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74-563: In a series of events that followed the Rapture , in which Jesus Christ takes away members of His church from Earth , some find themselves left behind. Eventually they meet at New Hope Village Church, located in the suburbs of Chicago . They then meet from time to time and become immersed in study of prophecies contained in the Bible . Their study reveals that the Antichrist will establish control of

148-567: A GC-guaranteed peace treaty with Israel, thus initiating the Tribulation . As World War III breaks out, the Tribulation Force suffers its first casualty in the death of their pastor, Bruce Barnes , who was killed in a bombing in the now-decimated city of Chicago. Christian prophetic themes are explored in a fictional context taking a particular position on such topics as the Second Coming ,

222-435: A belief in the imminence of Christ's return, key to modern pretribulation theology, can be found in various Church Fathers and early Christian writings. The mid-tribulation position espouses that the rapture will occur at some point in the middle of what is popularly called the tribulation period, or during Daniel's 70th Week. The tribulation is typically divided into two periods of 3.5 years each. Mid-tribulationists hold that

296-412: A halt shortly after. In mid-June 2003, production was supposed to begin on an animated remake of their film Left Behind: The Movie . Cloud Ten's VP of films, André van Heerden, said, "the storyline will be even closer to the original books than a live-action movie can be simply because of the freedom animation gives." This film was not made. Shortly after the release of Left Behind: World at War ,

370-410: A literal interpretation of the thousand-year period mentioned in chapter twenty of Revelation, viewing the number "thousand" as numerologically symbolic and pertaining to the current age of the church. Amillennialists generally do not use "rapture" as a theological term, but they do view a similar event coinciding with the second coming—primarily as a mystical gathering with Christ. To amillennialists

444-440: A result of their own literal understanding of Paul's words. Amillennialists deny the interpretation of a literal thousand-year earthly rule of Christ. There is considerable overlap in the beliefs of amillennialists (including most Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans), postmillennialists (including Presbyterians ), and historic premillennialists (including some Calvinistic Baptists ) with those who hold that

518-526: A specific sense of a period of time preceding the second coming of Christ. The emphasis in this view is that the church will undergo the tribulation. Matthew 24:29–31 – " Immediately after the Tribulation of those days...they shall gather together his elect... " – is cited as a foundational scripture for this view. Post-tribulationists perceive the rapture as occurring simultaneously with the second coming of Christ. Upon Jesus' return, believers will meet him in

592-515: A step further. Irving began to teach the idea of a two-phase return of Christ, the first phase being a secret rapture prior to the rise of the Antichrist. Edward Miller described Irving's teaching like this: "There are three gatherings: – First, of the first-fruits of the harvest, the wise virgins who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth; next, the abundant harvest gathered afterwards by God; and lastly,

666-554: A television show based on Left Behind was in the planning stages for airing on the PAX television network. Planning for the television show also includes casting calls in the United States and Canada, but creative differences on the direction of the proposed television series led Cloud Ten Pictures to abandon the project. Cloud Ten Pictures CEO Paul Lalonde opened the new Christian production company Stoney Lake Entertainment , which produced

740-515: A thousand years. As a reaction to the rise of allegorical interpretation the Antiochene school insisted on a literal hermeneutic . but did little to counter the Alexandrian's symbolic Millennium. In the twelfth century futurism became prominent again when Joachim of Fiore (1130–1202) wrote a commentary on Revelation and insisted that the end was near and taught that God would restore the earth,

814-503: A typical 1,700 screens in a nationwide theatrical release). The World at War release started a trend for Christian film church releases, and led Cloud Ten to launch its Church Cinema program. The founders, Peter and Paul Lalonde, were referred to as "The Fabulous LaLonde Brothers" in a profile by GQ magazine. Cloud Ten, with the Left Behind films, was in legal disputes with both their co-producers, Namesake Entertainment, and one of

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888-619: Is Coming , published in 1878, which sold more than 1.3 million copies, and the Scofield Reference Bible , published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967. Some pre-tribulation proponents, such as Grant Jeffrey, maintain that the earliest known extra-Biblical reference to the pre-tribulation rapture is from a 7th-century tract known as the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem the Syrian. Different authors have proposed several different versions of

962-415: Is a co-production with Clear Entertainment and stars Ving Rhames , Ricardo Chavira and Dean McDermott . They also distributed The River Within in 2009. In 2003, the company started pre-production on a movie called End Game . The movie was supposed to be their first film planned to have a wide theatrical release. Eleven pages of the shooting script went up on the official website, but production came to

