The Rapture is a trap

[secretman]

The Rapture: Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"?

Author Carl Olson on a Flawed Eschatology That Has Captivated Millions

EUGENE, Oregon, JUNE 13, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Confusion about the Rapture, due to the popularity of the "Left Behind" series, is growing in Catholic and Protestant communities.

In response, Envoy magazine editor Carl Olson has recently written a new book entitled "Will Catholics be 'Left Behind'?" published by Ignatius Press to explain Catholic eschatology and Church teaching on the end times.

Olson, a convert from "dispensationalist" Protestantism, shared some key points from his book with ZENIT.

Q: What is meant by the Rapture? Where did this idea originate?

Olson: For millions of Americans, especially many fundamentalists and evangelical Protestants, the "Rapture" or "pre-tribulation Rapture," is the fast-approaching secret and silent disappearance of Christians from the earth prior to a time of tribulation.

It is believed to be distinct from the Second Coming, and proponents claim this event is described in passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. The term "rapture" is taken from the Latin word "rapiemur," used by St. Jerome for the Greek word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 meaning "caught up" or "snatch away."

Vague notions of such an event have been around for about three centuries, but the form that is so popular in North America originated in the 1830s in England with an ex-Anglican priest, John Nelson Darby [1800-1882].

Darby created an entire system of theology called pre-millennial dispensationalism, based on a radical separation between Old Testament Israel, described as God's "earthly" people, and the New Testament Church, his "heavenly" people. The Rapture is the means by which God will remove the heavenly people from the world so that he can finish the work begun with his earthly people.

Darby's ideas spread to North America in the late 1800s and were developed and systematized by a number of American fundamentalists, notably C.I. Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer and Charles Ryrie.

Dispensationalism's popularity grew enormously in 1970 with the publication of Hal Lindsey's best-selling "The Late Great Planet Earth," and that popularity continues today, as evidenced by the "Left Behind" novels, created by noted fundamentalist Tim LaHaye, which have now sold about 50 million copies.

Q: Does the idea of the Rapture have any precedence in the history of Church doctrine?

Olson: Not as it has been articulated by Darby and his modern dispensationalist disciples.

The idea of Christ returning two more times is not found in the early or medieval Church, and is of modern origin. Some dispensationalists do attempt to locate passages supporting their beliefs in ancient Church texts, but such attempts are highly subjective and selective, and ignore the larger context of those texts.

Catholics, along with the members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and most Protestants, believe that those alive at the Second Coming will be caught up to meet Christ in the air.

First Corinthians 15:52 refers to the "last trumpet," a clear reference to the final trumpet that will sound at the Second Coming -- as in Matthew 24:31 -- so that passage cannot be referring to a Rapture event several years prior to the Second Coming. As many dispensationalists actually admit, their use of such passages is predicated upon their theological premises, leading to forced and inconsistent interpretations.

Q: Looking at various works of Catholic art, such as Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" in the Sistine Chapel, it would seem that Catholics believe in the Rapture. How would you respond to this claim?

Olson: As I noted, Catholics do believe in a rapture event, if by that we are referring to believers being caught up to meet Christ at the Second Coming, or Parousia -- not several years prior.

Dispensationalists believe that the Last Judgment will not occur until the end of an earthly, millennial reign that follows the Second Coming. Millenarianism has been rejected by the Catholic Church.

Q: Some Catholics have been caught up in the "Left Behind" frenzy. How do you account for the popularity of these books, and how can the Church respond?

Olson: Being a former fundamentalist and dispensationalist, I was surprised to meet and hear of many Catholics, including some priests and directors of religious education in parishes, who were reading and recommending these books. It was one reason I wrote "Will Catholics Be 'Left Behind'?"

I think the "Left Behind" books and dispensationalism are popular for many reasons: They are exciting and sensational, they seem to make sense of difficult sections of Scripture such as the book of Revelation, they appear to predict approaching global events, and they suggest or even promise that the end of the world is upon us.

Some readers of the "Left Behind" series aren't interested in the theological vision of the books, but many others believe that the events described in the book, including the Rapture, are biblically based.

It is quite exciting to think that you probably won't have to suffer and die like others because you'll be taken up from the earth in the near future. There is also the exhilaration of supposedly possessing special knowledge about what will happen in the approaching months and years.

There is an attitude among many Catholics, including some leaders, that millenarian beliefs such as dispensationalism are part of a "fringe" element that need not be taken very seriously. This is a mistake, as can be seen in the number of Catholics who leave the Church for fundamentalist groups, or remain Catholic but accept beliefs about the Church, the Kingdom and the end times that are not compatible with Catholic teaching.

