wink     ; )

The Rapture

Syndromes asked me:

Do you believe in 'the rapture' and things like that? I'd like to talk to a fundamentalist a bit to get a better feel for where they're coming from.

Hmmm...where to start? Well, first of all, I probably wouldn't be considered a "Fundamentalist". A more accurate classification for me would be "Evangelical". Both groups consider the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God, but "Fundamentalists" demand a level of literalness that not all "Evangelicals" demand. Also, Fundamentalism denotes a certain level of militancy which is not implied by Evangelicalism.

While I do believe that everything that the Bible affirms is true, I don't believe that everything in the Bible is meant to be taken literally. Determining what is meant to be literal and what is meant to be figurative or spiritual can be quite difficult.

While virtually all Fundamentalists and most Evangelicals are politically conservative, I am politically rather liberal. But that is a topic for another post.

Though I am not a Fundamentalist, I am quite familiar with their frame of mind. I have been surrounded with Fundamentalists in the past and I go to school with a number of them right now. So while I can't answer Syndrome's questions as a Fundamentalist, I can still present their mindset if he is still interested.

But the question isn't "What do Fundamentalists believe about the rapture?", it is "Do I believe in the Rapture?".

Allow me to dodge yet again. Regarding the period of time commonly known as the "End Times", the only belief that I hold very tightly is my belief that Jesus is coming again. Everything else, from the time and manner of His return, to the timing and nature of the tribulation and/or millenium, to the rapture and the new heavens and new earth are all topics where I hold my beliefs very lightly because I feel the Bible doesn't comment on them in a very concrete manner. As a result of the vague and heavily symbolic language regarding the End Times, we can know little for sure about the events surrounding the Return of the King (that being Jesus in this case, not Aragorn).

(For those who have the burning need to know my lightly held beliefs and are familiar with the jargon, I am post-trib, pre-mill. Though a friend of mine has proposed a new theory which is convincing to me; it would require a new classification, probably something like post-trib, post-post-mill.)

So. Returning to the question of the Rapture. Do I believe in it? Sure. But as for the timing or the nature of the Rapture, I have no idea. My picture of the End Times looks nothing like the one presented in the "Left Behind" series, though I was brought up in a church that would fully endorse that series.

(Syndromes: does that answer your question? Do you want more of a Fundamentalist point-of-view? For Pete's sake, drop me an email so I can discuss more privately. Or IM me or something.)