RAPTURE MYTHS
By Dr. Thomas Ice
Hardly a week goes by that I don't receive material opposing
the pre-tribulation rapture which is filled with all kinds of error, both
Scriptural and historical. For example, I ran across an article entitled "Origin
of the Secret Rapture Theory." The first sentence said, "It may surprise and
even shock you that neither the word 'rapture' nor the teaching of a secret
rapture is not mentioned in ANY Christian literature prior to 1830-including the
Bible!" I am hardly surprised or shocked that anyone could pack so much error
into a single sentence, but there we have for all to see. This month I want to
deal with some of the popular myths about the pre-trib rapture teaching that I
very much believe is taught in the New Testament Scriptures.
The Term "Rapture"
First of all, the word "rapture" is found in the Bible, if you have the
Latin Vulgate produced by Jerome in the early 400s. The Vulgate was the
main Bible of the medieval Western Church until the Reformation. It continues to
this day as the primary Latin translation of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, as
we shall see later, it was Protestants who introduced the word "rapture" into
the English language from the Latin raeptius.[1] It was Jerome's
Vulgate that translated the original Greek verb harpaz™ used by Paul, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is usually
translated into English with the phrase "caught up." The leading Greek Lexicon
says that harpaz™ means "snatch, seize, i.e., take suddenly and vehemently."[2]
This is the same meaning of the Latin word rapio "to seize, snatch, tear away."[3]
It should not be surprising to anyone, that an English word was
developed from the Latin which we use today known as "rapture."
In Europe, during the Middle Ages and Reformation periods, the theologians were
from various countries and therefore spoke different native tongues. However,
the single language of the church, both Catholic and Protestant was Latin. In
fact, many of the first books written and published in the American Colonies
during the seventeenth century were in Latin. For example, Cotton Mather's
famous history of the American Colonies during the seventeenth century was
written in Latin and called Magnalia Christi Americana, or The Great Works of
Christ in America.[4] Because it was done in Latin it could be
read throughout Europe by the educated class. Thus, it should not be
surprising to anyone that many new words came into the English language from a
Latin source, especially in the realm of theology. Rapture is just such a word.
While it is technically true that the word rapture
does not appear in the English Bible, it does, nevertheless, appear in the Latin
Vulgate translation of the Bible. Certainly the notion of a rapture
appears many times in the Bible. Translators of the Bible into English could
have been justified had they translated "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 with
the English word "rapture." They also could have translated it by the word
snatch. We could just as easily call the rapture "the great snatch."
I have in my personal library at least 50 commentaries on 1 Thessalonians.
Virtually all of them use the word "rapture" to describe the event in 1
Thessalonians 4:17. They do not appear interested in using it in a derogatory
way nor do any of them go on an excursus about how this word does not appear in
English translations. Most of these commentators do not hold to a
pre-tribulation rapture view. They merely use the word because they know that it
is one of the many Latin words that have made it into the English theological
vernacular. Sorry that some have not yet heard.
The rapture does occur in the Bible, especially if you read the Latin Vulgate.
However, there is no doubt that the Greek word harpaz™ in 1 Thessalonians 4:17,
usually translated into English "caught up," conveys the rapture concept.
"Rapture" Usage
Our anti-rapture diatribe noted earlier said, "the word 'rapture' nor the
teaching of a secret rapture is not mentioned in ANY Christian literature prior
to 1830." Oh really! It is not hard to find out when English words were first
introduced into the language. One needs only to check The Oxford English
Dictionary (OED) and it will cite examples of the history of the usage of the
word. The oldest word in the "rapture" family is "rapt." OED cites examples of
"rapt" occurring in 1400 in English literature.[5] The earliest
instances of "rapture" in secular English literature are cited as 1605, 1607,
and 1608.[6] OED provides seven nuances of the word Rapture. The
fourth entry is the biblical one defined as "The act of conveying a person from
one place to another esp. to heaven; the fact of being so conveyed."[7] Two
examples of this use are cited from the seventeenth century. The first by a
writer named Ward in 1647 and the other by J. Edwards (not the American
Jonathan) in 1693.[8] It does not take long to realize that
these examples are well before 1830.
Joseph Mede (1586-1638), considered in his day, a brilliant English exegete
wrote a commentary on Revelation in 1627 called Clavis Apocalyptica (Key of the
Revelation). In it he said, "Therefore, it is not needful that the Resurrection
of those which slept in Christ, and the Rapture of those which shall be left
alive together with them in the air . . ."[9] While Mede was a
pre-millennialist, he did not hold to a pre-trib rapture. Nor did the
commentator and theologian John Gill (1697-1771) who wrote around 1745 the
following in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4:17: ". . . and to which rapture
will contribute, the agility which the bodies both of the raised and changed
saints will have: and this rapture of the living saints will be together with
them; . . ."[10]
To admit that the word rapture was used in the English language at least a
couple of hundred years before J. N. Darby came along does not in the least mean
that one believes in pre-tribulationism. The Greek word harpaz™ is used fourteen
times in the New Testament. In addition to 1 Thessalonians 4:17, it is used at
least three more times of one being raptured to heaven (2 Cor. 12:2, 4; Rev.
12:5). So there is no need to get upset over the use
of the Latin based, English word "rapture." It is a biblical word.
The "Secret" Rapture Myth
Included in the above tirade is an equation of the so-called "secret" rapture
with pre-tribulationism. Sorry, but this is another mistake, another myth. In
all my reading of pre-tribulationism and discussion with pre-tribulationists, I
have never, that I can recall, heard a pre-trib rapturist use the nomenclature
of "secret" rapture to describe our view. I have only heard the phrase "secret"
rapture as a pejorative term used exclusively by anti-pretribulationists. Why?
