples that he is going to a place where they cannot follow (his coming death) at the present time but soon they will follow him. Jesus is returning, in a sense, to the very glory he shared with his Father before creation had even taken place (John 17:5), this is the eschatological destination that is shared with all believers. Jesus is comforting his disciples here, and he explains that one must simply “believe” in Jesus and their eternal dwelling in the very house of God will be guaranteed by the only one that could honor such a promise, Christ himself, even if they follow him to death. 

Jesus refers to his “Father’s house” which he also refers to (John 2:16) while in the temple; he then pronounces its coming destruction (2:19). Jesus declared that the heavenly abode in which the very throne of God sits is superior to anything made by human hands. Thus, Jesus is assuring believers that their entrance into heaven is secure, and even if they pass into death before his second coming, he will come and meet them and bring them into the dwelling place of heaven. To quote M. Jennings who writes regarding the passage, “Greater emphasis is placed on following Jesus through death to glory, representing a more existential concern for the community [of believers, Christians].”^[17]

1 Thess. 4:13-18

Support of Rapture. This is the proof text of proof texts for the rapture. In one commentary the verses are simply addressed under the heading, “The Rapture” and the commentary states, “This is the classic passage in the Bible on the Rapture of the church.” ^[18] A distinction is made specifically between verses 16 and 17. At the rapture, those who are dead (all of the saints) will be raised in new bodies (as the first fruits). In verse 17, Paul turns to addressing those who are alive now. Those who are alive at the rapture will then be caught up to meet the dead who have been raised, thus “meeting the Lord in the air”. This is often paralleled with 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. It is said that this event is demonstrably different than the second coming, and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom during the millennial reign.

Again, in the same commentary, the following explanation is given, “The resurrected or translated bodies of all Christians will be united with Christ and with each other at the Rapture. From that time on and forever thereafter they will be with the Lord. The Lord will take living believers to the place He is presently preparing for them (John 14:2–3).” This constitutes an interdependent network of proof texts that build on one another. 

Alternative View. The alternative is quite simple. Paul is writing to believers who are in the midst of persecution, so intense that many have had loved ones die and Paul is able to address the body of believers as a whole in this epistle. They are suffering for their faithfulness to Jesus Christ, and they are concerned and want to know if they will ever see their loved ones again. In a beautiful display of pastoral wisdom Paul proclaims a glorious truth, that they will see their loved ones again because we will all be raised to meet the Lord at his second coming (v. 14).  The dead in Christ will be raised first (v. 16), then those who are alive will join the raised in the air as the Lord Jesus comes to Earth (v. 17). The public event described is the parousia, the second coming. 

Therefore, it cannot be about a secret rapture (the removal of the Church to Heaven).  “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” This is the global arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings announced with a cry of command! By focusing on taking the people of God to heaven this text is distorted and so is the message that Paul is trying to communicate about bodily resurrection. This event is not a removal of the Church to heaven. It is about the dead and living being raised to meet the Lord in a triumphal procession to welcome him to his New Creation. 

Paul Expects believers to be raised from the dead when Christ returns. They will be raised bodily—that is in a physical body not a spiritual disembodied form. This is so we can dwell on Earth with our risen Lord, in a restored manner. The entire creation will experience this glorious restoration which is the freedom from the bondage of sin (Romans 8:19-23). This resurrection is the eschatological climax of Paul’s theology and of his gospel. Therefore, a rapture and an escape from this world is not what Paul is insisting upon. A rapture is not the hope that Paul is giving the Thessalonians, resurrection is.^[19]

The Meaning and Use of ἁρπάζω

Often appeals will be made to the term ἁρπάζω (harpázō) to validate the rapture. The word means “caught up”.Reading the rapture into this text is to misrepresent the very words the Apostle uses. This is done in two ways. First, with the meaning of the word ἁρπάζω (harpázō) and second, with the word παρουσία (parousia).

