If you read the original Greek version of the bible you will find the word “harpazo “ which means to snatch or seize.
The Latin Vulgate which was the main bible used in the early and medieval churches was translated from Greek into Latin. So in the Latin bible, you will find the Greek word ‘harpazo’ translated into the Latin word “raeptius” which generally means “caught up”. English-speaking people then translated this word into the English word “rapture”.
However, in the English versions of the bible (and there are approximately 900 versions currently), the word “rapture” is not used. In verses such as 1 Thessalonians 4:17 the phrase “caught up” is used instead. Does this mean that there is a ‘rapture’ but it’s not called that in our English bible?
Well, there are portions of the bible that talk about some sort of ‘being caught up”.
- In Acts 8:39, the Ethiopian eunuch was “caught up” by the Holy Spirit and physically placed some 20 – 30 miles away.
- In 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul talks about being “caught up” to the Third Heaven, but he was describing a vision that he had.
- In Revelation 12:5, the man child of the Woman i.e. Jesus, was “caught up” to God and His throne.
The main text used by those who believe in the Rapture of all believers is in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which states that
“we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.”
So, it is possible that individual people may have experienced some sort of being “caught up” i.e. experience a rapture. (We will exclude people who claim to have been “caught up” by aliens. Lol). However, the argument I am proposing is that the modern interpretation of a rapture that takes all believers instantly away into heaven to avoid wars, suffering and the Anti-Christ, is incorrect. Throughout history there is no evidence of such events happening.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8)
so, he is unlikely to suddenly decide to physically remove Christians when they are facing troubles.
A modern idea.
Now you may be surprised to know that this view of the rapture is quite modern. In 1830 John Nelson Darby came up with this view of a “secret rapture” that would occur before the tribulation. Cyrus Scofield, an American minister, was heavily influenced by Darby’s work and in 1908 he presented these ideas in his own ‘Scofield Bible’.
In his bible, Scofield presented the book of Revelation as a future event. Hence there would be ‘the rapture’ before the antichrist came on the world stage, thus causing the seven-year tribulation to occur. This version of the bible became very influential in America as many leading American bible colleges, seminaries, and universities promoted Scofield’s teachings.
The result was a wide spread belief amongst many Christians that the ‘end times’ scenario as portrayed in the book of Revelations was factual and imminent. This dispensational model spread throughout many parts of the world, particularly due to the advent of American TV-style evangelism.
Of course, the advent of many best-seller books on the subject, along with movies and TV shows has heightened the public’s awareness of these ideas. Many of today’s TV evangelists view the ‘end times’ as being imminent. With the availability of a wide range of social media, there is a plethora of information and a wide variety of views available about this subject.
The mainstream TV channels have plenty of news about wars, catastrophes, earthquakes, famines, crime, greed and other negative events. This information can easily fit into the ‘model’ and timeline for the ‘end of days’. Many people believe what they hear in the media, without questioning or researching the ‘facts’ for themselves. This has sometimes been referred to by skeptics of these ideas as being ‘Eschatology by social media’ rather than by actual bible study.
One thing that I have noticed in the many years of my own bible and history study is that it seems like a lot of people take a superficial view of events and just accept what is presented to them by the media. They don’t appear to use a great deal of logic or common sense to discern if what has been presented to them makes some logical sense. After all, ‘if it’s on the internet, it must be true’ is a common saying, usually meant as a joke. Unfortunately, some people forget another computer-related term. “Garbage in, Garbage out!’
The main purpose of this blog post is to highlight areas that in my opinion, by using some simple logic and research can help dispel some of the commonly accepted errors in modern Christianity. Let me clarify what I mean.
Many years ago, I fully believed in the idea of the ‘Rapture’, along with all its associated end times scenarios. I agreed with preachers who claimed it was ‘nearly here’ and that we were in the ‘last days’. I thought it was great (the rapture part). I must admit I thought this especially when things were difficult for me and my family, financially and physically. I couldn’t wait for the Lord to come back. Now I accept that that was the wrong attitude to have but I thought it would be cool to be with the Lord sooner rather than later. So, I started to study more and more and more and I came away a bit confused because, during my studies, I found most of the information that I’ve mentioned in this book, particularly regarding the concept of the rapture. So, my ‘original’ views on many of the Christian concepts have changed to those I describe in this blog.
I hope that this post will be a start for your journey of self-discovery into a better and more discerning understanding of the bible.
‘Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.’ (2 Tim 2:15)
Do all preachers research the bible?
It seems that many modern preachers are espousing a sort of ‘get out of jail free card’. (Players of Monopoly will understand this reference). They tend to preach that the ‘end is near’, so make sure you and your family are ‘saved’. You don’t want any of your loved ones to be ‘left behind’. Now as an idea, I think that is great. We all want our family and friends to be ‘born again’ and receive eternal salvation, however, many modern preachers seem to use the fear of an imminent rapture as a catalyst to ‘encourage’ people to get saved.
If one just takes what Jesus said, “Heavenly Father, don’t take these people out of the world. Leave them here“and “in this world you will have trouble and trials and tribulations and testing”. Then we can see that the concept of a ‘catch-up escape’ for all believers seems to be a bit moot. There is no mention of “don’t worry, when it gets a bit tough. I’ll rescue you.” Now I found this a bit confusing and that is why I started on this ‘book writing’ journey.
I would be listening to preachers and teachers who were advocating any time now the Rapture could occur; that Jesus could appear in the clouds at any moment and we would “go up” to meet him. Thus escaping the antichrist and resulting persecution and troubles that would come upon those people who were ‘left behind’ in the world.
Then I thought ‘hang on.’ How come they don’t mention what Jesus said about us having troubles? How come they don’t mention all the trials and tribulations that Christians have gone through over the last 2000 years, along with all the persecutions Christians are facing today? They don’t mention these things and hence they don’t have to explain why God didn’t ‘rapture’ them. out of their troubles.
Many of these preachers and teachers claim to ‘hear from God.’ They say that they spend many hours communing with him and the Holy Spirit. I often ask myself, if they are talking to God, why doesn’t he tell them that they’ve got it wrong? Tell them to look up these scriptures, reconsider the evidence and do further bible study.
Now, one explanation for this that I fully recognize is that it could be me who has it wrong. Maybe I misunderstand the scriptures and that there’s information that I don’t have. But I’m a logical person. I like puzzle-solving. I like to see the evidence as best as I can get it. So, in this post by using a bit of logic and research I hope to be able to explain and thus clarify some of the ideas I am discussing in this book. Hopefully, by reading this post, you will have a better understanding of the Bible, of your place in this world and the world to come.
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