Apparently they enjoy fighting with a straw man.
Anti-pretribulationist, Ken Gentry declares, "On the very surface it is
remarkable that one of the noisiest verses in Scripture is said to picture the
secret rapture."[11] The truth of the matter is that Gentry
wrongly assumes that pre-tribulationists characterize their view of the rapture
as "secret." We do not! However, there are anti-pre-trib rapture advocates, like
Dave MacPherson who have taught this myth. As a result, unwitting critics like
Gentry have absorbed this myth into their rhetoric without doing their homework.
Very likely it was Dave MacPherson who has spread this myth that equates pre-tribulationism
with a secret rapture. "In 1880 William Reid, in his book on Brethrenism,"
declares MacPherson, "stated that 'Edward Irving contributed the notion of . . .
the secret rapture of the saints.'[12]" MacPherson later
concludes, "The pre-tribulation rapture eventually became known as the 'secret
rapture.'[13] This label was based on the presupposition that
only certain persons would have privileged visibility or knowledge during the
occurrence of this catching up."[14] MacPherson does not actually
reference anyone who believes in a pre-tribulation rapture when he makes these
statements. It is through slight of hand that he slips such an assumption into
his plot of fictional myths about the origins of pre-tribulationism.
In fact, Brethren researcher R. A. Huebner refutes MacPherson's misinformation
about the pre-trib rapture and its supposed association with a secret rapture
teaching.[15] Huebner notes that supposed relation of pre-tribulationism
and a secret rapture are built upon the following false historical assumptions:
First, the "erroneous notions are the result of the myth that the Irvingites
held a pre-tribulation rapture and also results from trying to link J. N. D.
with this falsified Irvingism."[16] Second, when speaking of
events transpiring in the 1830s, Huebner says, "the Secret Rapture as used at
that point in time did not refer to the pretribulation rapture."[17]
Third, "it seems that up to this point in time [the 1830s, T. D. I.], 'Secret
Rapture' referred to a rapture at the appearing [the second coming, T. D. I.]."[18]
Fourth, "I am not aware if JND ever thought that the rapture would be 'secret.'"[19]
It was the Irvingites, and not the Brethren, who believed in the secret rapture.
Since the secret rapture and pre-tribulationism are not the same, this is where
much of the confusion resides. The Irvingite view of the secret rapture was a
belief that a few enlightened ones would be taken right before the second coming
at the end of the tribulation. This is what Irvingite, Margaret Macdonald's
revelation is about. It is impossible to find a pre-tribulation rapture of any
kind in her vision.[20]
Conclusion
I am sure that this call to anti-pre-tribulation rapture advocates will not
result in much of a reduction of their zealous proclamation of mythological
falsehoods about our blessed hope. It seems that too many are blinded by their
zeal to oppose the biblical teachings of the any-moment hope of the rapture for
them to take time to get their information straight. No wonder Columba Graham
Flegg, in his scholarly work on the Irvingites spoke specifically of Dave
MacPherson's work as "less scholarly." Flegg said, the "conclusions reached in
this work and the rationale behind them are hardly convincing."[21]
Now why is an expert on the Irvingites not impressed with MacPherson's work?
Because Flegg has a thorough knowledge about the times in which MacPherson
writes and realizes that he is spinning out myths.
Endnotes
-----------------------------
[1] The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary
(New York, Oxford Press, 1971), s.v., "Rapture."
[2] Walter Bauer, William Arndt, and Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of
The New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1957), p. 108.
[3] Cassell's Latin Dictionary (New York, MacMillan, 1968), pp. 500-01.
[4] Cotton Mather, The Great Works of Christ in America, 2 vols. (Carlisle, PA:
The Banner of Truth Trust, 1979). The first edition was printed in London in
1702.
[5] OED, s.v., "Rapt."
[6] OED, s.v., "Rapture."
[7] OED, s.v., "Rapture."
[8] OED, s.v., "Rapture."
[9] Cited in R. A. Huebner, Precious Truths Revived and Defended Through J. N.
Darby, Vol. 1 (Morganville, NJ: Present Truth Publishers, 1991), p. 95.
[10] John Gill, Exposition of The Old & New Testaments, 9 Vols. (Paris, AR: The
Baptist Standard Bearer, [1809] reprint 1989), Vol. 9, p. 238.
[11] Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial
Eschatology (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1992), p. 279.
[12] William Reid, Plymouth Brethrenism Unveiled and Refuted (Edinburgh: Wm.
Oliphant & Co., 1880), p. 10.
[13] Dave MacPherson, The Rapture Plot (Simpsonville, SC: Millennium III
Publishers, 1994), p. 17.
[14] MacPherson, Rapture Plot, p. 72.
[15] R. A. Huebner, The Truth of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Recovered
(Millington, NJ: Present Truth Publishers, 1976), pp. 40-49; and Huebner,
Precious Truths, Vol. 1, pp. 95-99.
[16] Huebner, Pre-Tribulation Rapture Recovered, p. 43.
[17] Huebner, Pre-Tribulation Rapture Recovered, p. 42.
[18] Huebner, Pre-Tribulation Rapture Recovered, p. 48.
[19] Huebner, Precious Truths, Vol. 1, p. 99.
[20] To read a copy of Margaret Macdonald's vision see MacPherson, Rapture Plot,
pp. 249-52.
[21] Columba Graham Flegg, 'Gathered Under Apostles': A Study of the Catholic
Apostolic Church (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), pp. 4-5.
-----------------------------------