Back in July I ran a series on three varieties of Premillennialism – Dispensationalism, Progressive Dispensationalism, and Historic Premillennialism. I had the privilege of interviewing Paul Henebury, Darrell Bock and Jim Hamilton on those positions respectively. I was pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback that these got, so I thought I’d run another series, but this time on three main viewpoints on the timing and nature of the rapture: Pre-Tribulationism, Pre-Wrath, and Post-Tribulationism.
Here are the interviews and interviewees in the order they will appear online:
- Week 1: Michael Svigel (Pre-Tribulationism)
- Week 2: Alan Kurschner (Pre-Wrath)
- Week 3: Craig Blomberg (Post-Tribulationism)
- Week 4: Where the interviewees get to ask one another a question.
The rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
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.
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
All Christians believe this passage, so contrary to a common misconception, all Christians believe in the rapture. The real debate is over when this event happens and how it relates to other end times events, particularly the tribulation period and the second coming of Christ.
As with the interviews on Premillennialism, I want to do this series so that we can be exposed to different positions by solid proponents of those views, and thereby better understand and love our brothers and sisters who differ from us. From there we can then understand where they are coming from, where we are coming from, and how to communicate our differences. Perhaps these will help someone solidify or even challenge their own view. I greatly benefited from our Premillennialism series, and I expect to with this one also – and I hope you do too!
Check back soon for the first interview on the rapture with Craig Blomberg explaining the Post-tribulational position.
