I am the last guy who should be defending the rapture. My theological pedigree is non-existent (MAR from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). I have submitted a paper to a Christian theological journal, but I don't know if it's going to find a home. I'm from a simple church family in Kansas. None of my family have PhD adorning their name, though my brother is a candidate at Kansas University (education).
The point is obvious: There are more intelligent and astute men who could defend the rapture. Yet because I am fond of the doctrine, and because three challenges have come up before me, I am choosing to engage the scriptures (and the doctrine's detractors) in discussion.
In the relative near future, I will discuss these two direct arguments against my writings on the rapture:
1. Matthew 13, which my friend Boilt Frog says is that this is where premillinialism goes to die. I may need some time to research this.
2. A man blogging over at Lamp of the Body has suggested that the parable of the Ten Virgins does not refer to the rapture, but to finding Jesus in every day life. I will explore this as best I can.
A third argument comes from my research on the rapture. It comes from Gary Shogran's commentary on I and II Thessalonians. In it he suggests that I Thess 4 doesn't describe a separate coming, which comes before the 2nd Coming, but a singular event. He brings up some excellent points that I want to confront. I used his commentary on my journal submission. He is against the rapture, though. Good points are good points, and I enjoyed what he had to write.
I hope to write about at least one of these points this weekend and go from there.
1 comment:
I am reading through George Ladd's commentary on Revelation. He is a post-tribulation pre-millennialist. His favorite word is proleptic. I have engaged a pre-trib. pre-mil. man in my church in this discussion. He to is studying Mt. 13. We are also studying 1 Thess. in our Sunday morning Bible study. It will all be interesting.
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