:rolleyes: Will anybody here give me the straight dope on why too too many people believe such C__p!! :smack: :wally :eek:
It’s a song by Blondie. Chris Stein and Deborah Harry talked the rest of the group into it. It’s really more a Warhol thing than the Bible. And it was the 70’s. Hot Child in the City was a hit, for Pete’s sake.
That is a far more complete answer than you will reasonably get about that other rapture from any person who actually believes in it, given your question’s tone.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, according to an earlier thread on the subject:
Calm down. This isn’t the Pit. If you want a reasonable answer, phrase your question reasonably.
ouryL. I’ve moved this to Great Debates. And, if you don’t change your tone, you’re on the way to the BBQ Pit.
Come back to GQ when you can ask a question in a more civil manner.
samclem GQ moderator
Oh! That’s why I see all of those bumper stickers that say: “In case of rapture, this car will be eaten by the man from Mars.”
Not that this OP probably wanted a serious answer, but here’s a Rapture primer.
And there are stranger things in the Bilbe than the Rapture. You’d be amazed at what people believe…
The Rapture is not in the Bible.
Hey, W__T’s W__H all the F__R-letter W__Ds? T__S I__'T the Pit!
I’ll tell you the deep dark secret of the Rapture:
It’s all about the C_____g of J_____G with the i_____h of the G____k but above all, for the sake of your very soul, you mustn’t f______h the T______d or all will be lost.
Why the f__k are you replacing perfectly good swear words with stupid s___tty underlines? And since when can you not say “crap”? It’s a terrific word. Say it with me: “crap!”
Diogenes, the concept of the Rapture is in the Bible, just not the actual word nor all the baggage associated with it. I Thess 4:16-17 clearly talks about Jesus returning & believers being caught up in the air to meet him. Now, what that means, when & how & if it will occur- those are indeed matters for debate, but not that the concept is Biblical.
The Thessalonians passage is an answer to a question about whether those who have dies will be able to go to heaven. Paul says that the dead will rise first and ascend before the living. Paul is talking about the second coming which is not the same as the “rapture” of John Darby’s theology. To be more specific, the Bible does not mention a preliminary ascension of souls before the parousia. The rapture as it is envisioned in the Left Behind books is not in the Bible and is not a part of most Christian doctrine.
Diogenes, the concept of the Rapture is indeed in the Bible.
I believe in the “blessed hope” of the Lord’s return. I believe it is literal, it is personal, it will be visible, and it is imminent. It will be premillennial and pretribulational. Christ will rapture His Church prior to the seven years of tribulation, and at the end of the tribulation Christ will return with His saints to establish His thousand-year reign on the earth.
I Thessalonians 4:13-18 is not talking about the Second Coming in that of Jesus coming to reign on earth, but is indeed speaking of the removal of the saints before the tribulation. God always removes his people before judgment falls (Noah and his family before the flood, Lot and his family before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.)
Titus 2:13 speaks of this blessed hope of the appearing of Jesus Christ when He comes for His Church.
I Thessalonians 1:10 speaks of Jesus delivering us (saved) from the wrath to come.
Revelation 3:10 speaks of God protecting the church from the tribulation.
You may disagree with these interpretations, but the concept of the rapture is Biblical.
Psycho Pirate, you say that the rapture is “imminent.” What sort of time scale are you talking about? Months? Years? How have you come to the conclusion that it is imminent?
For anyone: When did the idea of the rapture originate, and who thought it up? (If not the Bible’s authors)
My dictionary defines imminent at “about to occur, impending, immediate.” Do you have a different definition because mankind has been hearing this imminent crap for nearly twenty centuries and it’s getting old.
Haj
You mean I missed it? Not that I expected to be taken but I hoped to get a car out of it. Even a 1999 model would be better than what I have now.
I attended a talk in which Barbara Rossing, author of The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation, laid out all of the Bible verses that LeHay, Lindsay, and Darby used to build up their eschatology. I noted that they were a poor kettle of fish and noted to that there seems to be about as much theological basis to the Rapture as there is to snake handling. She admitted there is more, but not much more.
That’s a great question. I don’t know when the Rapture will take place. I would say “within my lifetime”, but many Christians have been saying that for years. hajaro’s post after yours makes the valid point that “imminent” has been the watchword for years, ever since Christ ascended into Heaven. My take on it is the same as in 2 Peter 3:3-9
(3)Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, (4)And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (5) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: (6) Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: (7) But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (8) But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
So basically, God doesn’t want anyone to go to Hell. He wants to give everybody a fair chance to hear the gospel. I believe that when the last person hears the gospel and decides to accept or reject it, time’s up! People will have hajaro’s mindset about it too. It’s to be expected.
dropzone, by your rationale, it was late when it didn’t occur at 1000 AD. By pre-millenial, I meant before Jesus’ 1000 year reign on earth. And Barbara Rossing isn’t the be-all, end-all of theological debate. By FAR. Nor am I, obviously. I’m not going to defend everything in the Left Behind series. For example, after the Rapture, if you have heard the gospel, it’s too late for you. You won’t be saved.
But I am convinced that the Rapture is going to happen. If there is no Rapture, where is my mansion that Jesus promised me in John 14:2-3?
(2) In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
What is it that makes you think it will happen sooner, rather than later? I’m wondering because it seems like everyone who believes in the rapture thinks it is about to happen. Many people on the Rapture Ready message board are seem certain that the rapture will happen this year or even this month, but I’ve never seen an explanation of why they believe this.
Isn’t this verse usually interpreted as referring to heaven? How does this lead you to believe in the rapture?