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{{Short description|Eschatological concept in Christianity}}
{{Other uses}}

{{multiple image
| align     = right
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| footer= [[Jan Luyken]]'s illustration of [[Matthew 24]] verse 40, from the 1795 [[Bowyer Bible]], which proponents take as a reference to the rapture
| image1    = Teachings of Jesus 40 of 40. the rapture. one in the bed. Jan Luyken etching. Bowyer Bible.gif
| caption1  = ''One in the bed''
| image2    = Teachings of Jesus 39 of 40. the rapture. one at the mill. Jan Luyken etching. Bowyer Bible.gif
| caption2  ='' One at the mill''
| image3    = Teachings of Jesus 38 of 40. the rapture. one in the field. Jan Luyken etching. Bowyer Bible.gif
| caption3  = ''One in the field''
}}
{{Christian Eschatology}}

The '''Rapture''' is an [[Christian eschatology|eschatological]] (end-times) concept held by some [[Christians]], particularly those of [[American evangelicalism]], consisting of an [[eschatology|event]] when all dead Christian believers will be [[Universal resurrection|resurrected]] and, joined with Christians who are still alive, together will rise "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Understanding End Times Prophecy: A Comprehensive Approach|last=Benware|first=Paul N.|publisher=Moody|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8024-9079-7|location=Chicago|pages=208}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2014-04-04 |title=Raptured or Not? A Catholic Understanding - Catholic Update October 2005 |url=http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1005.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404105238/http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1005.asp |archive-date=2014-04-04 |access-date=2023-10-19}}</ref>

Many different timelines have been asserted which tie to ideas of a seven-year [[Great Tribulation]] (e.g. pretribulation,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/dr-thomas-ice/message/myths-of-the-origin-of-pretribulationism-part-1/read|title=Myths of the Origin of Pretribulationism (Part 1)|last=Ice|first=Thomas|work=Pre-Trib Research Center|access-date=6 December 2019}}</ref> midtribulation, prewrath, and posttribulation raptures) and to a thousand year age of Messianic rule ([[Millennialism]]) (premillennialism, postmillennialism, amillennialism, preterism).<ref name="HaysDuvall2009">{{cite book|last1=Hays|first1=J. Daniel|last2=Duvall|first2=J. Scott|last3=Pate|first3=C. Marvin|title=Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvFZDcJSgdMC&pg=PT692|access-date=26 December 2014|year= 2009|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=978-0310571049|pages=692–}}</ref><ref name="MillsBullard1990">{{cite book|last1=Mills|first1=Watson E.|last2=Bullard|first2=Roger Aubrey|title=Mercer Dictionary of the Bible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=goq0VWw9rGIC&pg=PA736|access-date=26 December 2014|year=1990|publisher=Mercer University Press|isbn=978-0865543737|pages=736–}}</ref> 

The origin of the term extends from the [[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]] in the [[Bible]], which uses the Greek word {{transliteration|grc|harpazo}} ({{langx|grc|ἁρπάζω}}), meaning "to snatch away" or "to seize". The idea of a rapture as it is defined in [[dispensational premillennialism]] is not found in historic Christianity and is a relatively recent doctrine originating from the 1830s. 

Most [[Christian denomination]]s, and the numerically largest, do not subscribe to rapture theology and have a different interpretation of the aerial gathering described in [[1 Thessalonians 4]].<ref name="most" /> They do not use ''rapture'' as a specific theological term, nor do they generally subscribe to the dispensational theology associated with its use.<ref name="SFMC2022">{{cite web |title=Free Methodist, For Jesus' Sake |url=https://www.thewoodsfmc.com/about/fm-affiliation/ |publisher=Stanwood Free Methodist Church |access-date=9 July 2022 |language=English |quote=Like the early Methodists, the Free Methodist Church is non-dispensational. We reject the new theology born in the late 1800s that society can only get worse, and that Jesus must return to "rapture" His people from earth to heaven. Instead, Free Methodists pray and believe that by His Spirit, God's will shall indeed "be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10 NRSV).}}</ref> Instead they typically interpret ''rapture'' in the sense of the elect gathering with Christ in [[Heaven in Christianity|Heaven]] directly after the Second Coming and reject outright the idea that a large portion of humanity will be left behind on earth for an extended tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.<ref name="most">{{multiref2 |1={{Cite web |last=Guinan |first=Michael D. |date=2014-04-04 |title=Raptured or Not? A Catholic Understanding - Catholic Update October©2005 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c2a7.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404105238/http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1005.asp |archive-date=2014-04-04 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=vatican.va}} |2={{Cite web |last=Coniaris |first=Anthony M. |title=The Rapture: Why the Orthodox don't Preach it |url=http://www.light-n-life.com/newsletters/09-12-2005.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109035607/http://www.light-n-life.com/newsletters/09-12-2005.htm |archive-date=2012-11-09 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=light-n-life.com}} |3={{Cite web |title=Where does the Rapture fit into UM beliefs? |url=https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-where-does-the-rapture-fit-into-united-methodists-beliefs |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=The United Methodist Church |language=en}} |4={{Cite web |last=Schwertley |first=Brian M. |date=2013-03-11 |title=Is the Pretribulation Rapture Theory Biblical? |url=http://reformedonline.com/view/reformedonline/rapture.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311041013/http://reformedonline.com/view/reformedonline/rapture.htm |archive-date=2013-03-11 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=reformedonline.com}} }}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Thessalonians|4:17}}</ref>

== Etymology ==

''Rapture'' is derived from [[Middle French]] {{lang|fro|rapture}}, via the [[Medieval Latin]] {{lang|la|raptura}} ("seizure, kidnapping"), which derives from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|raptus}} ("a carrying off").<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=rapture&allowed_in_frame=0] c. 1600, "act of carrying off," from M.Fr. rapture, from M.L. raptura "seizure, rape, kidnapping," from L. raptus "a carrying off" (see rapt). Originally of women and cognate with rape.</ref>

