I have a young friend back in Maryland who recently wrote me an email with this message:
Today in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a class for people preparing to enter the Catholic church) I learned that there will be no rapture.Hm ... what are those Catholics teaching their inductees these days? Now, I have to confess that I also don't believe in a rapture like that shown in popular Christian books and movies (Left Behind, etc). But I do believe in a rapture because it says there will be one in the Bible:
The suppossed "rapture" as actually a doctrine that was INVENTED by Evangelical Fundamentalists as RECENTLY as the 1800's.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18Actually, the word "rapture" comes from the Latin "rapere," which itself is a translation of the Greek word "harpazo," from which we get "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. So while it may not be like in the movies, I certainly do believe there will be a "rapture."
16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are
still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
2 comments:
Right on, people argue about the the concept of "rapture" being recent, but does it really matter what we call the event described to us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18? It is what it is, regardless of what we call it right?
I just ran across your post. I just posted something similar about 2 weeks ago because of all the silly rumors people hear and believe. The Catholics are correct that the pre-trib rapture wasn't invented until the 1800's, but clear evidence of the rapture is seen in the first couple of centuries in the Church father's writings. And of course, as yoou pointed out, the Bible. Great post, and I love the picture!
http://thepre-wrathtribune.blogspot.com/2006/01/silly-silly-rumors.html
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