Rapture, part 1: Why the Rapture is a Bad Idea
Dissidents Guide to Revelation, Part 20
The Surprising Origins of Rapture Theology
Undoubtedly, you've encountered the term "rapture" in conversations over the past week. Whenever our collective attention zeroes in on a significant event, whether celestial or political, the word inevitably surfaces. During an eclipse, it's inescapable. Online influencers seize upon it, leveraging the topic to garner views and likes, capitalizing on evangelical fears. Let me be clear from the outset: I firmly believe that the concept of the Rapture is flawed. Full stop. My assertion is that the idea itself lacks basis in orthodox Christianity and warrants full and outright dismissal. The very idea stands on shaky ground and is devoid of any substantial foundation. Allow me to explain.
As I've previously discussed in a previous post, 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 or 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. But how did we arrive at this point?
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 and featured columns alongside the biblical text with markings denoting important words and their occurrences elsewhere in the Bible. His innovative approach allowed readers to track word usage across the biblical canon, a task previously reserved for academics. I addition to the chain reference system, Scofields Bible contained copious footnotes where he incorporated Darby's Dispensationalist theology, sometimes occupying over half of a page to discuss the rapture and the tribulation he believed would follow.
For instance, consider Thessalonians 4:17, where Paul writes about believers being caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord. Scofield's footnotes interpret this as part of the Rapture doctrine, linking it to other passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. American Evangelicals absorbed this theology through the pages of the Scofield Study Bible, embracing the vision Margaret had received years earlier. Within a century, the Rapture became a central part of evangelical doctrine and belief and to question it was to question the Bible itself.
The Surprising Allegiance to Rapture Theology
In my teen years, I remember Rapture theology being tightly wound up with international politics, and it was supposed that Russia and China (the biggest perceived threats to the USA) were featured prominently as the bad guys. And I also noticed in my early adult years that, as our greatest international threat shifted from Russia to Middle Eastern and ethnically Muslim countries, our eschatology also shifted to include them in the role of tribulation enemies.
When I became an ordained minister, I was surprised to find that most denominations, including the one I was being ordained in, required a belief in the rapture and a speculative reading of the book of Revelation. But I also noticed that most of the pastors, including the heads of the denomination, didn’t really believe it. Rather, with a wink and a nod, they paid some sort of homage to it as an empty signifier, a symbol that more communicated cultural roots than actual hope for the world. I once raised the question in a room filled with pastors and denominational leadership and received an awkward smile and a request that we simply not make waves about it. I could sense a desire to walk the line in a way that didn’t drive out the old guard, while also trying not to repel new prospective church planters who hold to a more traditional and orthodox view regarding eschatology.
It’s not hard to see why evangelical leaders have taken the idea less seriously In recent years. Dispensationalist theology has fallen out of favor in academic circles and has been widely abandoned by denominations and seminaries. Nevertheless, its lingering effects persist, as evidenced by recent events.
Next, we'll delve into how Rapture theology has become harmful to the church and the world. If time permits, I'll also endeavor to present a more holistic view of the church's future hope.
Barbara Rossing, The Rapture Exposed, p22
Ibid