=== Greek ===

The [[Koine Greek]] of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form {{lang|grc|ἁρπαγησόμεθα}} ({{transliteration|grc|harpagēsometha}}), which means "we shall be caught up" or "we shall be taken away". The dictionary form of this Greek verb is {{transliteration|grc|harpazō}} ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἁρπάζω|ἁρπάζω]]}}).<ref>[http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G726&t=KJV ἁρπάζω] is root of strongs G726 and has the following meanings: (1) to seize, carry off by force; (2) to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly; (3) to snatch out or take away.</ref> This use is also seen in such texts as Acts 8:39,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|8:39}}</ref> 2 Corinthians 12:2–4,<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Corinthians|12:2–4}}</ref> and Revelation 12:5.<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|12:5}}</ref> Linguist, Dr. Douglas Hamp, notes that Greek scholar [[Spiros Zodhiates]] lists {{transliteration|grc|harpagēsometha}} as the first-person plural future passive indicative of the Greek stem, ''harpagē'' (har-pag-ay),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zodhiates |first=Spiros |title=The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament |publisher=AMG Publishers |year=1992 |isbn=978-0899576633 |location=Chattanooga |pages=256}}</ref> “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: ἁρπασθησόμεθα (''harpasthēsometha'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=Greek, Ancient verb 'ἁρπάζω' conjugated |url=https://www.verbix.com/webverbix/go.php?D1=206&H1=301&T1=%CE%B1%CF%81%CF%80%CE%AC%CE%B6%CF%89 |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=www.verbix.com}}</ref> GS724 ''harpagē'' means'':'' 1. the act of plundering, robbery; 2. plunder, spoil.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strong's Greek: 724. ἁρπαγή (harpagé) -- pillage, plundering |url=https://biblehub.com/greek/724.htm |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=biblehub.com}}</ref> When the rapture and the "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:20-21<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: Acts 3:20-21 - New King James Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%203%3A20-21&version=NKJV |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}</ref>) are viewed as simultaneous events (according to Romans 8:19-21<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: Romans 8:19-21 - New King James Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208%3A19-21&version=NKJV |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}</ref>) then it makes sense why Paul would use "shall be plundered" to match the verbiage of the distortion of the Earth described in Isaiah 24:3,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: Isaiah 24:3 - New King James Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2024%3A3&version=NKJV |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}</ref> "The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered...".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamp |first=Douglas |title=Reclaiming the Rapture: Restoring the Doctrine of the Gathering of the Commonwealth of Israel |publisher=Memorial Crown Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0999204801 |location=Phoenix, USA |pages=151–158}}</ref>

=== Latin ===

The [[Vulgate|Latin Vulgate]] translates the Greek {{lang|grc|ἁρπαγησόμεθα}} as {{lang|la|[[wikt:rapiemur|rapiemur]]}}{{efn|1 Thessalonians 4:17: {{lang|la|"deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul '''{{em|rapiemur}}''' cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus"}} (Latin Vulgate).}} meaning "we will be caught up" or "we will be taken away" from the Latin verb {{lang|la|rapio}} meaning "to catch up" or "take away".<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last= Elwell |editor-first= Walter A. |title= [[Evangelical Dictionary of Theology]] |year=2001 |edition= 2nd |orig-year= 1984 |publisher= [[Baker Publishing Group|Baker Academic]] |isbn= 978-1441200303
| page =908}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=g8O4AgAAQBAJ Book preview]</ref>

=== English ===

English translations of the Bible have translated 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in various ways:

* The [[Wycliffe Bible]] (1395), translated from the Latin Vulgate, uses "rushed".{{efn|1 Thessalonians 4:16: "Afterward we that lyuen, that ben left, schulen be '''{{em|rauyschid}}''' togidere with hem in cloudis, metinge Crist'in to the eir; and so euere more we schulen be with the Lord."}}
* The [[Tyndale New Testament]] (1525), the [[Bishop's Bible]] (1568), the [[Geneva Bible]] (1587) and the [[King James Version]] (1611) use "caught up".{{efn|Bishop's Bible 17 "Than we which lyue, which remaine, shalbe caught up together with them in the cloudes, to meete the Lorde in the ayre: And so shall we euer be with the Lorde."}} This is carried over to the [[American Standard Version]] (1901), the [[Revised Standard Version]] (1946, 1952) and the [[English Standard Version]] (2001, 2007, 2011, 2016), as well as the [[New International Version]] (1973, 1978, 1984, 2011).

== Doctrinal position ==

A pretribulational rapture view is most commonly found among American [[Christian fundamentalism|Fundamentalist Baptists]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lifewayresearch.com/2016/04/26/pastors-the-end-of-the-world-is-complicated/|title=Pastors: The End of the World is Complicated|last=Smietana|first=Bob|date=26 April 2016|website=LifeWay Research|access-date=12 December 2019}}</ref> [[Bible church]]es,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1103&context=honors_theses|title=A History of the Independent Bible Church|last=Dearing|first=Karen Lynn|date=2001|work=Ouachita Baptist University|access-date=12 December 2019|page=20|archive-date=11 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111083653/https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1103&context=honors_theses|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Brethren Church|Brethren churches]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://charisfellowship.us/cci|title=Our Identity|date=2017|website=Charis Fellowship|access-date=12 December 2019}}</ref> certain [[Methodist]] denominations,<ref name="Emmanuel2002">{{cite book |title=Guidebook of the Emmanuel Association of Churches |date=2002 |publisher=[[Emmanuel Association]] |location=[[Logansport, Indiana|Logansport]] |page=11 |language=English}}</ref> [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostals]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ag.org/Beliefs/Position-Papers/The-Rapture-of-the-Church|title=The Rapture of the Church|date=4 August 1979|website=Assemblies of God|access-date=12 December 2019}}</ref> [[Nondenominational Christianity|non-denominational evangelicals]], and various other evangelical groups.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Great Plains|last=Decker|first=Rodney J.|publisher=Center for Great Plains Studies|year=2004|isbn=0-8032-4787-7|editor1-link=David J. Wishart|editor-last=Wishart|editor-first=David J.|location=Lincoln, NE|page=741|chapter=Religion—Dispensationalism}}</ref>{{Synthesis inline span||date=January 2023}} 

[[File:Last Judgement (Michelangelo).jpg|thumb|Vatican City. Sistine Chapel. The Fresco "The Last Judgement" by Michelangelo, 16th century. Catholic view of resurrection at Christ's return, with angelic aerial couriers and saints assisting.]]
The [[Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox Church]],<ref name="r-synaxis" /> the [[Lutheran Church]]es, the [[Anglican Communion]], and [[Calvinism|Reformed]] denominations have no tradition of a preliminary return of Christ. The Eastern Orthodox Church, for example, favors the [[amillennialism|amillennial]] interpretation of prophetic Scriptures and thus rejects a preliminary, premillennial return.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cozby |first=Dimitri |date=September 1998 |title=What is 'The Rapture'? |url=http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/dogmatics/cozby_rapture1.htm |access-date=22 March 2015 |publisher=Orthodox Research Institute |location=[[Rollinsford, New Hampshire]]}}</ref> Most Methodists do not adhere to the dispensationalist view of the rapture.<ref name="SFMC2022" />

===Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo===
In his ''Compendium Theologiae'', [[Thomas Aquinas]] quotes another [[Doctor of the Church]], [[Augustine of Hippo|St Augustine]], to explain that no one is spared death and the separation of the soul from the body. The rapture of the Church, on the other hand, concerns the death of the faithful and their immediate [[resurrection of the flesh]] immediately after death:<ref>{{cite book |url=https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/Compendium.htm#243 |title=Compendium Theologiae |chapter=243 - Universality of the Judgement |language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Accordingly those who are found alive at the Lord’s coming will be marked off from those who have died before, not for the reason that they will never die, but because in the very act by which they are taken up “in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16), they will die and immediately rise again, as Augustine teaches.|''Compendium Theologiae'', Ch. 243}}

