"Hey are you ever afraid you'll miss the Rapture and be left behind?"

  So, many people are familiar with the widely popular Left Behind fiction book series and the following movies starring Kirk Cameron.  The Rapture is the idea that Jesus is going to come back again secretly and invisibly and take his church out of the world, leaving behind non Christians to face the terrible tribulation. 

  So I get asked this question today by an atheist friend of mine, trying to push a button I guess.  So I had a bit of a chuckle and simply answered no, and had a little chat about "the Rapture"

  The Rapture is a wide spread belief in evangelical Christianity today, especially considering that the Left Behind series has sold more than 50 million copies.  The Rapture is a wide spread belief even though this belief is actually quite new!  Actually its even newer than Mormonism.  Absolutely no one was preaching about the Rapture before 1830 AD, this is not a traditional belief of the Christian church.  The early church taught that Jesus Christ was coming back once, just once, not 2 or even 3 times.  But if you subscribe to the idea of the Rapture you believe Jesus is coming back more than once. 

  I thought I would expand a bit on the work Parousia (second coming or appearing) which is a big word when it comes to the Rapture.  When Paul uses this word he is using it in the context of what the audience would have understood it to be in that day, they would have understood it in the context of Caesar.  After Caesar would have been away from the city or off fighting a battle, when he would return to the city in victory and glory all the people of the city would go out to meet him, to welcome him back.  In this same theme Jesus will one day come back and we who have relationship with him will welcome him back on bended knee. 

It is in this context that we read 1Thessalonians 4:13-18:
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

  This verse is about Christians giving Jesus a royal welcome back to earth in the air.  Those who have died rise to meet Christ first then those that are still alive.  This has nothing to a Rapture, it has to do with Jesus coming back to Judge the world and Christians giving him a Royal welcome back to earth.  The Thessalonians understood how to welcome kings.  In fact their city was named after Alexander the Great's sister, and was a walled city.

One verse Id like to quickly menton is a favorite of many people who defend the Rapture.  Matthew 24:36-41 
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

So in the Noah story who was taken away and who was left behind?  The lost were taken away and the righteous were left behind.  Those left behind were happy to be left behind!  So this has nothing to do with a "Rapture"

  I have heard the Rapture referred to as "theological comfort food" because in popularity during the civil war.  It was sort of an escape plan, a way to get out of suffering. I have to agree with this since the Rapture is pretty much teaching that "we can get out of here"  Today the teaching of the Rapture is mainly spread through popular level books and tracts among laymen, because this is not a teaching rooted in church history.  When we read the Bible we are looking for the original intended meaning of the text, not a new interpretation hundreds of years later.

  With most Christians who ascribe to the teaching of the Rapture I usually just ask them is Jesus coming back once or many times? 

  I really enjoy this topic but I don't want to go on forever in this short blog.  If I receive any objections though Ill tackle them.  Also its after midnight and I am typing this in a hurry so Im sure its not high quality, but I wanted to get it out before I forgot :)

So to close, am I worried about being "left behind"?  no, I'm saved and in relationship with Jesus.  Also the Rapture is not something I need to consider, because its a belief newer than Mormonism, supported biblically and Jesus is coming back once.

"Come on now, we cant trust anything that happened 2000 years ago"

  The other day I was on the bus and decided to start up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me.  I asked him, "if your favourite dog was drowning and your nasty neighbour was drowning who would you rescue?"  He has a good laugh, said it was actually a really hard question but he would save his nasty neighbour because of the value of human life.  I asked him why he felt that way and we started a conversation. 

   After a few minutes I told him I was a christian and he has another good laugh.  I asked him why he thought that was funny and he said "because you believe in things that might have happened 2000 years ago.  We cant trust anything that happened 2000 years ago"

  So is this true?  Can we not trust historical events or that historical people existed so long ago? 