Rapture theology rests on the phrase harpázō that Paul uses in 1 Thess. 4:17 that is translated as “caught up” in the ESV and on how parousia is used in Matthew 24:37, which is often translated as “coming”. It is necessary to dismantle the way in which rapture theology interprets both of these words.  Rapture theology fails to consider the imperial Roman context of the letter. Parousia is a technical term that Paul is using to describe what would take place when a Roman emperor was returning from war, or travel. It is used to describe the coming of the emperor into a certain place and it entails a certain custom of people going out to meet the emperor or king on the road in a triumphal manner prior to then making a procession back to the kingdom with him^[20]. The return is the essential thing to understand in regard to this term. Paul is describing a situation in which the dead in Christ are raised, along with the living and are then “caught up” (ἁρπάζω) at the “coming” (παρουσία) of our Lord Jesus Christ in triumphal fashion as he is returning to His kingdom, Earth in which all things are subject to Him! The believers are going to welcome their King back to his New Creation, a restored and redeemed kingdom.  

In this way, we celebrate his second coming and participate in it, in bodily, imperishable, resurrected glory. The catching up to meet the Lord Jesus and the return back to earth are in immediate succession. To insert a span of time akin to the seven-year tribulation into this sequence of events is to distort the intention of Paul’s writing. We are caught up to meet Jesus with joy and celebration as we welcome him into his restored creation, this is our hope, and this was the hope that Paul was reminding the Thessalonians about. 

2 Thess. 2:1-17

Support of Rapture. For a supporter of the rapture, this passage must be referring to the rapture because it is harkening back to 1 Thess. 4:15-17. The apostacy and rebellion mentioned (2:3) occur after the rapture, and during the Great Tribulation. The Man of Lawlessness (2:3,7) leads the great apostacy/rebellion in the days of the Great Tribulation. “This man [of Lawlessness/Antichrist] is further described as the adversary of God. He will seek to replace the worship of the true God and all false gods with the worship of himself and will proclaim himself to be God. The beast will tolerate the worship of no one or nothing but himself (Rev. 13:5–8). He will set himself up on God’s throne in the inner sanctuary of God’s temple.”^[21]

Alternative View. While this passage does refer back to 1 Thess. 4:15-15, it again must be taken in context. This has already been explained above. If the previous epistle actually was referring to the rapture, this is too. However, if the first epistle was addressing the second coming, it would follow that this is also addressing the advent. As for the Man of Lawlessness, this is a startlingly difficult passage to interpret^[22]. How one understands this relies on whether the passage can be understood in a preterist, or futurist manner. Either the temple was occupied by such a man in history, after the writing of this epistle (~51-52 AD) or the temple will need to be rebuilt in the future, as most premillennialists maintain. The rapture timeline does not hold up if in fact this prophecy has been fulfilled, as some scholars attest^[23], nor does this figure require a rapture in its timeline. 

Revelation 20:1-15

Support of Rapture. This passage, though it does not address the rapture (no passages do), it does appeal to the millennium and so it is often used as a proof text to support the rapture. Again, the rapture can only exist within an eschatological framework that has a literal one-thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. Premillennialists will often appeal to the literal interpretation of this chapter that leads to chiliasm, or millennialism. They claim that to interpret the reference to anything other than a literal 1,000-year period is to fatally misinterpret the text. The thousand-year (χίλιοι) period is mentioned six times^[24] in this chapter and appears nowhere else in the Bible except 2 Peter 3:8. Premillennialists insist that, 

“Events which precede the thousand years are (a) the second coming of Christ, (b) the beast and the false prophet thrown into the fiery lake, (c) the armies destroyed, (d) Satan bound and locked in the Abyss, (e) thrones of judgment introduced, and (f) the martyred dead of the Tribulation resurrected. These events revealed in their proper sequence make it clear that the thousand-year period follows all these events, including the second coming of Christ. The conclusion that the Second Coming is premillennial is clearly supported by a normal, literal interpretation of this text.”^[25]

Alternative View. If one is to presuppose the existence of the rapture (and the order of events above, a-f) then this 1,000-year period must be a literal 1,000-year period. However, it is more probable that John was not intending his readers to understand all of his references to exact periods of time. Therefore, when one arrives at chapter 20 of Revelation they are already familiar with the grand imagery and style of John’s vision and this period of time is equally as symbolic, in this way his writing is interpreted in the proper way, literally according to the author’s intent.  

