Short Answers: It's the End of the World!

Dear Apologist, What is the rapture?  And what do Catholics believe about the end of the world? 


The “Rapture” – as it is commonly called - is an end-times theory which has circulated in some non-Catholic communities, most notably those called "Dispensationalists".  It was invented by John Darby in the 1830s, but it grew in popularity with the publication of “The Late Great Planet Earth” in 1970 and “Left Behind” in 1995.

This theory proposes that Jesus will return secretly to remove all true Christians from the earth.  This will be followed by seven-year period of intense violence and divine punishment called the "tribulation", which is followed by the public return of Jesus to reign on earth for 1000 years.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly rejects this theory – and for good reason [CCC 676].  The Rapture theory hangs upon a certain interpretation of 1Thes 4:16, which reads:

“The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise. Then we who are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.”  

Now, the Rapture theory proposes Jesus will secretly appear one-thousand and seven years before the end of the world.  But the quote from Thessalonians says Jesus will return in a very clear and public manner, and this will immediately usher in the Resurrection and the close of human history.

Thus, as Catholics we believe the following:  First, there will be a large-scale conversion of Jewish people [Rom 11:25-26].  Then there will be a final unleashing of the forces of evil on the earth - one which will drive the Church into near extinction .  This will be immediately followed by the return of Christ, the resurrection, and the final judgment of all mankind.  [Rev 20:1-10]



Dear Apologist, what did Jesus mean when He spoke of people being “left behind”.  Is that the Rapture?

One of the most common Scripture passages used to support the idea of a "rapture" is Luke 17:34, which speaks of people being “taken” and “left behind” in conjunction with a great judgment.

"And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.  On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.  I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left." - Luke 17:26-36

The key to understanding this passage is Jesus’ comparison of this event to the time of Noah [Lk. 17:26].  Now, in the time of Noah there were a great many people who were taken away, and others who were left behind.  However, the people who were taken away were the unrighteous – swept away by the flood to their deaths. The people who were left behind afterward were righteous Noah and his family.  Hence, when a disciple asked Jesus where the people being “taken away” were going, Jesus did not say “to Heaven” but rather:

 “Where the corpse is, there the carrion will gather.” -Luke 17:37

To retrieve the genuine meaning of this passage we have to put it back into the Biblical and historical context.  This quote comes from the conclusion of Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.  He warned His followers to flee the city when they see Gentile armies approaching [Lk 21:20].  This is why the Christian populations did indeed flee Jerusalem when it occurred in 70AD, thus avoiding the ensuing slaughter. 

Just as it was in the days of Noah, the righteous were left behind.   



Dear Apologist, The Bible speaks of a time called the “Millennium”.  What is that?  When is it?

The millennium, also called the millennial reign of Christ, is mentioned toward the end of the book of Revelation. The text states:

“Then I saw an angel come down from heaven.  He seized the dragon, which is Satan, and tied it up for a thousand years and threw it into the abyss, so that it could no longer lead the nations astray until the thousand years are completed. After this, it is to be released for a short time.” - Rev 20:1-3

It is not uncommon among non-Catholics circles to interpret this this as a future event in which Christ rules on the planet earth as a king for a literal 1000 years.  That is not the Catholic view.

The Catholic (and Biblical) view of the millennium draws on other texts of Scripture to determine when it takes place.  Saint Paul mentions this same sequence of events seen in Revelation in his second letter to the Thessalonians.  When he does, he speaks of the restraining of Satan in present tense – as something happening now:

"Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [...] 

And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming." - 2Thess 2:3-8

Thus, we would understand the millennium in the following way:  Christ came proclaiming the kingdom of God and inaugurated His reign with His victory on the Cross and through the establishment of the Church.  During this time the Gospel goes out to the whole world, and Christ reigns in Heaven at the right hand of the Father.  This period of time will continue, as we say in the Nicene Creed, until Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead.