Customer Reviews

The Secret Rapture: Is It Scriptural?

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

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

. . .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!)

"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!

If you are trying to convince a Dispensationalist of the errors of
Dispensationalism then give them this book to read!:)
This is an excellent book that shatters Dispensational error!
A must have for any Theologians library!
Awesome!!!

Thank God for fellow believer Ralph woodrow for exposing the dangerous false docrine of the secret rapture .So many belivers today are sucked in to believing the lie that the lord Jesus will return to earth twice ,If we read our Bibles again and again you will have no problem seeing the Lord will return only once . This book is well written and easy to read ,well done Ralph

I have been studying the end-time prophecies on my own now for about 12 years. Prior to that, I had simply regurgitated what I had always been told and perceived the end-time Scriptures through the lens of these deeply-rooted presuppositions.

When I began to read the Scriptures anew, prayerfully allowing the Holy Spirit to "guide me into all truth" and "teach [me] all things", as Jesus said He would, an entirely different picture began to develope. I now have a Biblical perspective on the end-times that I must say is vastly different than the pre-tribulation rapture teaching which has been widely popularized in the past century.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover this book. It is the first end-times book I have read that considers the context of the biblical references, and the context of the Bible as a whole with regard to end-times prophecies.

Simply come before the Lord, willing to lay aside any presuppositions you may have, and read from the Bible, instead of into the Bible, and you will see exactly what I mean.

When the deceiver came to Jesus in the wilderness, masquerading as an angel of light, quoting Scripture out of context, the very first thing Jesus said was: "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on EVERY word from the mouth of God." Then He countered every deception with: "It is ALSO written." Jesus took the Scriptures satan was quoting and brought them back into their context and into the context of the Bible as a whole. He was teaching us a very powerful and essential lesson about the interpretation of Scripture.

WHY I CARE SO DEEPLY ABOUT THE INTERPRETATION OF END-TIMES SCRIPTURE:

The Church in America has been sold a bill of goods that has given her a false sense of confidence due to an itchy-ears, fleshly teaching about the sequence of events leading up to the return of Christ. What lies at the root of the teaching is the fear of something Jesus told us not to fear: "Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body..."

What breaks my heart is the danger that lurks as a result...many could fall for the deception of anti-christ thinking, "It can't be him...I'll be out of here before he comes on the scene." Or, if faced with tribulation, they may give up and throw in the towel of their faith, concluding that everything they were tought was simply a lie.

Capetto's review represents what is known as a "futurist" point of view on prophecy and is NOT scriptural! There is no scriptural authority to place all of the events after chapter 3 vs 1 in Revelation in a 7 year future period of time. The 7 years known as the Tribulation comes from Daniels 70 weeks prophecy in Dan 9:24. This prophecy was given exclusively for the nation of Israel and all 70 weeks were completed shortly after the stoning of Steven. By what authority do we have to separate the first 69 weeks from the 70th - NONE. The point of view pushing the 70th week into a future period of time with all the terrible things in Revelation occuring during that time, started in 1585 with a Jesuit priest named Ribera,and then became popular in England through men such as Bellermine, Ezra, and Maitland.John Darby of the Plymouth Brethren brought this doctrine to America in 1863 and C.I Scofield promoted it through his Scofield Reference Bible. It continues to be taught through famous evangelists such as Hal lindsey (Late, Great, Planet Earth) and Tim Lahave(left Behind series. This is factual history. A more scriptural point of view for those who know church history over the last 2000 years shows the events in Revelation have been, are occuring now, and will continue to occur in the future until saints of all ages (dead and alive) will be caught up (raptured) to meet Jesus in the air and return to Earth to unsher in the Millenium reign. The "secret" rapture taking all saints to Heaven during a 7 year period and then returning again to Earth with Jesus is simply not scriptural.It is certainly not scriptural to believe Jesus is coming back twice.I would say then to all futurists such as Cappetto to answer an honest question? Did you recieve your beliefs as revelation directly from the Holy Spirit or from someone else's teaching? I am convinced if you are truly honest about this the answer would be the latter.

