The Great Rapture Debate

- From Prophesy News Watch - 

Though the term Rapture does not appear in the Bible, it is derived from the Latin, raptus, which means "a carrying off." Because of numerous biblical scriptures, the Bible indicates that when the end really does come and the going gets tougher than anyone can possibly describe, the Church, described as the Bride, will mysteriously disappear and join Christ in the air as he appears in the clouds. This disappearance, described in 1 Corinthians 15:52, will be virtually instantaneous, in the twinkling of an eye. 

There is perhaps no greater debate when it comes to Bible Prophecy than the nature and timing of this event.  LifeWay Research recently polled 1,000 senior protestant pastors about their rapture beliefs, with the following results: 

" Pre-Tribulation View - 36%.  Christians who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture in which the Church will be taken up to heaven before the Tribulation period begins- an escape from the prophesied apocalypse. 

" Mid-Tribulational View - 4%.  Christians who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture that will occur 3.5 years into the Tribulation.

" Post Tribulational View - 18%. Christians who believe in a post-tribulation rapture in which the event occurs at the end of the 7-year Tribulation. In this case, the Church would suffer through the 7-years of devastation: death, torture, starvation, plague, war and climate-change far beyond any climate-change that is happening at the present.

" None of the above - 25%.  Those who believe the rapture should not be taken literally.

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