Rapture

In my last four posts, I have laid the groundwork for a revised understanding of Paul’s “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11), especially his statements about the dead rising and the living being “caught up.” He says,  The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain…

A faithful friend has compounded my difficulties. I had admitted that Paul’s “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11) poses significant challenges for my prophetic view, which I call inmillennialism. Over two years ago, I wrote a series of blog posts explaining that Paul used protensive language in this passage: he put…

In our last post (here), we proposed that Paul meant for his “rapture” passage—1 Thess 4:13–5:11—to comfort the Thessalonians regarding the relationship of their dead to the parousia (i.e., coming/presence) of Christ. Here is the heart of his answer: We say this to you by a revelation from the Lord:…

Our last post (here) gave Inmillennialism’s interpretation of the “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11). This post will show how it fits within Paul’s flow of thought in his letter to the Thessalonians. Paul could “not have been in Thessalonica for more than a matter of months.” After persecution forced him…

The “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11) creates problems for the current prophetic models. Their interpretations implicate Paul in error. They portray him as naïve and inconsistent. They do not take the Olivet Discourse to be “the word of the Lord” to which Paul appeals (1 Thess 4:15), even though the…

Current prophetic models imply Paul made mistakes about the “the day of the Lord.” They say that, on that day, deceased Christian will rise to leave their graves empty. Living Christians will receive glorified bodies and fly to join them. Paul thought he and/or his contemporaries would live to see…

A reader who embraces much of inmillennialism asked for help. He has difficulty with the “rapture” passage. I am being challenged on 1 Thess 4:13–5:11 and the teaching of the rapture. In part this seems to be referring to a future event from our time, but I am having trouble…