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This episode I responded to Chris Steinle on his interpretation of “from heaven” that he comments on from his chapter “Reclaiming the 1st Thessalonians Rapture Narrative” in his co-authored book with Douglas Hamp, Reclaiming the Rapture: Restoring the Doctrine of the Gathering of the Commonwealth of Israel. He reads the notion that Jesus is immediately coming to earth into the rapture passage of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
I responded to that point which is part of my larger response to Chris Steinle’s claim that the Greek word harpagesometha behind the English “suddenly caught [up]” in 1 Thess 4:17 is not derived from the Greek harpazo and consequently does not actually refer to a rapture.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven [katabesetai ap’ ouranou] with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up [harpagēsometha] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:16-17)
LINKS MENTIONED IN THE PROGRAM:
Is the Meaning of Harpagēsometha in 1 Thess 4:17 ‘Rapture’ or ‘Plunder’? Part 1 – Ep. 114