Matthew 24:29-31

Support of Rapture. The position of those that support the rapture are divided when it comes to the Olivet Discourse. The disagreement is whether the events described are pre or post tribulation. In other words, is Jesus describing the second coming after the great tribulation? If so, will the church be present or not during that tribulation? Many contend that the passage has nothing to do with the rapture, and therefore avoid its post-tribulation connotations^[26]. This happens because the rapture is presupposed to exist, but it cannot be reconciled with this text. 

The church is not mentioned in Matthew 24, therefore verse 31 must be about something other than the rapture. However, there are many similarities between what Jesus told his disciples about this event, and what is described in 1 Thess. 4:13-18. This has led some who believe in a post-tribulation rapture to conflate the event with the second coming^[27]. 

Alternative View. Certainly it is possible that what is described in this passage is the same event as 1 Thess. 4:13-18. Immediately preceeding this passage Jesus explains the abomination of desolation, and the coming of the Son of Man. In order for this to fit within the framework of premillennial rapture theology, these two events must be in the future. 

If preterists are correct, so was Jesus when he said, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matt. 24:34, emphasis mine). Futurists who hold to the rapture cannot reconcile this passage literally, according to their own hermeneutic because if Jesus said this generation then all those things would have already occurred, or he would be wrong. Was Jesus wrong? Even if preterists are not entirely correct, the passage taken as a whole does not necessitate a view on the rapture. The church can be around through the period of tribulation described, and the period of tribulation could still be ongoing until the second coming of Christ puts an end to the havoc that sin has caused for millennia.  

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

Support of Rapture. This passage is about those who are not dead when Christ comes. It is held that this series of proclamations by Paul are a parallel to the teaching of the rapture as found in 1 Thess. 4:13-18. Therefore, this is an explanation of the same teaching that he gave to the Thessalonians. A distinction is made regarding the trumpet, so as not to conflate it with the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15-19. It is said that this trumpet is simply a signal for the church that they are to be raptured. The idea here is that those believers that are alive during the rapture are caught up into heaven, escaping the coming tribulation and therefore do not taste death. Thus, verses 54-55 are about this translation into glory and the freedom the believer has in Christ because He has come to rescue them from the snare of death. 

Alternative View. Without presupposing the exitance of the rapture as a distinct event that precedes a 1,000-year millennium leading up to the second coming, it is virtually undeniable that this passage is simply about the reality of bodily resurrection and the second coming of Christ. At the consummation of time and the coming of the Lord the dead in Christ and the dead outside of Christ will both be raised in bodily form fit for their eternal state at the second coming of Jesus Christ (15:52). Likewise, those who are alive will be translated into a glorified body as well without directly facing a death. The citations of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 are adapted by Paul to proclaim the glorious reality of resurrected glory because immediately following the resurrection sin will be defeated forever. The cross-work of Jesus Christ will finally meet its eschatological consummation at the end of the age and believers will be ushered into the eternal state of glory where sin no longer reigns alongside the kingdom of God. The glorious hope is resurrection, not rapture. This is evident because contextually Paul has just spent most of the chapter defending the Christian faith on the basis of resurrection using Christ as our example, and forerunner. 

Peter and Paul on the Parousia

Turning to 2 Peter 3, we see that Peter does not extend a discourse on the rapture in his second epistle. He is completely silent on it, in fact. Instead, he writes at length about the second coming of Christ, “The Day of the Lord”. This is significant because in this epistle we have an apostolic view on the end of time, and he is silent on matters of a pretribulation rapture. Instead, we have a precious display of wisdom and encouragement from a shepherd of a flock facing tribulation and suffering who all long for the return of Christ so that their suffering can come to a victorious end.  He is offering a sharp rebuke in this epistle (3:3-7) against false teachers who were proclaiming that Jesus had already come back (over realized eschatology).

These false teachers reveled in their supposed freedom and participated in wicked acts and debauchery that was damnable, and Peter wanted to admonish the believers to return to the hope of His return and the end of the age. He explains that it is the grace of God and a display of his patience that he waits while Christians suffer. He waits because his desire is for all to come to repentance and be saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:8-9). Peter nowhere explained that they should eagerly await a rapture and escape the situation they were in. Rather, they should grow in the grace of the Lord and remain faithful because in Christ they will have the final victory. Peter even closes his epistle linking his line of reasoning with that of the apostle Paul, showing that they were in eschatological agreement (2 Peter 3:15-16). Thus, we turn to Paul and his writing of the parousia. 

