The Rapture & The Bible

Once again, these are the notes I took while listening to another BCS CD.

What is the Rapture? How does it fit into the End Times theology of many Protestants? Common Protestant End Times theology is not compatible with Catholic theology. Catholics can believe in A Rapture, but not the Protestant version. Protestant theology is not compatible with the Bible. Catholics are being increasingly influenced by Protestant thought concerning the Rapture and End Times. Left Behind has sold 20 million+ copies. While the authors say that the theology represented comes straight from Scripture, it doesn't really when you examine the passages in context.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 Indeed, we tell you this, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, 3 will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together 4 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.

This is often the main "proof text" for the Rapture. This is believed to be the first in a series of events: after the Rapture, then the 7 year Tribulation begins; wars, famines, petilences, earthquakes, which results in the deaths of many. There will also be false prophets and false Messiahs, THEN in the middle of the 7 years, the Antichrist is revealed. The last half of the Tribulation is MUCH WORSE than the first half.

At the end of 7 years, Christ returns and slays the Antichrist and his armies at Armageddon. Then the Antichrist is thrown into the Lake of Fire, or Hell. THEN Christ will establish a physical kingdom on earth and reign for 1000 years w/the saints at His side. After 1000 years, Satan is released from the bottomless pit and gathers armies from the four corners of the world to wage war on the saints, but he and his armies will be destroyed and sent to the Lake of Fire. After that, there will be a resurrection of the dead, the final judgement, and the end of the world. This is the MOST COMMON version of the sequence of events among Rapture enthusiasts. There are many MANY variations on this.

If you want to see the confusion that has come from Sola Scriptura, where everyone can read and interpret the Bible for themselves, just get online and do a search on "Rapture." There are no two sites that match up the end times events exactly, yet each of them say that THEY are going by the Bible Alone, and each site claims to be giving THE most accurate interpretation of the Bible. How can that be?

The most common version of the End Times theology is pre-Trib. There are ALSO those who believe in a mid-Trib or post-Trib Rapture, and they ALL point to the Bible as the SOLE SOURCE for their beliefs. Not only do people disagree on WHEN the Rapture occurs, but those who disagree on the number of Raptures that occur. Some say that there will be several Raptures, several times that Christ will return, several different times for the resurrection of the dead - and they ALL use the Bible as the SOLE source for their beliefs. How is that possible?

You'll even find people who used to believe pre-Trib, because the Bible said so. Then they change to mid- or post-Trib, because the Bible said so. How do we know then, that their current view won't change again at some point in the future? This is one of the fundamental flaws in Rapture theology, that there is NO authority beyond individual interpretation of the Bible behind these teachings, so we have dozens if not hundreds of different scenarios for the sequence of End Time events - all of which are somehow found in the same Bible.

From http://www.lookup.org/ "Believers have long argued about when the Rapture would occur. Most will agree with their pastor, or with some famous theologian who has written extensively, or spoken persuasively on the subject. But do we dare delegate that task (and when we don't study for ourselves, isn't that exactly what we are doing) when being wrong means leading our loved ones headlong into the "great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall" totally UNPREPARED???"

Then the web-author goes on to give us HER "correct" interpretation of the Bible and the Rapture. So she's actually saying, "Don't believe your pastor, that's just HIS interpretation...Don't believe some theologian...trust in your own interpretation" then goes on to give HER interpretation, which, if you disagree with HER, means you are OBVIOUSLY wrong!! - doesn't make much sense, does it?

Where in all of this, is the Church of 1 Timothy 3:15, which Scripture says is "the pillar and bullwark," or upholder and defender of the Truth? When it comes to the Rapture, essentially a Protestant doctrine, it's every man for himself. They are their own pastor of their own church.

While there are these differing views on the Rapture, for those who do believe in a Rapture; not all Bible-believing Protestants believe in the Rapture! Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Presbyterians (all Sola Scriptura faiths) for the most part do not believe in the Rapture. The End Times beliefs of these people is the SAME as the End Times beliefs of the RCC.

What does the Catholic Church teach regarding the End Times?

Catholics do not believe in a rapture of ALL believers at ANY TIME other than the Final Coming of Jesus; the Second and Final Coming which occurs at the end of time.
Catholics do not believe in a literal, physical 1000 year reign of Christ on earth after the Tribulation.

