# For Believers: article on Rapture. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090 "2014-02-24T12:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![karol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/977dab/32.png) [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/41 "2014-02-24T14:01:48Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I criticize Israel all the time. Yeah, yeah. Try doing this when applying for some superior position in government. Or basically becoming a politician. ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Lange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Donna\_Lange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Lange)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/42 "2014-02-24T14:04:24Z")
Not only have I read the bible, the term rapture never appears in the bible AT ALL. I assume you think Angels look like people with wings instead of creatures of unimaginable horrors? Hell, “thrones” in the bible are described as big wheels with eyes on them and are about dispensing justice. ---
**Author:** ![karol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/977dab/32.png) [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/43 "2014-02-24T14:07:36Z")
> [@Donna\_Lange](#): > > Not only have I read the bible, the term rapture never appears in the bible AT ALL. > I assume you think Angels look like people with wings instead of creatures of unimaginable horrors? Hell, “thrones” in the bible are described as big wheels with eyes on them and are about dispensing justice. Maybe you should read again 🙂 More carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Lange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Donna\_Lange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Lange)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/44 "2014-02-24T14:11:02Z")
No, my good friend, why don’t you tell me exactly where, Chapter and Verse, that the term rapture appears in the bible. If you can’t, well, I dunno what to tell you other than your entire premise is wrong from the get go. The rapture is fan fiction, just like Indulgences… ---
**Author:** ![karol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/977dab/32.png) [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/45 "2014-02-24T14:12:01Z")
> [@Donna\_Lange](#): > > No, my good friend, why don’t you tell me exactly where, Chapter and Verse, that the term rapture appears in the bible. If you can’t, well, I dunno what to tell you other than your entire premise is wrong from the get go. > > The rapture is fan fiction, just like Indulgences… Read the article. Don’t be so lazy 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Lange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Donna\_Lange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Lange)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/46 "2014-02-24T14:19:49Z")
I did read it, and even in your selected quotes of the bible, the word Rapture never appeared once. Again, I asked you where the word rapture ever appeared in the bible. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/47 "2014-02-24T14:20:27Z")
See, this is the type of fundamentalist Christian I can deal with. The pro-Israel ones creep me out. I mean, _Why are these guys supporting my country? Gack._ Your old-school Christian anti-semites, now, those I can get behind. They keep things simple. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/48 "2014-02-24T14:26:51Z")
> [@karol](#): > > Read the article. Don’t be so lazy 🙂 I started from your homepage - where I find this nice little GEM - [QUOTE=[http://www.wordwatcher.net/](http://www.wordwatcher.net/)] It’s all about worshipping Satan. [/QUOTE] - That’s laziness - to paint anyone/everyone ‘else’ as worshippers of Satan without discourse or understanding - simply because they read the ‘scriptures’ different than you. Your group is no better than the rest of them in this regard, and any further review of your materials would be futile. Secondly - from skimming your oriiginal article - its primarily a cut/paste/hackjob of Watchtower/ JW teachings. - must be a splinter group of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/49 "2014-02-24T14:27:25Z")
> [@](#): > > See, this is the type of fundamentalist Christian I can deal with. The pro-Israel ones creep me out. I mean, Why are these guys supporting my country? Gack. Your old-school Christian anti-semites, now, those I can get behind. They keep things simple. I agree. It’s so refreshing to see a good old-fashioned bigot who hates us darkies too. You Jews have all the fun nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Lange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Donna\_Lange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Lange)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/50 "2014-02-24T14:31:58Z")
I presume this is because the last holocaust survivor just died? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/51 "2014-02-24T14:37:13Z")
> [@Donna\_Lange](#): > > I presume this is because the last holocaust survivor just died? Not the last - the oldest. ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Lange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Donna\_Lange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Lange)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/52 "2014-02-24T14:39:12Z")
Yeah, I typed that out wrong and it was too late to edit it 😛 Sorry ^^ ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/53 "2014-02-24T14:47:37Z")
> [@karol](#): > > Read the article. Don’t be so lazy 🙂 Write something of substance. Don’t be so lazy. Your article is extra-Biblical fantasy, supported only by out-of-context, cherry-picked, and misinterpreted scriptural citation. Believe what you like, friend. If it’s fanfic, it’s at least fun fanfic. But it holds no theological water at all. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/54 "2014-02-24T15:08:15Z")
