Tutorial on how to debate pre tribulation rapture

How to debate the pre tribulation rapture doctrine

Most of modern Christianity is teaching this false doctrine and it is leading people straight into the arms of the antichrist. It is easily debunked with some very basic Bible hermeneutics.

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Contending for the Faith should paramount in every Christian’s life. In a sense you are contending for Jesus Christ. You contend for the principles of the Faith in every aspect of life. You stand for righteousness, true judgment and the tenants of the faith. You are ready willing and able to articulate what and why you believe in the Christian faith.

I want to show you how to dismantle this doctrine on every point. First, you start off with the word rapture itself.

# 1-Is the word rapture found in the Bible?
# 2-What does the word rapture mean in the Greek and English?
# 3-Is there a direct reference to a pre tribulation rapture in the Bible?

Always start your debate with these 3 fundamentals.
First answer; No, the word rapture is nowhere to be found in the Bible. The first thing they will say is; The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible either. This however is a moot point because there are many references to the Godhead and the Father Son and Holy Spirit.

1 John 5:7 is the best reference to the Trinity. Many unlearned teachers believe this verse shouldn’t be in the Bible. Only the words “in heaven” and “in earth” and “between” were added in some of the earlier Latin versions and then later in the English Translations. It doesn’t change the meaning at all. The Three are still one.

Point number two in answer number one. The next thing the rapture apologist will bring up is the Latin word “Rapturo”. This is another moot point because the New Testament wasn’t written in Latin, it was written in Greek. I will elaborate more on this point in answer number two.
Second answer; The description of the words “Caught Up” are supposed to be brought forward in the English word rapture. This is the foundation of the doctrine itself. It is taken from 1 Thessalonians 4:17 the number one scripture used by rapture apologists. A closer look at the Greek and English words “rapture” will reveal they don’t have anything to do with the real meaning of the words “Caught Up”. Harpazo is the Greek word for the English words “Caught Up”.

“Caught Up” G # 726 harpazó: To seize, snatch, take away by force Original Word: ἁρπάζω

To simplify the meaning of this word harpazo; it is the change of bodies found in 1 Corinthians 15:52. The flesh doesn’t fly away like a bird or resurrect from a hole in the ground, it is changed in the moment in the twinkle of an eye to a spirit body.

The spirit is snatched away by force from the flesh body and the spirit is taken to heaven and the flesh remains.
Rapture apologists have hijacked the meaning of being “caught up” and turned into a Hollywood D rated movie fairy tale.
Everybody who dies must go through the harpazo.

Second part of answer number two; Here are the literal meanings of the word rapture in both Greek and English.
Compare the meaning of harpazo with the English and Greek meanings of the word rapture below;
“Caught Up” G # 726 harpazó: To seize, snatch, take away by force Original Word: ἁρπάζω
”Rapture” G # 1611 ekstasis: a displacement (of the mind), i.e. bewilderment, ecstasy Original Word: ἔκστασις, εως, ἡ Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: ekstasis Phonetic Spelling: (ek'-stas-is) Definition: a displacement (of the mind), bewilderment, ecstasy Usage: (properly: distraction or disturbance of mind caused by shock), bewilderment, amazement; a trance.

Rapture G # 1839 existémi: to displace, to stand aside from Original Word: ἐξίστημι Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: existémi Phonetic Spelling: (ex-is'-tay-mee) Definition: to displace, to stand aside from Usage: (lit: I remove from a standing position), (a) in trans. tenses: I astonish, amaze, (b) in intrans. tenses: I am astonished, amazed; insane… I am out of my mind, am mad

Webster’s dictionary meaning of the English word rapture
rap•ture [ˈrap(t)SHər] NOUN
a feeling of intense pleasure or joy:
"Leonora listened with rapture"
SIMILAR: ecstasy bliss euphoria elation exaltation joy joyfulness
NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH
(according to some millenarian teaching) the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ:
"thousands of Christians gathered outside Rochester and other cities, awaiting the Rapture" "people will be raptured out of automobiles as they are driving along"
As you can see there is not even a remote resemblance when you compare the meanings in the three examples.

Even Webster is confused by calling it the second coming when rapture teachers call it an “appearing”.

Both the Greek and English meanings of the word rapture have not a thing to do with being “Caught Up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. You have to ask yourself; why do they use the word rapture when in reality it doesn’t mean what they claim it means?

This doctrine has no basis of fact that can be found anywhere in the manuscripts and it needs to stop.

Third answer; the short answer is definitely no! There is not one direct reference to a pre-tribulation rapture in the entire Bible!!!
If you can’t get past the first two fundamentals of hermeneutics there is really no point in going forward. But here are the scriptures they will use to try to prove their point.

1 Thessalonians 4:17, Revelation 3:10, John 14:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Revelation 4:1, 1 Corinthians 15:52, 2 Timothy 4:1, Titus 2:13 and more.

All of these scriptures are inferences and not direct references. They are all based on faulty supposition. To further their folly, none of these scriptures have any revelation of the chronology regarding a pre-tribulation rapture.

All of the scriptures given above are contingent on the first two points I made. If you can’t get past the first two points there is no way for pre-tribulation rapture apologists to prove their point. The pre-tribulation rapture doctrine has faulty a foundation built a mile away from the ground.

I can see all of these false teachers going down with their ship of fairy tales while standing in the middle of the great tribulation.

At the heart of this debate is the true second coming of Christ. It’s not about pre, mid, or post tribulation it’s about adding and taking away from the manuscripts as Revelation 22 explains.
The same admonition is found in Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32 and Proverbs 30:6. They are actually claiming there are two second comings and they refer to one being an “appearance” and the other a “coming”.
After losing a debate many of these pre trib debaters will then move to the old “well it’s not a salvation issue so why debate this subject? Sad to say, many of them will hurl personal insults at you as well.
One other fairy tale taught by rapture apologists is the resurrection scenario at the second coming. They believe all the people who have died throughout the ages will come out of their graves and reunite with the spirit body. What they don’t realize is that the resurrection already occurred when the person died. When you die you are resurrected into a spirit body. The dead in Christ are with Christ in Paradise and they will come back with Him at the second coming not rising up out of a hole in the ground or cremated ashes gathering back together from the bottom of the ocean.
What they don’t realize is that their number one reference to pre trib rapture is speaking about where the dead in Christ are. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. We can’t precede them because they are already there. This completely contradicts the notion of people coming out of holes in the ground at the second coming.
There are so many false doctrines taught in the modern church and in its current state it is doomed to becoming a relic. They only teach a small portion of the Bible and what they do teach is filled with erroneous conclusions by people who have no business teaching.