Why the Rapture is a Bad Idea

The Rapture is a Bad Idea

The concept of the Rapture finds no mention in the writings of the Church Fathers, nor does it align with the theological frameworks of the Byzantine Church or the Medieval Church. In fact, many American Evangelicals are surprised to learn that this idea is less than two centuries old and predominantly confined to American Evangelical circles. It's a cultural artifact of our tradition.

The origins of the Rapture trace back to early 19th-century Scotland, circa 1830, in the town of Port Glasgow1 where, during a charismatic healing service, a young girl named Margaret MacDonald, only 15 years old at the time, experienced an eschatological vision of a two-staged return of Jesus. Her vision caught the attention of John Nelson Darby, an evangelical preacher and founder of the Plymouth Brethren movement. Darby expanded upon Margaret's vision, positing that Jesus would return twice: first to rapture the church, then to administer final judgment to those who hadn't embraced the message of Jesus.

According to Barbara Rossing, (2) Darby later became a missionary to America, embarking on multiple trips between 1859 and 1877. There, his Rapture theology found a receptive audience, particularly with a man named Cyrus I. Scofield. Scofield was a Bible scholar and was hard at work developing a new system of biblical study to make it accessible to lay Christians. This culminated in the publication of the "Scofield Reference Bible," which was published in 1909 became the biggest driver for Darby's Dispensationalist and rapture theology. Scofield’s bible has been often referred to as the most important document in fundamentalist Christian writing.

The Rapture is a Dangerous Idea

It produces speculative readings of the text.
Speculators read the Bible in order to find some sort of secrets, to see the future, and to decipher who is evil and who is good in the world. Speculative readings of the text create enemies, insiders and outsiders.

It promotes escapism.

The story of the New Testament is God moving towards and into the darkness. Jesus joins us in our suffering to work, to heal, to bring restoration. All of this SO THAT we can like Jesus, work to bring healing and restoration.

Escapist theology that leaves others to suffer alone, away from the presence of Jesus, as the actions of a wrath-filled deity have no place in the church of Jesus. It is completely antithetic to what Jesus was doing on the cross.

It is abusive.

It creates irrational fear and anxiety, fears of abandonment and instability, fears of being left alone in this world. It injects fear into relationships with their peers, creating desperation to convert those whom you love, which is coercive and ultimately destructive to relationships.

It communicates wrong ideas about the character of God revealed in Christ.

What you believe about God matters. If you believe God is “furious and wrathful at sinners”, then you will cultivate a church that is furious and wrathful at sinners. If you believe that God “removes his presence from the world,” then you will cultivate a church that removes its presence from the world.

1 Barbara Rossing, The Rapture Exposed, p22

2 Ibid

 Discussion questions

1) If you grew up believing in the Rapture, how did it affect your faith?
~ Was it a periphery belief or a central idea? Was it an optional belief?

2) If you did not grow up believing in the Rapture, what did you believe?

3) At this point in life, what do you believe Gods plan is for the future?
~ How did you develop this view? ~ What writings have helped give you hope, if any?

4) How has Rapture theology affected your politics, if at all?

5) Have you recently, or are you now, changed/changing your ideas regarding dispensational Rapture theology?

Suggested Reading on Eschatology/Rapture Theology

Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright

The Rapture Exposed, Barbara Rossing.