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Originally Posted by twin50
I would like to ask if anyone would like to discuss or share their belief in the "Rapture" versus the second coming of Jesus. Rapture from what I believe is where most Christians believe that they will be gone before the chaos begins. I will start I am not pro rapture ....
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The so-called, 'Rapture' is a creation of the imagination of John Darby, an Anglican minister of the Church of Ireland, as well as an occasional Irish barrister. In 1830, or thereabouts, Darby fastened upon I Thessalonians 4:15-17 as the foundational scripture for his rapture theory. That scripture is, unquestionably, abstruse; and, consequently, open to varied interpretation. It reads:
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'For this we say to you by the word of The Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of The Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For The Lord, Himself, will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with The Lord.'
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Exactly how Darby got, 'the Rapture' out of this text is beyond this simple bible-reading Christian's mind? Neither does Darby's, 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card agree with the Apostle John's more straightforward and relevant prophesy recorded in Revelation 3:8-13. It reads:
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'Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man might succeed in taking away thy crown.'
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There is no, 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card; neither is there going to be. Speaking personally, I'm much more inclined to agree with Sir Isaac Newton's prognostications about Christ's Second Coming than I ever might be with John Darby's muddled religious rambling. (Kind 'a like Disneyland for timorous Christian Fundamentalists!)