1036-603: Is a description of a preliminary event to the return described in Matthew 24:29–31. Although both describe a coming of Jesus, these are seen to be different events. The first event is a coming where the saved are to be 'caught up,' whence the term "rapture" is taken. The second event is described as the second coming. The majority of dispensationalists hold that the first event precedes the period of tribulation , even if not immediately (see chart for additional dispensationalist timing views). Dispensationalists distinguish these events as

1110-399: Is believer, regardless of fellowship.) Therefore, it is believed by some that the rapture of a believer is determined by the timing of his conversion before the great tribulation. Other proponents of this theory hold that only those who are faithful in their relationship with God (having true fellowship with him) will be raptured, and the rest resurrected during the great tribulation, between

1184-463: Is bound, Revelation 20:4–6 says, "and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection." Authors and teachers who support the post-tribulational view include Pat Robertson , Walter R. Martin , John Piper , George E. Ladd , Robert H. Gundry , and Douglas Moo . In

1258-518: Is handpicked to pilot Carpathia's jet, are in the distressing position of watching Carpathia, now Supreme Potentate of the U.N. - now reorganized into the Global Community- strengthen his grip on the world, witnessing how he orchestrates World War III to bring the former world powers under his heel and how he bamboozles Israeli botanist Chaim Rosenzweig into giving the GC his illustrious Eden formula for

1332-637: Is most commonly found among American Fundamentalist Baptists , Bible churches , Brethren churches , certain Methodist denominations, Pentecostals , non-denominational evangelicals , and various other evangelical groups. The Catholic Church , Eastern Orthodox Church , the Lutheran Churches , the Anglican Communion , and Reformed denominations have no tradition of a preliminary return of Christ. The Eastern Orthodox Church, for example, favors

1406-407: Is now called the rapture) would happen 45 days before the end of a 3.5-year tribulation. The concept of the rapture, in connection with premillennialism , was expressed by the 17th-century American Puritans Increase and Cotton Mather . They held to the idea that believers would be caught up in the air, followed by judgments on earth, and then the millennium . Other 17th-century expressions of

1480-432: Is the most widely held view among Christians believing in the rapture today, although this view is disputed within evangelicalism. 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 . They do not use rapture as a specific theological term, nor do they generally subscribe to

1554-455: The Antichrist , the Tribulation , and the Millennium . The story in this book has been adapted into two feature films in the same film franchise. The novel was adapted into Left Behind II: Tribulation Force and was produced by Cloud Ten Pictures . This second film in the Left Behind film series did not complete the entire story of the novel, so it was needed to make a third film based on

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1628-502: The Apocalypse Series , Revelation (1999), Tribulation (2000) and Judgment (2001). In 2000, Cloud Ten Pictures released Left Behind: The Movie , based upon the first book in the popular Left Behind book series, authored by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins . It was released into the video market on October 31. Byron M. Jones , the then VP of Entertainment, states that "the pre-orders for this sequel have outpaced those of

1702-660: The Medieval Latin raptura ("seizure, kidnapping"), which derives from the Latin raptus ("a carrying off"). The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα ( harpagēsometha ), which means "we shall be caught up" or "we shall be taken away". The dictionary form of this Greek verb is harpazō ( ἁρπάζω ). This use is also seen in such texts as Acts 8:39, 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, and Revelation 12:5. Linguist, Dr. Douglas Hamp, notes that Greek scholar Spiros Zodhiates lists harpagēsometha as

1776-603: The amillennial interpretation of prophetic Scriptures and thus rejects a preliminary, premillennial return. Most Methodists do not adhere to the dispensationalist view of the rapture. Most premillennialists distinguish the Rapture and the Second Coming as separate events. Some dispensational premillennialists (including many evangelicals ) hold the return of Christ to be two distinct events (i.e., Christ's second coming in two stages). According to this view, 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17

1850-438: The 1 Thessalonians 4:17 gathering as Heaven. While Anglicans have many views, some Anglican commentators, such as N. T. Wright , identify the destination as a specific place on Earth. This interpretation may sometimes be connected to Christian environmentalist concerns. There are numerous views regarding the timing of the Rapture. Some maintain that Matthew 24:37–40 refers to the Rapture, pointing out similarities between

