The rapture is a phony dogma that was cooked up by John Nelson Darby in the mid-19th century. Made popular by Cyrus Scofield in his reference Bible, the doctrine was adopted as gospel by many protestant denominations in the United States. It is not generally accepted by the community of nations throughout the world, however. In fact, several years ago it was denied as heresy by a committee of South African churches because of its illogic, its divisiveness, its lack of substantial Biblical support and its inability to encourage the communion of saints.
Google John Nelson Darby if you are a student of truth. Otherwise the reader may continue living in disillusion and error.
Darby's original intent was to make sense out of the separate notions of the millennium. During his age, there were three different theories about the millennium; a pre-millennial advent of Christ, a post-millenial advent of Christ and the amillenial version.
- The amillenial version suggests that there is no real second coming of Christ to the earth. The believer is supposed to be joined with Christ upon death. The Biblical references to a millennial reign of Christ are thought to be figurative in nature.
- The pre-millenial version suggests that Christ would physically return to earth and set up His kingdom as a real political entity.
- The post-millennial version, which most churches accepted at the time, held that Christ would return to earth AFTER a thousand year Christian utopia was set up on planet Earth.
World War I pretty much buried the notion of a Christian utopia on earth. By the time the smoke settled, the dead were buried and the wounds mostly healed, political and human realities became obvious and the notion of a post millennial return of Christ to earth was pretty much relegated to the pages of mistaken history. But in the mid-19th century, in Darby and Scofield's day, this was not yet apparent. Darby wanted to assert his own idea - that Christ would physically return to establish His kingdom on earth for a thousand years. He outlined all of Biblical events in terms of what he called dispensations or divine epochs and is thus known as the father of modern Dispensationalism.
But the pre-millennial theory advanced by Darby had serious logical problems despite its popular reception at speaking engagements. According to the Bible there would be a period of great trouble upon the earth such as had never been seen before. The nineteenth century was also the period of Civil War in America and much social strife. Cults popped up seemingly out of thin air (the Joseph Smith crowd, for example) and the western settlement and Indian wars were well under way. The entire country was ravaged by trouble both spiritual and political and Darby knew Christians would not be receptive to MORE war prior to a future advent of Christ. So Darby invented the Rapture, wherein Christians would be sucked up off the planet to escape yet another terrible period of war and hate and economic disruption. The rapture story became immensely popular in America, but only in America, because of American nineteenth century stress. It's not Biblical, but it is as American as apple pie and ball game hot dogs. Look it up.
One of the major logical problems with Darby's rapture story was the Holy Spirit. The Bible promises that the Holy Spirit would never leave the believer, so if the believer is evacuated off planet it seemed logical to Darby that the Holy Spirit would also be removed (2 Thess. 2:7). The problem with this interpretation is that God (according to the Trinity doctrine the Holy Spirit is God), is reduced to the level of a dead-beat dad. A dead-beat dad is a head of a household that abandons his family in times of trouble, for personal advantage, or just because he's tired of the domestic stress. Such a person is considered to be irresponsible and a coward. According to interpretations of the rapture theory, the Holy Spirit is falsely accused of being a dead-beat.
It is said that a man is known by the company he keeps and if true then what sort of man was John Nelson Darby, who was also the consort of witches?
Let the reader beware of the rapture theory. It is unBiblical and a doctrine of demons. Christ WILL return and He WILL return after a period of tribulation, but He will not pop in prior to that time to mysteriously evacuate a lot of cowards who cannot face hard times and choose to believe a fantasy instead of trusting in Christ. The Bible teaches courage in the face of trouble. The rapture is a coward's fantasy and it comes as no surprise that a dead and dying church would buy the story - an American church, BTW.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
- Jesus (John 17:15
The quote above is Jesus' own words. Which part of NOT does the reader NOT understand? How much clearer must it be said? Watch and learn, pilgrim.
and that's me, hollering from the choir loft...