== Views ==

=== One or two events ===

Most premillennialists distinguish the Rapture and the Second Coming as separate events. Some [[Premillennialism#Dispensational school|dispensational premillennialists]] (including many [[Evangelicalism|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<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Thessalonians|4:15–17}}</ref> is a description of a preliminary event to the return described in Matthew 24:29–31.<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|24:29–31}}</ref> 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 [[Dispensationalism|dispensationalists]] hold that the first event precedes the period of [[tribulation]], even if not immediately (see chart for additional dispensationalist timing views).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lectures in Systematic Theology|last=Thiessen|first=Henry C.|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans|year=1979|isbn=0-8028-3529-5|location=Grand Rapids|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lecturesinsystem00thie/page/355 355–356]|url=https://archive.org/details/lecturesinsystem00thie/page/355}}</ref> Dispensationalists distinguish these events as a result of their own literal<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/dr-thomas-ice/message/some-problems-with-postribulationism/read|title=Some Problems with Posttribulationism|last=McAvoy|first=Steven|date=12 December 1995|work=Pre-Trib Research Center|access-date=6 December 2019|page=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/58822023.pdf|title=Myths of the Origin of Pretribulationism (Part 1)|last=Ice|first=Thomas D.|date=May 2009|work=Liberty University Article Archives|access-date=11 December 2019|page=3}}</ref> understanding of Paul's words.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Understanding End Times Prophecy: A Comprehensive Approach|last=Benware|first=Paul N.|publisher=Moody|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8024-9079-7|location=Chicago|pages=215, 224}}</ref>

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 premillennialism|historic premillennialists]] (including some [[Calvinist]]ic [[Baptist]]s) with those who hold that the return of Christ will be a single, public event.

Some proponents believe the doctrine of amillennialism originated with [[Alexandria]]n scholars such as [[Clement of Alexandria|Clement]] and [[Origen]]<ref name="r-Lindsey-1989"/> and later became Catholic dogma through [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]].<ref name="r-Keeley-1982"/>

=== Destination ===

Dispensationalists see the immediate destination of the raptured Christians as being [[Heaven (Christianity)|Heaven]]. Catholic commentators, such as [http://wikisophia.org/index.php?title=Author:Walter_Drum Walter Drum]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} (1912), identify the destination of the 1 Thessalonians 4:17 gathering as Heaven.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last= Drum |first= Walter |title= Epistles to the Thessalonians |encyclopedia= [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |volume= 14 |date= 1 July 1912 |publisher= Robert Appleton Company |location= [[New York City]] |url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14629d.htm |access-date= 12 December 2010}}</ref>

While Anglicans have many views, some Anglican commentators, such as [[N. T. Wright]], identify the destination as a specific place on Earth.<ref>{{cite book|first = N. T. |last = Wright |author-link = N. T. Wright |title =  Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church |year= 2008 |publisher= [[HarperCollins|HarperOne]] |page= 133 |isbn= 978-0061551826 |quote = When Paul speaks of 'meeting' the Lord 'in the air,' the point is precisely not—as in the popular rapture theology—that the saved believers would then stay up in the air somewhere, The point is that, having gone out to meet their returning Lord, they will escort him royally into his domain, that is, back to the place they have come from. Even when we realize that this is highly charged metaphor, not literal description, the meaning is the same as in the parallel in Philippians 3:20. Being citizens of heaven, as the Philippians would know, doesn't mean that one is expecting go back to the mother city but rather means that one is expecting the emperor to come from the mother city to give the colony its full dignity, to rescue it if need he, to subdue local enemies and put everything to rights.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last= Holding |editor-first= James Patrick |title= Defending the Resurrection |page= 25 |date= 2010 |publisher= [[Xulon Press]] |isbn= 978-1609576547 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lYYS7Bv_HJoC}} Foreword by [[Gary Habermas]].</ref> This interpretation may sometimes be connected to [[Christian environmentalist]] concerns.<ref>{{cite book|last= Bouma-Prediger |first= Steven |title = For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care |publisher= [[Baker Publishing Group|Baker Academic]] |date=  2010 |orig-year = 2001 |series= Engaging Culture |edition= 2nd |isbn= 978-0801036958}}</ref>

== Views of eschatological timing ==

There are numerous views regarding the timing of the Rapture. Some maintain that Matthew 24:37–40<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|24:37–40}}</ref> refers to the Rapture, pointing out similarities between 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.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Thessalonians|4:13–18}}</ref> As a result, these two texts receive the overwhelming focus within discussions about the Rapture's timing. The two texts are as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 ASV
! Matthew 24:37–40 ASV
|-
| {{sup|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 ({{lang|grc|παρουσίαν}}, ''parousia''),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/text/1_thessalonians/4-15.htm|title=1 Thessalonians 4:15 Greek Text Analysis|website=biblehub.com}}</ref> will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. {{sup|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. {{sup|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.
| {{sup|37}}And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming ({{lang|grc|παρουσία}}, ''parousia'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/text/matthew/24-37.htm|title=Matthew 24:37 Greek Text Analysis|website=biblehub.com}}</ref> of the Son of man. {{sup|38}}For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, {{sup|39}}and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming ({{lang|grc|παρουσία}} ''parousia'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/text/matthew/24-39.htm|title=Matthew 24:39 Greek Text Analysis|website=biblehub.com}}</ref> of the Son of man.  {{sup|40}}Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left.
|}

[[Image:Millennial views.svg|right|thumb|Comparison of Christian millennial interpretations, including premillennialist, postmillennialist, and amillennialist viewpoints]]

[[File:tribulation views.svg|right|thumb|Comparison of differing viewpoints amongst premillennialists about timing of tribulation]]

In the amillennial and postmillennial views there are no distinctions in the timing of the Rapture. These views regard that the Rapture, as it is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17,<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Thessalonians|4:15–17}}</ref> would be identical to the Second Coming of Jesus as described in Matthew 24:29–31<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|24:29–31}}</ref> 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 the Second Coming as two different events. There are also other positions within premillennialism that differ with regard to the timing of the Rapture.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last= Elwell |editor-first= Walter A. |title= [[Evangelical Dictionary of Theology]] |date= 1 May 2001 |edition= 2nd |orig-year= 1984 |publisher= [[Baker Publishing Group|Baker Academic]] |isbn= 978-1441200303 |page =910}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=g8O4AgAAQBAJ Book preview]</ref>

=== Premillennialist views ===

In the earliest days of the church, [[Premillennialism|chiliastic]] teaching (i.e., early premillennialism) was the dominant view.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of the Christian Churches|last=Schaff|first=Philip|publisher=WM. B. Eerdmans|year=1976|isbn=0-8028-8048-7|volume=2: Ante-Nicene Christianity|location=Grand Rapids|page=614}}</ref> Eusebius wrote, "To these [written accounts] belong his [<nowiki/>[[Papias of Hierapolis]]] statement that there will be a period of some thousand years after 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."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The History of the Church|last=of Caesarea|first=Eusebius|year=313|pages=Book 3:39:11–13}}</ref>

The 19th-century scholar Schaff notes that, "The most striking point in 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."<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of the Christian Churches|last=Schaff|first=Philip|publisher=WM. B. Eerdmans|year=1976|isbn=0-8028-8048-7|volume=2: Ante-Nicene Christianity|location=Grand Rapids|page=482}}</ref>