1924-603: The 5th and 6th seals of Revelation, having lost their lives during. Still others hold the rest will either be raptured during the tribulation or at its end. As stated by Ira David (a proponent of this view): “The saints will be raptured in groups during the tribulation as they are prepared to go.” Some notable proponents of this theory are G. H. Lang , Robert Chapman , G. H. Pember , Robert Govett , D. M. Panton , Watchman Nee , Ira E. David, J. A. Seiss , Hudson Taylor , Anthony Norris Groves , John Wilkinson, G. Campbell Morgan , Otto Stockmayer and Rev. J. W. (Chip) White Jr. In

1998-609: The Bible Conference Movement, starting in 1878 with the Niagara Bible Conference . These conferences, which were initially inclusive of historicist and futurist premillennialism, led to an increasing acceptance of futurist premillennial views and the pre-tribulation rapture especially among Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregational members. Popular books also contributed to acceptance of the pre-tribulation rapture, including William E. Blackstone 's book Jesus

2072-664: The Earth, and the Tribulation period lasting seven years will start after his covenant with Israel . Jesus Christ's second coming will fall on the end of the Tribulation. In the course of their study, some characters in the novel form a core group which Chloe Steele christens the "Tribulation Force", dedicated to fight the seven years' war with the Antichrist. Rayford Steele , Chloe Steele , Buck Williams and Bruce Barnes find themselves left behind. This group of believers, as well as others left behind but becoming believers, are otherwise known as " Tribulation Saints ", to differentiate from

2146-600: The Jews would be converted, and the Millennium would take place on earth. His teaching influenced much of Europe. Though the Catholic Church does not generally regard Biblical prophecy in texts such as Daniel and Revelation as strictly future-based (when viewed from the standpoint of our present time), in 1590 Francisco Ribera , a Catholic Jesuit, taught futurism . He also taught that a gathering-of-the-elect event (similar to what

2220-452: The Lord"). The Day of the Lord's wrath against the ungodly will follow for the remainder of seven years. The partial, conditional or selective rapture theory holds that all obedient Christians will be raptured before the great tribulation depending on ones personal fellowship (or closeness) between she or he and God, which is not to be confused with the relationship between the same and God (which

2294-559: The Messiah in Glory and Majesty ). The book appeared first in 1811, 10 years after his death. In 1827, it was translated into English by the Scottish minister Edward Irving. During the 1970s, belief in the rapture became popular in wider circles, in part because of the books of Hal Lindsey, including The Late Great Planet Earth , which has reportedly sold between 15 million and 35 million copies, and

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2368-525: The New Covenant, past, present and future. They do not regard mentions of Jerusalem in the chapter twenty-one of Revelation as pertaining to the present geographical city, but to a future new Jerusalem or "new heaven and new earth", for which the church through the twelve apostles (representing of the twelve tribes of Israel) currently lays the foundation in the messianic kingdom already present. Unlike certain premillennial dispensationalists, they do not view

2442-470: The Old and New Testament uses the word "rapture" in explicating 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Although not using the term "rapture", the idea was more fully developed by Edward Irving (1792–1834). In 1825, Irving directed his attention to the study of prophecy and eventually accepted the one-man Antichrist idea of James Henthorn Todd , Samuel Roffey Maitland , Robert Bellarmine , and Francisco Ribera, yet he went

2516-452: The Rapture has occurred and they have been left behind when their parents have been out of sight. Cloud Ten Pictures Cloud Ten Pictures is a Canadian film production and distribution company located in St. Catharines, Ontario , who specialised in producing "end times" Christian films. Cloud Ten was formed by brothers Peter and Paul LaLonde in 1994. The Lalonde brothers self-financed

2590-415: The Second Coming as two different events. There are also other positions within premillennialism that differ with regard to the timing of the Rapture. In the earliest days of the church, chiliastic teaching (i.e., early premillennialism) was the dominant view. Eusebius wrote, "To these [written accounts] belong his [ Papias of Hierapolis ] statement that there will be a period of some thousand years after

2664-650: The Tribulation. There exists at least one 18th-century and two 19th-century pre-tribulation references: in an essay published in 1788 in Philadelphia by the Baptist Morgan Edwards which articulated the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture, in the writings of Catholic priest Manuel Lacunza in 1812, and by John Nelson Darby in 1827. Manuel Lacunza (1731–1801), a Jesuit priest (under the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben Ezra), wrote an apocalyptic work entitled La venida del Mesías en gloria y majestad ( The Coming of

