Outline Studies On The Rapture Question by Ed. F. Sanders

Outline Studies On The Rapture Question

By Ed F. Sanders

Chapter 1: The Rapture Question?

Why write another study about the "rapture question"?⁽¹⁾ Hasn't enough been said? Searching the shelves of any evangelical Christian Bookstore one will find scores of books on prophecy, most making the rapture the central point. The careful student of prophecy, in reviewing the popular books on the subject, will soon find one common element. The popular literature is superficial, a-scriptural, tinged with speculation, and heightened by the imagination. To see this one would only have to look as far as the popular author Salem Kirban's book Guide to Survival, and Sidney Watson's: In The Twinkling Of An Eye and The Mark Of The Beast. Other popular books such as Hal Lindsey's, The Late Great Planet Earth and Tim LaHaye's Is This Really The End? are at best very superficial surveys of end time events. Approaching the subject with the presuppositions of the dispensational, pretribulational viewpoint is another common denominator.

This study attempts to focus in on the "rapture question" (what is the relationship of the rapture to the return of the Lord, and when does it occur?) from an exegetical study of the Biblical evidence. In order to adequately answer the rapture question several lines of inquiry are necessary. Therefore, each of the chapters in this study guide will deal with one major topic concerning the relation of the rapture to the Lord's return. The ultimate goal of this study is to challenge the reader to "search the Scriptures" for the Truth, and to insist on clear Scriptural evidence for all points of doctrine.

Many godly and spirit-filled men have held to the different views on the rapture while agreeing on the fundamental doctrines of Scripture. However we are dealing with a problem that has caused division among evangelical Christians. Even today at an ever-increasing rate many schools, mission boards, Churches, etc. are, making the rapture question a test for fellowship. This should not be so! Details of the rapture and the tribulation are secondary issues. The primary issue is the personal return of our Lord in victory, which no Bible-believing Christian questions. There is a real need of tolerance and Charity among brethren of differing opinions about eschatology. At a time when the second corning of Christ is being attacked and ridiculed by skeptics and liberals, evangelicals should be closing names as testimony to the fact - not dividing over details.

Several positions concerning the time of the rapture are held among conservative evangelical Christians today. The views are commonly referred to as pre-, mid-, or post-tribulational⁽²⁾.

Some of the well-known and influential pretribs are: L. S. Chafer, J. N. Darby, E. S. English, H. A. Ironside, J.D. Pentecost, C. I. Scofield, H. C. Thiessen, R. A. Torrey, J. F. Walvoord, C. C. Ryrie.

The midtrib view has not achieved wide-spread acceptance, but some significant evangelical scholars have adopted this position: J. Sidlow Baxter, J. O. Buswell, N. B. Harrison, G. H. Pember, J. A. Seiss, J. Hudson Taylor, Merrill C. Tenney.

Those who have held to a single return of the Lord and rapture after the tribulation (posttrib)⁽³⁾ include: Henry Alford, F. F. Bruce, Ralph Earle, W. Ward Gasque, A. F. Glasser, D. Guthrie, H. H. Halley, E.F. Harrison, C. F. H. Henry, K. Kantzer, D. H. Kronnninga, G. E. Ladd, Harold Lindsell, S. I. McMillen, Leon Morris, George Muller, H. J. Ockenga, J. Edwin Orr, J. Barton Payne, Clark Pinnock, Benard Rannn, Oswald J. Smith, Charles H Spurgeon, S. P. Tregelles, G. Christian Weiss, John Wesley, Theodore Zahn.⁽⁴⁾

In the following pages some of the above-listed men are quoted critically. This is done without any implications toward their person or intentions, but with a view toward critiquing certain of their teachings. Furthermore, this writer does not claim to be infallible or to have all of the final answers. Constructive suggestions or criticisms of these studies are welcome.

In order to accurately determine "what saith the Scripture" concerning the subject, there must be some general guidelines for study:

1. Acceptance of the entire trustworthiness of Scripture as the Words of God.
2. Recognition of the difference between interpretive opinion and the clear teaching and statements of Scripture.
3. A dependence on the Holy Spirit as our teacher of Scripture (John 14:26, I John 2:27). Too often the teaching of men, annotated Bibles, or preconceived theology, has obscured revealed Truth.
4. Doctrine must be based on exegesis - what the Scripture says, not eisegesis - presuppositions or inferences from what Scripture does not say.

A small fundamentalist denomination has for its motto: Where The Bible Speaks, We Speak - Where the Bible is Silent, We are Silent. Good starting point for the study of eschatology!

Endnotes:

[1] A term coined by Rev. Orson P. Jones in his booklet, Plain Speaking on the Rapture Question. The term was adopted by John F. Walvoord in his popular defense of the pre-trib theory: The Rapture Question, (1967, Dunham Publishing Company)

[2] The "tribulation" is generally defined as a time immediately preceding the Second Coming of Christ.

[3] Dr. J. F. Walvoord (Pres. Dallas Seminary), leading pre-trib spokesman, makes a significant observation concerning the posttrib view: "'Unquestionably the majority view as far as the rapture is concerned is the posttribulational view, namely, that Christ will come for His Church in connection with His second coming to the earth", Jesus Christ Our Lord, (Moody Press), p. 259.

[4] It is interesting to note that three posttribs were editors for the original Scofield Reference Bible. They were: W. G. Moorehead, W. J. Erdman, and H. G. Weston.