2 questions

[ByTheSpirit]

Seems like I asked this a long time ago here but I can't remember what answer I received. Do Wesleyans believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? I think I read somewhere that the CotN certainly doesn't, and maybe even Methodists.

Also, I know I've read that the CotN believes in physical healing, but does the denomination itself believe in the gifts of the Spirit or is it a semi-cessationist denom where healing is believed in but nothing more?

I'm legitimately curious about this and am searching for some answers. I promise I will not argue this stuff, just seeking answers God bless!

 

[Joykins]

I don't think the UMC has a position on the rapture.

Where does the Rapture fit into the United Methodist realm of beliefs?

 

[Maid Marie]

Seems like I asked this a long time ago here but I can't remember what answer I received. Do Wesleyans believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? I think I read somewhere that the CotN certainly doesn't, and maybe even Methodists.

Also, I know I've read that the CotN believes in physical healing, but does the denomination itself believe in the gifts of the Spirit or is it a semi-cessationist denom where healing is believed in but nothing more?

I'm legitimately curious about this and am searching for some answers. I promise I will not argue this stuff, just seeking answers God bless!

Officially, Nazarenes aren't required to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture [or anything else related to dispensationalism]. And most Nazarene pastors don't believe this and strongly so but many laypersons do, having been influenced by Christian media.

 

[GraceSeeker]

Seems like I asked this a long time ago here but I can't remember what answer I received. Do Wesleyans believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? I think I read somewhere that the CotN certainly doesn't, and maybe even Methodists.

Some do. Some don't. The church doesn't have any official position, and while I think the majority who bother to think about believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, this is more a reflection of the larger evangelical culture in which they live and to which they are exposed on the radio. But, rarely does it become a point of contention within the church. Personally, I think it's irrelevant, as Revelation was more about how to encourage the oppressed Christians at the end of the first century to remain true in their faith, than about some future eschatology.



---EDIT----

I feel like I need to add that it is debate over the tribulation or the rapture that I find irrelevant, not the book of Revelation. I find the book of Revelation one of the most relevant of books in the entire corpus of scripture for so many things in our day are similar to the situation the church was experiencing then. But, I don't think a dispensational understanding of the elements of Revelation help us to rightly apply them to our situation today.

 

[circuitrider]

GraceSeeker,

"Irrelevant" is mostly where I see it in relationship to Methodist theological priorities, that is until you get into specifically dispensationalist theologies which really require you to be a Calvinist to fully believe that set of teachings. Since United Methodists aren't Calvinists they aren't usually dispensationalists.

 

[GraceSeeker]

An excellent source for presenting Methodist views with regard to the rapture is this video by Ben Witherington III, Where Did The Rapture Come From?

And though N.T. Wright is an Anglican, not a Methodist, I believe he has a lot to say that's worth reading on this topic as well: Farewell to the Rapture.

 

[RomansFiveEight]

To echo their comments,

The UMC isn't going to kick you out for believing in the rapture. Nor is any sort of tribulation belief required. But, generally speaking, United Methodists understand 'The Rapture' in this context to be a modern, created-by-man construct associated with dispensationalism. Like oil and water; it's not that the two necessarily don't like each other; they just aren't compatible and don't mix. Dispensationalism, Calvinism, those sorts of ideas; though not "forbidden", just don't mesh with United Methodism and so the ideas that come out of those theologies just don't tend to pop up in conversation or are simply dismissed. I don't know you'd find any UM Clergy who would believe in any sort of "Left Behind" esque end-times theory. And if the Clergy aren't preaching it, then it's not likely many in the pews are believing it. Though I have a handful I know influenced by Christian culture (a naiive existence is that everything Christian is good and true so they read a 'Christian' book or see a 'Christian' movie and don't question the theology and believe what it has to say)