Over time, however, a clash surfaced between two schools of interpretation, the Antiochene and Alexandrian schools.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/dr-thomas-ice/message/the-nature-and-result-of-literal-interpretation/read|title=The Nature and Result of Literal Interpretation|last=Radmacher|first=Earl|work=Pre-Trib Research Center|access-date=5 December 2019}}</ref> The Alexandrian school's roots can be traced back to the influence of Philo, a Hellenized Jew who sought to reconcile God's veracity with what he thought were errors in the [[Hebrew Bible|Tanakh]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Classical Evangelical Hermeneutics: A Guide to the History and Practice of Biblical Interpretation|last=Couch|first=Mal|publisher=Kregel|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8254-2367-3|location=Grand Rapids|pages=97–98}}</ref> Alexandrian theologians viewed the Millennium as a symbolic reign of Christ from Heaven.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Classical Evangelical Hermeneutics: A Guide to the History and Practice of Biblical Interpretation|last=Couch|first=Mal|publisher=Kregel|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8254-2367-3|location=Grand Rapids|page=99}}</ref> 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 a thousand years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of the Christian Church|last=Schaff|first=Philip|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans|year=1976|isbn=0-8028-8048-7|location=Grand Rapids|pages=618–620}}</ref> As a reaction to the rise of allegorical interpretation the [[School of Antioch|Antiochene school]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Bible Truth|last=Zuck|first=Roy B.|publisher=David C. Cook|year=1991|isbn=978-0-7814-3877-3|location=Colorado Springs, CO|page=37}}</ref> insisted on a [[Historical-grammatical method|literal hermeneutic]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of the Christian Church|last=Schaff|first=Philip|publisher=WM. B. Eerdmans|year=1976|isbn=0-8028-8048-7|volume=2: Ante-Nicene Christianity|location=Grand Rapids|page=815}}</ref> but did little to counter the Alexandrian's symbolic Millennium.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Premillennial Theology|last=Couch|first=Mal|publisher=Kregel|year=1996|isbn=0-8254-2410-0|location=Grand Rapids|page=258}}</ref>

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, the Jews would be converted, and the Millennium would take place on earth.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pre-trib.org/pretribfiles/pdfs/Larsen-SomeKeyIssuesInTheHistoryOfPremillennialism.pdf|title=Some Key Issues in the History of Premillennialism|last=Larsen|first=David L.|work=Pre-Trib Research Center|access-date=11 December 2019|page=5}}</ref> 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 (Christianity)|futurism]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of the Apocalypse|last=Negru|first=Catalin|publisher=Catalin Negru|year=2018|isbn=978-1-387-91116-5|location=Raleigh, NC|page=186}}</ref> He also taught that a gathering-of-the-elect event (similar to what 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 Puritanism|American Puritans]] [[Increase Mather]] 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]].<ref name="r-Kyle-1998"/><ref name="r-Boyer-1992"/>
Other 17th-century expressions of the rapture are found in the works of Robert Maton, [[Nathaniel Holmes (theologian)|Nathaniel Holmes]], John Browne, [[Thomas Vincent (minister)|Thomas Vincent]], [[Henry Danvers (Baptist)|Henry Danvers]], and [[William Sherwin (minister)|William Sherwin]].<ref>William Watson (April 2015). ''Dispensationalism Before Darby: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century English Apocalypticism'' (Lampion Press, 2015), ch.7.</ref>

The term ''rapture'' was used by [[Philip Doddridge]]<ref>{{Cite book
| title=Practical Reflections on the Character and Translation of Enoch
| last=Doddridge
| first=Philip
| author-link= Philip Doddridge
| date= 9 March 1738
| type= sermon
| publisher=Northampton : Printed by W. Dicey and sold by ...R. Hett ... London, J. Smith in Daventry, Caleb Ratten in Harborough, J. Ratten in Coventry, J. Cook in Uppingham, Tho. Warren in Birmingham, and Matt. Dagnall in Aylesbury
| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-wMDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA329
| access-date= 13 March 2015
| oclc= 30557054
}}</ref> and [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]]<ref>{{Cite book
| title=An Exposition of the Revelation of St. John the Divine
| last=Gill
| first=John
| author-link= John Gill (theologian)
| year= 1748
| publisher=Printed for [[John Ward (academic)|John Ward]]
| place= London
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9QbcHAAACAAJ
| access-date=17 May 2011
| oclc=49243272
}}</ref> 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 the Old and New Testament'' uses the word "rapture" in explicating 1 Thessalonians 4:17.<ref>{{cite book|last= Henry |first= Matthew |author-link= Matthew Henry |title= An Exposition of the Old and New Testament |volume= 6 |year= 1828 |page= [https://archive.org/details/expositionofoldn06henr/page/617 617] |publisher= Edward Barrington & George D. Haswell |location= Philadelphia |url= https://archive.org/details/expositionofoldn06henr |quote= At, or immediately before, this rapture into the clouds, those who are alive will undergo a mighty change, that will be equivalent to dying.}}</ref>

Although not using the term "rapture", the idea was more fully developed by [[Edward Irving]] (1792–1834).<ref name="r-Tregelles-1864"/> In 1825,<ref name="r-Oliphant-1862"/> 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 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:&nbsp;– 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, the assembling of the wicked for punishment."<ref name="r-Miller-1878"/>

==== Pretribulational premillennialism ====
{{main|Pretribulation rapture}}
The pretribulation 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. Pretribulationists often describe the rapture as Jesus coming ''for'' the church and the second coming as Jesus coming ''with'' the church. Pretribulation educators and preachers include [[Jimmy Swaggart]], [[Robert Jeffress]], [[J. Dwight Pentecost]], [[Tim LaHaye]], [[J. Vernon McGee]], [[Perry Stone (minister)|Perry Stone]], [[Chuck Smith (pastor)|Chuck Smith]], [[Hal Lindsey]], [[Jack Van Impe]], [[Skip Heitzig]], [[Chuck Missler]], [[Grant Jeffrey]], [[Thomas Ice]], [[David Jeremiah]], [[John F. MacArthur]], and [[John Hagee]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Lindsey |first= Hal |author-link= Hal Lindsey |year=1983 |page= [https://archive.org/details/rapturetruthorco00lind/page/25 25] |title= The Rapture: Truth or Consequences |publisher= [[Bantam Books]] |isbn= 978-0553014112 |url= https://archive.org/details/rapturetruthorco00lind/page/25 }}</ref>

