Rejecting The Rapture
Rapture as Myth. “Liberal Theologians: Many regard the Tribulation belief to be a fascinating myth or vision, but without any grounding in reality. The elements of the story -- Jesus descending in the sky. Believers rising to meet him. Parts of dead bodies, some individual organic molecules, somehow reconstructing themselves into their previous form. Bodies being changed instantly from their physical form to a spiritual form -- are simply a beautiful fantasy without any grounding in reality.” http://www.religioustolerance.org/rapture.htm
“The rapture concept is essentially ignored by most other Christian faith groups. It is dismissed by essentially all liberal Christian theologians. Many Bible handbooks, commentaries, dictionaries and encyclopedia do not even list 'rapture' in their indices." http://www.religioustolerance.org/rapture.htm
“Perhaps the defining characteristic of liberal Christians is that they are comfortable with ambiguity and diversity. They realize that life is a complex spiritual journey, and that each person on that journey is confronted with unexpected revelations and unique experiences. Liberal Christians therefore welcome a variety of approaches to understanding God and are open to new ways of talking about the divine.
…Liberals view Scripture through a critical lens, and are not afraid to challenge traditional assumptions and interpretations. They rely heavily on higher criticism of the Bible, which looks into the origin and composition of the biblical texts, revealing a great deal about the human aspect of Scripture. Modern philosophical, biological, and cosmological theories that are well supported by evidence, and reflect the true nature of the world around us, can also shape the way liberals interpret Scripture.
…The concept of personal salvation is not typically stressed by liberal Christians. Accordingly, traditional images of heaven, hell, and the End Times are not given much weight in their theologies. When salvation is discussed, liberals are more apt to stress its 'this worldly' aspects, and appeal to a universalist interpretation of Scripture when confronted with questions of eternal punishment and rewards." http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/2961/liberal.htm
Historical and Symbolic Interpretations. “Liberal Christians frequently follow an historical interpretation of the book. One source concludes that the writing of Revelation was motivated by persecution of the Christians by the Roman government. The Romans had revived the requirement that everyone worship the emperor as a living god. This practice was reinstituted by Emperor Domitian near the end of his reign, during the early 90's CE. Thus, the book of Revelation is assumed to have been written at about that time. Its main theme is to call for Christian solidarity to resist the demands of the empire and to refuse to worship the emperor. The author of Revelation clearly anticipated the end of the world within a few years of the writing of the book …Of course, the author was wrong. The end of the world never happened. Most liberals pay little attention to the book. They largely reject it because it portrays a God who is extremely hateful and bent on revenge against virtually all humanity. The God of Revelation bears no resemblance to the loving, kind Abba who was worshiped by Jesus. The book describes armies fighting on horseback with primitive, first century weapons. It obviously has little relevance to us today. It was probably apocalyptic literature which was written to bolster the morale of 1st century Christians in 7 churches, located in present-day Turkey.” http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_ntb5b.htm
“In general scholars have divided themselves into four main camps, holding four main views about how to understand Revelation. …
1) [T]he Book of Revelation is a picture of current events in the Roman Empire that were taking place or had just taken place in the recent past. Therefore, the contents are not prophetic at all; they put into symbolic form that which has already taken place at the time of John’s writing.
2) The second viewpoint is called “historical.” It interprets Revelation as a symbolic representation of the entire course of Church history leading up to its final consummation.
3) The third group is called the “futurist” interpretation….[T]he test of Revelation refers to events around the Return of Christ, coming sometime in the future.