I really like this book. It was short and had some great observations in it. After reading it I actually went back and bought a couple extra just to give to folks who are enthusiastic about the subject, and that would be 'end times' which are actually upon us now.

Think of the Rapture question as a football game. Pre-tribbers say we leave before kickoff;on their side they have not appointed to God's Wrath and no one knows the day nor hour but the Father. Mid-tribbers have the problem of knowing that they are leaving at half-time;but realize that he Wrath of the Lamb is not spoken of until the Sixth Seal,not before.Post-tribbers have the problems of knowing they are staying to the end of the game and staying through the Wrath of the Lamb.Pre-Wrath however says we stay until the Wrath of the Lamb, not spoken of till the Sixth Seal. We leave sometime between the third and fourth quarters;after the great falling away and the Son of Perdition be reveled.herefore we don't know the day nor hour.Pre-tribbers love to use Rev 3:10 "kept from",However the only other time that exact Greek phase is used is John 17:15.Read for yourself the context.Just Follow all the referances to the sun ,moon, and stars disturances in the Old and New Testaments. It will become Clear.I am a Graduate of a famous Bible Institute where Pre-trib is taught.What made me question the timing of the Rapture was that all the other Doctrines of the Faith had very little commentary and a whole lot of scripture. The End Times Studies,however, had very little Scripture, some taken out of context; and alot of commentary about 144,000 evangelists(no where does it say they preach) "take captivity captive" Which becomes some story of Jesus depopulating the Paradise side of hell and leading them to Heaven... Wow a Doctrine like that out of three words! To much skipping around instead of block contex reading in PreTrib. Pre-Wrath WAs hat the early church fathers believed, Martin Luther,Calvin and all early Reformers thought that the Pope of their day was the Anti-Christ.Clearly they believed that they would endure the Anti-Christ's Wrath.Read the Bible Not anymans words that contridict what God's Word says

The post-tribulation view that Christ returns in glory after the tribulation is correct. This is what I Corinthians 15 and I Thessalonians 4 teach occurs with the resurrection. These passages do not describe the rapture because "we shall all be changed" unlike when Christ appears unexpectedly before the tribulation when he decides who is worthy to escape the tribulation. See Luke 17, 13, and 12. Ironically, in that order. Jesus says when we see the antichrist head for the hills. Luke 17 and Matthew 24. Why? You just missed the great escape. He says in that night two shall be in bed and one shall be taken and the other left. The disciples ask where will they be taken. Jesus says where the carcase is there will the eagles be gathered. This is what is described in Luke 13 as the coming from the east, west, north, and south and entering into the kingdom. Jesus also explains that we that are not ready will be beaten with stripes portraying the tribulation. All of this is seen in Revelation 12 where the woman (church) escapes but those that are not worthy to escape remain and are persecuted by the antichrist. In Luke 12 Peter asks the Lord are you talking about us or even to all. Jesus gives the parable of the steward. It applies to all of us. Mark 13. This was the gospel that Christ preached that is seldom heard today.

Most modern day preaching fails to warn as Jesus taught in his parables regarding his coming. Christ taught his followers that some would be ready and some would not and the consequences in each case. When was the last time you heard a preacher minister from the parables of Christ with respect to his return? When was the last time you heard a message on the coming of Christ? Have you been told what Christ said would happen to followers who are not ready for his coming? I finally became so annoyed at the preaching in the church that I was compelled to write a book to warn the church regarding spiritual negligence and the consequences as taught by Christ. It's called Ready or Not, Here I Come. The book explains what Christ taught with respect to his coming. I was afraid it would shock the church. Then I realized there was no other alternative when I considered what Jesus taught. Luke 12:47-48. Ready or Not, Here I Come