There will be a Great Tribulation which will occur before the return of Christ. This tribulation is one in which Christians will suffer trials and persecution, and during which many people will be led astray by the false teaching of the Antichrist. There WILL BE an Antichrist. (CCC para #675-677)

There will be a mass conversion of Jews to Christianity (CCC para #674) though exactly when this happens is unknown.

At the end of the Great Tribulation, Christ will return in power and glory and will defeat evil(CCC #677), and the dead will be resurrected, where we all will be changed/transfigured into incorruptible bodies. (CCC #988; 997-1001)

Then there is the Final Judgement, after which the "good" enter the eternal Kingdom, and the "wicked" enter eternal damnation.(CCC #678-679, 1038-1041)

The old heaven and earth are transformed into a new heaven and new earth, and the Kingdom of God comes in its fullness as the New Jerusalem and the righteous reign forever with Christ. AMEN. (CCC #1042-1050)


What does the Bible say regarding the Rapture and the End Times?

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 Indeed, we tell you this, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, 3 will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together 4 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.

The Catholic church does not totally reject the idea of a rapture, but believe it will happen at the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time, not before.

This passage actually mirrors the ancient custom, when someone important would come into a town or city, such as a king or general, and many of the people would go out and greet this person outside the town or city, and then accompany them back into town. It would be an insult NOT to go out and greet this important person. This happens today, when the President flies into an airport, a lot of people go out to greet him and escort him back to town. That's how the Early Church Fathers (St. Augustine, St. John of Chrysostum) read this passage. When Christ returns, those who are caught up to meet Him in the air are escorting Him to the earth; this passage does not say that these people meet Jesus in the air, and then Jesus turns around with them and goes back to Heaven! How do we know this is not what happens?

Revelation 21:1-3 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, 3 coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them (as their God).

Just as the Lord descends from Heaven to earth, so also the New Jerusalem descends from Heaven, because Jesus brings Heaven with Him!!

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Anointed (Christ), and he will reign forever and ever."

The idea that the Lord will descend from Heaven, stop somewhere above the earth and gather believers, then turn right around to go back to Heaven is an interpretation that cannot be supported by the rest of Scripture and is not supported by any writings of the Early Church.

Notice in I Thess. 4 that it's not just the living who are caught up, but also the dead in Christ.
v16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

This is the resurrection of the dead. So rapture believers have to believe, that Christians who have died will rise from the grave and disappear as well. There is a BIG problem with this:

John 6:54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

Regardless of your interpretation of the first part of the verse, literal or symbolic, the fact remains that Jesus is talking about believers - Christians - whom He will raise on the LAST DAY.

John 6:39 And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it (on) the last day.
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.
John 11:24 Martha said to him, "I know he will rise again, in the resurrection on the last day."

Why would Lazarus have to wait until the last day to be resurrected? Why wouldn't he be caught up at the Rapture? Because there is NO Rapture before the LAST DAY. You cannot square a pre-Tribulation rapture supposedly described in I Thessalonians 4 with John Ch 6, because Jesus is talking about the dead being raised at the end of the world on the last day in John 6, and I Thessalonians 4 talks about the dead being raised. If the dead aren't being raised until the last day of the world, then the "rapture" being described in I Thessalonians 4 is occuring on the last day of the world, not before.

What if Jesus meant the last day before the Tribulation, or the last day before His millenial Kingdom starts? The Bible doesn't say that. It says "the last day" with NO qualifiers.

John 12:48 Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day,

There is no talk among rapture enthusiasts about judgment at the rapture. Judgment of those who are left (the wicked) does not occur until the end of the world - the Great White Throne Judgment. Those who reject Jesus will be judged on the Last Day. The phrase "the last day" MUST be referring to the end of the world and no other time. Not the last day before the Tribulation, not the last day before the Antichrist appears, not the last day before the 1000 year reign of Christ, the LAST DAY of the WORLD.

Matthew 24:37-41 For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. 39 They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be (also) at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.

