Rapture

1 Thessalonians

1 Thes 4:13-18

¹³ We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
¹⁵ Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, 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 [raptured!] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
¹⁸ Therefore, console one another with these words.

Theories about the Rapture

Left Behind

The picture of some being "taken away" and others "left behind" comes from some parables and sayings of Jesus in the synoptics.

When the terms "taken away" and "left behind" are fitted to the Rapture verse, those who are "taken away" are the lucky ones and those who are "left behind" are doomed to suffer and die. In this sense, those who found a place on Noah's ark were "taken away," while all other living beings were "left behind" to drown.

The sense of some of Jesus' sayings is exactly the opposite of this scenario. Those who are "taken" are like soldiers taken captive in battle. They are the losers, and their fate is that of miserable enslavement or death. Those who are "left behind" are the lucky ones who escape capture. They live to fight another day. It is the enemy who takes them captive and plunges them into misery, not the Lord taking them up into the heavens to preserve them from tribulations.

All will suffer

The great attraction of the doctrine of the Rapture is the idea that believers will be given a ringside seat in the heavens while only the wicked are "left behind" to suffer the time of tribulation. I believe that the Catholic teaching is that the faithful will suffer, too. Believers will have the consolation of knowing what God is doing, but they will still have to persevere to the end in order to win the rewards of victory (Rev 2-3).

³⁴ “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.

³⁵ For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.

³⁶ Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Before, During, or After the Millenium?

What is the relationship between the Rapture and the Millenium?

• Carl Olson, Will Catholics Be Left Behind?

Term	Definition
Premillenialism	The Rapture comes before the Millenium.
Postmillenialism	The Rapture comes after the Millenium.
Mid-tribulation	Christians get Raptured after 3.5 of the 7 years of Tribulation, which comes after the Millenium.
Amillenarianism	There is no Millenium; the Rapture coincides with Judgment Day.

Using this terminology, Catholic teaching is closest to the Amillenarian position. The Church does not teach that Christians will be spared the final Tribulation.