[[John Darby (evangelist)|John Nelson Darby]] first solidified and popularized the pretribulation rapture in 1827. Despite vague notions of this view existing in a few [[Puritans|Puritan]] theologians prior to Darby, he was the first person to place it into a larger theological framework .<ref name="r-Bray-1982" /><ref>Cf. Ian S. Markham, "John Darby", The Student's Companion to the Theologians, pp. 263–264 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013) ("[Darby] simultaneously created a theology that holds the popular imagination and was popularized very effectively in the margins of the Scofield Bible."), https://books.google.com/books?id=h6SHSAjeCrYC .</ref><ref>Carl E. Olson, "Five Myths About the Rapture," Crisis pp. 28–33 (Morley Publishing Group, 2003) ("LaHaye declares, in Rapture Under Attack, that “virtually all Christians who take the Bible literally expect to be raptured before the Lord comes in power to this earth.” This would have been news to Christians — both Catholic and Protestant — living prior to the 18th century, since the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture was unheard of prior to that time. Vague notions had been considered by the Puritan preachers Increase (1639–1723) and Cotton Mather (1663–1728), and the late 18th-century Baptist minister Morgan Edwards, but it was John Nelson Darby who solidified the belief in the 1830s and placed it into a larger theological framework."). Reprinted at http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=5788 .</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=William C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1mryrQEACAAJ |title=Dispensationalism Before Darby: Seventeenth-century and Eighteenth-century English Apocalypticism |date=2015 |publisher=Lampion Press, LLC |isbn=978-1-942614-03-6 |language=en}}</ref> This view was accepted among many other [[Plymouth Brethren]] movements in England.<ref name="r-Blaising-Bock-1993" />{{Page needed|date=December 2022}} 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 the Bible Conference Movement, starting in 1878 with the [[Niagara Bible Conference]]. These conferences, which were initially inclusive of [[Historicism|historicist]] and [[Futurism|futurist]] premillennialism, led to an increasing acceptance of futurist premillennial views and the pretribulation rapture especially among Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregational members.<ref name="r-Blaising-Bock-1993" />{{Rp|page=11}} Popular books also contributed to acceptance of the pretribulation rapture, including [[William E. Blackstone]]'s book ''Jesus is Coming'', published in 1878,<ref>{{Cite book  | last = Blackstone  | first = William E.  | author-link = William E. Blackstone | title = Jesus is coming  | publisher = [[Baker Publishing Group|Fleming H. Revell Company]] | edition = Third |year= 1908 | isbn = 9780825496165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=encXAAAAYAAJ&q=Jesus+is+Coming |orig-year=1878| oclc= 951778}}</ref> which sold more than 1.3 million copies, and the [[Scofield Reference Bible]], published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first= C. I. |editor-last= Scofield |editor-link= C. I. Scofield |title= [[Scofield Reference Bible]] |orig-year=1909 |year=1967 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-527802-6}}</ref><ref>''The Scofield Bible: Its History and Impact on the Evangelical Church'', Magnum & Sweetnam. pp. 188–195, 218.</ref>

Some pretribulation proponents, such as Grant Jeffrey, maintain that the earliest known extra-Biblical reference to the pretribulation rapture is from a 7th-century tract known as the [[Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem|Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem the Syrian.]]<ref>Ephraem the Syrian, JoshuaNet, 27 July 2010. http://joshuanet.org/articles/ephraem1.htm & © 1995 Grant R. Jeffrey, Final Warning, published by Frontier Research Publications, Inc., Box 120, Station "U", Toronto, Ontario M8Z 5M4.</ref> Different authors have proposed several different versions of the text as authentic and there are differing opinions as to whether it supports belief in a pretribulation rapture.<ref name="r-Tim-Warner"/><ref name="r-note-pseudo-epraem"/> 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."<ref name="r-Missler-1995"/><ref name="r-bpo-pseudo-ephraem"/> In addition, ''[[Apocalypse of Elijah|The Apocalypse of Elijah]]'' and ''[[Fra Dolcino|The History of Brother Dolcino]]'' both state that believers will be removed prior to the Tribulation.{{Cn|date=July 2023}}

There exists at least one 18th-century and two 19th-century pretribulation references: in an essay published in 1788 in Philadelphia by the Baptist [[Morgan Edwards]] which articulated the concept of a pretribulation rapture,<ref name="r-Marotta-1995"/> in the writings of Catholic priest [[Manuel Lacunza]] in 1812,<ref name="r-Hommel"/> 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 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Catalogue of the Theological Library in the University of Edinburgh|publisher=A. Balfour & Co|location=Edinburgh|date=1829|page=113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QZNPAQAAMAAJ}}</ref>

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 the movie ''[[A Thief in the Night (film)|A Thief in the Night]]'', which based its title on the scriptural reference {{bible verse || 1 Thessalonians|5:2|KJV}}. Lindsey proclaimed that the rapture was imminent, based on world conditions at the time.

In 1995, the doctrine of the pretribulation 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.<ref name="booksite">{{cite news|title=Tim LaHaye, Evangelical Legend Behind 'Left Behind' Series, Dies At 90|date=July 25, 2016 |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/25/487382209/tim-lahaye-evangelical-legend-behind-left-behind-series-dies-at-90|access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref>

According to Thomas Ice 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ice |first=Thomas |date=May 2009 |title=Myths of the Origin of Pretribulationism (Part 1) |url=https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=pretrib_arch |journal=Liberty University Article Archives |volume=114 |pages=1–2 |via=Liberty.edu}}</ref>

==== Midtribulational premillennialism ====

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. Midtribulationists hold that 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]]. Midtribulationists appeal to {{bible verse || Daniel|7:25|KJV}} 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 the tribulation, the Antichrist will commit the "abomination of desolation" by desecrating the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jerusalem temple]]. Midtribulationist teachers include [[Harold Ockenga]], James O. Buswell (a reformed, Calvinistic Presbyterian), and Norman Harrison.<ref>{{Cite book | title = Contemporary Options in Eschatology: A Study of the Millennium | last = Erickson | first = Millard J. | publisher = [[Baker Publishing Group|Baker Book House]] | location = Grand Rapids, Michigan | year = 1977 | page = [https://archive.org/details/contemporaryopti0000eric/page/164 164] | isbn = 0-8010-3262-8 | url = https://archive.org/details/contemporaryopti0000eric/page/164 }}</ref> This position is a minority view among premillennialists.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Hoekema |first= Anthony A. |author-link= Anthony A. Hoekema |title= The Bible and the Future |year=1994 |edition= revised |orig-year= 1979 |publisher= [[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Eerdmans]] |location= Grand Rapids, Michigan |url= https://archive.org/details/biblefuture0000hoek/page/164 |isbn= 0-85364-624-4 |page= [https://archive.org/details/biblefuture0000hoek/page/164 164] }}</ref>

==== Prewrath premillennialism ====

The [[prewrath|prewrath rapture]] view also places the rapture at some point during the tribulation period before 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. {{frac|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 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.<ref>{{cite web|title= Welcome to the Pre-Wrath Consortium |website= Pre-Wrath Consortium |url= http://www.bibliology.org/PW |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20041020000043/http://bibliology.org/PW/ |archive-date= 20 October 2004}}</ref> However, by this point many Christians will have been slaughtered as martyrs by the [[Antichrist]]. After the rapture will come God's [[Seven seals|seventh-seal]] wrath of trumpets and bowls (a.k.a. "the Day of the Lord"). The Day of the Lord's wrath against the ungodly will follow during the remainder of the seventh year.<ref>{{cite book |last= Rosenthal |first= Marvin J. |title= The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church |publisher= [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]] |year=1990 |isbn= 978-0840731609 |url= https://archive.org/details/prewrathraptureo00rose }}</ref><ref>Marvin Rosenthal, author of ''The Prewrath Rapture of the Church'', is a proponent for the prewrath rapture view. His belief is founded on the work of Robert D. Van Kampen (1938–1999); his books ''The Sign'', ''The Rapture Question Answered'' and ''The Fourth Reich'' detail his pre-wrath rapture doctrine.</ref>

