An End-Times Rapture Plethora
Yesterday I got an email from a friend at a church I taught a seminar on Revelation at a while back. He’d been reading about the Rapture, particularly from the perspective of John Hagee and asked what resources I could recommend that provided another view (he knows I reject the popular teaching on the Rapture) so that he could study the issue from all sides for himself.
I love getting emails like this.
It means that people in churches aren’t just imbibing one message from their favorite preacher, teacher or author!
I responded with a number of resources. I then realized that my response was a pretty good “starter kit” for anyone looking to study the topic of End-Times and the various issues that it touches upon (Rapture, Israel, Politics, War, etc.). So I decided to share my response here with Dojo readers.
Here it is:
Hey _________,
Great seeing you again as well. 🙂Â
As I said when we spoke, this is a subject I’ve studied pretty extensively (nearly a decade now!). And while I believe that when it comes to eschatology there is large room for “in house” disagreements and various theological positions, in my opinion, the concept of a “rapture” is one that—unless one just uses the term to refer to Jesus coming back and all believers, both living and dead, being gathered to rejoice at His return—I believe does not have any foundation at all in Scripture. I discuss this in my “Apocalypse Now??” lectures, which you can download for free at http://sermon.net/jmsmith or purchase as a CD set at https://jmsmith.org/store/apocalypse Â
The main thing to ask when studying the topic of the rapture (or any topic in Scripture!) is “Do the passages being cited mean what someone is saying they mean in their individual contexts, or does one need to harmonize or string them together out of context in order to back their claim?”Â
Many preachers and teachers like to shotgun scatter a number of passages in rapid fire succession to prove a doctrine (such as the rapture) which, in context, do not at all teach such a concept…the biggest and most glaring example of this is the famous “Left Behind” passage in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (as I discuss in the videos and articles below).
What you do find, however, is that on the topic of the rapture, there are very few Biblical scholars (i.e. those with a Ph.D in Biblical studies) who believe in a Pretribulation Rapture. It has always been a grassroots/folk theological concept from its very beginnings with Irvin and Darby and continuing through with the various early 20th century “prophecy conferences” and correspondence courses by Scofield and other preachers/evangelists. Even within Evangelical Biblical scholarship it is held by almost none outside specifically Dispensationalist schools such as Dallas or Moody (and even in those it is beginning to be replaced by Progressive Dispensationalism).
As for some resources, firstly, here are articles I’ve written on the Rapture, including the theology from which it emerged, Dispensational Premillennialism:
https://jmsmith.org/blog/restoring-revelation-to-the-church/
http://www.examiner.com/methodist-in-national/responses-to-various-prophecy-expert-claims
http://www.examiner.com/methodist-in-national/a-conversation-about-the-rapture-part-1
http://www.examiner.com/methodist-in-national/a-conversation-about-the-rapture-part-2
http://www.examiner.com/methodist-in-national/a-conversation-about-the-rapture-part-3
http://www.examiner.com/methodist-in-national/reader-comments-on-recent-rapture-article-series
http://www.examiner.com/methodist-in-national/why-belief-the-rapture-should-be-left-behind
http://www.examiner.com/methodist-in-national/according-to-jesus-you-want-to-be
And here are some teaching videos I’ve done on the topic:
https://jmsmith.org/store/videos/ (scroll halfway down the page to the “End Times and Revelation Videos” section
I’m attaching an e-book, “Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon” by Stephen Sizer and a series of PDF studies from his book “Zion’s Christian Soldiers?” on Christian Zionism, which is John Hagee’s theological worldview. I’m also attaching a history of Dispensationalism from a Biblical studies conference he taught in Israel (and here are Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4).
Here is a response by Ben Witherington to John Hagee’s theology and why it’s so dangerous (I personally agree with Witherington and think that Hagee is one of the most irresponsible preachers in America because of his ultra-militaristic Christian Zionist theology):
http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2007/07/peacemaker-as-anti-christ.html
I’m also attaching Witherington’s chapters on Dispensationalism from his book “The Problem with Evangelical Theology.”
Here is an article by Gary Burge on Hagee’s views as well:
http://www.christianzionism.org/Article/Burge02.pdf
Here are a few blog posts by Robert Lowery on the foundational theology that invented the idea of a rapture of the Church before Jesus’ return:
http://rlowery.com/2009/03/02/a-century-of-damage/
http://rlowery.com/2008/08/25/the-second-law-of-thermodynamics-and-dispensational-premillennialism/
Here are some articles by Dave MacPherson, who’s probably done the most painstakingly detailed historical investigation that exists (including the book “The Rapture Plot”) in print of the origins of Rapture theology:
http://www.poweredbychrist.com/MacPherson.html
Here is the final post in a 6-part series that debunks the various claims in the bestseller The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsay, which to one degree or another Hagee, Jack Van Impe, David Jeremiah and other Dispensational teachers have adjusted and tinkered with over the years:
http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/3958/hal6.htm
Lastly, here is an article by N.T. Wright on the Rapture and 1Thessalonians:
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_BR_Farewell_Rapture.htm
This may be more than you were looking for, but I wanted to give you what I had on my laptop.
In addition, see the major commentaries on 1Thessalonians and the Olivet Discourse (NICNT, NIGTC, WBC, IVP, Pillar, EBC, etc.).
I hope this helps! Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help your study!
Blessings,
JM
Categories: Biblical Scholarship, Biblical Theology, Blog, Book of Revelation, Curriculum, Eschatology, Theological issues
A gift for you from the wilderness of cyberspace Rev 12:6… There will be no rapture. http://thegoodtale.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/the-rapture/ Satan has deceived the whole world Rev 12:9. Not one child of God will be put in a hell fire no matter what their sins. It never entered the heart or mind of God to ever do such a thing Jer 7:31, Jer 19:5 and this is proven by the word of God at http://minigoodtale.wordpress.com. Prophecy is fulfilled, Rev 12:5, 13 the true word John 1:1 of God is delivered to the world as a witness and then the end will come. Prove all things.
by val on Sep 26, 2011 at 10:33 pm
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by Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » Notes from my dialogue/debate on Jesus, Scripture, Israel & Palestine on Apr 11, 2014 at 8:50 pm