I asked him if he believed Alexander the Great was a real person and if he actually did the things that were attributed to him.  He laughed and said of course.  I asked why and he explained that Alexander the Great was a historical person and the historical records prove that.  So I explained that the first records about Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch 400 years after his death, yet historians consider these records very reliable and accurate regarding this Greek conqueror.

  In history the time gap that is the most important is the gap between the events and when they were recorded, not how long ago they were recorded.  When we weigh evidence what matters is the time gap between the events and the recording of that evidence.  Good evidence does not become bad evidence because it was recorded a long time ago.

When it comes to the life of Jesus and the events of the New Testament these records were written down within the lives of the eyewitnesses.  The New Testament was written while the eyewitnesses were still alive.  The New Testament was not recorded like much of the history in the time of Antiquity some hundreds of years after the events.  This is what sets the New Testament apart, it was written by eyewitnesses, and recorded from the testimony of eye witnesses.  Not some 400 years later.  The famous legends about Alexander the Great did not come around till centuries after Arrian and Plutarch's records.

So can we trust that certain detailed events occurred some 2000 years ago? The answer is it depends on the quality of the evidence.  In regard to the New Testament, the evidence is overwhelming from a historical point of view.

Philippians 4:13 : The Superman Verse???

"I can do all this through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13) 

We see this verse on many many athletes.  It is tattoo's on the chest of current UFC light heavy weight champion Jon Jones.  It was also famously written under the eyes of NFL quarterback Tim Tebow and on the shorts of former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.  So is this verse speaking about the idea that you can accomplish anything with the help of God?  Is this the verse to hold onto when you wonder if you can accomplish anything?  While this may very well be true, this is not what this verse is talking about at all.

First lets consider the context of this verse.  One of my favoirte teachers Dr Ben Witherington said in a lecture I was recently “a text without a context is just a pretext for whatever you want it to mean.”  This speaks directly to people who say that "there are many many interpretations of the Bible", or that "you can make the bible say whatever you want it to."  I have only taken a few history classes in college but I remember one professor would always say "context, context context" and "context is everything" This is completely true, even if we look at our own lives, most of us at one time or another have been "taken out of context" and its terrible.  It usually takes a lot of explaining and clean up to help whoever it is to understand that you were taken out of context and what the intention of your words were.

So the setting of the book of Philippians is Paul being held in prison.  Forget what you think about prison as we know it today.  This type of prison was a place where people were sent to rot.  Paul probably wouldn't have even eaten unless someone who knew him brought him a meal.  He didn't sit around watching TV all day and exercising in the yard, this was a terrible place.  So now that we have the setting lets just simply have a look at the verses before verse 13.  Most people know that you should always read the verses preceding a verse which will help you to not take it out of context.

Philippians 4:10-13
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.  Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Now it is quite clear what Paul is talking about here.  He is thanking the Philippians and saying that he is able to endure all things.  Whether he is experiencing highs and lows, if he is hungry or well fed, in the penthouse or in the outhouse.  He is not talking about dreaming about the future and thinking the sky is the limit!  Now I don't know why these athletes have this verse all around them, I really don't know much about the faith of Jon Jones (but I know a lot about his fights) I don't know much about the Theology of Evander Holyfield except that he is steeped in the "health and wealth prosperity gospel" which Ill address in a later blog.  One thing I will say is that prosperity gospel people would probably interpret this verse to be a superman verse.  Finally with Tim Tebow, I really don't know enough, but I will say that all that I do know points to him being legit.  He seems to be humble, volunteers overseas, and his doctrine seems to be sound, but I am open to the evidence. 

So this is an amazing verse, but we cannot take it and twist it to suit our purposes.  It is clearly about being content in all situations, if we are rich or poor, hungry or well fed.  So when bad things happen in our lives, and we question God's plan, we should turn to this verse.  If we lose our jobs, and cant pay the bills, we should remember that Paul was content in prison.  When our friends abandon us and people make fun of us we should cling to this verse for strength. 

When we dream big, we should just say "Lord willing"
 
James 4:13-16
^"13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil."