Proof the Rapture is False Using Scripture (Catholic Apologetics for Beginners)

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The rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."[1] The origin of the term extends from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians in the Bible, which uses the Greek word harpazo (Ancient Greek: ἁρπάζω), meaning "to snatch away" or "to seize". This view of eschatology is referred to as premillennial dispensationalism, a form of futurism that considers various prophecies in the Bible as remaining unfulfilled and occurring in the future.

The idea of a rapture is used frequently among fundamentalist theologians in the United States.[2] Rapture has also been used for a mystical union with God or for eternal life in Heaven.[3]

Differing viewpoints exist about the exact timing of the rapture and whether Christ's return would occur in one event or two. Pretribulationism distinguishes the rapture from the second coming of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, 2 Thessalonians, and Revelation. This view holds that the rapture would precede the seven-year Tribulation, which would culminate in Christ's second coming and be followed by a thousand-year Messianic Kingdom.[4][5] This theory grew out of the translations of the Bible that John Nelson Darby analyzed in 1833. Pretribulationism is the most widely held view among Christians believing in the rapture today, although this view is disputed within evangelicalism.[6] Some assert a post-tribulational rapture.

Most Christian denominations do not subscribe to rapture theology and have a different interpretation of the aerial gathering described in 1 Thessalonians 4. Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, the United Church of Christ, most Methodist and Reformed Christians, Unity Church, Latter-day Saints, etc. do not generally use rapture as a specific theological term, nor do they generally subscribe to the premillennial dispensational views associated with its use.[7] Instead these groups typically interpret rapture in the sense of the elect gathering with Christ in Heaven after his second coming[8][9][10][11] and reject the idea that a large segment of humanity will be left behind on earth for an extended tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Some predictions of the date of the Second Coming of Jesus (which may or may not refer to the rapture) include the following:

1843-44: William Miller predicted that Christ would return between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844, then revised his prediction, claiming to have miscalculated the Bible, to 22 October 1844. The realization that the predictions were incorrect resulted in the Great Disappointment. Miller's theology gave rise to the Advent movement. Followers of the Baháʼí Faith believe that Christ did return as Miller predicted in 1844, with the advent of the Báb, and numerous Miller-like prophetic predictions from many religions are given in William Sears' book, Thief in The Night.[117]
1914,[118] 1918,[119] and 1925:[120] Various dates predicted for the Second Coming of Jesus by the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Some predictions of the date of the rapture include the following:

1981: Chuck Smith predicted that Jesus would probably return by 1981.[121]
1988: Edgar C. Whisenant published a book called "88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988".[122]
1994 September 6: Radio evangelist Harold Camping predicted 6 September 1994.[123]
2011 May 21: Harold Camping's revised prediction put 21 May 2011 as the date of the rapture.[124][125] After this date passed without apparent incident, Camping made a radio broadcast stating that a non-visible "spiritual judgement" had indeed taken place, and that the physical rapture would occur on 21 October 2011. On that date, according to Camping, the "whole world will be destroyed."[126]
2017 September 23: Christian numerologist David Meade motivated this date with astrological theories.