Is it the word 'rapture' that you disagree with? You even admitted earlier that: "My point? In the atmosphere, not the heavens! Still on earth."
That is what I believe, in the clouds, clouds are not in outer space. And i am NOT NOT NOT a dispensationalist. NO!
John Gill was not a dispensationalist, and look at what he has to say:
"in the clouds; the same clouds perhaps in which Christ will come, will be let down to take them up; these will be the chariots, in which they will be carried up to him; and thus, as at our Lord's ascension a cloud received him, and in it he was carried up out of the sight of men, so at this time will all the saints ride up in the clouds of heaven:"
If you read the entire commentary on that verse, John Gill believes that at that time (the second coming time) we will be changed into glorified bodies, and we go upto the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and then return with Him to earth. Do you disagree with that?
I truly hope this is just a misunderstanding of terms and its the TERM rapture you disagree with, not catching up to the clouds, because if that is what you disagree with you are just arguing with Paul at that point, in which case the conversation is over.
Be that as it may, I still want to apologize for being too rude/crude, I hope this was a misunderstanding. And once again: I am NOT a dispensationalist! They believe only Romans to Philemon is for the church, I believe the words of Jesus are of utmost importance!
The problem with Latin, is that it reflects a very different theology than Greek, the language the Bible was written in. In fact, Latin dramatically affected the doctrine of the Trinity, from the time of Augustine on.
For example, in Greek, God is one ousia, three hypostasus. Latin translated hypostasis into personae, for persons. In fact personae, means:
“A persona (plural personae or personas), in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask.”
This is NOT a good word to use for the three persons of the Trinity IMHO. And certainly, a “mask” was never what hypostasis meant, when referring to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The connotations take this fundamental doctrine far from the Bible, and influenced the concept of God until literally the 19th century!
That is why I do not like to overlay Latin terms on anything theological! And “The Rapture” is a noun, comes from a verb, harpazio in Greek, which does not come with the baggage of the Rapture.
I do agree with you, Christians are not going anywhere, except briefly. Unfortunately, Dispensationalists HAVE co-opted this Latin term to mean “taken away secretly to heaven.” To use the term, for me, is to open the doors to radical Dispensationalism. Like it or not!
Further, this is one of the linchpins of Dispensationalism. To cite it, using Latin, is to leave behind biblical eschatology. Which is why I do strongly object to it! Then you get the stuff and nonsense of this OP, heralding something totally irrelevant to Biblical theology. Wrong, in fact!
Further, as I have said before, any strong biblical doctrine, must be reiterated more than once! Trotting our one verse as a proof test, is the big reason we have so many heresies! And I am not just speaking of eschatology.
I am also sorry if I was rude. That was not my intention. I just get so frustrated by folk theology, which simply is hermeneutically unsound!
PS please forgive any spelling mistakes, I am writing on a bumpy road high in the Rocky Mountains!!