another dumb question what is tribulation and rapture

It's not a dumb question but it is certainly a volatile one.

The rapture is an event that will take place sometime in the near future. Jesus will come in the air, catch up the Church from the earth, and then return to Heaven with the Church. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, we are given a clear description of the rapture: "the dead in Christ will rise, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord."

The word "tribulation," used as a prophetic term, comes from Jesus' Olivet discourse, during which He laid out the future course of human history all the way to its climax at His Second Coming. The Lord said, in response to His disciples’ question, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt. 24:21).

Click to expand...

But there are varying ideas as to when the Rapture happens in relation to the Tribulation.

onesheep said:

It's not a dumb question but it is certainly a volatile one.



But there are varying ideas as to when the Rapture happens in relation to the Tribulation.

Click to expand...

But not within the teaching of the Catholic Church.


The Catholic Church does not teach the rapture that is taught in some circiles within Protestantism . .

The rapture, as taught in protetant circles which use this term, teaches a secret THIRD coming of Christ, not at all taught in the bible or by the Church, ever . .

and so is a heresy . . ..



Peace in Him!

thereselittleflower said:

But not within the teaching of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church does not teach the rapture that is taught in some circiles within Protestantism . .

The rapture, as taught in protetant circles which use this term, teaches a secret THIRD coming of Christ, not at all taught in the bible or by the Church, ever . .

and so is a heresy . . ..

Click to expand...

The question wasn't asked as to what the Catholic Church teaches.

And no, it doesn't teach a secret third coming of Christ.

onesheep said:

The question wasn't asked as to what the Catholic Church teaches.

Click to expand...

The last time I checked, this was still the CATHOLIC forum with one of the goals being for the promotion of what the Church TEACHES . . . so it is very appropriate to state what the Church teaches or does not teach on this subject in this thread . ..

And no, it doesn't teach a secret third coming of Christ.

Click to expand...

onesheep . . are you a disenationalist?


And yes, the rapture doctrine teaches that Christ comes hidden in the clouds, part way to earth, catches up the believers to Himself and takes them back to heaven with Him . .

Then later He comes again with them . .


2 comings instead of one . .


the Church teaches that Christ will come when it is time to judge the living and the dead . . there is no secret partial coming to earth to make millions vanish . .



The rapture teaches that only those who believe will see Him . . those who do not will not see Him . . thus the term "secret" . . .


But the bible clearly declares that when He comes back again, EVERY eye shall see Him . . .


You cannot have it both ways . .

Either there is a third coming where every eye WON'T see Him but beleivers will be "raptured" out of the earth that was never mentioned in the bible or Church teaching . . . or there isn't . .


The bible teaches only one 2nd coming of Christ . . when EVERY eye will see Him.


The idea of the rapture came along with a man named Darby in the 1800's . . .

Peace in Him!

fordraceing_man said:

like the subject says, what do these works mean?

Click to expand...

The rapture, or parousia is the end of the world when Christ returns. The tribulation is an interpretation of a passage in Daniel 9. Catholics do not see a literal tribulation period. There have periods of persecution throughout the last 2000 years.

... I've read most of these posts and all I still understand is that Jesus will come again, just as I suspected.

fordraceing_man said:

like the subject says, what do these works mean?

Click to expand...

Tribulation is what I call life and there is no such thing as a rapture.

THe rapture was invented doctrine by a man named Darby in 1800..so nothing to concern yourself with. The tribulation happened back in 70AD. We as Christians go through tribulation all the time and will continue to until Christ comes again!

karen

In the Tribulation, the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus will come again and we shall all be judged. There is no second chance. Well, actually, this is our second chance. There will be signs in the Heavens and on Earth indicating the time of Jesus' return. According to visionaries of both Fatima and Medjugorije (no discussion on validity please) we are in a period of pre-cataclism, the end of the world. And only through prayer, penance and good works of the faithful on earth has the ultimate cataclism that will take place has been put off. when the Earth shall be cleansed of all evil in preperation of Jesus' coming.

In the Rapture, the theory states that all those who are followers of Jesus shall be sweped up into the arms of Heaven and those left behind shall be put through seven cataclisms each more terrible than the next. And at the end of these trials, those remaining at the end, Jesus shall come and take them all to heaven. This is basically saying not only do you have a second chance to redeem yourself, but you also have a third chance, that is, if you survive all the terrible things that are to hapen. This theory is the basis for the "Left Behind" series written by Tim LaHaye.