"Exposed?" I am not sure what you mean by that. There are plenty of good authors who are well educated in all the interpretations of prophesy scriptures in the past 500 years that have present their case using the rules of heremeneutics for their views on pre-tribulation rapture, mid-tribulation or post-tribulation rapture. Many have done a good job and those who study the texts in question and read these different presentations from scholarly authors have decided for themselves which view they believe is the one intended by the authors of scripture or by the Spirit that inspired these authors. Those that believe they are standing on correct interpretation and can present a case for it, are not "ignorant" if they did not come up with the same view as yours.
If you want to present a case for a post tribulation view, just present it. The pre-tribulation view can be presented with scriptures as well. I lean toward a pre-tribulation view. Howbeit not a "secret one." I do agree that there is nothing in the text to suggest anyone dissappears from view. As a matter of fact the bodily resurrection of the dead in Christ must be a visible one or it would not be a resurrection of the body. Those that are alive at that time that are changed are changed in a glorification kind of way and shine like the stars and are bright like the firmament and rise and meet the Lord in the clouds, all of which are visible descriptions not invisible.
The fact that they shine like the stars (Dan 12) and rise is to the praise of the Glory of God's Grace and the manifestation (visible) of the sons of God. A vindication if you will.
One of the main reasons that scholars who lean toward the pre-tribulation view (other than that we are not appointed to wrath and because Jesus said to pray to escape these judgments that will come upon the earth) is that the doctrine of watching and waiting and being ready for the coming of the Lord at any time suggests a pre-tribulation rapture and this doctrine of the imminent return of Christ is violated by a mid-trib or post trib view. So in order that all of the scriptures agree the pre-trib view is still a strong one among scholars, and it's popularity is not due to ignorant unlearned Christians as you suppose. Yes, some are pre-tribulation in their view simply because their church or pastor tells them so, but that is not the reason that it is the prevailing view. It is a prevailing view because in a scholarly article presented in theological academic circles for review using the rules of hermeneutics it continiues to convince the intellectually honest that it is a stronger case than the other views. But there is room for differences of opinions on this. Lets not dismiss those that do not see it the way we do as being "unlearned", deceived, or ignorant becuase that is not the case at all and to suggest so would indicate that you might not have been "exposed" to scholarly books on this subject. Dwight Pentecost does a good job of presenting a scholarly view in his book Things to Come a Study in Biblical Eschatology. And though I do not agree with everything he writes, there is no question that he presents a good case and there are many others like him. Read some of these books and many of your questions will be answered as to other interpretations. You might still be convinced that your view is the correct one but you will probably learn some things, and discover other texts you were not aware of on this subject.
I do agree that the doctrine of watching and praying and being ready for the return of Christ should not be weakened by any view of eschatology. If one begins to look for the Antichrist to be revealed first, before the Christ is revealed from heaven they may have misunderstood something they read and dismissed all of the admonitions to look for his coming for one verse they are misunderstanding. When we put the return of Christ off for other prophesies to be fulfilled first we dismiss everything Jesus taught about living ready for that moment to occur without warning.
If you want to present a case for a post tribulation view, just present it. The pre-tribulation view can be presented with scriptures as well. I lean toward a pre-tribulation view. Howbeit not a "secret one." I do agree that there is nothing in the text to suggest anyone dissappears from view. As a matter of fact the bodily resurrection of the dead in Christ must be a visible one or it would not be a resurrection of the body. Those that are alive at that time that are changed are changed in a glorification kind of way and shine like the stars and are bright like the firmament and rise and meet the Lord in the clouds, all of which are visible descriptions not invisible.
The fact that they shine like the stars (Dan 12) and rise is to the praise of the Glory of God's Grace and the manifestation (visible) of the sons of God. A vindication if you will.
One of the main reasons that scholars who lean toward the pre-tribulation view (other than that we are not appointed to wrath and because Jesus said to pray to escape these judgments that will come upon the earth) is that the doctrine of watching and waiting and being ready for the coming of the Lord at any time suggests a pre-tribulation rapture and this doctrine of the imminent return of Christ is violated by a mid-trib or post trib view. So in order that all of the scriptures agree the pre-trib view is still a strong one among scholars, and it's popularity is not due to ignorant unlearned Christians as you suppose. Yes, some are pre-tribulation in their view simply because their church or pastor tells them so, but that is not the reason that it is the prevailing view. It is a prevailing view because in a scholarly article presented in theological academic circles for review using the rules of hermeneutics it continiues to convince the intellectually honest that it is a stronger case than the other views. But there is room for differences of opinions on this. Lets not dismiss those that do not see it the way we do as being "unlearned", deceived, or ignorant becuase that is not the case at all and to suggest so would indicate that you might not have been "exposed" to scholarly books on this subject. Dwight Pentecost does a good job of presenting a scholarly view in his book Things to Come a Study in Biblical Eschatology. And though I do not agree with everything he writes, there is no question that he presents a good case and there are many others like him. Read some of these books and many of your questions will be answered as to other interpretations. You might still be convinced that your view is the correct one but you will probably learn some things, and discover other texts you were not aware of on this subject.
I do agree that the doctrine of watching and praying and being ready for the return of Christ should not be weakened by any view of eschatology. If one begins to look for the Antichrist to be revealed first, before the Christ is revealed from heaven they may have misunderstood something they read and dismissed all of the admonitions to look for his coming for one verse they are misunderstanding. When we put the return of Christ off for other prophesies to be fulfilled first we dismiss everything Jesus taught about living ready for that moment to occur without warning.
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