2738-508: The air and will then accompany him in his return to the Earth. In the Epistles of Paul , most notably in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 ("the dead in Christ shall rise first") and 1 Corinthians 15:51–52 , a trumpet is described as blowing at the end of the tribulation to herald the return of Christ; Revelation 11:15 further supports this view. Moreover, after chapters 6–19, and after 20:1–3 when Satan

2812-742: The assembling of the wicked for punishment." The pre-tribulation position advocates that the rapture will occur before the beginning of a seven-year tribulation period, while the second coming will occur at the end of it. Pre-tribulationists often describe the rapture as Jesus coming for the church and the second coming as Jesus coming with the church. Pre-tribulation educators and preachers include Jimmy Swaggart , Robert Jeffress , J. Dwight Pentecost , Tim LaHaye , J. Vernon McGee , Perry Stone , Chuck Smith , Hal Lindsey , Jack Van Impe , Skip Heitzig , Chuck Missler , Grant Jeffrey , Thomas Ice , David Jeremiah , John F. MacArthur , and John Hagee . John Nelson Darby first solidified and popularized

2886-476: The authors of the popular book series, Tim LaHaye . The dispute with LaHaye resulted in a series of legal actions, originally filed in 2000, that were settled in July 2008. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but Cloud Ten Pictures has stated that Tim Lahaye has the rights for one year to try to remake the Left Behind films. If he does not exercise those rights within one year, Cloud Ten Pictures will again have

2960-642: The clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." 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 dispensational premillennialism , a form of futurism that considers various prophecies in the Bible as remaining unfulfilled and occurring in

3034-521: The coming of Christ to deliver the righteous by means of the rapture, which will occur after specific events in Revelation, in particular after the sixth seal is opened and the sun is darkened and the moon is turned to blood. However, by this point many Christians will have been slaughtered as martyrs by the Antichrist . After the rapture will come God's seventh-seal wrath of trumpets and bowls (a.k.a. "the Day of

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3108-578: The company's early films, which consisted of documentaries addressing Christian theological issues. Prior to forming Cloud Ten, the LaLonde brothers had found an audience in Christian Evangelical circles through their television program, This Week in Bible Prophecy . The company's first feature film was Apocalypse , a low-budget thriller released in 1998. The company produced three more films in

3182-610: The current, but indefinite period that began with the foundation of the church and that will end with the Second Coming—a period where Christ already reigns with his saints through the Eucharist and his church. They view the life of the church as Christ's kingdom already established (inaugurated on the day of the Pentecost described in the first chapter of Acts), but not to be made complete until his second coming. This framework precludes

3256-552: The end of the first novel, Buck moves to Chicago for his new job. He considers a relationship with Chloe Steele, debating whether or not it is worthwhile at this point in history. This leads to a misunderstanding which is eventually resolved. Buck is invited to visit Carpathia at the United Nations in New York City , where he is instituting radical changes. He tells Buck he is planning to buy all media and wants Buck to head one of

3330-468: The eschatology of the ante-Nicene age is the prominent chiliasm, or millennarianism, that is the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years, before the general resurrection and judgment." Over time, however, a clash surfaced between two schools of interpretation, the Antiochene and Alexandrian schools. The Alexandrian school's roots can be traced back to

3404-486: The final days already began on the day of the Pentecost, but that the great tribulation will occur during the final phase or conclusion of the millennium, with Christ then returning as the alpha and omega at the end of time. Unlike premillennialists who predict the millennium as a literal thousand-year reign by Christ after his return, amillennialists emphasize the continuity and permanency of his reign throughout all periods of

3478-571: The first-person plural future passive indicative of the Greek stem, harpagē (har-pag-ay), “the act of plundering, plunder, spoil.” The future passive indicative of harpázō (although not used by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:17) can be viewed at verbix.com: αρπασθησόμεθα ( harpasthesometha ). GS724 harpagē means : 1. the act of plundering, robbery; 2. plunder, spoil. When the rapture and the "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:20-21 ) are viewed as simultaneous events (according to Romans 8:19-21 ) then it makes sense why Paul would use "shall be plundered" to match

3552-607: The future. The idea of a rapture as it is currently defined is not found in historic Christianity, and is a relatively recent doctrine originating from the 1830s. The term is used frequently among fundamentalist theologians in the United States . Rapture has also been used for a mystical union with God or for eternal life in Heaven . Differing viewpoints exist about the exact time of the rapture and whether Christ's return would occur in one event or two. Pretribulationism distinguishes

