Post by Joel on Oct 30, 2014 1:37:42 GMT -5
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
—1 Thessalonians 4: 16 & 17 (NKJV)
Welcome to the second part of my discussion about the Rapture of the Church. In this article, we will be covering one of the four main theories about the Rapture. Let me make one thing clear: the theories about the Rapture do not effect a Christian's salvation. It is merely their feelings on the subject. A very bright preacher once described it as an ‘open handed, close handed’ approach. We keep the doctrines that are essential to our salvation, such as faith in Christ, baptism, Jesus’ divine nature, the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, in the ‘closed hand’. However, we keep beliefs, such as the Rapture, tribulation, Millennial Kingdom, etc., in the ‘open hand’, up for interpretation.
Post Tribulation Rapture
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
-John 6:39
The post tribulation Rapture is believed to have originated in the 2nd century A.D. A man named Ireneous, a second generation disciple of John the Revelator, is viewed as the first to write of this theory. He wrote many things about the Antichrist, the Witnesses, and the presence of ‘saints’ during the tribulation. However, after reviewing these claims, I have come to the conclusion that the saints he is talking about became followers of Christ after the Rapture. During the tribulation, there will be a great soul harvest. Why else would God send two supernatural Witnesses or 144,000 Messianic Jewish witnesses? The answer is simple: there will be those who gained Christ after the Rapture and during the tribulation. This is the strongest support the Post Tribulation theory has going for it.
Furthermore, I believe this theory goes deeper than a simple matter of differences of opinion. In every book written in favor of this theory, I have seen a viciousness and hatred for its opponents. Christians should never tear each other apart. However, most post tribulationists attack any argument for any other point of view with hatred and slander. I believe that this is because post tribbers have very little fact or backing for their theory. So, they resort to attacking the origins and validity of any other arguments.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
-John 6:40
I believe that there are a few merits to the BIBLICAL reasoning behind the post tribulation theory. However, those are simply from misinterpretation. ‘Last day’ can be used to mean the literal last day, entire tribulation, or the last day for Christians before the Rapture. So, read the Rapture passages carefully and decide for yourselves.
Pre-Wrath Theory
The Pre-Wrath Theory is the least popular of the theories. However, it is most closely related to the post tribulation Rapture. Proponents of this theory believes Christians will go through the entire tribulation and will be Raptured before the Great Tribulation, which will be the second half of the seven years.
Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.
-Revelations 3:10
—1 Thessalonians 4: 16 & 17 (NKJV)
Welcome to the second part of my discussion about the Rapture of the Church. In this article, we will be covering one of the four main theories about the Rapture. Let me make one thing clear: the theories about the Rapture do not effect a Christian's salvation. It is merely their feelings on the subject. A very bright preacher once described it as an ‘open handed, close handed’ approach. We keep the doctrines that are essential to our salvation, such as faith in Christ, baptism, Jesus’ divine nature, the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, in the ‘closed hand’. However, we keep beliefs, such as the Rapture, tribulation, Millennial Kingdom, etc., in the ‘open hand’, up for interpretation.
Post Tribulation Rapture
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
-John 6:39
The post tribulation Rapture is believed to have originated in the 2nd century A.D. A man named Ireneous, a second generation disciple of John the Revelator, is viewed as the first to write of this theory. He wrote many things about the Antichrist, the Witnesses, and the presence of ‘saints’ during the tribulation. However, after reviewing these claims, I have come to the conclusion that the saints he is talking about became followers of Christ after the Rapture. During the tribulation, there will be a great soul harvest. Why else would God send two supernatural Witnesses or 144,000 Messianic Jewish witnesses? The answer is simple: there will be those who gained Christ after the Rapture and during the tribulation. This is the strongest support the Post Tribulation theory has going for it.
Furthermore, I believe this theory goes deeper than a simple matter of differences of opinion. In every book written in favor of this theory, I have seen a viciousness and hatred for its opponents. Christians should never tear each other apart. However, most post tribulationists attack any argument for any other point of view with hatred and slander. I believe that this is because post tribbers have very little fact or backing for their theory. So, they resort to attacking the origins and validity of any other arguments.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
-John 6:40
I believe that there are a few merits to the BIBLICAL reasoning behind the post tribulation theory. However, those are simply from misinterpretation. ‘Last day’ can be used to mean the literal last day, entire tribulation, or the last day for Christians before the Rapture. So, read the Rapture passages carefully and decide for yourselves.
Pre-Wrath Theory
The Pre-Wrath Theory is the least popular of the theories. However, it is most closely related to the post tribulation Rapture. Proponents of this theory believes Christians will go through the entire tribulation and will be Raptured before the Great Tribulation, which will be the second half of the seven years.
Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.
-Revelations 3:10