I've found that a large number of Catholics have little or no idea what the Church affirms or rejects in the realm of general eschatology. There is a need for better catechesis, for homilies that address these issues when appropriate, and for leaders and educators who are sensitive to the attraction of these books and the questions they raise.

Q: How can your book help Catholics and non-Catholics understand this issue better?

Olson: My book has three major goals: to provide needed historical and theological context to beliefs about the end times, to critique the errors of the "left behind" theology, and to present a Catholic perspective on general eschatology, salvation history, the Church, the Kingdom and interpreting Scripture.

In critiquing dispensationalism, I examine its historical and theological origins, and respond to the biblical arguments used by its leading proponents and theologians. Some chapters address the book of Revelation, the millennium and the history of millenarian movements.

The book is exhaustively footnoted, but the main text is written in an accessible style so that readers with little or no theological training can learn more about these topics and better understand how to respond to the "Left Behind" books as well as better appreciate the Catholic vision of salvation history and eschatological events.

More on the book:

Will Catholics Be Left Behind?
Carl E. Olson
Ignatius Press
8" (20.3 cm) x 5 1/4" (13.3 cm)
394 pages
ISBN: 0898709504

God Bless You all!

[Seeker]

Sounds like a great book.  I think the truth is more interesting than fiction most of the time.

[secretman]

An Evangelical saying that`s UnBiblical ?

No big deal! It`s just the Evangelical idea of "interpreting the Bible"

God Bless U All!

[trmichels]

As a Charismatic Catholic, and a Bible researcher for over 10 years, I believe the key words in Carl Olson's post are found in this statement:

First Corinthians 15:52 refers to the "last trumpet," a clear reference to the final trumpet that will sound at the Second Coming -- as in Matthew 24:31 -- so that passage cannot be referring to a Rapture event several years prior to the Second Coming.

My understanding/interpretaion of Revelations suggests the period of "years" some Bible scholars refer to, coming from Daniel's weeks, may be shortened, to a single day. Mark 13:20 says, “And if the Lord had not shortened that time, no human being would have survived; but he did shorten the time, for the sake of the elect whom he chose.” Rev. 18:4-10 states, "Another voice (This may be the Fourth Thunder) spoke from heaven, “come out, my people, leave her.” (*This is the command of God for his people to leave.) The city must be paid back double for her crimes. Therefore the plagues (*the Seven Plagues?); death, mourning, famine and fire will all occur in one day. She will fall in a single hour. This would mean the Rapture could occur as Christ "appears" in the clouds, and then descends for the Great Day of Wrath/Retribution/Great Tribulation, which may all occur in that one day. Thus, the references stated by Mr. Olson do not eliminate the possibility of the occurrence of the Rapture, or it's occurence in the sequence of events of Revelations. What is changed or possibly misunderstood is the actual time-frame of those events.

Here are some excerpts from my book "Revelations; The Second
Coming, Armageddon and the The Millennium".

Sequence of the Events of Revelations

Seven Events
1 Event The Tribulation

Seven Seals
The Seven Seals occur to 1/4 of the earth.
1 Seal Death by sword. Mk. 13:7 wars
2 Seal Death by famine. Mt. 24:7 famine
3 Seal Death by plague.
4 Seal Death by wild beast.
5 Seal The Martyrs Mt. 24: 9 put to death
6 Seal The earthquake Mk. 13: 8 earthquake
The sun turns black.
The moon turns red.
Mountains and islands are shaken.

2 Event The 144,000 Israelites. Lk. 21:12 witness
The Faithful in Heaven (Martyrs?)
7 Seal Silence in Heaven for 1/2 hour. Mk. 13:19 distress

Seven Trumpets
1 Trumpet Hail and fire.
2 Trumpet Blazing mountain.
3 Trumpet Burning star. Mk. 13:24 falling star
4 Trumpet Darkness. Mk. 13:24 darkness

The first four Trumpets occur to 1/3 of the earth.)
The final three trumpets occur to all the earth.

5 Trumpet Locusts.
Five months of pain.

6 Trumpet Army of 200,000,000

3 Event The three and a half year occupation of Israel. Mk. 13:14 horrible abomination

4 Event The three and a half day death of the witnesses. MK. 13:20 time shortened

5 Event, 7th Trumpet, The Day of the Lord. Mk. 13:26 Son of man
The Appearance of Christ and the 144,000 on Mt. Zion.
The Reaping of The Harvest (explanation of the Rapture?)
The Winepress of Gods Wrath

Seven Thunders (God's voice)
1 Thunder God commands the writer to eat the Scroll.