4) …[T]he “idealistic” or symbolic viewpoint…considers the Book of Revelation to refer symbolically to the “conflict of good and evil” in any age, at any time, and is not specifically or literally historical.” [Edward F Edinger, Archetype of the Apocalypse, Open Count 1999]"
Controversy. As there is more and more awareness, through books, radio shows and television specials of what the Rapture means to Conservative Christians, there is a rising tide of protest from Liberal thinkers and theologians. Spiritual leaders are banding together to put on conferences on Sacred and Spiritual Activism with the intention of offering “an alternative to the Religious Right.” https://www.wisdomuniversity.org/sacred-activism-conference.html http://www.tikkun.org/community/spiritual_activism_conference/index_html
“Sacred activism takes on specific urgency when we realize that we are living in an extraordinary period in which theological apocalypticism –the belief shared by tens of millions of American evangelical Christians, for example, that we are living in the end times – is conflating with secular apocalypticism – the fact that at any time weapons of mass destruction, ecological devastation or economic collapse could, indeed, end the world as we know it. Even as the end of the world and the coming of Jesus is preached from evangelical pulpits, scientists around the world are predicting dire repercussions from our collective refusal to deal seriously with global warming and other serious challenges.” https://www.wisdomuniversity.org/aboutus.html
“Challenging the misuse of religion, God and spirit by the Religious Right. Educating people of faith to the understanding that a serious commitment to God, religion and spirit should manifest in social activism aimed at peace, universal disarmament, social justice with a preferential option for the needs of the poor and the oppressed, a commitment to end poverty, hunger, homelessness, inadequate education and inadequate health care all around the world, and a commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, environmental protection and repair of the damage done to the planet by 150 years of environmentally irresponsible behavior in industrializing societies.” http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/nsp-tenets
“Our goal is to create a beloved community.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “ If we really want to create a more compassionate and loving world, we first need to become more loving and compassionate, ourselves. We need a new vision of a society governed by love, where compassion is the high standard. Conflict between individuals, groups and nations is steeped in misunderstanding and distrust. Negative, fearful, angry thoughts fuel rhetoric from opposing sides that invariably leads to alienation. Nothing short of conscious communication producing sincere interactions will aid us in resolving our differences. Until our leaders understand this, there will be no lasting peace in the world.” http://www.agnt.org/snvSpiritActive.htm
“And how has the right apparently managed to corner the market on "morality" so effectively, even as it promotes policies that are on their face profoundly immoral? Jim Wallis explores these questions in his new book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. Wallis is hardly a newcomer to discussions of Christianity and U.S. politics. As the founder and editor of the magazine Sojourners, described as "a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice," Wallis is an evangelical Protestant leader committed to a prophetic vision of social and political transformation.” http://www.slate.com/id/2111701/
“Dr. Larry Pechawer, a Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew Language, in his new book Leaving the Rapture Behind questions whether millions of Christians have bought into a system of interpretation that distorts what the Bible really teaches on the subject." http://leavingtherapturebehind.com/
Bishop Shelby Spong, a leading spokesperson for an open, scholarly, and progressive Christianity, has a series of books rethinking the bible and challenging a fundamentalist interpretation: Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and The Sins of Scripture—all available at amazon.com. www.bishopspong.com
In this link, you will find a series of articles on Liberal Christianity by Arthur Ruger. http://coastalrain.tripod.com/americanchristian/id2.html
Perhaps the most articulate voice speaking out against a literal interpretation of the Rapture is Bill Moyers. This article is based on a lecture Bill Moyers gave in December 2004 upon receiving the Global Environmental Citizen Award from the Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment.
"There are times when what we journalists see and intend to write about dispassionately sends a shiver down the spine, shaking us from our neutrality. This has been happening to me frequently of late as one story after another drives home the fact that the delusional is no longer marginal but has come in from the fringe to influence the seats of power.
…There are millions of Christians who believe the Bible is literally true, word for word. Some of them…subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the nineteenth century by two immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from the Bible and wove them with their own hallucinations into a narrative foretelling the return of Jesus and the end of the world. The plot of the Rapture—the word never appears in the Bible…—is rather simple, if bizarre.
…Once Israel has occupied the rest of its “biblical lands,” legions of the Antichrist will attack it, triggering a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. As the Jews who have not been converted are burned the Messiah will return for the Rapture. True believers will be transported to heaven where, seated at the right hand of God, they will watch their political and religious opponents writhe in the misery of plagues—boils, sores, locusts, and frogs—during the several years of tribulation that follow.
…They are sincere, serious, and polite as they tell you they feel called to help bring the Rapture on as fulfillment of biblical prophecy. To this end they have declared solidarity with Israel and the Jewish settlements and backed up their support with money and volunteers. For them the invasion of Iraq was a warm-up act, predicted in the Book of Revelation….” A war with Islam in the Middle East is not something to be feared but welcomed—an essential conflagration on the road to redemption
…What does this mean for public policy and the environment? …Rossing sums up the message in five words that …are basic Rapture credo: “The world cannot be saved.” It leads to “appalling ethics,” she reasons, because the faithful are relieved of concern for the environment, violence, and everything else except their personal salvation… The earth suffers the same fate as the unsaved. All are destroyed…You can understand why people in the grip of such fantasies cannot be expected to worry about the environment.
…[W]hy care about the earth when the droughts, floods, famine, and pestilence brought by ecological collapse are signs of the apocalypse foretold in the Bible? Why care about global climate change when you and yours will be rescued in the Rapture? Why bother to convert to alternative sources of energy and reduce dependence on oil from the volatile Middle East?" http://www.beliefnet.com/story/161/story_16167_3.html
To explore other voices speaking out about the Rapture go to:
http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_10006.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1737214,00.htmlhttp://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/printables/051128roco02?print=true.
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