Correspondence With A Rapturist

Having been an Evangelical Protestant for many years, and having not a few friends still in evangelical ministry, you can understand that I have ended up on several e-mail lists. I am privy to the the latest and most current e-mail warnings, prophecies, controversies, petitions and inspirational mailings making the circuit. It is fascinating to watch the cycle as the same e-mail warnings, prophecies, controversies, petitions and inspirational mailings eventually make the rounds a second and third time posing as new information. I recently received the same circulating e-mail three times from three different sources. I thought the subject interesting enough and since I knew the senders and had what I thought to be good relationship with them, I sent a short response. The e-mail contained a link to a You Tube Video. The video was a well produced dramatization, apparently by a local church, of a typical evangelical church service. The pastor is preaching and the full congregation is listening intently. At a certain point, the pastor mentions the coming of Jesus, lifts his Bible in the air and a loud bang/clap is heard. The Bible goes flying into the air and lands on the ground. Instantly the entire congregation disappears with the exception of about 10 weary souls who look around in a panic, some realizing what has happened and that they have been "Left Behind". The video is tagged with the scripture from Matt.24: 37-41:

"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of Man comes...they suspected nothing 'til the flood came and swept them all away...This is what it will be like when the Son of man comes...one is taken the other left." 

This has long been used as a biblical proof text for the Dispensational Theory of a pre-tribulational Rapture. The following is the correspondence and response. It was enlightening to see again the reoccurring theme in evangelical circles that "Truth/doctrine doesn't matter". I also saw again the fact that to raise the question of doctrinal/biblical validity brings strong reaction and even rebuke from those with such a mind-set.

Original e-mail forwarded by my friend Ann:

Subject: Joyce sent you a video!
From: YouTube Service
To:
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 09:41:38 -0700 (PDT)

YouTube Broadcast Yourself
I want to share the following video with you:
Video Description scary
Personal Message This video is awesome!
Thanks,
Joyce
To change or cancel your email notifications, go to your email options.
Copyright  2006 YouTube, Inc.

My Initial Response:

Ann,

The 24th chapter of Matthew that is the proof text used for this video also says, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of Man comes...they suspected nothing 'til the flood came and swept them all away..This is what it will be like when the Son of man comes..one is taken the other left." Matt.24: 37-41. Look closely at this scripture. Who is taken? The unrighteous! Who is left? The righteous! You had better pray that you are "left behind" not taken. This doctrine of a secret snatching away of Christians before the return of Christ is less than 130 years old, was initiated by Darby, spread by Scofield in his bible notes, is predominately a western evangelical protestant doctrine, cannot be found in one scripture of the Bible, and was never taught by the church throughout its 2000 year history. It is a false doctrine that has been embraced by a western culture and kept alive through the likes of Tim LaHay and Hal Lindsey, both of whom have been proven, through their own writings, to be false prophets. Intellectual and spiritual integrity would require you and your e-mail list to research the validity of my statements rather than continue to embrace an unverifiable doctrine such as this video promotes.Christ will return for his bride, on that we all agree, but only once. One would falsely assume that the pretribulation rapture doctrine is the predominant view. It is important to know that those who hold this view are verifiability in the minority.

May God continue to richly bless you on your journey. I invite you and all you know to my blog: http://journeytoorthodoxy.blogspot.com.

Sincerely Yours Christ,
Nathan Lee Lewis

Ann's response to my response:

Ann (last name omitted) wrote:

Nathan,

I was surprised at the coldness of your response. I too am aware of the writings you spoke of, and yet was raised in Southern Baptist and Dallas Theological teachings. I was with Campus Crusade for Christ, taught by Hal Lindsey for a number of years, was assistant teacher to Tim LaHaye and took some audited courses at Dallas Theological Seminary. I went to W. A. Criswell's church in Dallas where I spoke and taught. I have been to Nancy Coen's Seminars for a number of years and sat under Pastor William Hinn for 2 and one half years. He believes as you do. I have read the early church fathers too. After weighing all of the teachings, I have come to the conclusion that what matters most is that I disappear so that He can appear in me, and be all that He wants to be and do through me. He wants me to be light in order to dispel darkness, and to be consumed with His passionate love for mankind. He wants me to walk in a place of surrender, where I am the reflection of Him in the earth. I am ready to establish His kingdom in the earth whatever it takes, to know Him and make Him known. God is downloading revelation so fast at this time, that many of the beliefs that I have held for so long are changing, and just when I think I've got it, I have to lay it down. He comes everyday to me, and my determined purpose in life is to know Him and make Him known. What I believe about the return of Christ is irrelevant to how I live my life. He will come and when He sets up His kingdom in the earth I am going to be a part of it. Meanwhile, I will occupy till He comes, and unite with the remnant on the important issues of being light and love in the earth, make sure I am walking in the truth He reveals to me, and not major on doctrines that divide. I sent the email only to people I thought believed that way, and not to my other friends who did not believe in the rapture. I have friends on both sides of the fence, and they are all my friends. I am in all of their lives what God has called me to be.