The interesting thing about Paul that we can gather from his letters in the New Testament is that he did not expect to be alive at the second coming of Christ, at least not later on in his life and ministry. When reading his canonical work chronologically, one would start with 1 Thessalonians^[28]. This is the primary texts that is used to support a rapture theology. As one moves through his writing chronologically, Paul’s attention to the parousia of Jesus (second coming) continues to dwindle. Perhaps, as has been thoughtfully proposed^[29], this is because the imminence of the return was less and less likely during the life of Paul. He was aging and in support of the gospel he was facing many trials in his life. There were other things that Paul needed to focus on from a pastoral perspective beyond talking about the imminent return of Christ. He fully expected the second coming, but as he continued to write his epistles, the imminence of the return of Christ was less and less of a focal point.  

Multiple times in his epistles, Paul uses a literary device in which he identifies himself with his audience^[30]. For example, in 1 Thess. 4:15 Paul states, “We who are alive, who are left until the coming (Parousia) of the Lord…” In this statement it becomes obvious that Paul is addressing not only himself, but the whole congregation in which he writes to. If one reads this literally, not accounting for a literary device of identifying with his recipients, then one must assert that Paul fully expects to be alive (among the “we”) at the coming of the Lord. However, later on in 1 Thess. 5:1-11 Paul explains that the time in which he (Jesus) comes is unknown, no one can predict or presume upon it. He admonishes the Thessalonians to stand firm in the promise of salvation secured through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. A few short years later, (possibly one to two years) Paul writes to the same community and explains the things that must pass before the coming of the Lord (2 Thess. 2:1-12). Does Paul expect to be alive at the coming, or not? The obvious answer is that he did not expect to be alive when the Lord returned, and he expected many more of the Thessalonians to experience suffering and death before the second coming too. No mention of rapture or escape is attempted.  

Again, Paul writes to encourage believers in their faith, to remind them of the salvation that is promised to them in Christ Jesus who died for their sins and rose from the dead after the crucifixion to defeat the power of death and Satan. He reminds them that dead or alive, believers in Christ will be resurrected to meet the Lord at this coming at the end of the age, the important thing is simply to persevere in the faith. Nothing is mentioned by Paul of a rapture in which they can hope to be explicated from the suffering they will surely endure prior to the second coming, rather it is expected the church will suffer and the admonishment is to stand firm in the love of our savior. 

Much more could be said about the development of Paul’s thinking as he aged and the imminent return of Christ became less and less likely, but there has been thorough work done by scholars^[31]. What is important to note is that even the apostle Paul’s theological thinking, as well as the way that he lived his life was impacted by how he viewed the return of Christ. Over time, as he lived longer and longer in the face of martyrdom and persecution without the Lord coming back, he shifted the way he approached life, ministry, and suffering. At the age of around 62, nearing the end of his life he wrote a touching letter to Timothy (2 Timothy) in which he expected to die. Paul writes, “I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.”^[32]

These are not the words of a man who is daily expecting the return of Christ at the expense of living for the Cross. These are not the words of a man who, in the face of suffering, is looking to the hope of a Rapture where he can escape suffering to the point of death. These are the words of a man who has laid down his life for the cross because on the cross his own savior bled and died, and in doing so he is willing to even follow to the point of death himself and he does not fear that end because his hope is in bodily resurrection, where he will be faced to face with Jesus. This brings us to the topic of suffering, and the church of Christ. 

Suffering and Our True Hope

Since the ascension of Jesus, the church has suffered daily—persecution and martyrdom have not ceased—and yet there are some who wish to say that the tribulation still has not come. The voices heralding the coming “Great Tribulation” ironically are standing of some of the safest ground the church is planted on—American soil. These same voices, when asked whether Christians will escape the tribulation answer along these lines, “Jesus Christ will rapture the church (transport believers to heaven) before the Tribulation begins… before God’s judgments are poured out upon the unbelieving world.”^[33] It sounds too good to be true, and it is. To tell Christians that they will escape real suffering is to prepare them for nothing more than crumbling under the weight of persecution. Perhaps Corrie Ten Boom said it best. 

