Rapture

One in the bed

One at the mill

One in the field

Jan Luyken's illustration of Matthew 24 verse 40, from the 1795 Bowyer Bible, which proponents take as a reference to the rapture

The Rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Christians who are still alive, together will rise "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."^[1]

The origin of the term extends from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians in the Bible, which uses the Greek word harpazo (Ancient Greek: ἁρπάζω), meaning "to snatch away" or "to seize". This view of eschatology is referred to as dispensational premillennialism, a form of futurism that considers various prophecies in the Bible as remaining unfulfilled and occurring in the future.

The idea of a rapture as it is currently defined is not found in historic Christianity, and is a relatively recent doctrine originating from the 1830s. The term is used frequently among fundamentalist theologians in the United States.^[2] Rapture has also been used for a mystical union with God or for eternal life in Heaven.^[2]

Differing viewpoints exist about the exact time of the rapture and whether Christ's return would occur in one event or two. Pretribulationism distinguishes the rapture from the second coming of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, 2 Thessalonians, and Revelation. This view holds that the rapture would precede the seven-year Tribulation, which would culminate in Christ's second coming and be followed by a thousand-year Messianic Kingdom.^[3][4] This theory grew out of the translations of the Bible that John Nelson Darby analyzed in 1833. Pretribulationism is the most widely held view among Christians believing in the rapture today, although this view is disputed within evangelicalism.^[5] Some assert a post-tribulational rapture.

Most Christian denominations do not subscribe to rapture theology and have a different interpretation of the aerial gathering described in 1 Thessalonians 4.^[6] They do not use rapture as a specific theological term, nor do they generally subscribe to the premillennial dispensational views associated with its use.^[7] Instead they typically interpret rapture in the sense of the elect gathering with Christ in Heaven right after his second coming and reject the idea that a large segment of humanity will be left behind on earth for an extended tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.^[6][8]