"Meeting the Lord in the air"

[Elijah John]

I heard a preacher this morning critiquing the world, (and yes, there are some very real problems in our world, moral and otherwise) and promising that there is hope because the "true believers" in Jesus will soon be raptured up to "meet the Lord in the air". He shouted this in an ecstatic tone of voice, whipping the flock into frenzied applause.

It reminded me of those minor and odd sects that one hears about in the headlines from time to time, what some people may call "cults"?

I think if I had been a visitor to this congregation, (instead of watching it on TV) I would have experienced a little fear. And moreso because in the US, this kind of teaching and preaching is becoming more and more popular, and not confined to the margins.

=Is this kind of preaching and congregation response, an example of what psychologists would call a form of "mob mentality"?

-Why don't mainline Churches, such as the RCC, Orthodox, mainline Protestant, Episcopalian, Anglican etc, churches teach the "Rapture"?

Could it be they put a bit more emphasis on rationality in their approach?

Or are those mainline Churches simply delinquent from "true" Christianity?

And finally, Does this kind of preaching, and this kind of doctrine make the borderline skeptic more or less likely to believe in God?

[tam]

Peace to you EJ,

-Why don't mainline Churches, such as the RCC, Orthodox, mainline Protestant, Episcopalian, Anglican etc, churches teach the "Rapture"?

That would be a question for any of them to answer, wouldn't it?

I'm not sure if you are objecting to the teaching or to the method of teaching. But as for the teaching, Christ Himself promised to return and gather His own up to Him; Paul elaborated 'we will meet the Lord in the air'. His statement that we will be changed 'in a twinkling'; is corroborated in Revelation with the white robe that people were given that they would change into/wear.

The new body.


As for your list, don't protestants at least also teach this (that we will meet the Lord in the air)?


Preachers of the like that you keep seeing on television might choose to focus upon this teaching (might even add to or take away from it), but there is nothing wrong with the teaching that we will meet the Lord in the air.

And finally, Does this kind of preaching, and this kind of doctrine make the borderline skeptic more or less likely to believe in God?

Does it matter?


If we change the truth to suit the borderline skeptic (or anyone else for that matter), then is it still the truth?


Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 2 by tam]

Is this ther essence of true religion, Tammy, fantastical notions such as the Rapture which Evangelicals emphsize? Or is ithe essence of true religion, like the mainline Churches teach, love of God and neighbor.

I have a hunch that such distoritions of Christianity as the Rapture, turn people off to Christianity. Honest seekers, and skeptics of good will are needlessly put off by such things.

As Thomas Paine once stated, "the Bible has suceeded in only producing atheists and fanatics".

I think Paine overstates it a bit, but I think he's onto something.

Distorted Christianity needelssly drives people away.

Let me put it this way, how important do you think it is that folks believe in the "Rapture", literally?

Essential for salvation?

[imhereforyou]

[Replying to post 1 by Elijah John]

Does this kind of preaching, and this kind of doctrine make the borderline skeptic more or less likely to believe in God?

It probably doesn't help, but I doubt this is the only thing that would hinder a person's belief in it (not that you indicated it was the only thing).
I think many would be more apt to believe if the Believers themselves were more credible, honest and succinct/agreeable on their religion itself.

are those mainline Churches simply delinquent from "true" Christianity?

One would have to agree on what 'true Christianity' is and not even all the Christians can agree on that so the chance of that ever happening without a mass human extinction is unlikely as far as I can tell.

Could it be they put a bit more emphasis on rationality in their approach?

Was Jesus rational in his teachings? If so, then YES. If not, then NO.

Why don't mainline Churches, such as the RCC, Orthodox, mainline Protestant, Episcopalian, Anglican etc, churches teach the "Rapture"?

I grew up protestant and was taught about the rapture - was a very mainstream church as far as I could tell (the other protestant churches I visited in the area taught it as well).
But what does mainline mean as you use it? Normal? Common? Majority?

Is this kind of preaching and congregation response, an example of what psychologists would call a form of "mob mentality"?

Mob mentality isn't always a bad thing is it? Just a question to ponder I suppose.
I consider Christianity mob mentality which isn't always a bad thing (though it can be for sure).

