Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonable faith.org.

We've been talking about eschatology or the doctrine of the last things.

And we've been discussing the question of whether there will be a single return of Christ to

earth or multiple returns of Christ. And we've been looking at one of the most prominent

multiple views, at least in evangelical circles, namely the rapture view, which says that prior to Christ's

final advent to establish his kingdom and judge the world, there will be an invisible return of

Christ to snatch out of the world his elect and take them to be with him in heaven.

I argued that this view is very difficult to square with the scriptural teachings on the

second coming of Christ. When you look at the biblical passages, especially the Olivet discourse given by Jesus,

but also Paul's Thessalonian correspondence, there is simply no reason to think that there is

such an event as a rapture prior to the second coming of Christ. Certainly, one can read

these things into the text, but I don't think that one will naturally read them out of the text.

So let's continue our discussion today of this subject. Some persons suggest that in 2 Thessalonians

chapter 2, there is at least implicitly the teaching of a rapture. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 1 and 2, Paul writes,

now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him,

we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word or by letter purporting

to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

Paul says, don't be shaken or excited by anyone telling you that the day of the Lord has already come.

Paul goes on to explain that that day will not come until quite a number of things take place first.

Now here we face a methodological problem, in that it is very difficult to

reconstruct the teaching of Paul's opponents. We don't have the writings of these opponents,

...