3626-455: The influence of Philo, a Hellenized Jew who sought to reconcile God's veracity with what he thought were errors in the Tanakh . Alexandrian theologians viewed the Millennium as a symbolic reign of Christ from Heaven. Through the influence of Origen and Augustine—students of the Alexandrian school—allegorical interpretation rose to prominence, and its eschatology became the majority view for more than

3700-517: The last few chapters of Tribulation Force , Cloud Ten Pictures did this with the third film in the Left Behind Series , Left Behind: World at War . Rapture The Rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians , particularly those of American evangelicalism , consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Christians who are still alive, together will rise "in

3774-512: The movie A Thief in the Night , which based its title on the scriptural reference 1 Thessalonians 5:2 . Lindsey proclaimed that the rapture was imminent, based on world conditions at the time. In 1995, the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture was further popularized by Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of books, which sold close to 80 million copies and was made into several movies and four real-time strategy video games. According to Thomas Ice

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3848-483: The newspapers. Upon his new assistant's (Hattie Durham) recommendation, Carpathia also manipulates Rayford to become his head pilot, wanting only the best. Both Rayford and Buck are present for the signing of the treaty between the UN and Israel . Nicolae twists the message of world-famous rabbi Tsion Ben-Judah about Messiah , in order to point to himself as thus. Buck flies to Jerusalem to meet Ben-Judah and present him to

3922-449: The origin of the concept, some believers have made predictions regarding the date of the event. All have failed in their attempt to set a date. Some predictions of the date of the Second Coming of Jesus (which may or may not refer to the rapture) include the following: Some predictions of the date of the rapture include the following: The theology has been criticized by child psychologists for scaring children by making them believe that

3996-490: The original LEFT BEHIND movie by almost 40%. It also ended up being named the "Best-Selling Title of the Year by an Independent Studio". Cloud Ten also produced two sequels based upon the second book in the Left Behind book series, Left Behind: Tribulation Force (2002) and Left Behind: World at War (2005). Cloud Ten released Left Behind: World at War via a coordinated nationwide screening in over 3,200 churches (compared with

4070-418: The post-tribulation premillennial position, the rapture would be identical to the second coming of Jesus or as a meeting in the air with Jesus that immediately precedes his return to the Earth before a literal millennium. The post-tribulation position places the rapture at the end of the tribulation period. Post-tribulation writers define the tribulation period in a generic sense as the entire present age, or in

4144-457: The postmillennialist view the millennium is seen as an indefinitely long time thus precluding literal interpretation of a thousand-year period. According to Loraine Boettner "the world will be Christianized, and the return of Christ will occur at the close of a long period of righteousness and peace, commonly called the millennium." Postmillennialists commonly view the rapture of the Church as one and

4218-414: The pre-Rapture designation of Christian. The question of what to do in response to this radical change in situation arises. They propose to fight the perceived threat that Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia poses in the form of eradicating all religion and establishing a single world religion. The dogma consists of the notion that "there is no heaven nor hell , just [the left-behind]." Upon being demoted at

4292-652: The pre-tribulation rapture in 1827. Despite vague notions of this view existing in a few Puritan theologians prior to Darby, he was the first person to place it into a larger theological framework . This view was accepted among many other Plymouth Brethren movements in England. Darby and other prominent Brethren were part of the Brethren movement which impacted American Christianity, especially with movements and teachings associated with Christian eschatology and fundamentalism , primarily through their writings. Influences included

4366-420: The premillennial dispensational views associated with its use. Instead they typically interpret rapture in the sense of the elect gathering with Christ in Heaven right after his second coming 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. Rapture is derived from Middle French rapture , via

4440-412: The rapture are found in the works of Robert Maton, Nathaniel Holmes , John Browne, Thomas Vincent , Henry Danvers , and William Sherwin . The term rapture was used by Philip Doddridge and John Gill in their New Testament commentaries, with the idea that believers would be caught up prior to judgment on earth and Jesus' second coming . An 1828 edition of Matthew Henry 's An Exposition of

4514-473: 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 . This theory grew out of the translations of the Bible that John Nelson Darby analyzed in 1833. Pretribulationism

