Three Reasons I Don't Believe in the Rapture (Anymore)

Summary

Dr. Matt O’Reilly explains why he moved away from the “Left Behind”-style rapture belief. He says his change took place gradually as he studied the Bible, church history, and different ways of interpreting end-times passages. He gives three main reasons:

1. He believes the key biblical passage does not teach a rapture

• O’Reilly focuses on 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, where Paul comforts Christians grieving fellow believers who have died.
• In his reading, Paul’s central promise is that when Jesus returns, the dead in Christ will be raised and reunited with living believers.
• The phrase about believers “meeting the Lord in the air” is commonly used to support the rapture. O’Reilly argues that it can instead describe people going out to welcome a returning ruler and escort him into the place he is coming to govern.
• He notes that parousia, the word used for Jesus’ coming, could also describe an emperor’s arrival. On this interpretation, believers meet Jesus to welcome him to the world, rather than being taken away from it.
• He adds that the passage contains figurative language. Even if the meeting in the air were literal, he argues, the text does not say believers go to heaven for seven years before returning.

2. He regards the rapture doctrine as a relatively recent teaching

• O’Reilly traces its emergence to a gathering in Glasgow in 1830, where, he says, Margaret Macdonald had a vision involving a two-stage return of Jesus.
• He says John Nelson Darby later promoted a distinction between a coming associated with the rapture and a later, public manifestation of Jesus after the tribulation.
• O’Reilly argues that the rapture was not discussed by earlier church leaders because the doctrine had not yet developed. He points to the writings of John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Wesley as examples.

3. He believes the doctrine conflicts with the Bible’s larger story

• O’Reilly describes the Bible’s overarching movement as creation, fall, redemption, and new creation.
• In his view, the Bible’s goal is not escape from the physical world, but its renewal: God ultimately makes his dwelling with humanity in a restored creation.
• He argues that rapture theology can encourage an escapist attitude, as though the material world were inherently bad and heaven were the only desirable destination.
• He counters that creation is described as good, that Jesus took on a physical body and lived in the world, and that God’s purpose is to renew broken creation.

Overall, O’Reilly concludes that he finds no compelling support for the rapture in either the biblical passages he discusses or the history of Christian interpretation.

Speakers and sources featured

• Speaker: Dr. Matt O’Reilly
• Biblical passages referenced: 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:10
• Historical figures mentioned: Margaret Macdonald, John Nelson Darby, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Wesley
• Other sources mentioned: Unnamed scholars and the broader history of church interpretation