Luke 17:26-36 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30 So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. 32 Remember the wife of Lot. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left. 36 There will be two men in the field; one will be taken, the other left behind,"

One taken, one left. The Rapture, right? Wrong! The Coming of the Son of Man with some being taken and some being left, is being compared to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. After the flood, who was left behind? Noah and his family! The good guys! Who was taken by the flood? The bad guys! After Sodom was destroyed, who was left behind? Lot and his daughters! The good guys! The bad folks were destroyed, taken away. So if there is a "Rapture" a-la Left Behind, you don't want to be one of the ones taken away! If you want to live like Noah and Lot, you want to be left behind! Those who are left behind in I Thessalonians 4 are caught up meet the Lord in the air and go with Him to the New Jerusalem. The folks who are taken are thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Matthew 24:3-13, 21-24 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, "Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?" 4 Jesus said to them in reply, "See that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. 8 All these are the beginning of the labor pains. 9 Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; 12 and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

21 for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. 22 And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened. 23 If anyone says to you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
(Cf Mark 13:5-13; Luke 21:7-28)

II Thessalonians 2:1-12 1 We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, 2 not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god-- 5 do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. But the one who restrains is to do so only for the present, until he is removed from the scene. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord (Jesus) will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming, 9 the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, 10 and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. 11 Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie, 12 that all who have not believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be condemned.

Daniel 8:17-25 17 When he (Gabriel) came near where I was standing, I fell prostrate in terror. But he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the end time." 18 As he spoke to me, I fell forward in a faint; he touched me and made me stand up. 19 "I will show you," he said, "what is to happen later in the period of wrath; for at the appointed time, there will be an end. 20 "The two-horned ram you saw represents the kings of the Medes and Persians. 21 The he-goat is the king of the Greeks, and the great horn on its forehead is the first king. 22 The four that rose in its place when it was broken are four kingdoms that will issue from his nation, but without his strength. 23 "After their reign, when sinners have reached their measure, There shall arise a king, impudent and skilled in intrigue. 24 He shall be strong and powerful, bring about fearful ruin, and succeed in his undertaking. He shall destroy powerful peoples; 25 his cunning shall be against the holy ones, his treacherous conduct shall succeed. He shall be proud of heart and destroy many by stealth. But when he rises against the prince of princes, he shall be broken without a hand being raised.

Daniel 7:25 He shall speak against the Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High, thinking to change the feast days and the law. They shall be handed over to him for a year, two years, and a half-year.

Revelation 13:5-10 The beast was given a mouth uttering proud boasts and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was also allowed to wage war against the holy ones and conquer them, and it was granted authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation. 8 All the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, all whose names were not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life, which belongs to the Lamb who was slain. 9 Whoever has ears ought to hear these words. 10 Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity. Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword. Such is the faithful endurance of the holy ones.

In all of these passages, the Antichrist destroys the saints, the elect, the followers of Christ. This is why some people switch from Pre-Tribulation to Mid- or Post- Tribulation theology, because it tells us that the Antichrist WILL persecute and kill Christians! BUT if all the Christians have been raptured, then who are these saints that the Antichrist destroys. Nowhere does Scripture say that these will be the "new" believers who came to Christ "after the Rapture" because the "old" believers have disappeared. If all the Christians are gone, who is left to teach these so-called new believers about Jesus? Will these people gather into congregations? Will they have pastors? Will there be various denominations? Will these new believers debate about whether or not they will be caught up in a post-Tribulation Rapture? Is there more than one rapture and more than one resurrection of the dead?

I Corinthians 15:20-24 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, 23 but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; 24 then comes the end, 10 when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.

Coming. Singular. Not Comings. All the dead in Christ are raised at the same time, at the END, when Christ delivers the Kingdom to God the Father. So much for the literal thousand year reign of Christ.

Hebrews 9:27-28 Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, 20 will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

So where does Millenialism come in? Where did that idea come from?

Revelation 20:3-11 He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, which is the Devil or Satan, and tied it up for a thousand years 3 and threw it into the abyss, which he locked over it and sealed, so that it could no longer lead the nations astray until the thousand years are completed. After this, it is to be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones; those who sat on them were entrusted with judgment. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over these; they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for (the) thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison. 8 He will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, 7 to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 They invaded the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.11 Next I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it.

If you try to make the events of the book of Revelation fit into a timetable, running from beginning to end, you may likely end up in an insane asylum.

For example, in Revelation 12:1-6 A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, 4 with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. 4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.

Are we to believe that the birth of Christ is to take place sometime in the future?

Revelation 12:7-8 Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, 8 but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

Hasn't this already happened, too, a long time ago?

Luke 10:18 Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from Heaven."

How many times does Satan get kicked out of heaven?

The book of Revelation is not historical narrative. It uses a lot of symbolic language more akin to poetry than to historical narative. Not to say that it is not describing historical events, it is! But which events are being described and when they take (or have taken) place is often up for grabs. Like poetry you often have to dig for the meaning of the passage. And with some passages, the meaning may never be clear or the passage has several layers of meaning.

There is a literal interpretation and a literalist interpretation.

