rapture is an "American church" doctrine???

[saved by Grace]

I am really*UPSET*tonight.

I went to a "Bible study" with a local teacher (nobody famous) who I was told is "great" and I was stunned and appalled by what he taught:

He claims the rapture is an "American church doctrine" and that if you were to go to places such as Iran or China, where they're being persecuted & martyred for their faith, and told them all about the rapture, they'd call you crazy and say that they've been persecuted for so many years and "now we're going to be raptured? I don't think so." He further went on to state that "if" someone were to try to convince him there is a rapture and used scripture, he'd show them "a bunch" of scriptures that say it's not so.

And to think I wasted an hour of my time listening to this DRIVEL... :faint

Has anyone ever heard any famous or not-so-famous preachers who believe this NONSENSE??? Please tell me other churches around the world aren't preaching this!
if he is not saved he will be in for a very rude awakening when it happens.how come people that do not take the Bible literally end up as teachers?!? :doh

[saved by Grace]

Don't be alarmed by this. There are many churches, who, through various forms of Catholicism, have been historically taught to take the Scriptures as allegorical, or non-literally. If they read Scripture as allegory, then they miss so many of the rich literal promises Christ has given us.

The true church has many answers to these critics...I'd suggest you get the book 'The End Times Controversy' which defends the Pre-Trib doctrine. http://www.amazon.com/End-Times-Controversy-Prophecy-Library/dp/0736912649/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229706594&sr=1-1
Excellent resource to help one understand the truth given in Scripture.

These guys, without the proper theological defense of studying the Word, can and do bring much confusion into the church. You need to be armed so that, through Scripture, you can prove their teachings, if not false, then at best, confused.

it saddens me you are right.:tsk i mean you are right and all and i am happy for the truth.it is people that don't like the truth and they make up excuses and false doctrine to support their view.

[Lvanett]

even if he sounds set on it, you should still try.

I hear ya....but I have no intention of going to another of his bible studies. Besides (and this is not really an excuse) it's on a work night, and with the medication I take and the fact I have to be up early in the morning for work (5:30am), I really can't sit up and waste that kind of time. I take sleep and depression meds, and I have to be in bed by a certain time otherwise I oversleep. This visit to his bible study was a one-time thing, I did it mainly cuz the friend who recommended him kept nagging me to come.

[SaberTruth]

Most of the time when I encounter anti-pre-tribbers, they throw Corrie Ten Boom at me. She supposedly talked to Chinese who were told that the rapture would happen before the commies took over, and when it didn't happen, they were poorly prepared for the suffering. So they take this and run with it, blaming pre-trib and calling it a false teaching that's only escapist and harmful.

I try to explain that Christians of all ages have had to suffer, that the rapture is not because the Christians of this particular time are more holy or deserving than all others, and that those who allegedly told them this surely had to know that the trib will be global and not limited to China, but it falls on deaf ears.

And on this basis they reject pre-trib. Using some zealous but misguided and short-sighted pre-tribbers to debunk the view is both fallacious and revealing. They, like unbelievers, simply look for any scapegoat to reject what they refuse to believe. And they don't stop there; they frequently hurl insult and call names to us as false teachers giving false hope.

I've encountered nothing short of hatred for the pre-trib view. It seems to be a growing trend along with our own "Christian" leaders considering anyone who resists purpose, promise, and patriarchy as backward fundies who are afraid to suffer or change. Satan is surely working feaverishly to fragment the church as he sees his end approaching.

[Gottschell]

*snip* somethings just aren't worth arguing about.


if he is not saved he will be in for a very rude awakening when it happens.how come people that do not take the Bible literally end up as teachers?!? :doh
and if he is it won't matter.

[Lvanett]

amen!

[all things]

Several years ago I watched a TV teacher (very briefly...found out he was vehemently anti-Rapture) that used these Bible verses to say the Rapture was false. I'll always remember him saying this...it was the ultimate :scratch moment.


Ez. 13:18 "And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the [women] that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive [that come] unto you?"

EZ. 13:20 "Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, [even] the souls that ye hunt to make [them] fly".

[SaberTruth]

That's quite a stretch! I see no connection at all.

[Biblenuggetlady]

Several years ago I watched a TV teacher (very briefly...found out he was vehemently anti-Rapture) that used these Bible verses to say the Rapture was false. I'll always remember him saying this...it was the ultimate :scratch moment.

I know exactly who you were watching...Shephard's Chapel. Bad news on many points. I had a discussion with Chuck Missler after I'd heard the above statement made, and got an education on this false teacher. He's on during the wee hours of the evening/morning for a reason. :tsk

[all things]

I know exactly who you were watching...Shephard's Chapel.

Heh...what a character! When I watched him he was on at 2 pm, but I haven't seen anything of him in years. What a negative nellie he was. I still don't get pillows in the armholes. :hehee