THE RAPTURE: PRE, MID, OR POST-TRIBULATIONAL?
by Gleason Archer, Paul Feinberg, Douglas Moo
published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1984
paperback, 268 pages
As the clock ticks away into the new millennium, no doubt there will be speculation about the timing of the rapture (the sudden removal) of true believers in Christ into heaven. While all Christians do believe that the rapture will happen, not all Christians are agreed upon the precise timing of the rapture.
That is where this book provides excellent biblical and theological discussion.Three timing positions of the rapture are espoused by one retired and two current seminary professors t Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.
PRE-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE, which states that Christ will rapture the church before the 7-year Great Tribulation begins, is presented and defended by Paul Feinberg, professor of Systematic Theology.
MID-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE, which states that Christ will rapture the church at the 3.5 year point of the 7-year Great Tribulation, is presented and defended by Gleason Archer, professor of Old Testament.
POST-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE, which states that Christ will rapture the church at the end of the 7-year Great Tribulation, is presented and defended by Douglas Moo, professor of New Testament.
All three authors believe in the complete inspiration and authority of the Bible. All three authors have a pre-millennial view that Christ returns first to earth and then sets up His millennial kingdom on the earth. Each author presents his position on the timing of the rapture and then the other two authors analyze and critique that particular viewpoint. Included also in this book is a helpful 34-page introductory essay by Richard Reiter about how the various rapture positions developed in North American Protestant theology since 1878. Reiter points out how both the Scofield Reference Bible and the writings of George Eldon Ladd, late professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, heavily impacted the debate on this topic.
This book is a heavy biblical and theological exchange between three excellent biblical scholars. However, if one is really trying to locate the truth about the precise timing of the rapture, this is the best book in print on this subject. The reader will be benefited by receiving solid and clear thinking upon this topic which is often prone to generate tons of speculation and sensationalism.