The Greek word for “caught up” is “harpazō” and means “to seize, to carry off by force” or “to snatch away.” Someone who was kidnapped could be said to be caught up or snatched away by force and so this is the Lord’s doing however it is not done against our will because those who have repented and put their trust in Christ have by their own freewill chosen to believe in Him (John 3:16). I think Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians to reassure them about those who had already died and they feared that they would miss the Lord’s return or miss out on the kingdom. Paul expressly wrote this to reassure them that the Lord wouldn’t miss any of His when He returns; therefore Paul wanted them to “encourage one another with these words” that he wrote.
First Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
This will be hard to miss because when Christ returns again, He “will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel” so this won’t be something that believers will have to worry about missing. His voice will be accompanied with “the trumpet of God” and those who are departed in the faith “will rise first” and then we’ll join them into the entrance of the eternal kingdom of God and that joy will be unparalleled in all of our lives and in human history.
Titus 2:13 “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Troy Day I did not keep a copy above. This is the current revision. I do have an old paper copy somewhere that would be pre-trib specific. It is wrong to make an eschatological specific view an essential truth when equally capable, godly believers hold to different views on a peripheral issue within a denomination. To make pre-trib a condition of ordination would be unbiblical tradition.
In 1962, philosopher-scientist Thomas Kuhn coined the term “paradigm shift” to signal a massive change in the way a community thinks about a particular topic.1 Examples of paradigm shifts include Copernicus’s discovery that the earth revolves around the sun, Einstein’s theory of relativity, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Each changed the world of thought (some for better, some for worse) in a fundamental way.
From a political perspective, Constantine’s Edict of Milan, issued in AD 313, constituted the formal beginning of a major paradigm shift that signaled the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the medieval period. That edict legitimated Christianity and impressed upon it the Empire’s stamp of approval.
Varnel Watson
TRUE just like ALL church fathers were pre-mil till Augustine 🙂 http://www.pentecostaltheology.com/the-early-church-fathers-and-their-views-of-rapture-eschatology/
Varnel Watson
John Edwards
Pre-Millennial Futurism is the majority view among evangelicals is true according to this paper
Varnel Watson
The Greek word for “caught up” is “harpazō” and means “to seize, to carry off by force” or “to snatch away.” Someone who was kidnapped could be said to be caught up or snatched away by force and so this is the Lord’s doing however it is not done against our will because those who have repented and put their trust in Christ have by their own freewill chosen to believe in Him (John 3:16). I think Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians to reassure them about those who had already died and they feared that they would miss the Lord’s return or miss out on the kingdom. Paul expressly wrote this to reassure them that the Lord wouldn’t miss any of His when He returns; therefore Paul wanted them to “encourage one another with these words” that he wrote.
First Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
This will be hard to miss because when Christ returns again, He “will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel” so this won’t be something that believers will have to worry about missing. His voice will be accompanied with “the trumpet of God” and those who are departed in the faith “will rise first” and then we’ll join them into the entrance of the eternal kingdom of God and that joy will be unparalleled in all of our lives and in human history.
Titus 2:13 “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Anonymous
True
Anonymous
PAOC (I am a member) had pre-trib, pre-mill. in Statement of Faith (though my favourite Pauline Bible College prof, Dr. F. was post/trib).
Anonymous
The older SOF was more dogmatic and possibly even a credential/ordination issue if I recall when I was in the 80s.
Media: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10161382099454402&set=p.10161382099454402&type=3
Anonymous
Media: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10161382099579402&set=p.10161382099579402&type=3
Anonymous
William Lance Huget glad you kept a copy These things get changed and NO one ever remember how Biblical sound they were @ one time
Anonymous
Troy Day I did not keep a copy above. This is the current revision. I do have an old paper copy somewhere that would be pre-trib specific. It is wrong to make an eschatological specific view an essential truth when equally capable, godly believers hold to different views on a peripheral issue within a denomination. To make pre-trib a condition of ordination would be unbiblical tradition.
Anonymous
In 1962, philosopher-scientist Thomas Kuhn coined the term “paradigm shift” to signal a massive change in the way a community thinks about a particular topic.1 Examples of paradigm shifts include Copernicus’s discovery that the earth revolves around the sun, Einstein’s theory of relativity, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Each changed the world of thought (some for better, some for worse) in a fundamental way.
From a political perspective, Constantine’s Edict of Milan, issued in AD 313, constituted the formal beginning of a major paradigm shift that signaled the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the medieval period. That edict legitimated Christianity and impressed upon it the Empire’s stamp of approval.