2 Peter 3:4 …and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Congratulations to CNN, you as well as many others, continue to fulfill God’s word.
Titus 2:13 …waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…
Apparently, those of us who believe in the rapture are causing mental trauma and anxiety to certain segments of our society.
Those who have experienced said anxieties call themselves “exvangelicals”. They have been exposed to “traumatic religious experiences”. They say it can take years or a lifetime to recover.
Mental health professionals call this “rapture anxiety”. Darren Slade, President/CEO of the Global Center for Religious Research was quoted. CNN claims Slade is a Baptist Preacher and religious scholar. Slade also believes in “modern rapture theory” which states the idea of the rapture was initiated in the 1800’s.
“This is a real thing. It’s a chronic problem. This is a new area of study, but in general, our research has revealed that religious trauma leads to an increase of anxiety, depression, paranoia and even some OCD-like behaviors: ‘I need to say this prayer of salvation so many times,’ ‘I need to confess my sins so often.’”
“Now imagine. You are taught that at any minute, you could be left here on Earth. What does that do to the teenager who just had premarital sex, or even simply took the Lord’s name in vain?”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/us/rapture-anxiety-evangelical-exvangelical-christianity-cec
Article written by AJ Willingham
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To the critic who says the word “rapture” is not in the English translation of the Bible. Congratulations to the critic, you are correct. The word “rapture” is not in the English translated Bible. Hopefully this does not shake anyone’s faith. So where does the word “rapture” come?
For the answer, we have to go back to the fourth century. St. Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus in 382 AD to translate the Bible into the Latin language. St. Jerome translated the New Testament from the original Greek. The saint was the Pope’s secretary. He finished the translation before Damasus died in 384 AD. After the Pope’s death, St. Jerome moved to Bethlehem. By 405 AD, he had translated the Hebrew Bible or what we call the Old Testament. By the 13th century, St. Jerome’s translation had become the official Latin translation of the Bible for the Roman Catholic Church. The Latin translation of the Bible is called the Vulgate. The Vulgate is generally credited as the first translation of the Old Testament. http://www.Vulgate.org
This is how we get our Bible. Depending on the version or translation we read, the New Testament was translated from the original Greek. The Old Testament was by in large translated from the Hebrew language with the exception of a few chapters in Daniel and Ezra which are written in Aramaic. Sorry, the Bible was not originally commissioned and written in Old English from the King of England in the early 17th century.
The example for the word “rapture” comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Jerome translated from the original Greek as written by the Apostle Paul. Below is the original Greek writing of the verse. The word in question is underlined in the Latin, Greek, and English versions.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦκυρίου εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα. https://net.bible.org/#!bible/1+Thessalonians+4
Epistula Ad Thessalonicenses I – Chapter 4:17 deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus.
The word is “rapiemur” in Latin. http://www.Vulgate.org
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. New American Standard Bible.
The English word “rapture” comes from “rapiemur” of the Latin translation of the Bible.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. The original Greek word for “caught up” is ηαρπαζο/harpazo. Per Strong’s Concordance it means: to seize, carry off by force, claim for one’s self eagerly, to snatch out or away.
Jesus will seize and claim eagerly for Himself those who believe in Him. Once believers are claimed, we are forever with Him. If the security of that verse is not enough…
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Rapture Verses in the Bible
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
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Genesis 5:21-24 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
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2 Kings 2:11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.
Elisha was not the only witness to this event. 2 Kings 2:7 Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. The text says there were at least 51 others at the event site.
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Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; and devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil, He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walked in his upright way.
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Psalm 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
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Isaiah 25:18 He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken.
The context of these verses in Isaiah has the resurrection first and then there is this…
Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course.
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Zephaniah 2:2-3 Before the decree takes effect. The day passes like the chaff. Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.
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Author page at Amazon… https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Lehr/e/B09W8FB77N