> [@karol](#): > > Is Rapture just a symbol ? > If no, then when will it occur ? > > [http://www.wordwatcher.net/rapture.htm](http://www.wordwatcher.net/rapture.htm) The Rapture is a term for people being taken up to heaven, sometimes en-mass. Scripturally speaking: It has happened in the past as Jesus stated: > [@](#): > > Matthew 16:28 > “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” This does not preclude it happening again, as I actually believe it happens continuously, in ‘ages’ or cycles of harvest. I do believe the first person in scriptures to be written about being raptured is Enoch: [QUOTE=Genesis 5:24] Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. [/QUOTE] Others who have been written about being raptured include Elijah [QUOTE=2Kings2:] 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. [/QUOTE] and Stephan: [QUOTE=Acts 7] 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. [/QUOTE] Which tells why we do not see it happening and why it does not make the papers as a rapture, it is only people who are given such ability actually get to see or perceive it happening. Everyone else sees the world view which involves the death of the person. I do believe most all of the aborted are raptured as well. My belief that mass causalities involve rapture of many, so such things as the (or any) tsumni and the Holocaust were just 2 instances of en-mass rapture. This does not mean that the person, such as Hitler, was doing ‘good’, but the evil he was doing could not ultimately God’s elect. The moment, or acceptance of if a person is raputred is are they willing to go home with God, or will they hide from God, compared to how Adam and Eve hid when God returned after the eating of the fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/55 "2014-02-24T15:29:49Z")
From the front page, in big blue letters: “YOU HAVE FOUND THE TRUTH”. LOL. Just LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/56 "2014-02-24T15:42:34Z")
Karol- While Great Debates is indeed to forum for witnessing there is a presumption that the person originating a thread will post a thesis that can be debated. You have failed to do so as ‘read this article’ doesn’t meet that criteria. Please state your position in a few paragraphs and be prepared to defend it. If you fail to do so I will close this thread for good. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/57 "2014-02-24T16:01:43Z")
Well, reading that link we see the usual cherrypicking of Bible verses in order to impose a predetermined interpretation onto them. Much of the non-Biblical text does not follow from the Biblical text unless you squint real hard at it like one of those Magic Eye pictures. And as such, it all has as much credibility as the literally thousands of other pet Biblical apocalyptic theories that have been proposed and discarded over the millennia. There’s no more reason to accept any of that than there was the theories of Harold Camping or Mother Shipton or Erick von Bloody Daniken. The Rapture is a 19th-century fable that caught on because it’s exciting and people like the idea of getting a free pass to Heaven while all the people who mocked them suffer death and torture and pain. The website there claims that this isn’t true but the argument it presents to support this basically amounts to “it’s not true because we say it’s not true”. But it’s true nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/58 "2014-02-24T16:21:54Z")
**Karol** , your ability to interpret data and draw valid conclusions [is more in doubt now than ever.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716519) ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/59 "2014-02-24T16:29:18Z")
Oh, I get it! Since the [earth is actually concave, and we live inside it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716519), that means that down is up, and up is down. So when you’re raptured, you’re actually going up to be with Lucifer, not down to heaven. Makes perfect sense. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090/60 "2014-02-24T17:05:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A buddy of mine wears some kind of belt and avoids heavy lifting. Um, I think you’re thinking of ‘rupture’. > [@Donna\_Lange](#): > > No, my good friend, why don’t you tell me exactly where, Chapter and Verse, that the term rapture appears in the bible. If you can’t, well, I dunno what to tell you other than your entire premise is wrong from the get go. > > The rapture is fan fiction, just like Indulgences… It can be interesting to note how eternal truth evolves over time. According to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture#Doctrinal_history), > [@](#): > > Rapture is a term in Christian eschatology which refers to the “being caught up” discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the “dead in Christ” and “we who are alive and remain” will be “caught up in the clouds” to meet “the Lord in the air”. So **rapture** doesn’t appear in the bible, but **being caught up** does. And since humans like to put their own spin on good stories, the idea of rising into heaven bodily at the end of days was renamed, hyped up, and covered with glitter. Even then **rapture** was only used to refer to Judgement Day, itself. But one good PR wash deserves another. > [@](#): > > John Nelson Darby first proposed and popularized the pre-tribulation rapture in 1827 . Once people were used to the word\*\* rapture\*\*, it didn’t seem like that much of a stretch to re-arrange the timing. I mean, it made a better, more compelling story. It was completely and totally putting words into the bible’s mouth, and therefore technically blasphemy, but it was a better story. Much more drama. I’m sure that everyone involved thought that God would have wanted it that way, if he’d only had time for one more edit. That’s why you’re seeing words like fanfiction and fairytales. The **rapture** is a doctrine that was made up by identifyable people druing well-recorded historical times. It’s obviously a new thing. You can argue, if you like, that you believe that they were inspired. You can’t argue that it’s in the bible, because it isn’t. It was made up by people and promoted by people. They left pamphlets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-believers-article-on-rapture/682090.md?page=4)