Several years ago I was driving behind a vehicle on the highway and I noticed the bumper sticker on the back. It was kind of funny and I will admit I laughed out loud. The bumper sticker read, "In case of Rapture this vehicle will be left unattended." OK, I thought it was kind of cute. But how accurate is this bumper sticker?
I will state right up front that the Orthodox Church does not support the so called doctrine of the Rapture. In this post, I will attempt to explain why. I will also state right up front that I do not consider myself a Scripture Scholar or a professional theologian.
So what is the so called doctrine of the Rapture?
Rapture is a popular term used by some Protestant Evangelicals for the rising of the faithful from the dead. We Orthodox do believe that all of the faithful will be raised from the dead.
There is a tendency of belief in the Rapture or what is called "pre-tribulation." This belief states that the rising of the faithful from the dead will be prior to of after a period of immense trouble or tribulation. After the seven years of tribulation, the belief is then that there will be 1,000 years of peace followed by the day of final judgment.
Where did this belief come from?
Until the 1830s all Christian Churches taught a believed basically the same things about the second coming of Jesus Christ. A member of the Scottish sect the Irvingites, Margaret MacDonald, made the first claim that there would be Rapture and the faithful would be gathered to Christ before the period of persecution. From what I can glean from the research, she was discounted by some people as being "of the Devil" and her prophesies have been discounted.
John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) next picked up the theory of the Rapture and made it popular. The so-called doctrine of the Rapture made its way into the footnotes of a translation of the Bible by Cyrus Ingerson Scofiled and the Scofield Reference Bible. This version of the Bible was widely used in England and America and therefore it was an accepted doctrine of belief.
This is a very elementary treatment of the history of the theory or doctrine of the Rapture, but the intent is not to present the doctrine in totality.
What is the Orthodox view?
Orthodox Christians believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ, the ensuing judgment of our sins and the resulting eternal life in either Heaven or Hell. Everything that Scripture says about a time of tribulation and suffering is accepted, but the faithful will be present for all of it. We will not be spared the sufferings or tribulation. Christ himself tells us that all will suffer and that no one knows when He will return for Judgment Day. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake" (Matthew 24:9).
Why do Orthodox not believe in the Rapture?
The Church needs to be suspicious of a doctrine or theory that no church taught for the first 1,800 years of the existence of the Christian Church. This is not enough of a reason to reject this simply out of hand, but it does mean that we need to approach this very carefully. From the Orthodox Church in America:
Much of the reasoning for this theory comes from the Book of Revelation the only book the Orthodox do not use during the Divine Liturgy. The Orthodox Church does not persuade people not to read Revelation. It does caution people to read it with solid background knowledge of the rest of Scripture, especially the New Testament, and with a basic understanding of the times which produced Revelation. At the same time, the Orthodox Church does not accept the notion that everyone can properly interpret the Bible as he or she wants. Some Protestant bodies believe in this, but Orthodoxy does not. We say that the Church has the ability to properly interpret Scripture, and this means that we should study and adopt the interpretations that have been handed down over the 2000 years of the Church's living history. Given the fact that that which is contained in Scripture is the inspired word of God, revealed to mankind and not to a single individual, no individual has the right or ability to offer "the" definitive interpretation of Scripture. This is especially the case with Revelation, which as noted above cannot be interpreted as one wishes, lest one come to ridiculous conclusions that Gorbachov's birthmark is the "mark of the beast."
The theory is also based on shaky Scriptural basis. Of all of the teaching of the Christian Church that have evolved over the 2,000 years history of the Church, this theory was not spoken of until a 15-year-old Scottish girl brought it up. Modern arguments for the Tribulation can be called into question through an evenhanded examination of the passages commonly used when arguing in favor of it. Even among Protestant denominations who believe in a totally literal reading of Scripture rapture is not universally accepted.
Many of the arguments for the rapture have been taken from the Book of Revelation. This book warns us in Chapter 22 verses 18 and 19 that anyone who adds to or takes away from the words in Revelation will meet with punishment from God. St. Peter also warns us in 2 Peter 1:20 that no prophecy is to be of private interpretation.
The unavoidable fact in all of this is that all of us will face judgment. Christ will examine each of us and as a result some will gain eternal life with Him in Heaven and some will gain eternal life without Him in Hell (John 5:29). Everything other than preparing for Christ's second coming and judgment is nothing more than a distraction, and the question that needs to be asked is: Who would benefit most from the faithful being distracted?