==== Partial rapture premillennialism ====

The partial, conditional or selective rapture theory holds that all obedient Christians will be raptured before the great tribulation depending on one's personal fellowship (or closeness) between her or him and God, which is not to be confused with the relationship between the same and God (which is believer, regardless of fellowship).<ref>{{cite book|last1= LaHaye |first1= Tim |author-link1= Tim LaHaye |last2= Ice |first2= Thomas |author-link2= Thomas Ice |title= Charting the End Times: A Visual Guide to Understanding Bible Prophecy |publisher= [[Harvest House]] |series= Tim LaHaye Prophecy Library |date= 2001 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ESz8LZW5d-gC |isbn= 978-0736901383}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Overview of the Partial Rapture Theory |series= Valley Bible Church Theology Studies |url= http://www.valleybible.net/AdultEducation/ClassNotes/TheologySurvey/Eschatology/PartialRapture.pdf |location= [[Lancaster, California]] |access-date= 1 April 2015 |archive-date= 20 October 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161020090829/http://www.valleybible.net/AdultEducation/ClassNotes/TheologySurvey/Eschatology/PartialRapture.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref> 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 the 5th and 6th seals of Revelation, having lost their lives during.<ref>{{cite book|last= White |first= J. W. Jr. |title= The Partial Rapture "Theory" Explained: Escaping The Coming Storm |publisher= [[Xulon Press]] |year= 2008 |isbn= 978-1604776843 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=N38FXiKInzoC}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite journal|last= David |first= Ira E. |title= Translation: When Does It Occur? |journal= The Dawn |date= 15 November 1935 |page= 358}}</ref> Some notable proponents of this theory are [[George H. Lang|G. H. Lang]], [[Robert Chapman (Plymouth Brethren)|Robert Chapman]], [[G. H. Pember]], [[Robert Govett]], [[David Morrieson Panton|D. M. Panton]], [[Watchman Nee]], Ira E. David, [[Joseph Seiss|J. A. Seiss]], [[Hudson Taylor]], [[Anthony Norris Groves]], John Wilkinson, [[G. Campbell Morgan]], Otto Stockmayer and Rev. J. W. (Chip) White Jr.

==== Posttribulational premillennialism ====
{{Main|Posttribulation rapture}}

In the posttribulation 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 posttribulation position places the rapture at the end of the tribulation period. Posttribulation writers define the tribulation period in a generic sense as the entire present age, or in a specific sense of a period of time preceding the second coming of Christ.<ref>{{cite book |first= John F. |last= Walvoord |author-link= John Walvoord |title= The Rapture Question |publisher= [[Zondervan]] |year=1979 |orig-year= 1957 |edition= Revised and enlarged |isbn=978-0-310-34151-2 |page= 128}}</ref> The emphasis in this view is that the church will undergo the tribulation.<ref>{{Cite book | title = A Basic Guide to Eschatology: Making Sense of the Millennium | last = Erickson | first = Millard J. | publisher = [[Baker Publishing Group|Baker Book House]] | location = Grand Rapids, Michigan |year=1998 |edition= revised |orig-year= 1977 |page= 152 | isbn = 0-8010-5836-8}} Originally published in 1977 under the title ''Contemporary Options in Eschatology: A Study of the Millennium''.</ref> {{bible verse || Matthew|24:29–31|KJV}} – "''Immediately after the Tribulation of those days...they shall gather together his elect...''" – is cited as a foundational scripture for this view. Posttribulationists perceive the rapture as occurring simultaneously with the second coming of Christ. Upon Jesus's return, believers will meet him in the air and will then accompany him in his return to the Earth. 

In the [[Epistles of Paul]], most notably in {{bible verse|1|Thessalonians|4:16–17|KJV}} ("the dead in Christ shall rise first") and {{bible verse|1|Corinthians|15:51–52|KJV}}, a [[Shofar|trumpet]] is described as blowing at the end of the tribulation to herald the return of Christ; {{bible verse || Revelation|11:15|KJV}} further supports this view. Moreover, after chapters 6–19, and after 20:1–3 when Satan is bound, {{bibleverse || Revelation|20:4–6|KJV}} 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 posttribulational view include [[Pat Robertson]], [[Walter Ralston Martin|Walter R. Martin]], [[John Piper (theologian)|John Piper]], [[George Eldon Ladd|George E. Ladd]],<ref>{{cite book |last= Ladd |first= George Eldon |author-link= George Eldon Ladd |title= The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of the Second Advent and the Rapture |publisher= [[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Eerdmans]] |year= 1990 |orig-year= 1956 |url= https://archive.org/details/blessedhopebibli00ladd |isbn= 978-0802811110 }}</ref> [[Robert H. Gundry]],<ref>{{cite book|last= Gundry |first= Robert H. |author-link= Robert H. Gundry |title= The Church and the Tribulation: A Biblical Examination of Posttribulationism |year=1999 |orig-year= 1973 |publisher= [[Zondervan]] |isbn= 978-0310254010}}</ref> and [[Douglas Moo]].

=== Postmillennialism ===
{{Main|Postmillennialism}}
In 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."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Boettner|first1=Loraine|title=The millennium|date=1984|publisher=Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co.|location=[Phillipsburg, N.J.]|isbn=978-0875521138|edition=[Rev. ed].}}</ref> Postmillennialists commonly view the rapture of the Church as one and the same event as the second coming of Christ. According to them the great tribulation was already fulfilled in the Jewish-Roman War of AD 66–73 that involved the destruction of Jerusalem.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Authors who have expressed support for this view include the [[Puritanism|Puritan]] [[John Bunyan]] of ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]]'', [[Congregationalism|Congregationalist]] theologian [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]], and [[Second Great Awakening]] figure [[Charles Finney]].

=== Amillennialism ===
{{Main|Amillennialism}}

Amillennialists view the millennial rule of Christ as 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 a literal interpretation of the thousand-year period mentioned in chapter twenty of Revelation, viewing the number "thousand" as [[Numerology|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 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 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 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 amillennialist view include St. Augustine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.catholic.com/tract/the-rapture |title= The Rapture |access-date= 19 September 2017}}</ref>  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 churches|Reformed]] congregations.<ref name="Garrison">{{cite book|last1=Garrison|first1=J. Christopher|title=The Judaism of Jesus: The Messiah's Redemption of the Jews|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0FxAwAAQBAJ&q=amillennialism+catholic+orthodox+anglican&pg=PA264|date=2014|isbn=978-1-4908-2974-6|publisher=WestBowPress|location=Bloomington, Indiana|page=264}}</ref>
===Preterist Rapture===
{{See |Preterism}}
This view, associated with Victorian Congregationalist [[J. Stuart Russell]] is that the rapture already occurred in the lifetime of the St John,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Russell |first1=J. Stuart |title=The rapture of the saints |url=https://archive.org/stream/theraptureofsain697engl/theraptureofsain697engl_djvu.txt |access-date=20 February 2025 }}</ref> leaving an empty husk institution: the Christian church was not restored until the Reformation.