There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days. Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already suffering terrible persecution. In China, the Christians were told, “Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated – raptured.” Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly, “We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution, rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes, – to stand and not faint.”^[34]

Conclusion

One should critically assess why they believe in the rapture before adhering dogmatically to it as an eschatological position. As we have seen, presupposing the existence of the rapture leads to imposing it onto scripture in passages that are about something else entirely. It leads to favoring a systematic position over a passage’s proper contextual meaning. The New Testament authors were silent in regard to a rapture but were outspoken about the second coming of Jesus and the bodily resurrection. The use of proof texts is often abused and is misleading because it detaches passages from their context to support unrelated themes. Thus, the pretribulational rapture prior to the second coming is an inferior eschatological position that relies on interdependent proof texts and an imposed systematic that is not derived from a sound interpretation of Scripture alone. 

 Both Jesus and Paul taught that faith in Christ and his finished work on the cross granted the believer the promise of salvation; a guarantee of eternal life, which was hand in hand with a future bodily resurrection. This resurrection will take place at the second coming of Jesus, and will consummate time as we know it, ending the age that has been corrupted by sin. We await the return of Jesus because he will come to make all things new all the while we should be able to heartily proclaim along with Job, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.”^[35]

 

Bibliography

“A Chronology of Paul’s Writings.” n.d. Bible Charts. Barne’s Bible Charts. Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.biblecharts.org/newtestaament/achronologyofpaulswritings.pdf.

Ascough, Richard S. “A Question of Death: Paul’s Community-Building Language in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.” Journal of Biblical Literature 123, no. 3: 509. (2004): https://doi.org/10.2307/3268045.

B, Alan S., and y. n.d. “Views of the Millennium.” The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/views-of-the-millennium/.

Baer, Jonathan R. “American Dispensationalism’s Perpetually Imminent End Times.” The Journal of Religion. (2007):  https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/510650.

Ballard, Jordan P. 2015. “A Case for the Pretribulational Rapture of the Church.” Liberty University Commons. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=symp_grad.

Bandy, Alan S. “The Rapture Question.” The Gospel Coalition. n.d.  Accessed April 7, 2023. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-rapture-question/.

Blaising, Craig A, Kenneth L Gentry, and Robert B Strimple. Three Views on the Millennium and beyond: Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, Amillennialism. Ed. Darrell Bock. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999).

Burridge, Bob. “Charts for Special Eschatology.” (1996): Accessed April 9^th, 2023. http://genevaninstitute.org/syllabus/unit-seven-eschatology/charts-for-special-eschatology/.

Coughlan, Patrick. “Paul and the Parousia.” The Furrow 27, no. 9: 581–84. (1976): https://www.jstor.org/stable/27660220.

Davies, J. G. “Factors Leading to the Emergence of Belief in the Resurrection of the Flesh.” (1972): The Journal of Theological Studies 23, no. 2: 448–55. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23958034.

Demy, Timothy J, and Thomas Ice. “What Is Amillenialism?” (2022): Accessed April 26, 2023. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-is-amillenialism.html.

Douglas, James D. Who’s Who in Christian History. Edited by Phillip W. Comfort. (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1996).

Frenze, Maj-Britt. “Shocked to Awe: The Rapture Hermeneutic and Holy Fear.” In Saving Fear in Christian Spirituality, ed. Ann W. Astell, 336. (University of Notre Dame Press, 2020).

Gentry, Kenneth L. “Identifying the Man of Lawlessness.” Postmillennial Worldview. (2013): Accessed April 10^th, 2023. https://postmillennialworldview.com/2013/12/23/identifying-the-man-of-lawlessness/.

Grant, Robert M. “The Resurrection of the Body.” The Journal of Religion 28, no. 2: (1948): 120–30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1198899.

Ice, Dr. Thomas, and Timothy J. Demy. n.d. “What Is Premillenialism?” Crosswalk.com. Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-is-premillenialism.html.

Ice, Thomas D. 2009a. “A Brief History of the Rapture.” Article Archives 4. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/pretrib_arch/4.

———. 2009b. “Why I Believe the Bible Teaches Rapture before Tribulation Why I Believe the Bible Teaches Rapture before Tribulation.” https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1117&context=pretrib_arch.

———. 2009c. “Matthew 24:31 Rapture or Second Coming? .” https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1106&context=pretrib_arch.