2 Thunder God commands the angels to pour out their seven bowls. The Day of Wrath

Seven Plagues
Because of the mention of the Euphrates these probably happen in the Middle East.
1 Plague The virulent sores.
2 Plague The sea turns to blood. Lk. 21:26 ocean turmoil
3 Plague The rivers and springs turn to blood.
4 Plague The sun scorches people with flames.
5 Plague The empire is plunged into darkness . Mt. 24:29 dark
People in pain.
6 Plague The Euphrates River dries up.
The arrival of the kings of the east.
The preparation for Armageddon.
7 Plague Lightning, thunder and earthquake.
The great city called Babylon is split.
Islands vanish and mountains disappear.
90-pound hailstones fall from the sky.
The people curse God.

3 Thunder God announces that the “end is come.”

4 Thunder God commands the people to leave Babylon, “come out my people, away from her.“ (Escape of the 144,000?)
The Fall of Babylon.

5 Thunder God commands the people in heaven to “praise our God.“
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The Battle of Armageddon.
Satan is locked up for 1000 years.
The First Resurrection
The 1000 year Reign of Christ

6 Event The release of Satan
The War of Magog
The Second Resurrection.
The Book of Life
The Last Judgment
The Second Death, the lake of fire.

7 Event The New Heaven and Earth.
The New Jerusalem.
The River of Life.

6 Thunder God tells us “Look, here God Lives among human beings.”

7 Thunder God tells us “Look, I am making the whole creation new.“

     Note that there are Seven Events. Four of these include the Seven Seals, the Seven Trumpets, the Seven Plagues and the Seven Thunders of the Day of the Lord; none of which end by themselves, they each continue into the next event. The Seventh Seal begins the Seven Trumpets; the Seventh Trumpet begins the Seven Thunders and includes the Seven Plagues; the Seventh Event begins the New Heaven and Earth. The Seventh Trumpet announces the Day of The Lord/The Day of Wrath and has Seven Plagues; they are complete and they fulfill God’s anger before he creates the New Heaven and Earth. The Seven Thunders complete the Mystery of God.

     I personally believe that believers will be saved from the Wrath, even though they may go through the Tribulation. Romans 5: 9 states, "How much more can we be sure, therefore, that, now that we have been justified by his death, we shall be saved through him from the retribution of God." Thessalonians 1: 10 states, "It is He who saves us from the retribution." It does not say we are saved from tribulation. The Greek word for tribulation is thlipseos; which means tribulation, trouble or affliction. The Greek word for retribution in Romans 5: 9 and Thessalonians 1:10 is orge; which means wrath or anger, as a state of mind. This is the same word used in Revelations 6: 16-17, referring to the "great day of wrath." The two different words used here make it clear there are two different events occurring.

What Will Happen During The Rapture?
   1 Cor. 15:50 tells us “mere human nature cannot inherit the Kingdom of God: what is perishable cannot inherit what is imperishable. 51 “Listen, I tell you a mystery, we will not all sleep, but we are going to be changed, 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 53 for the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory'.”

What Will Happen To The Dead?
1 Cor. 15:42 tell us, “It is the same too with the resurrection of the dead: 43 what is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; 44 what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body.” The Christian dead will be changed and given a spiritual body!

Will Believers In Christ Go Through The Wrath?
     1Thes. 5: 9 states, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This says that we will not suffer wrath, it does not say we will not suffer tribulations. Revelations 15: 1 says states, “the seven last plagues - last because with them God’s wrath is completed.” The Wrath is the Seven Plagues. The term “wrath” is used in Revelations in reference to the “great day of their wrath,” (Rev. 6: 16-17, 11:18). Rev. 19:16 states, “he will rule them with an iron scepter. He (Jesus) treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” This clearly shows that The Wrath does not occur until Christ comes. Rev. 18:4 states, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.” God is obviously calling out his people here, so that they may be saved from the plagues. If his people weren’t still there he wouldn’t need to call them out. If the “Reaping of the Harvest” is the Rapture, it occurs in Revelations 14, before the explanation/occurrence of the Seven Plagues.

When Does The Wrath Occur?
     When will the Wrath occur? If you are a Christian and are “caught up” when Christ comes you won’t have to worry, because you will be “immortal.” 1Thes. 5:3 tells us when the wrath will come. “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly." Matt. 24:14 says, “And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
     The pronouncement of the reign of God Almighty occurs in Rev. 19:6, at the coming of Christ. v. 15 “So when you see the appalling abomination, of which the prophet Daniel (Dan. 9:27) spoke, set up in the holy place (let the reader understand) those in Judea must escape to the mountains.” This suggests that Christ, and the Wrath, will come when there seems to be peace. I believe this peace will occur after the Anti-Christ kills the two witnesses (which will be a time of peace) and then proclaims himself God. Christ will then come to show the Anti-Christ (and those people who follow him/believe that he is a god) that he is not God at the Battle of Armageddon.

