Review and Critique of Three Views on the Rapture

On the other hand, virtuoso must(prenominal) be aware of the possibility, bingle which does arise in scholarly enterprises, that if the competent authorities are all attack up with different answers to the same question, then peradventure something is unseasonable with the question: with the way it is formulated; with some of the assumptions it is based upon; or perhaps even with the way the scriptures that it is ab appear are organism interpreted.

This is a very disturbing possibility, of course, when dealing with a ideal so central to Dispensationalism as the Rapture, but if on that point is a real problem here, it must be solved, not sweep under the rug, especially when the eternal salvation of human beings is at stake. (Let it be noted here that in that respect is some favourite misunderstanding of the term "Rapture." It derives from the Greek root that means, "to catch," as in velociraptor and modern raptors such(prenominal) as falcons, not from the emotional devotion that presumably would result from actually meeting the Lord.)

One could designate that it is actually not the timing of the Rapture that is the real way out. Instead, the issue is the understanding of the nature of the church. If the Rapture is pretribulational, then the church, consisting of those caught up, will not suffer the wrath of God during the Tribulation. Conversely, if it is posttribulational, then the church, consisting of the faithful and perhaps not-so-fait

Ryrie, Charles C. Dispensationalism. Chicago: Moody P, 1995.

However, there is apparently not much in the way of telling scriptural evidence in favor of this position. It is arrived at by reasoning about apparent contradictions and difficulties within the scriptures; which means that there is always the possibility that a new breakthrough or insight into the meaning of the Greek could change the situation. It seems astonishing that this could be so, when Christians have had the scriptures for almost two millennia, but it still happens that a fresh find of Hellenistic Greek manuscripts will crock up new insight into a Greek idiom and force translators to say, "Oh, so that's what that means!" even about the very lecture of the Lord.

(After all, is there any hotshot who is really sure what the Lord meant by the degree about the children who say, "We piped for you but you did not dance"?)

Clouse, Robert G., ed. The Meaning of the millennium: Four Views. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977.

The other, related difficulty with this position is that Christian belief, back to the very beginning, has focused on only a single, triumphal return of the Lord. If one is going to argue that such a belief was wrong, then perhaps other beliefs were wrong, and where does one then draw the line? Does one question the Resurrection? Does one doubt the Crucifixion?

Turning to another issue, one must consider whether the Rapture is a certainty or whether it arises out of a questionable interpretation of scripture. Almost all Dispensationalists obviously do consider it to be a real answer that will happen when God chooses for it to happen, yet others point out, on real theological grounds, that its reality is not so certain. certainly no Dispensationalist would be much concerned that Roman Catholics, Hindus, or atheists deny the reality of the Rapture. But when the denial comes from an Evangelical Christian whose theology is very close to Dispensationalism, and i
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