December 26th, 2008
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Re: The timing of the rapture?
Quote:
Originally Posted by daddycat
Of course, Christ can do things any way He pleases, and if He chooses to remove His church from the world in a separate event prior to His return, He will. I do not, however, subscribe to the 'rapture' doctrine. There are three reasons for my position on this subject.
1) Although there is ample mention of Christ's return in glory in the Scriptures, the passages on which to build a 'rapture' doctrine are few, and open to debate.
2) The doctrine of the 'rapture' has arisen only in the last 150 years. No one in the New Testament church, none of the early church fathers, in fact no one in the church until the mid-nineteenth century had this belief, nor found it necessitated by the words of the text.
3) The idea of a 'rapture' (especially the pre-trib version of it) is, on a psychological level, pleasant and convenient. To be whisked away from the world just prior to the horrible hardships and devastation mentioned in Revelation and elsewhere would be a blessing, without doubt. But when in the past has God spared His church from hardship and persecution on a large scale? Rather, it seems to be an aspect of His economy to allow us to experience these things in order to refine us and to bring glory to His name. In short, I suspect that belief in the 'rapture' is often a result of wishful thinking and not of careful Bible study or a knowledge of church history.
*Daddycat braces himself for an inundation of disagreement  *
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But you do believe in the catching away of the living saints at the posttrib 2nd coming immediately after the resurrection of the just to receive our heavenly bodies? Correct? This is what most refer to as the ''posttrib rapture''. Or do you not believe in the catching away or gathering together at all?
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