The highest revelation of the kingdom in our lives is love. His love in and through us. If people can't see that then we are sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

Bless you my friend and all that you are doing for the kingdom,

Ann (last name omitted)

My response to Ann's response:

Ann,

Thank you for your thorough and gracious response, I am not sure what you mean by "coldness" as that seems to be an indictment of my heart and character unless you are referring to my conclusions about Hal and Tim, both of whom I have met as well. In that case, "frankness" might be a better and more accurate word. I also know Willie Hinn and have spent some time with him. I am afraid I do not hold so lightly or as "irrelevant", the ramifications of embracing the dispensational mindset which includes the rapture theory, as there is a great body of historic evidence that it negatively effects the very mission of the church to evangelize the world through the planting of deep and enduring roots. I also cannot hold lightly any doctrine that is not the whole truth no matter how many positive motivations that can be gleaned from it. You are not the first to send me a link to this particular video. It is just another in a long list of "interesting" but erroneous things that make the e-mail circuit via the evangelical grapevine. Occasionally I feel compelled to respond. This was such an occasion. But in this vein, I am interested to know what you think of Hal Lindsey today, knowing that the prophecies in the book he wrote in the 70's have, through time, been proven verifiably false. I pray that you aren't just ignoring that fact and haven't purchased a copy of his "new and improved" updated version. It is a shame that anyone would rely on the new, unbiblical teachings of such men, and esteem them more trustworthy than the Fathers of the Faith and the 2000 year old preserved teachings of the whole church. It is also a shame that whenever anyone speaks out about a heretical doctrine or person, they are so quickly accused of coldness of tone, or are given a quick lesson on "love", leaving the original subject matter unaddressed (i.e. Matt 24, Who is taken and who is left? The video uses this verse to suggest the righteous are taken in the Rapture.). Such accusers fail to understand that the prophecies in the scripture were 99.9% "negative" and always contained warnings and conditions. Such confrontations with heresies are for the preservation of the truth of the Living God and are intended to expose the wolves in sheep's clothing who would deceive and destroy God's sheep. All seven of the ecumenical councils of the church met around such heretical matters. I am sure the Bishops who confronted these heresies were considered cold and unloving as well. The modern evangelical presumption that prophetic words, to be valid, must be "positive", spoken with a gentle voice, make the hearer only rejoice, or only confirm what people already know, is foreign to the Scripture and the Faith of our Fathers. Finally, I am not on any side of any "fence". It is not orthodox to hold a personal opinion on doctrinal matters. All matters of doctrine have already been decided. I try in my own feeble way, (Lord have mercy on me a sinner) to stand in same holy place of truth, the faith of the Apostles, as preserved within the undivided Orthodox church for 2000 years. It is only through entering those sacred doors that one can know what truth is. Outside those doors one is forced to find truth within one of over 35,000 thousand documented denominational fences, camps, and groups with their myriads of ever changing beliefs.

I have enjoyed this discourse with you and treasure your heart, ministry, and friendship.

Sincerely Yours In Christ,

Nathan Lee Lewis

I remember becoming fast friends with a Baptist Youth Pastor a few years back. He was so precious and had such a spirit of love, enthusiasm and compassion. He had only been a Christian for a short time but had risen through the ranks of official ministry very quickly. I, myself, had only recently had an epiphany of understanding concerning the second coming of Christ. It is no easy thing to have lived, even been birthed, in the Pre-Tribulational Rapture world, to think any other way. I perhaps wasn't sensitive to have brought up to my Baptist friend the possibility that what he believed wasn't true, but when I saw the shock and even fear come over him that what he held so dear was being challenged, I backed off. The phrase "pick your battles" comes to mind. The belief that Jesus will come secretly to snatch all the Christians off the Earth before "The Great Tribulation" breaks loose has become a doctrine of hope and comfort to those who believe it. (The scripture actually uses the phrase "great tribulation" as an adjective not a noun. There is no "the" before "great".) I do regret, but am not surprised, at Ann's decision not to discuss the original topic. The premise is: All hell is going to break loose but don't worry, you won't be here for it. It is not God's will for his children to suffer, so out of mercy he will remove the Christians and destroy those who remain. Then HE will put the Christians back on Earth to reign and rule with Christ for 1000 years. Facing new truth about this area of belief is much like the Truman Show syndrome. One doesn't even know to ask questions or even consider that what he is seeing and believing may not be real until a spotlight nearly falls on their head. This belief is all he has ever known and he knows no other possibility.

Before proceeding, I would suggest that for an evangelical Protestant to look at this matter with rationality and thoughtfulness, he must decide to be consistent in his method of scriptural interpretation. Such evangelicals have been taught to approach interpretation of passages of scripture literally but, in fact, when it comes to "last days" scripture or prophesies that support the rapture doctrine, literalism is not consistently used. For instance, much is made of the "1000 year reign". According to the rapture doctrine, Christians are to reign with Jesus for a literal 1000 years on the earth. Let's be consistent. The very same term, "1000", is used in another passage of scripture, so here is the question: If  "our Father owns the cattle on a '1000' hills", who owns the cattle on hill number 1001? The fact is, the term, 1000, is a phrase meaning "a long time." I would appeal to the intellectual integrity (intellect is given of God and is not the opposite of spirituality) of anyone to study first how to study before becoming a dogmatist on any doctrine. That having been said, let's see what the undivided body of Christ has taught and maintained about the second coming of Christ for 2000 years.