Jennings, Mark. “The Fourth Gospel’s Reversal of Mark in John 13,31-14,3.” Biblica 94, no. 2, (2013): 210–36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42617323.

Jeremiah, Dr. David. “What Is the Tribulation?” David Jeremiah Blog. July 13, 2021. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://davidjeremiah.blog/what-is-the-tribulation/.

Keck, Leander E. Echoes of the Word. JSTOR. 1st ed. (The Lutterworth Press, 2015).

Köstenberger, Andreas J, Scott L Kellum, and Charles L Quarles. The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament. (Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Academic, 2016).

Lightner, Robert P. The Last Days Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Different Views of Prophecy. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1990), 158.

Martyr, Justin. 155AD. Dialogue with Trypho.

Mathison, Keith A. When Shall These Things Be?: A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism. (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2004).

Matthews, Shelly. “Fleshly Resurrection, Authority Claims, and the Scriptural Practices of Lukan Christianity.” Journal of Biblical Literature 136, no. 1 (2017): 163. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1361.2017.156698.

Netherton, Dana. n.d. “Historic Premillennialism: Taking the Long View | Christian History Magazine.” Christian History Institute. https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/historic-premillennialism.

Perman, Matt. “Will the Resurrection of the Body Be a Physical Resurrection from the Dead?” Desiring God. January 23, 2006. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/will-the-resurrection-of-the-body-be-a-physical-resurrection-from-the-dead.

Plevnik, Joseph. “1 Thessalonians 4,17: The Bringing in of the Lord or the Bringing in of the Faithful?” Biblica 80, no. 4: (1999): 537–46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42614225.

Ruotsila, Markku. “Dispensationalists: Prefiguring the Latter Days.” In The Origins of Christian Anti-Internationalism, 27–52. (Georgetown University Press, 2008): https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tt6g3.1.

Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. Dispensationalism. (Chicago, Il: Moody Publishers, 2007).

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^[1] The closest the Bible comes to making mention of the rapture is in the Latin Vulgate translation, in which a word is used in 1 Thess. 4:13-18, “Rapturo” as a translation for “caught up” which is rendered as ἁρπάζω (harpázō) in the Greek. The literal meaning of ἁρπάζω is snatch away orseize. See the treatment of this passage on page 13 of this essay. 

^[2] Walvoord, John F. The Rapture Question. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1979). 

^[3] This classification of genre is virtually undisputed among Biblical scholars and should inform one’s interpretation 

of the text. See Köstenberger, Andreas J, L Scott Kellum, and Charles L Quarles. 2016. The Cradle, the Cross, and

the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament. (Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Academic, 2016). 950-956.

^[4] For an in-depth analysis of the opposing millennial views, see Craig A Blaising, Kenneth L Gentry, and Robert B Strimple, Three Views on the Millennium and beyond: Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, Amillennialism, ed. Darrell Bock (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1999).

^[5] This rapture could occur pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, or post-tribulation. 

^[6] Charles Caldwell Ryrie. Dispensationalism. (Chicago, Il: Moody Publishers, 2007).

^[7] Baer, Jonathan R. 2007. “American Dispensationalism’s Perpetually Imminent End Times.” The Journal of Religion. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/510650.

^[8] Dr. Thomas Ice, Biblical Scholar at Cavalry University made this statement, “Premillennialism is simply the result of interpreting the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation, in the most natural and normative way—literally. Many of the critics of premillennialism admit that if the literal approach is applied consistently to the whole of Scripture, then premillennialism is the natural result. If the Old Testament promises are ever going to be fulfilled literally for Israel as a nation, then they are yet in the future.” Dr. Thomas Ice and Timothy J. Demy, “What Is Premillenialism?,” Crosswalk.com, accessed April 8, 2023, https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-is-premillenialism.html.

^[9] Scofield Bible Correspondence Course. Chicago, IL: Moody Bible Institute. P.48-49. As referenced in the Sanderson, Brenton.. “A Review of Jewcentricity by Adam Garfinkle, Part 3 of 4: The Israel Lobby.” The Occidental Observer. (2015).

^[10] Lightner, Robert P. The Last Days Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Different Views of Prophecy. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1990), 158.