== Date ==
{{Further|List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events}}

Since 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.<ref>{{cite web|last= Nelson |first= Chris |url=http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm|title= A Brief History of the Apocalypse |date= 18 May 2011 |access-date= 1 April 2015}}</ref>

=== Failed predictions ===
{{Main|Predictions and claims for the Second Coming}}

Notable predictions of the date of the [[Second Coming]] of Jesus, which may or may not refer to the rapture, include the following:

* '''1843''' and '''1844''': [[William Miller (preacher)|William Miller]] predicted that Christ would return between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844, then revised his prediction, claiming to have miscalculated the Bible, to 22 October 1844. The realization that the predictions were incorrect resulted in the [[Great Disappointment]]. Miller's theology gave rise to the [[Adventism|Advent movement]], which later on gave birth to the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]]. Followers of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] believe that Christ did return as Miller predicted in 1844, with the advent of [[the Báb]], and numerous Miller-like prophetic predictions from many religions are given in [[William Sears (Baháʼí)|William Sears]]' book, ''Thief in The Night''.<ref>{{cite book |last= Sears |first= William |author-link= William Sears (Baháʼí) |title= Thief in the Night: Or, The Strange Case of the Missing Millennium |year= 1961 |publisher= George Ronald Publishing Ltd. |location= [[Welwyn]], [[England]] |url= https://archive.org/details/thiefinnightor00sear |isbn= 978-0853980087 }}</ref>
* '''1914''',<ref>{{cite book |last= Barbour |first= Nelson H. |author-link= Nelson H. Barbour |title= Three Worlds, and the Harvest of This World |year= 1877 |oclc= 41016956 |publisher= [[Nelson H. Barbour]] and [[Charles Taze Russell]] |location= [[Rochester, New York]] |url= http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/3worlds.pdf |access-date= 3 April 2015 |archive-date= 20 March 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060320020952/http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/3worlds.pdf |url-status= dead }} (See also:  Wikipedia's article on [[Three Worlds (book)]] )<br>as cited by:<br> {{cite book |last= Penton |first= M. James |author-link= James Penton |title= Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses |date= 9 August 1997 |publisher= [[University of Toronto Press]] |edition= 2nd |orig-year= 1985 |pages= 21–22 |isbn= 978-0802079732 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=38SYXalMLeQC }}</ref> '''1918''',<ref>''The Finished Mystery'', 1917, pp. 258, 485, as cited by Raymond Franz, ''Crisis of Conscience'', pp. 206–211.</ref> and '''1925''':<ref>''The Way to Paradise'' booklet, Watch Tower Society, 1924, as cited by Raymond Franz, ''Crisis of Conscience'', pp. 230–232.</ref> Various dates were predicted for the Second Coming of Jesus by [[Charles Taze Russell]], the founder of the [[Watch Tower Society]], and many of his successors heading his [[International Bible Students Association|Bible Students Association]], which was later renamed the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]].

Predictions of the date of the rapture include the following:

* '''1981''': [[Chuck Smith (pastor)|Chuck Smith]] predicted that Jesus would probably return by 1981.<ref>{{cite book|last= Smith |first= Chuck |author-link= Chuck Smith (pastor) |title= End Times: A Report on Future Survival

| date= 1978 |publisher= Maranatha House Publishers |location= [[Costa Mesa, California]] |page= 17 |isbn= 978-0893370114}}</ref>

* '''1988''': [[Edgar C. Whisenant]] published a book called ''88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/ReasonsWhyTheRaptureWillBeIn1988PDF|title=88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988 and On Borrowed Time|date=June 15, 1988|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
* '''1994-09-06''':  Radio evangelist [[Harold Camping]] predicted 6 September 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abhota.info/end3.htm|title=A Brief History of the Apocalypse; 1971–1997: Millennial Madness|date=18 June 2002|author=Nelson, Chris|access-date=23 June 2007}}</ref>
* '''2011-05-21''': [[Harold Camping]]'s [[2011 end times prediction|revised prediction]] put 21 May 2011 as the date of the rapture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/waat/contents.html|title=We are Almost There|access-date=22 July 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612151708/http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/waat/contents.html|archive-date=12 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/03/06/judgment.day.caravan/index.html |title=Road trip to the end of the world | publisher=[[CNN]] |author=Ravitz, Jessica |date=6 March 2011 |access-date=6 March 2011}}</ref> After this date passed without apparent incident, Camping made a radio broadcast stating that a non-visible "spiritual judgement" had indeed taken place, and that the physical rapture would occur on 21 October 2011. On that date, according to Camping, the "whole world will be destroyed."<ref>[http://laist.com/2011/05/24/apocalypse_not_quite_now_camping_pi.php LAist] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720022803/http://laist.com/2011/05/24/apocalypse_not_quite_now_camping_pi.php |date=20 July 2011 }}, 24 May 2011.</ref>
* '''2017-09-23''': Christian [[numerologist]] [[David Meade (author)|David Meade]] based this prediction on astrological theories.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Molloy|first1=Mark|title=Nibiru: How the nonsense Planet X Armageddon and Nasa fake news theories spread globally|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/21/nibiru-nonsense-planet-x-armageddon-nasa-fake-news-theories/|date=24 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Is the world really about to come to an end? No, almost certainly not|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|last1=Griffin|first1=Andrew|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/world-end-apocalypse-locusts-swarm-eclipse-unilad-daily-star-planet-x-nibiru-a7868766.html|date=22 September 2017}}</ref>
* '''2025-09-23/24''': Predicted by [[Joshua Mhlakela]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Rapture Was Predicted to Happen Today. TikTok Has Some Advice. |last=Zhuang |first=Yan |date=2025-09-23 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/us/rapture-tiktok-sept-23.html |quote=Yan Zhuang reported from Seoul, where Sept. 23 has already passed without incident. |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity}}

* [[Bible prophecy]]
* {{anl|Covenantalism}}
* {{anl|Enoch}}
* {{anl|Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses}}
* {{anl|Kamikakushi}}
* {{anl|Number of the beast}}
* {{anl|Preterism}}
* [[Rapture anxiety]] 
* [[The Leftovers (TV series)|''The Leftovers'' (TV series)]] – American series in which a rapture-like event occurs
* [[Unfulfilled Christian religious predictions]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==