In simple and non-convoluted terms:

1. There is only one Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the age.

2. Christ returns in a very visible way. Every eye will see him.

3. All who oppose Him will be "taken away" .

4. Those who belong to Him will remain and reign with Him for a "long time".

In the Church there is NO concept of:

1. Two separate returns of Jesus, one for the Church and one for the world.

2. A secret coming of Jesus where believers instantly disappear.

3. All who oppose him are "left behind".

4. Those who belong to him are "taken away" and return years later.

In their Words:

Justin, Dialog with Trypho, CX

"[T]wo advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as suffering, inglorious, dishonored, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians..."

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V, XXV, 3

"'And its ten horns are ten kings which shall arise; and after them shall arise another, who shall surpass in evil deeds all that were before him, and shall overthrow three kings; and he shall speak words against the most high God, and wear out the saints of the most high God, and shall purpose to change times and laws; and [everything] shall be given into his hand until a time of times and a half time,' that is, for three years and six months, during which time, when he comes, he shall reign over the earth. Of whom also the Apostle Paul again, speaking in the second [Epistle] to the Thessalonians, and at the same time proclaiming the cause of his advent, thus says: 'And then shall the wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy by the presence of His coming."

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V, XXV, 4

"And then he points out the time that his tyranny shall last, during which the saints shall be put to flight, they who offer a pure sacrifice unto God: 'And in the midst of the week,' he says, 'the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation [shall be brought] into the temple: even unto the consummation of the time shall the desolation be complete.' Now three years and six months constitute the half-week."

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, XXV

"In the Revelation of John, again, the order of these times is spread out to view, which the souls of the martyrs' are taught to wait for beneath the altar, whilst they earnestly pray to be avenged and judged: (taught, I say, to wait), in order that the world may first drink to the dregs the plagues that await it out of the vials of the angels, and that the city of fornication may receive from the ten kings its deserved doom, and that the beast Antichrist with his false prophet may wage war on the Church of God; and that, after the casting of the devil into the bottomless pit for a while, the blessed prerogative of the first resurrection may be ordained from the thrones; and then again, after the consignment of him to the fire, that the judgment of the final and universal resurrection may be determined out of the books. Since, then, the Scriptures both indicate the stages of the last times, and concentrate the harvest of the Christian hope in the very end of the world..."

Hippolytus, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, 47

"For this is meant by the little horn that grows up. He, being now elated in heart, begins to exalt himself, and to glorify himself as God, persecuting the saints and blaspheming Christ, even as Daniel says, 'I considered the horn, and, behold, in the horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things; and he opened his mouth to blaspheme God. And that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed against them until the beast was slain, and perished, and his body was given to be burned.'"

Hippolytus, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, 61

"That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains,..."

Appendix to the Works of Hippolytus, XXV

"For when Daniel said, 'I shall make my covenant for one week,' he indicated seven years; and the one half of the week is for the preaching of the prophets, and for the other half of the week that is to say, for three years and a half Antichrist will reign upon the earth. And after this his kingdom and his glory shall be taken away. Behold, ye who love God, what manner of tribulation there shall rise in those days, such as has not been from the foundation of the world, no, nor ever shall be, except in those days alone. Then the lawless one, being lifted up in heart, will gather together his demons in man's form, and will abominate those who call him to the kingdom, and will pollute many souls."

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse, 20:1

"The little season signifies three years and six months, in which with all his power the devil will avenge himself trader Antichrist against the Church."

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Book VII, Sec. II, XXXII

"For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word; and the sheep shall be changed into wolves, and love into hatred: for through the abounding of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one another. And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips; and many shall be offended at Him. But they that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and afterwards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the archangel; and in that interval shall be the revival of those that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the angels of His power, in the throne of His kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his deeds. 'Then shall the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous shall go into life eternal,' to inherit those things 'which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, such things as God hath prepared for them that love Him;'and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of God, which is in Christ Jesus."

These are just a few of the Early Church Fathers who speak of Christ returning only once at the end of the age. There is no mention of a secret snatching away so as to remove Christians from great tribulation that is to occur at the hands of anti-Christ. What difference does it make? Several generations of Protestant believers, especially in the West, are being told that they will miss the tribulation of the end times. It is doubtful they will be prepared for severe persecution and it is likely many will be counted among those who fall away or are are duped by the false miracles, signs, and wonders that will accompany the power of the anti-Christ to deceive.

Which is more valid: The Doctrine of the undivided Church as written, documented, and preserved by the Fathers of the Church for 2000 years, or the doctrine that first surfaced in the late 1800's initiated by a teenage girl, Margaret McDonald, whose alleged prophetic vision was seized upon by Darby and carried into the modern age by the bible notes of his follower Scofield?