what does taken into the air mean? when will the Rapture occur? QUESTION from Elissa Maltzan on January 19, 2003 A few people in the Bible were taken into the air although they did not die. Where do they go? (See 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Genesis 5:24, 2 Kings 2:1-15) Where will we go when the Rapture occurs?
Also, I have heard many theories about when the Rapture will occur. What is the Church's teaching and why?
Thank you and Godbless.
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on January 26, 2003 Dear Miss Maltzan:
Those taken into the air were taken up to the presence of God (heaven).
As for a rapture, there is no such thing as commonly understood and has taught be evangelicals.
The Church teaches that what some call the rapture is actually the parousa -- the Second Coming of Christ -- in which the saints will be caught up in the air (clouds) with Christ.
The bible tells us that NO ONE shall know the time of the parousa. Anyone trying to pin down a time is wrong.
As to why? because this is the teaching of of Jesus and the apostles as found the Bible and in Sacred Tradition. The concept of the rapture invented by the evangelicals is a novel man-made invention born in the mid-19th century.
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