Ever wonder why so many people believe in the rapture?
A friend shared the following video on a Facebook group’s page that I’m a part of and I must say it’s one of the best short films on the history of the form of theology known as “Dispensationalism”, and particularly the idea of “the Rapture” that I’ve seen anywhere online.
Most Christians don’t even realize that NO CHRISTIAN believed in “the Rapture” (as it’s commonly taught in books and movies like “Left Behind” or “A Thief in the Night”, etc.) before the mid-1800s.
Yes, you read that right. Before Irving, Darby, and Scofield, the doctrine of the Rapture (and the entire way of reading Scripture which leads to it) was not taught or believed by any Church Father or historical theologian.
So how could it be that it would become the dominant view among Western conservative Christians, particularly evangelicals??
Here’s how…
Dispensationalism’s most defining feature is its belief in “the Rapture”, where Jesus will return partially to earth and invisibly in order to “catch/snatch away” (Latin: rapturo) believers before unleashing a hellish 7-year (or 3.5 year, depending on which version one embraces) period known as “the Great Tribulation.” This period ends when Jesus returns for real and visibly in order to reign over the Jewish people from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Only after all that will he administer the Final Judgment and usher in the New Heavens and New Earth.
Here is a discussion of it from a course I taught a few years ago (with admittedly poorer video quality than the excellent video above!) that gives some more of the influential individuals who developed and then popularized the concept over the past 150 years or so:
And here is the audio from the session of “Apocalypse Now??” which deals specifically with Dispensationalism’s origins:
The Rapture is a great example of how people can read the Bible out of context and come up with something that is exactly opposite of what it actually teaches.
That’s a bold claim…
…so let me offer the video below to illustrate why I stand by it:
Categories: Biblical Scholarship, Biblical Theology, Blog, Book of Revelation, Church History, Eschatology, New Testament, Theological issues