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 4 by imhereforyou]

"Mainline" meaning Trintarian Christian, non-Evangelical/Fundamentalist. Such as the RCC, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopalian/Anglican, Methodist, etc.

Growing up Catholic, if the Rapture was ever taught, I sure don't remember it, and it was not emphasized.

Nor was it taught to my Episcopalian friends and family.

[imhereforyou]

[Replying to post 5 by Elijah John]

Thanks for clarifying.
My methodists were taught about the rapture.

[historia]

Why don't mainline Churches, such as the RCC, Orthodox, mainline Protestant, Episcopalian, Anglican etc, churches teach the "Rapture"?

In large part because the doctrine of the Rapture (at least in this particular articulation) is relatively new. It was developed as part of a scheme called Dispensational theology by Nelson Darby in Great Britain in the early-19th Century and popularized among American Evangelicals in the early-20th Century.

don't protestants at least also teach this (that we will meet the Lord in the air)?

Conservative Protestants certainly do. But Christians have historically interpreted 1 Thess. 4:16-17 as describing an event at the Second Coming, in which believers meet Christ in the air as he returns to the Earth. Not, as Dispensationalists hold, to be taken away to heaven a thousand years prior to the Second Coming.

Could it be they put a bit more emphasis on rationality in their approach?

A congregation's style of worship and it's adherence (or not) to Dispensationalism are quite distinct issues. You can find very staid and traditional churches that have adopted Dispensational theology, and vice-versa.

in the US, this kind of teaching and preaching is becoming more and more popular, and not confined to the margins.

Certainly, pentecostal and charismatic churches have surged in popularity in recent decades. But Dispensationalism is actually on a relative decline, as Reformed theology has (re-)gained in popularity among American Evangelicals.

[bjs]

=Is this kind of preaching and congregation response, an example of what psychologists would call a form of "mob mentality"?

I seriously doubt it, though there is no way to be sure from just watching something on TV. My experience with charismatic movements (it sounds like that is what you were describing) is that people experience an increased level of self-awareness. One of the hallmarks of mob mentality is a loss of self-awareness.

-Why don't mainline Churches, such as the RCC, Orthodox, mainline Protestant, Episcopalian, Anglican etc, churches teach the "Rapture"?

Do you mean the specifically pre-millennial view of the rapture? Well, the RCC’s official doctrine is a-millennial. I don’t know every mainline Protestant’s take.

However, RCC, mainline Protestant, and Evangelical theology all agree that believers will “meet the Lord in the air.� Not all agree that there will be a time after this when unbelievers are left behind on earth

The idea that it will happen in the next few years is a more extreme view that is rarely preached outside of televangelist.

Could it be they put a bit more emphasis on rationality in their approach?

Emotion is not bad. The idea that people are purely rational is a misguided as the idea that people are purely emotional. We are both. Perhaps this specific speaker went too far onto the emotional side, but orators and those who practice rhetoric have long known the value of both reason and emotion.

And finally, Does this kind of preaching, and this kind of doctrine make the borderline skeptic more or less likely to believe in God?

My guess? Neither. But back when I was a borderline skeptic I didn’t hear much about this idea. That was before the Left Behind book series came out, and they did a lot to bring this idea to the forefront of popular culture.


The “cults� comment seems uncalled for.

[Elijah John]

1 Thessalonians 4.17

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Was Paul consciously writing for posterity, or for his contemoraries? If the latter, clearly Paul was wrong, as no one has been" caught up together ...to meet the Lord in the air".

If the former, then why does Paul use the present "we which are alive" instead of "those who are alive when the Lord descends".

Seems Paul, like the Evangelist Matthew's Jesus, expected Jesus to return in the lifetime of his apostles.

Why do so many Evangelicals put so much stock in verse from Paul which has clearly been proven wrong?

Also, The RCC does not teach the Rapture, And it doesn't take this verse from Paul literally.

And finally, why do Evangelicas ignore Paul's admonition against allowing women to speak in church, yet take literally 1 Thessalonians 4.17?

And they accuse theologically liberal Christians of "quote mining"??

[JehovahsWitness]

1 Thessalonians 4.17

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

We Jehovah's Witnesses interpret these words to refer to have happened invisibly in the spirit realm in 1914.

We don't believe in a "rapture" per se where humans will be taken bodily into heaven in some future event.


JW



Further reading
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989259