Addressing the rapture

We want to tell others what the Bible does and does not teach.

The Bible does not teach that there will be a secret resurrection of Christians or that Christians who are alive on the earth will be whisked out of this world to heaven prior to the Last Day. People who believe in the rapture usually look to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 for support for their belief. That section of the Bible, however, describes what will take place on the Last Day.

The Bible teaches that on the Last Day, Jesus will return visibly to this world, raise the dead and gather to himself the Christians who are still alive on the earth at his return. Being “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) is what will take place on the Last Day not prior to the Last Day. There is nothing in the context of that portion of Scripture to remove that event from the events of the Last Day.

If you would like more information on what the Bible does and does not teach about the Last Day, you will find value in reading this chapter of This We Believe, a statement of belief of our church body.