Rapture anxiety is a psychological phenomenon characterized by an overwhelming fear or general anxiety concerning the Rapture, an event in dispensational and premillennial Christian eschatologies where it is believed that Jesus Christ will return to Earth and raise faithful Christians into heaven before the apocalypse. [1]
In many popular depictions of the Rapture, Christians physically rise into the sky, sometimes leaving their clothes behind. Many children raised with the concept of the rapture report having fears that they will be left behind, or that they will be raptured before being able to live their full life. This anxiety can follow many into adulthood. [2] [3]
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples that no one will know the day and time when the second coming will happen. [4]
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the father."
— Matthew 24:36
The concept of the rapture has been widely criticized. It is not accepted by either the Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church, who purport that the calling of Christians into heaven as described in verses such as 1 Thessalonians [5] will not be a literal, physical ascension. They also dispute the exact timing relative to the second coming when this event will happen, or if it will even be a single event at all. [6] [7] Furthermore, historic Protestant denominations espouse eschatological positions, such as amillennialism or postmillennialism, which also do not accept the concept of rapture.
Despite this, many children fear that because of some minor sin or transgression, they will be left behind on Earth while their loved ones enter heaven. There are numerous reports of children coming home to empty houses, and fearing that they have been condemned. [2]
This fear may also be influenced by popular works of fiction such as the Christian book and film series Left Behind or the 1972 film A Thief in the Night, which both depict the collapse of society and suffering following the rapture. [2]
Many who suffer from rapture anxiety are hesitant to voice their fears due to their belief that only sinners should fear judgement. [2]
Christian eschatology is a minor branch of study within Christian theology which deals with the doctrine of the "last things", especially the Second Coming of Christ, or Parousia. The word eschatology derives from two Greek roots meaning "last" (ἔσχατος) and "study" (-λογία) – involves the study of "end things", whether of the end of an individual life, of the end of the age, of the end of the world, or of the nature of the Kingdom of God. Broadly speaking, Christian eschatology focuses on the ultimate destiny of individual souls and of the entire created order, based primarily upon biblical texts within the Old and New Testaments. Christian eschatology looks to study and discuss matters such as death and the afterlife, Heaven and Hell, the Second Coming of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, the rapture, the tribulation, millennialism, the end of the world, the Last Judgment, and the New Heaven and New Earth in the world to come.
Eschatology concerns expectations of the end of present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions, which teach that negative world events will reach a climax. Belief that the end of the world is imminent is known as apocalypticism, and over time has been held both by members of mainstream religions and by doomsday cults. In the context of mysticism, the term refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and to reunion with the divine. Many religions treat eschatology as a future event prophesied in sacred texts or in folklore, while other religions may have concepts of renewal or transformation after significant events. The explicit description of a new earth is primarily found in Christian teachings.
The Second Coming is the Christian and Muslim belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven. The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies. Other faiths have various interpretations of it.
In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end.
The Rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Christians who are still alive, together will rise "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." This view of eschatology is referred to as dispensational premillennialism, a form of futurism that considers various prophecies in the Bible as remaining unfulfilled and occurring in the future.
The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It is also known as the Little Apocalypse because it includes the use of apocalyptic language, and it includes Jesus's warning to his followers that they will suffer tribulation and persecution before the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God. The Olivet discourse is the last of the Five Discourses of Matthew and occurs just before the narrative of Jesus's passion beginning with the anointing of Jesus.
The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the Frashokereti of Zoroastrianism.
The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms kingdom of God and kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" but does not include the term "Kingdom of God".
Timothy Francis LaHaye was an American Baptist evangelical Christian minister who wrote more than 85 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-authored with Jerry B. Jenkins.
Apocalypticism is the religious belief that the end of the world is imminent, even within one's own lifetime. This belief is usually accompanied by the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end due to some sort of catastrophic global event.
Amillennialism or amillenarism is a chillegoristic eschatological position in Christianity which holds that there will be no millennial reign of the righteous on Earth. This view contrasts with both postmillennial and, especially, with premillennial interpretations of Revelation 20 and various other prophetic and eschatological passages of the Bible.
The post-tribulation rapture doctrine is the belief in a combined resurrection and rapture, or gathering of the saints, after the Great Tribulation.
A Thief in the Night is a 1973 American evangelical Christian horror film written by Jim Grant, and directed and produced by Donald W. Thompson. The film stars Patty Dunning, with Thom Rachford, Colleen Niday and Mike Niday in supporting roles. The first installment in the Thief in the Night series about the Rapture and the Tribulation, the plot is set during the near future, focusing on a young woman who, after being left behind, struggles to decide what to do in the face of the Tribulation.
Futurism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets portions of the Book of Revelation, the Book of Ezekiel, and the Book of Daniel as future events in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context.
The katechon is a biblical concept which has subsequently developed into a notion of political philosophy.
In Christian eschatology, Antichrist refers to a kind of person prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist is found four times in the New Testament, solely in the First and Second Epistle of John. Antichrist is announced as one "who denies the Father and the Son."
In Christianity, heaven is traditionally the location of the throne of God and the angels of God, and in most forms of Christianity it is the abode of the righteous dead in the afterlife. In some Christian denominations it is understood as a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth.
In the Book of Revelation, seven trumpets are sounded, one at a time, to cue apocalyptic events seen by John of Patmos in his vision. The seven trumpets are sounded by seven angels and the events that follow are described in detail from Revelation Chapters 8 to 11. According to Revelation 8:1–2 the angels sound these trumpets after the breaking of the seventh seal. These seals secured the apocalyptic document held in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. The trumpets are referred to in Koine Greek as σάλπιγξ ; this was a straight, narrow bronze tube with a mouthpiece of bone and a bell; they do not closely resemble modern valve trumpets. The final three trumpets are sometimes called the "woe trumpets".
The Kingdom of God has different meanings in different Christian denominations and they interpret its meaning in distinctly different ways. While the concept of Kingdom of God may have an intuitive meaning to lay Christians, there is hardly any agreement among theologians about its meaning in the New Testament, and it is often interpreted to fit the theological agenda of those interpreting it.
A home altar or family altar is a shrine kept in the home of some Western Christian families used for Christian prayer and family worship. Home altars often contain a cross or crucifix, an image of Jesus Christ, a copy of the Bible, a breviary and/or other prayer book, a daily devotional, and prayer beads, among other religious articles specific to the individual's Christian denomination, for example, the images of the saints for Catholics, the Small Catechism for Lutherans, and the Anglican prayer beads for Anglicans.