Reply #60: Yes, it WAS made up. [View All]

[Carolab]

http://www.unknowncountry.com/journal/?id=179

SNIP

What is so terrifying is that this process of turning away from our own future emerges out of a bizarre death wish known as "the Rapture" that is afflicting a substantial enough proportion of the American population to affect the electoral process.

These mad people, and there are millions of them, are led by lunatics who have extrapolated some sort of "code" out of the bible that tells them that the world will soon end and the self selected "elect" will be "raptured" into heaven while the rest of us are left behind by the cruel, selfish and mean-spirited god of their dreams.

In other words, Jesus Christ, the great master of compassion, will transform into the great champion of the selfish, and heap rewards on the few while leaving the many to perish.

Of course, this is silly fallacy. It was invented in the 19th century by a couple of semi-educated fanatics who mixed Bible verses with their own loopy fantasies and came up with something about as sensible as the idiotic Nazi "eternal ice" theories of the crackpot Hans Horbiger.

SNIP

And:

http://www.st-benedict.org/Articles/RAPTURE.htm

SNIP

Based upon a misreading of Revelation 20 and 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, the “Rapture” in its strictest sense refers to a belief that Jesus will return near the end of time to resurrect the dead and remove the living from this earth, will take them to heaven while leaving the lost souls of this world to endure the Tribulation and the reign of the Anti-Christ. For many, it is a very comforting thought that Christians won’t have to endure the Great Tribulation. However, this is NOT the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ or the belief of the ancient Church and we reject it for that and other reasons.

The doctrine of the “rapture” was not heard in Christianity until sometime after 1807 when a Scottish pastor began advocating this concept, much to the joy of his followers. However, the belief wasn’t to gain much adherence until the mid-20th century. Since then, it has become popular to the point of becoming a mandatory doctrine in many churches in North America. As I said, however, this belief was not present in Christianity in the 18 preceding centuries, you won’t find it among the writings of the ancient Christian fathers and that is one reason why Orthodox Christians don’t accept it.

A second reason is this. The doctrine of the rapture does not fit into the outline of end time events as offered by our Lord Jesus Christ. The earliest doctrine of the end times which the first Christians held was given by our Lord Himself and is recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel . These words were understood, believed, and transmitted for five decades before the book of Revelation was written.

SNIP