Literal - looks for the meaning that the author intended to convey
Literalist- take what's on the page and say "That's what it says, that's what it means."

"It was raining cats and dogs" The literal interpretation that the author intended to convey is that it was raining "pretty dog-gone" hard. The literalist would say that cats and dogs are falling from the sky like rain. Will someone in 2000 years understand this idiom? Only if they dig into historical documents. Just looking at the words on the page will cause trouble understanding the book. You can't just look at Revelation and take it literalistically. You have to look for what the author intended to convey. If you try to force Revelation into a linear timeline you will get into problems. To read these passages about the millenial reign of Christ as taking place after the Antichrist is defeated, but before Satan wages war on the saints will lead to some difficulties in light of the whole of Scripture.

I Corinthians 15:23-26 but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; 24 then comes the end, 10 when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death,

Paul equates the resurrection of the dead, the dead being made alive in Christ, with the defeat of the last enemy, death. The last enemy, death, is defeated at the resurrection of the dead, which occurs at Jesus' Coming, which is the END. You can't fit a rapture with a resurrection of the just before the End of the world. Once death has been defeated, and this immediately preceeds the Eternal Reign of God - not the 1000 year reign of God, UNLESS the 1000 year reign is symbolic of the eternal reign of God.

Revelation 11:15-18 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Anointed, and he will reign forever and ever." 16 The twenty-four elders who sat on their thrones before God prostrated themselves and worshiped God 17 and said: "We give thanks to you, Lord God almighty, who are and who were. For you have assumed your great power and have established your reign. 18 The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to recompense your servants, the prophets, and the holy ones and those who fear your name, the small and the great alike, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

The spirit of antichrist is already loose on the earth (I John 2:18), Jesus' Kingdom is here already in The Church (although not yet perfected), He is reigning in the hearts and minds of all those who believe in Him. Churches celebrate the feast of Christ the King. Satan has been thrown down and is restrained, has been defeated by Christ's death on the cross. Could Revelation 20 possibly be referring to some of these things?

Many Catholic and Protestant theologians see Revelation as a chronicle of the Church from the resurrection of Christ until the end of the world. That is a very plausible, overall interpretation of Revelation.

There are many overlapping verses that talk about trumpets, the dead being raised, the end of the world, and the coming of Christ in Glory, the judgement, the defeat of evil at the end of tribulation. Note the similarities. These are all talking about the LAST DAY. The Day of the Lord. Jesus is coming back ONE MORE TIME, that's IT. If you try to fit a Rapture and a 1000 year reign of Christ on earth into these passages, you do serious damage to one or more of them.

People will begin with the belief in a pre-Trib rapture, then try to fit all other passages into that view. When they encounter a passage that doesn't quite fit, they twist it until they get it to fit! Then you have one more version of Rapture theology.

The History of Rapture Theology

A few of the ECFs wrote about a literal 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. However, this kingdom wasn't accompanied by a rapture of believers, it occured before the last day. AND this position was never adopted as an official teaching of the Church as a whole. A literal 1000 year reign of Christ on earth had mostly been rejected by the end of the 4th century.

Teaching on the Rapture first appeared in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It gained popularity by the efforts of John Darby. He preached the Rapture in England, the US and Canada between 1850-1870 to people of thousands of different Protestant denominations, so most of the current teaching on the Rapture can be traced back to only about 150 years ago. There is one obscure writing by someone whose pen name was Pseudo-Ephraim; which has a passage that seems to refer to a pre-Trib rapture, dating approximately from 4th-5th century, and the author's real name is unknown. Rapture enthusiasts will point to this ONE passage and say, "See! The Early Church believed in a Pre-Trib Rapture!"

The problem is: The exact meaning of the passage is open to dispute since 1) there is no mention of Christ coming in Glory, 2) St Ephraim, upon whose writings Pseudo-Ephraim is supposedly based, did NOT believe in a pre-Trib rapture; and 3) if you take ONE obscure passage from the 4th or 5th century to prove an Early Christian belief in the Rapture, then why don't you believe ALL the Early Church Fathers who wrote about:

• the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
• the authority of the Bishop of Rome?
• baptism as the real washing away of sin?

Using John 6:54 and 1 Thes 4:16, then, giving the proper contextual interpretation of the "one is taken, one is left" passages from Matthew and Luke, one must conclude that Rapture theology, especially as presented in the Left Behind series, is not logically defensible, is not Biblically defensible, and it is not historically defensible.