The 'Secret Rapture'
I got a funny message from a friend of mine late last night...And I'm paraphrasing it here:
"Hey man, are you ready for the rapture?"
He meant it as a joke, because he's not the most bible savvy dude on the planet and he'll be the first to admit it lol However September 23rd was a big deal within some circles of Christianity. And honestly, I never even knew it was a thing, so I haven't dug into it.....
....Because anytime I hear the word 'secret and rapture' attached to a date...I roll my eyes.
Here's a super brief bible study on why both the 'secret' nature of the 'rapture' is pretty much...False doctrine.
Let's take a look...
First off, this entire doctrine comes from all those Tim LaHaye books 'Left Behind' and even more so from the Scofield study bibles. Right there, the bible has a major issue with...Being left behind, because this extremely popular doctrine never stops and asks, who are the people that are actually left behind?
Let's let the bible explain itself, and see where Christ mentions where this doctrine gets it's roots from...
Taken from Matthew 24:40 and 41 the popular left behind theory comes directly from these words. Seems pretty straight forward right? Problem is, with all bible doctrines that fail, they never take the verses into context....Let's go up a verse or two and get the proper context...
Ahhhhh a clue!
So Christ says when He returns, the world will be like....The days of Noah. (Or Noe in the KJV here)
Pay close attention to verse 39....
Context!
The people 'taken away' aren't in the ark. So if we believe Christ at His word, the ones that are taken away aren't the saved.....Because the ones that were 'left behind' were Noah and his family.
Or but wait, there's more....
The 'secret rapture' doctrine is anything but a secret.
Let's see what it will be like when Christ returns...
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
Here's the rapture in scripture and what it will be like....A shout. Trump of God. Dead in Christ will rise.
Hardly a secret......Want a second witness to prove what the second coming will be like?
Let's hear what Christ Himself says...
Going back to Matthew 24, verse 27.....It's going to have a WHOLE lot of lightning....From east to west. Once again....Hardly a secret.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, let me tell you this......The devil is not sleeping. He knows how to deceive people and anytime we hear the secret rapture, we know through the bible....It's a false doctrine. I wonder what else popular Christianity has been misleading people with in these end times....
Scary to think.
Thankfully, we have the sure Word!!!
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Your focus on context really shows how easily scripture can be distorted for the sake of sensationalism.
People can make a doctrine out of every little verse...
Yes Sirrr 🔥🔥🔥
You said it all 💯
The bible is clear :)
Indeed!
Speaking of Satan, I've been quite fascinated between the Jewish view of Satan and evil and the Christian view. After all, Christ was Jewish and we derive much of our theology from Jewish teachings. In their view, Satan is an agent of God, His servant. Satan's job is to tempt us to sin. And even then, they view sin not as an inborn evil, but falling away from the ideal, missing the mark. The Jewish view is that people are born good and simply fail to live up to God's expectations, whereas the Christian view is that we are born in sin, inherently bad and struggling to be good.
It seems like there is no clean way to reconcile who Christ was, let's say he was the perfect Jew steeped in Jewish tradition, and how we as Christians view the role of Satan. It doesn't help that the Book of Revelations is not clear in what it tells us, relying largely on visions that can lead to various interpretations. But when you zoom out, the Jewish Messianic Age largely takes place in the world, whereas the Christian Apocalypse is more of a spiritual and cosmic event. So this makes Satan either a servant of God carrying out His will, or as the source of evil that is antagonistic to God. However, it does fall in line in that Jews were expecting a human king to lead them to a new age, whereas Christ repeatedly tells us that His realm is not of this earth.
The Satan in Christ's temptation seems more in line with the Jewish view in that Jesus's obedience and faithfulness were tested. In this scene, Satan does his job and obediently leaves when commanded.
It's fascinating stuff.
It's extremely clear, you just need to read it's companion book is Daniel. Using that, reading through Revelation is quite easy. And you need historicist lenses. But that would challenge your faith ;)
But yeah every knee will bow, including Satans when it's all said and done.
I don't think historicists challenge Catholicism. In fact, they bolster much of it.
I get the impression that you think Catholics aren't encouraged or expected to learn extra Ecclesiam. It might seem, from the outside that things are rigid and stale. The value to followers is that there is an authoritative and correct interpretation of scripture, supported by historical documents. We don't have to reinterpret, as in sola scriptura, with every passing generation. That means there is continuity that our children will learn the same things without having to become biblical scholars themselves. Parents can't be certain that they have passed all biblical knowledge they have acquired to their children. To us, that knowledge is passed down through the Church.
If we feel the need to seek more knowledge, the Church doesn't discourage it. The main difference is that deep understanding is not required for salvation. We just need to follow the rules and teachings the Church puts out. We leave the nerding to them.
I don't know about priests in other countries. In the US, most priests must have an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and a Master of Divinity. In short, they don't just learn church dogma. They have a broader knowledge than they let on.
Just to be clear, I'm not commenting to tell you that you're wrong, or to correct you. I'm just sharing what I have learned and my personal experience. I'm more interested in differences and similarities than proving anything. It is by learning about other things that I can more fully appreciate what the Church offers. I do enjoy reading different views. It helps me examine the church doctrine more thoroughly, which often results in a deeper appreciation of it. And I hope that you experience the same when learning about other traditions.
Oh I hear ya. Contrary to a few hardcore Seventh Day Adventists, I don't believe Catholics are 'lost' at all. In fact, I maintain most in heaven may very well be from the Catholic church.
The doctrines for me, when talking about the bible, is what I stand on. I'm not suggesting you need a PHd in theology, but we still should know what the Word says. Study to show thyself approved and all that.
Or be like the Bereans, testing scripture etc.
Fun stuff for sure :)
Similarly, the Church doesn't teach that non-Catholics won't go to heaven. The teaching is that the Church is the most direct and sure way to salvation. But, there are less certain, indirect paths to salvation which extend to non-Catholics and even non-Christians.
That bit about the days of Noah really hit me ;when you realize the ones taken were the ones swept away, the whole Left Behind idea kind of flips. Context matters so much and cherry picking verses is like ignoring half the ledger, it just doesn't balnce haha :). And honestly, a secret event that loud it' definitely isn't secret, but your focus on verse 39 is what made it click for me.
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STOPThe holy Spirit will always explain the scriptures to all of us.