numenian said:
Read the Bible, without filters, fetters, or frills. It is abundantly clear. Silly arguments over pre-, mid-, or post-Tribulation take time away from the care for the least of these. And as all these arguments are totally species about the Rapture, those souls involved endure a heavy price in this ego game. Foolish yet seeming vital. Those involved seem incapable of self-criticism or self-reflection
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The rapture heresy is littered with filters, fetters and frills. It is neither Biblical nor logical and those who support it do indeed rest their arguments on personal assault and assassination of character. They do so because that is the last resort of baseless opinion.
"I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one."
- Jesus as quoted in John 17:15
Which part of NOT does the reader NOT understand? I would wager money at this point that some rapturist fanatic will supply numerous quotes stating that Jesus didn't know what He was talking about.
The scripture reference is above. The historic and theological references follow. Study, real study, of the events and persons described here will reveal the truth. None of those who have swallowed the rapture ideology will accept it or follow through on their homework. They dare not for they have fallen into a dogmatic trap they believe to be true. It isn't. The rapture is nothing less than massive amounts of bovine excrement masquerading as gospel.
In the mid-19th century John Nelson Darby attempted to clear up a centuries old controversy about three definitions of the millennium and the second coming of Christ. Those controversies consisted of: a pre-millennial advent, a post-millennial advent and an a-millenial explanation that denied the physical return of Christ altogether. All of them considered the world wide acceptance of Christianity as a religion prior to or directly following the second coming. WWI pretty much determined the impossibility of the establishment of global Christianity to the dust bin of history, but that was nearly a century after Darby's work became popular.
In 1830 AD Darby published his work and thus cemented himself into history as the father of futurism and dispensationalism. The primary focus of his book and wildly popular lecture series was the division of history into segments or dispensations of grace - the cross being at center. According to his theory the dispensation of the law preceded the cross and the dispensation of grace followed it. Apparently the two thousand year old partition of Holy Writ into Old and New Testament weren't good enough for him. Darby began to write his own law and was quite good at promoting it.
One of the new dogmas that Darby proposed was the rapture. It followed that his explanation of the millennium required a THIRD ADVENT that he described as the rapture of the elite. According to his theory Christ would appear a second time to evacuate believers into one or more heavenly scenarios. Christ would then appear A THIRD TIME to judge the earth. His theory was so popular that Cyrus Scofield, an American theologian of the era, included Darby's references into his study Bible. They are there to this day. Unfortunately, like most fiction of the 19th century, there are numerous logical flaws in the idea. These flaws also remain to the present day.
Logical flaws in Darby's theory are most apparent in the ongoing debate about the timing of the second or third or forth coming of Christ; pre, mid, post or NO millennium at all. Those who argue the point fail to realize that the entire argument is bogus. The rapture, as defined by Darby, will not happen at all. JESUS, considered to be something of an authority on the subject of His second coming, said so (reference above). But the dogmatic adherence of those who have accepted the theory deny even the words of Christ. Darby and Scofield, not Christ, is the ultimate authority in their minds.
Finally it should be noted to one and all that Mr. Darby was the consort of witches. A man is known by the company he keeps, except among those who've bought into his lies. To them it doesn't matter what Jesus said, what logical flaws present themselves in the rapture argument, or that it is also approved by those who practice the black arts. They will not invest even a little time in research and in the end will march through time expecting
the cowards way out of trouble and tribulation instead of exercising faith in the promises of Christ that He will see them THROUGH IT.
In summation, the rapture theory was the invention of a man who sought companionship from witches and who was the greatest con man of modern times. It is not scriptural for even the devil quotes scripture to delude and confuse. it is not an expression of discipleship because Jesus said it would not happen and because Jesus said He would be with the believer in the midst of trouble. It is the gospel of cowards because those who believe it refuse to rest upon faith - choosing the fantasy of escape instead. It is a lie invented by a 19th century American, not a Jewish carpenter or any of those of His century. As of this writing several churches of foreign nations either have rejected the rapture as another American deception, or are in the process of doing so. Those who believe it will not listen to reason or investigate the thing themselves.
and that's me, hollering from the choir loft....