^[11] Martyr states, “I and many others are of this opinion [regarding the millennium], and believe that such will take

place…but, on the other hand, many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think

otherwise.” Regarding those who held different beliefs about the resurrection he said thus, “Some who are 

called Christians … say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven:

do not imagine that they are Christians.” Martyr, Justin. 155AD. Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 80.

^[12] Wood, Irving F. “The Religious Value of the Resurrection of Jesus in the Early Church.” The Biblical World 36, no. 6, (1910): 379–86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3141453.

^[13] In the conclusion of Walvoord’s book The Rapture Question he outlines 50 reasons for a Pretribulational Rapture preceeding the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. He also states, “In previous discussion of premillennialism in relation to the tribulation, the respective arguments for pretribulationism, partial rapture, posttribulationism, and midtribulationism have been examined, and the pretribulational position in general sustained.” (Emphasis mine) See Walvoord, J. F. The Rapture Question. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1979.

^[14] For a thorough treatment of the timeline and support for this claim, see Alan S. Bandy, “The Rapture Question,” The Gospel Coalition, accessed April 7, 2023, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-rapture-question/.

^[15] The Old Testament Student. 1883. Vol. 3, 4, p. 121–22. The University of Chicago Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3156890.

^[16] Ballard, Jordan P. “A Case for the Pretribulational Rapture of the Church.” Liberty University Commons. (2015). https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=symp_grad.

^[17] This view is maintained by Beutler, Keener and Beasley-Murray, Morris, and Brown among others as seen in: Jennings, Mark. “The Fourth Gospel’s Reversal of Mark in John 13,31-14,3.” Biblica 94, no. 2, (2013): 210–36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42617323.

^[18] Walvoord, John F, Roy B. Zuck, and Dallas Theological Seminary. 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1 Thess. 4:13-18. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

^[19] For a well-rounded assessment of Paul’s community building model of this passage, and the community exhortation regarding the dead believers, see Ascough, Richard S. “A Question of Death: Paul’s Community-Building Language in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.” Journal of Biblical Literature 123, no. 3: 509. (2004): https://doi.org/10.2307/3268045.

.

^[20] Plevnik, Joseph. “1 Thessalonians 4,17: The Bringing in of the Lord or the Bringing in of the Faithful?” Biblica 80, no. 4: (1999): 537–46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42614225.

^[21] Constable, Thomas L. “2 Thessalonians.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the                           Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, 2:718. (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985). 

^[22] Marvin Vincent, introducing the passage in his four-volume commentary on the New Testament simply stated, “I attempt no interpretation of this passage as a whole, which I do not understand.” (Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament. 2 Thess. 2:12, 1991).

^[23] Gentry, Kenneth L. 2013. “Identifying the Man of Lawlessness.” Postmillennial Worldview. 2013. https://postmillennialworldview.com/2013/12/23/identifying-the-man-of-lawlessness/.

^[24] Rev. 20:2-7 

^[25] Walvoord, John F. “Revelation.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited               by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, 2:981. (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985).

^[26] Ice, Thomas D. 2009. “A Brief History of the Rapture.” Article Archives 4. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/pretrib_arch/4.

^[27] Ibid. See his remarks about Dr. Gundry and I. Baxter, p.1-2. 

^[28] Köstenberger, The Cross. p. 506

^[29] Coughlan, Patrick. “Paul and the Parousia.” The Furrow 27, no. 9: 581–84. (1976): https://www.jstor.org/stable/27660220.

^[30] Ibid. 

^[31] The University of Chicago Press, “Paul and the Parousia,” The Old and New Testament Student 15, no. 3/4 (1892): 129–44, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3158075.

^[32] 2 Timothy 4:6-7

^[33] Jeremiah, Dr. David. “What Is the Tribulation?” David Jeremiah Blog. July 13, 2021. Accessed March 19^, 2023. (2021): https://davidjeremiah.blog/what-is-the-tribulation/.

‌

^[34] Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps. Her family had hidden Jews during the German occupation of Holland. For this they had been captured and sent off. Corrie was the only one to come out alive. Corrie was one of the many evangelical Christians sent to the concentration camps during the World War II. Ten Boom, Corrie. “Letter Regarding Persecution.” Letter. (1974).

^[35] Job 13:15