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The End Times : An Orthodox Perspective – Orthodox Christian Faith
Christian eschatology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8069695/may_21_end_of_the_world_or_end_of_harold.html?cat=9
2 Peter 1:20 does say: "knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,"
Notice the comma, that means that the sentence is not complete. Here is the rest of it:
2 Peter 1:21: "for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
So it is Holy Spirit residing in man that brings about prophesy. Without Holy Spirit man is relying on his own beliefs.
I do believe however that there is no man on this earth that knows the day the Lord is coming back, but as Christians we should live our lives in a way that is forever pleasing in the sight of God. So don't be left behind when the time does come.
One other tip for readers always seek what is behind a comma. That's usually the meat of the whole line.
Always seek the truth!
First off, who wants to serve a God who will torment them forever in some kind of hell? There is no hell. Hell means the same thing as Sheol or Hades in the bible and Acts 2:27 says that Jesus was in Hades or in other words hell. Hell is a place to rest in death or just a place of inactivity. In hell you are in a deep sleep and only God or who He appoints to do so, can awaken you. Remember Lazarus? Jesus likened death to deep sleep at John 11:11. So when Lazarus died where did he go? To heaven? Well, if he did, why did Jesus resurrect him back to earth if he was is a great place already. Makes no sense. Lazarus was a good person if Jesus thought it OK to resurrect him.
God cannot and will not sanction torment becasue God is love. Everything God does is legal. No one accuse Him of being wrong and win.
The greatest disaster to hit mankind in all history called the Great Tribulation is facing mankind. If God himself did not cut the Great Tribulation days short, no flesh would be saved alive. Religion is bloodguilty.
Also, besides God being love, He's also "Holy, Righteous and most of all Just", but it seems we tend to block that out, just to focus on the love part of Him. He's given us chance after chance to come to Him, so that we can get to know just how much He loves us, by sending His Son (Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach in Hebrew) to die on the cross and be resurrected in love for humanity's sake.
Lastly, PLEASE find the scripture verse for me that says "hell is a resting place"?? I've not seen that mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Matthew 10:28 gives a depiction of hell that mentions nothing of 'sleep' and where no one should want to end up.
Here goes:
Mom, Dad, I don't know if you have access to the Internet where you are, but if you can read this, I finally realize that the teenaged me was stubborn, self-rightous, irresponsible, and lazy. But I had some good points as well. I always washed the Chevy the afternoon before going out on a date. And I did eat my vegies, mostly.
There's more apologizing at the whimsical Thinking Out Loud, http://marperl.blogspot.com/2011/05/last-posting-before-rapture.html
(But you better hurry over.)
An atheist saying "oh, it's all nonsense" could never have calmed me down, but a sensible Orthodox perspective did. So thank you!
"There is no heaven or afterlife [...]; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven
he also addresses the origins of this Universe we share:
Q: "You've said there is no reason to invoke God to light the blue touchpaper. Is our existence all down to luck?
A: "Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in."
so, the world's preeminent physicist has just been kind enough to take very considerable personal effort to tell you this:
the Universe exists without any "Creator".
thus: the Universe is not a "creation".
hence: there is no need for a "God".
ergo: Ockham's Razor tells you that there almost *certainly* isn't one.
so, in summary:
no god; no heaven; no afterlife.
this is it.
make the most of it.
that's reality.
there's no sensible reason for being anything but calm.
Remember that it took eternity; it took for ever for us to exist, for us to be alive,
“God Created reality immediately, instantly, so that we can be Saved”.
God instantly Graced each and every one of us with a soul so that we could immediately be saved, so that we would never be abandoned.
Not for one second!
We have to make the leap.
We need to understand the Truth; that every cell in our human body is Created Within The Word Of God.
1Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven." I love that-He won't be sending angels. When He comes to earth to establish his kingdom, He will send angels to the four corners of the earth to gather the elect, who will be both Israelites and Gentiles who enter the kingdom (second coming). However there is no angel ministry connected with the Rapture of the church. The "Church" being all of those believers as stated in the gospel of John 1:12. He will descend from heaven "with a shout". That is the voice of command. It is the same voice He used when He stood at the tomb of Lazarus and said, "Lazarus, come fourth" (see John 11:43).
Also, wasn't reincarnation an accepted belief somewhere, sometime in Christian history, before the resurruction idea? Not sure about these things, so they are posed as questions that someone knowledgable could perhaps answer.