25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear, Concise, and to the Point, August 28, 2005
This review is from: The Secret Rapture: Is It Scriptural? (Paperback)
This is a five-star book, from beginning to end. It's a small book - 49 pages of actual content - but it would be a challenge to find a single word the author doesn't need. In its pages, Ralph Woodrow challenges pretribulationism's secret, two-stage rapture position in one of the most clear, direct, and concise manners I've ever read.
Woodrow opens with the premise held by pretribulationists that the rapture is secret event, known only to believers. He then lays out an astonishingly straightforward case - not based on theological frameworks, but soley on the clear, direct teaching of scripture itself - for the fact that, not only is the secret rapture not to be found, but that the scriptures used to prove a secret rapture actually teach the opposite - that the rapture will be a loud, joyful, noisy event.
While many of these arguments, on the surface, will be familiar to adherents of the midtrib, prewrath, and posttribulation views, Woodrow's presentation brings to light so many overlooked points that you find yourself underlining more than you don't.
In responding to the pretrib premise that the rapture occurs in two stages, Woodrow uses Jesus' own words that clearly indicate that His "coming" and the rapture cannot be two separate events. And despite the common pretrib argument that the Greek supports two different comings, Woodrow uses verse after verse to prove that the various Greek words for "coming" are used interchangeably.
This is one of the best small books I've read in a long, long time. You can read it in a sitting, but you'll want to go back to refer to it multiple times. This is a "must have" for the bookshelf of any student of the rapture, and for pretribulationists, it presents a challenge that transcends theological frameworks.
- H. L. Nigro, author of Before God's Wrath: The Bible's Answer to the TIming of the Rapture
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34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A reasoned and honest approach. . ., September 20, 2001
This review is from: The Secret Rapture: Is It Scriptural? (Paperback)
. . .demonstrating that even among extremely conservative evangelical Protestants, some ministers and scholars are beginning to realize that the extremely popular doctrine of pre-millenial dispensationalism (see the popularity of the "Left Behind" series) was not the view of the early Church, was not the view of the Reformers, was not the view of the revivialists of the First Great Awakening -- and is, in fact, of recent and doctrinally dubious origins.
Unfortunately, Mr. Woodrow's booklet will never sell as many copies as "Left Behind"! But, he can rest secure in the fact that he has tried his best to encourage and educate his fellow believers that Scripturally -- and historically -- there IS another answer.
(As a personal aside, I can attest that dispensational premillialism was unknown in 11th century France!)
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31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The TRUTH about the Rapture!, July 6, 2000
This review is from: The Secret Rapture: Is It Scriptural? (Paperback)
"The Secret Rapture" is a perfect book for an introduction into the Post-tribulation Doctrine. This book is a lot easier to follow for beginners than the extensive "First the Antichrist" by Bob Gundry. But I really recommend that book too, just read this one first if you are new to the study. It presented a lot of the main aspects of the doctrine and brought out a few scriptures that I had never read before which were very interesting. The part I really like about this book is that Mr. Woodrow doesn't take any offences against those who teach the pre-trib rapture. An example is on the first page which reads, "In disagreeing, however, it is not our intention to be disagreeable. For the sake of clarity, we shall sometimes quote from various writers with whom we disagree. In doing this, it is not our purpose to cast any reflection upon their sincerity or calling. The other person may have rich stories of knowledge on other Christian doctrines (which we ourselves may lack) and it would be foolish to say, 'I have no need of thee'(1 Cor 12:21)" Buy this book, for the low cost it will be worth it!
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