The Second Coming, the “Rapture,” and Hope for the Dead

The second coming of Christ, enshrined in the Apostle’s Creed, is the hope of all Christians both living and dead, and has been since the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven. It is relatively easy to understand the virtue of Hope being exercised by the living, but harder to visualize those who have died to this world doing anything in a state of existence that is completely unknown to us who live in temporal time. A lot of speculation seems to revolve around those who are still alive when Jesus returns while excluding the many souls who have died throughout the centuries.

Saint Paul offers consolation and hope for all who have gone before us in the battle of earthly life:

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

The above passage speaks of true hope for the Christian dead but has unfortunately been used to support a construct called “The Rapture” that provides a framework for what could be termed “religious science fiction.” Matthew’s Gospel, the Book of Daniel, the Book of Revelation, and 1 Thessalonians are cobbled together to insert a great tribulation into the equation of salvation and the second coming of Christ. According to this postulation, Jesus will gather believers before the events of the Tribulation, thus sparing some while unleashing unspeakable havoc on others.

Even though sacred scripture and the Apostles Creed state that Christ “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,” the rapture theory places severe punishment before the final judgment on the unbelievers who are still alive during the end times. (Heretics and apostates from previous generations will be spared the horrific happenings of the great tribulation by being already deceased.) The following passage has been used as a proof text that supports a provocative “rapturing” of some while others are left behind. In reality, it is a teaching with an admonishment to be ready for the Lord’s return in glory:

But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. (Matthew 24:36-44)

Our hope for those who have gone before us “marked with the sign of Faith” is that we will all rise together even though we have died to life on Earth at different times throughout the centuries. We will indeed be “caught up together” to “meet the Lord in the air.” The age that began at Pentecost and will end at the Second Coming of Christ is defined in the Apostles Creed for both living and dead and is our true Christian hope. We pray:

I believe in God,

the Father almighty,

Creator of heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried;

he descended into hell;

on the third day he rose again from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;

from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and life everlasting. Amen.