When I became actively involved in my home church as a young man the one thing that fascinated me the most was a brand of eschatology that featured what we called the “Rapture.”
Now look, this was exciting stuff. It energized me and my faith which was not a bad thing considering the direction I could have otherwise taken with my young life. For this I am grateful to have been introduced to the idea of the Rapture.
So when I read the most popular book of that time on the Rapture it made it so easy to understand . I must have read that book a half a dozen times. It was so marked up with underlines and personal notes in the margins that the original text was nearly impossible to read. Next to the Bible it was the most important book for me.
What was this book?
The Late Great Planet Earth authored by Hal Lindsey with Carole C. Carlson.
Now the pastor of my home church who introduced me to Rapture theology also introduced me to the Scofield Reference Bible, along with all its annotated notes by Cyrus Scofield a staunch proponent of Rapture theology.
I became deeply convinced that this view of the end times was Biblical and in fact the view of real Christians. I never once considered that there might have been an alternative view of the End Times that was more in alignment with the Bible.
Well to make a long story short, after years of study, I abandoned my belief in Rapture theology. I’m still a Jesus follower however!
Here are the four big reasons why I no longer believe in the Rapture:
One, the word “Rapture” itself is not a Biblical word.
It comes from Latin, not Greek or Hebrew. It is a word that has been imposed on the way we talk about the end times. It has no Biblical support. Paul does mention in his very first letter to the Thessalonians that Christians will be “caught up” in the air but this is highly metaphorical language and not intended to be taken literally. Paul has something else in mind by using this imagery and it’s not an escape from what’s coming in the future.
Once again, the word “Rapture” itself is absent from the Biblical text. The idea of a secret rapture is imposed on the Biblical texts rather than supported by it. Yet in spite of this the word “Rapture” is perhaps the most recognizable word among many Evangelical Christians today, although their number may be shrinking.
Two, the theological system that gave birth to the idea of the rapture called “Dispensationalism” is really the new kid on the block.
For the first nineteen hundred years of the church (that’s a long time friends) this system was unheard of; it had yet to be conceived. So for the first nineteen hundred years Paul’s so-called “Rapture text”
(4:13-18) has been read in a different way? Google the word “Dispensationalism” and read the online history available to you.
Three, the idea that God is going to snatch Christians from the earth to protect them from impending disaster makes no sense to me anymore.
Everything that I read in Scripture tells me that God is going to renew and restore the earth as opposed to burning it up in fiery tribulation, and we are called to participate in this project. The title of Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth, implies that God is going to use horrific violence near the end of time to close things down.
The problem is that this narrative is based on a very flawed understanding of how God deals with His creation and with humanity. God is in the redemption business. He is in the grace business. He does not use violence (literally) as an instrument of His will.
This bloody and violent version of eschatology (end times theology) is appealing and attractive, it sells books and bad movies (that are B rated at best) based on this disturbing narrative (“Left Behind”). Preachers used to fills their pews with End Times preaching. Such a violent theological vision may be popular but I question if it is even Biblical.
Four, Jesus didn’t come so that Christians might escape from this earth and live in heaven but rather to joyfully live with him on God’s renewed earth (Romans 8:18-25).
Likewise we Christians are not destined for an escape from suffering. We are called rather to participate in Christ’s suffering right to the very end. This is a key component of Jesus’ teaching that is often overlooked by Rapture opponents.
There will be future books written on the topic of the Rapture but I do hope we’ve seen the last of the bad movies on the topic. Let’s hope so.
Yes there are still some die-hard pastors who still preach about the coming Rapture and the Great Tribulation as they paint a very horrifying picture of the End Times.
I’m just not one of them.
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