{{Reflist
| refs =
<!-- see [[Wikipedia:List-defined references#List-defined references]] -->
<ref name="r-Kyle-1998">{{Cite book
 |last=Kyle |first = Richard G. |author-link= Richard G. Kyle |date= 1998 |pages=78–79
 |title=The Last Days Are Here Again: A History of the End Times
 |location= Grand Rapids, Michigan |publisher= [[Baker Publishing Group|Baker Books]] |isbn = 978-0-8010-5809-7
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Boyer-1992">{{cite book
 |last=Boyer |first=Paul |author-link= Paul Boyer (historian) |date= 1992 |page=[https://archive.org/details/whentimeshallben0000boye/page/75 75]
 |title=When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture
 |url=  https://archive.org/details/whentimeshallben0000boye
 |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-674-95128-0
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Marotta-1995">{{cite book
 |last=Marotta |first=Frank |year=1995
 |title=Morgan Edwards: An Eighteenth Century Pretribulationist
 |location= [[Jackson Township, New Jersey]] |publisher=Present Truth Publishers |isbn = 978-0-9640037-8-1
 |oclc = 36897344
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Hommel">{{cite web |last= Hommel |first= Jason |title= The Jesuits and the Rapture: Francisco Ribera & Emmanuel Lacunza |url = http://bibleprophesy.org/jesuitrapture.htm |access-date = 22 January 2011 |website= Jason Hommel's Bible Prophecy Study on the Pre Tribulation Rapture |location = [[Grass Valley, California]] |url-status= dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101209094535/http://bibleprophesy.org/jesuitrapture.htm |archive-date= 9 December 2010 }}</ref>
<ref name="r-Tregelles-1864">{{Cite book
 |last= Tregelles |first=Samuel Prideaux |author-link= Samuel Prideaux Tregelles | year=1864
 |title= The Hope of Christ's Second Coming: How is it Taught in Scripture? and Why?
 |location = London |publisher= Houlston and Wright
 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fj5VAAAAcAAJ
}} Reprint: {{Cite book
 |last= Tregelles |first=Samuel Prideaux |author-link= Samuel Prideaux Tregelles |year= 2006
 |title= The Hope of Christ's Second Coming
 |location=Milesburg, PA |publisher= Strong Tower Publishing |isbn=978-0-9772883-0-4
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Oliphant-1862">{{Cite book
 |last=Oliphant |first=Margaret |author-link= Margaret Oliphant |year=1862 |pages=220–223
 |title=The life of Edward Irving, minister of the National Scotch Church, London
 |volume=First volume
 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofirving01olipuoft
 |location=London |publisher= [[Hurst and Blackett]] |access-date= 17 March 2015
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Miller-1878">{{Cite book
 |last=Miller |first=Edward |year=1878 |page=8
 |title=The history and doctrines of Irvingism |volume=II
 |url= https://archive.org/details/historyanddoctri02milluoft
 |location=London | publisher= [[Routledge|C. Kegan Paul & Co.]] |access-date= 16 March 2015
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Bray-1982">{{Cite book
 |publisher=John L. Bray Ministry
 |last=Bray |first=John L |year= 1982 |pages=24–25
 |title=The origin of the pre-tribulation rapture teaching
 |location= [[Lakeland, Florida]]
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Blaising-Bock-1993">{{Cite book
 |last1= Blaising |first1= Craig A. |author-link1= Craig A. Blaising |last2= Bock |first2= Darrell L. |author-link2= Darrell Bock |date= November 1993
 |title=Progressive Dispensationalism
 |location=Wheaton, IL |publisher= [[Baker Publishing Group|Bridgepoint Books]] |isbn=978-1-56476-138-5
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsumJRsOWVMC
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-synaxis">{{cite web
 |title= About the Supposed Rapture
 |url= http://www.synaxis.org/catechist/rapture.html
 |publisher= Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Omaha |location= [[Omaha, Nebraska]] |access-date= 23 January 2011
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140402041125/http://www.synaxis.org/catechist/rapture.html
 |archive-date= 2 April 2014
 |quote= Rapture is a popular term among some Protestant sects for the raising of the faithful from the dead....The belief in rapture tends to be what is called 'pre-tribulation'.
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Lindsey-1989">{{cite book
 |last=Lindsey |first=Hal |author-link= Hal Lindsey |date= 1 June 1989 |page=[https://archive.org/details/roadtoholocaust00hall/page/77 77]
 |title= The Road to Holocaust
 |publisher= [[Bantam Books]] |isbn=978-0-553-05724-9 |url= https://archive.org/details/roadtoholocaust00hall
| url-access=registration }}</ref>
<ref name="r-Keeley-1982">{{cite book
 |editor-last= Keeley |editor-first= Robin |date= 1982 |page=415
 |title=Eerdmans' Handbook to Christian Belief
 |location= Grand Rapids |publisher= [[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Eerdmans]] |isbn=978-0-8028-3577-2
}}</ref>
<ref name="r-Missler-1995">{{cite web |last= Missler |first= Chuck |author-link= Chuck Missler |date= June 1995 |title= Byzantine Text Discovery: Ephraem the Syrian |url= http://www.khouse.org/articles/1995/39/ |publisher= Koinonia House |location= [[Coeur d'Alene, Idaho]] |access-date= 22 March 2015 |quote= 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. |archive-date= 29 April 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160429185009/http://khouse.org/articles/1995/39/ |url-status= dead }}</ref>
<ref name="r-bpo-pseudo-ephraem">{{cite web |last=Hommel |first=Jason  |title=A Sermon by Pseudo-Ephraem
 |url=http://www.bibleprophesy.org/ancient.htm |access-date= 22 March 2015
 |website= Jason Hommel's Bible Prophecy Study on the Pre Tribulation Rapture |location= [[Grass Valley, California]] |quote= 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.
}}<!-- "Jason Hommel's Bible Prophecy Study on the Pre Tribulation Rapture" is self-published. --></ref>
<ref name="r-Tim-Warner">{{cite web |last= Warner |first= Tim |year= 2001 |title= Pseudo-Pseudo-Ephraem |url= http://www.geocities.com/lasttrumpet_2000/timeline/ephraem.html |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050218123936/http://www.geocities.com/lasttrumpet_2000/timeline/ephraem.html |archive-date=18 February 2005 |website= The Last Trumpet |publisher= Post-Trib Research Center |location= [[Tampa, Florida]]}}</ref>
<ref name="r-note-pseudo-epraem">See [[Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem]] for a detailed explanation of the text and the controversy.</ref>
<!-- unused<ref name="r-bpo-vision">{{cite web |last= Hommel |first= Jason |title = Margaret MacDonald's Vision |url= http://www.bibleprophesy.org/vision.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030115080400/http://www.bibleprophesy.org/vision.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 15 January 2003 |access-date= 14 November 2016 |postscript = . Quotes the account in ''The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets In the Catholic Apostolic Church'' (1861). |website = Jason Hommel's Bible Prophecy Study on the Pre Tribulation Rapture |location = [[Grass Valley, California]]</ref> -->}}

== External links ==

* {{Commons category-inline|Prophecy of the Rapture}}

{{Doomsday}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rapture| ]]
[[Category:1833 introductions]]
[[Category:Christian eschatology]]
[[Category:Dispensationalism]]
[[Category:New Testament words and phrases]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Entering heaven alive]]