Subject: About the Rapture... |
Bible Note: Does the Bible teach that there will be a rapture of all true Christians to heaven? Will they be taken away leaving the rest of mankind behind to face calamity? Actually, the word “rapture” is not found in the Bible. The belief is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, where the related words “caught away” are found. There we read: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Believers in the rapture give the following literal interpretation to this passage: Christ will again come to the earth. The dead “saints” will be resurrected and the living “saints” will be caught away, or raptured. Given new immortal bodies, they will rise and join Christ in the air, and he will take them to heaven. This belief, then, is tied in with the return of Jesus Christ. But what does the Bible show to be the purpose of Christ’s return? The Bible does not indicate that there will be a literal, bodily return of Christ to earth. Rather, it shows that he returns in the sense of turning his attention to the earth and to accomplish certain definite purposes respecting mankind. To learn more and get more bible questions answered, copy and paste and log on to website http://www.watchtower.org/library/pr/index.htm |