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4588-598: The rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem as either necessary or legitimate, because the practice of animal sacrifices has now been fulfilled in the life of the church through Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Authors who have expressed support for the amillenialist view include St. Augustine. The amillennialist viewpoint is the position held by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches, as well as mainline Protestant bodies, such as Lutherans , Methodists , Presbyterians and many Reformed congregations. Since

4662-483: The resurrection of the dead, and that the kingdom of Christ will be set up in the material form on this very earth. [...] But it was due to him that so many of the Church Fathers after him adopted a like opinion, urging in their own support the antiquity of the man; as for instance Irenaeus and anyone else that may have proclaimed similar views." The 19th-century scholar Schaff notes that, "The most striking point in

4736-413: The return of Christ will be a single, public event. Some proponents believe the doctrine of amillennialism originated with Alexandrian scholars such as Clement and Origen and later became Catholic dogma through Augustine . Dispensationalists see the immediate destination of the raptured Christians as being Heaven . Catholic commentators, such as Walter Drum (1912), identify the destination of

4810-472: The rights to make Left Behind movies. As of October 1, 2010, the rights to the Left Behind film series have officially been restored to Cloud Ten Pictures, and the company is planning a remake of the series. Cloud Ten was hoping to start development on the remake by late 2011. Cloud Ten released three films in 2008: Smuggler's Ransom , Genius Club and Saving God . Both Smuggler's Ransom and Genius Club were acquired for distribution. Saving God

4884-468: The saints will go through the first period (Beginning of Travail), but will be raptured into Heaven before the severe outpouring of God's wrath in the second half of what is popularly called the Great Tribulation . Mid-tribulationists appeal to Daniel 7:25 which says the saints will be given over to tribulation for "time, times, and half a time," – interpreted to mean 3.5 years. At the halfway point of

4958-509: The same event as the second coming of Christ. According to them the great tribulation was already fulfilled in the Jewish-Roman War of 66–73 AD that involved the destruction of Jerusalem. Authors who have expressed support for this view include the Puritan author of Pilgrim's Progress , John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney . Amillennialists view the millennial rule of Christ as

5032-462: The second coming. This view holds that the tribulation of the church begins toward the latter part of a seven-year period, being Daniel's 70th week, when the Antichrist is revealed in the temple. This latter half of a seven-year period [i.e. 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 years] is defined as the great tribulation, although the exact duration is not known. References from Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are used as evidence that this tribulation will be cut short by

5106-484: The text as authentic and there are differing opinions as to whether it supports belief in a pre-tribulation rapture. One version of the text reads, "For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins." In addition, The Apocalypse of Elijah and The History of Brother Dolcino both state that believers will be removed prior to

5180-414: The timing of the Rapture. These views regard that the Rapture, as it is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17, would be identical to the Second Coming of Jesus as described in Matthew 24:29–31 after the spiritual/symbolic millennium. In the premillennial view, the Rapture would be before a literal, earthly millennium. Within premillennialism, the pretribulation position distinguishes between the Rapture and

5254-462: The tribulation, the Antichrist will commit the "abomination of desolation" by desecrating the Jerusalem temple . Mid-tribulationist teachers include Harold Ockenga , James O. Buswell (a reformed, Calvinistic Presbyterian), and Norman Harrison. This position is a minority view among premillennialists. The prewrath rapture view also places the rapture at some point during the tribulation period before

5328-463: The two texts, indicating that the Rapture would occur at the parousia of the Lord. Others point out that neither church nor rapture occur in Matthew 24 and there are significant differences between Matthew 24:37–40 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. As a result, these two texts receive the overwhelming focus within discussions about the Rapture's timing. The two texts are as follows: In the amillennial and postmillennial views there are no distinctions in

5402-659: The two witnesses (described in Revelation ) stationed at the United Nations-blockaded Wailing Wall . He converts to Christianity, believing that Jesus is the one and only Messiah; thus disproving Carpathia. During the prophesied eighteen months of peace following the covenant with Israel, Chloe and Buck are married, along with Rayford and new believer Amanda White , a friend of Rayford's first wife Irene. However, both Buck, who becomes publisher of Global Community Weekly, formerly Global Weekly, and Rayford, who

5476-612: The verbiage of the distortion of the Earth described in Isaiah 24:3, "The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered...". The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek ἁρπαγησόμεθα as rapiemur meaning "we will be caught up" or "we will be taken away" from the Latin verb rapio meaning "to catch up" or "take away". English translations of the Bible have translated 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in various ways: A pretribulational rapture view

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