How Long is The Wrath?
     How long is the Wrath? One writer believes it is the difference in days between Daniel's 12 Chapter in verses 11-12;  1290 days and his 1335 days, or 45 days. I personally believe that the time may have been shortened from the final week of Daniel 9:27. The last half-week may be the 3 1/2 day death of the witnesses in Revelation. Mark 13:20 says, “And if the Lord had not shortened that time, no human being would have survived; but he did shorten the time, for the sake of the elect whom he chose.” Who are the Elect? In this case, the elect are those chosen by God not to experience an extended period of tribulations or The Wrath.

Now, I don't want to debate this, I'm just offering an explanation. I will answer questions though,

May God bless all of you, your servant in Christ,

T.R. Michels
www.TRMichels.com

[Seeker]

Hi T.R. and welcome!

Interesting take on the Rapture.  Do you believe the Seals, Trumpets, Plagues, etc. to be literal events, or symbolism of past, present, or future trials?

By the way, I liked your website.  I've done some hunting myself.  Problem is, that's about all I've done, hunt.  Not much luck in finding.  Either way, it's great to get outdoors in the morning and hear the birds.

[trmichels]

Seeker,

Sorry I got back to you so late. I wasn't notified there was a response (might have missed that function). But, I've also been involved in doing research for a Hunting -related Federal Court case. I couldn't turn down the money the lawyer was offering me.

Anyhow:

I started my Bible research on Genesis and Revelations over 10 years ago, and, knowing there were so many interpretations of Revelations, I purposely stayed away from them, so I would come to my own conclusions, while hopefully the Spirit guided me (I am a Charismatic).

My studies of Genesis helped me understand much of Revelations, like who Gog and Magog are, who the "Kings of the east" are, and who or why all the ethnic/religious wars are occurring, and why they will continue. You have to understand Genesis to understand Revelations.

That being said, I'm not sure I have all the answers, nor do I claim mine are the only reliable interpretations. But, I personally feel the events of Revelations (many of which are reminescent of the plagues of Egypt at Moses' time) will be literal.  

As I was reading Ezekial the other day, and having just watched a documentary on Mt. St. Helens, I realized that the 90 pound hail stones, earthquake, polluted rivers, dead fish, a great blazing star falling from heaven, the darkened sky; are exactly what happened when Mt. St. Helens blew.

Realize that the Dead Sea, and the Jordan River, sit on a continuation of the fault line (were two tectonic plates meet) of the Great Rift Valley that runs through Africa. This valley is a result of the split between two tectonic plates. So, it is very possible that a volanic blast, with its prerequisite earthquakes, and subsequent explosion, which creates its own lighting, rain, thunderstorms, pyroclastic flows (flowing hot soil/water), lava flows, and spewing boulders, could be some of the events of Revelations.

If we throw that in with a possible meteor collision of earth, which may either cause all of the above events, or cause the volcanic blast/earthquake that results in the events; there is no reason to belive the events could not happen. And they could happen in "one day" in fact in "one hour" as stated in Revelations.  

I'd often looked at a nuclear blast as the cause of much of this, but, if the chronology of Revelations is correct, then armies and people would afteward go into Israel, which we know would not be possible for quite some time (possibly the Millennium?).

On the other hand, if God want's to start and stop a war in an hour, all he has to do is say it "by the sword of his mouth" and it will heppen. If He wants to stop a nuclear bomb in mid-air, he will do it. When He says "it is finished" it  will be finished.      

I think so much of Revelations is misunderstood, because several writers have failed to research Genesis. If I'm correct in who Magog is, and who the "Kings of the east" are. Then we end up with a war between (some non-Christian) countries/governments of possibly China, Russia, Turkey and parts of eastern Europe (Magog), along with the Islamic Arabs (kings of the east) against Israel. This religious, ethnic war makes more sense to me than the European Union (as a whole) warring against Israel. The Arabs as we know, because of being forced out of Israel by their forefather Abraham through his son Ishmael, hate the Israeli's.      

These countries may see the meteor strike or volcanic blast as an opportunity to attack, or, this event may STOP the war.

Feel free to ask more questions, if you've been to my site, you know I've worked on this.


As to hunting, rarely do I feel closer to God than when I am in the woods or on the water, on an early morning hunt. God is good.

God bless all of you, and Melody's ministry,


May the peace of the Lord be with you (I figure you Catholics will get that)    

T.R.