The rapture, for those of you who aren’t familiar with The Left Behind books (a fiction based upon the beliefs of Dispensationalist Premillenialism), is the belief that Jesus will return to earth and take all of the Christians up into the air before raining down unholy terror on the unbelievers for a nice seven years.

Basically the Christians miss out on the 20d6 points of damage that everyone else takes.

It’s important for me to mention this because it’s taken as a fact by much of my family and the surrounding peoples of Northeast Mississippi.

So.  Some facts about this belief:

1) It is hugely popular belief among Baptists and other smaller branches of American Christianity.

2) Not supported by the early church.  The early church taught that the church would be delivered after the 7 years of 20d6 damage.

3) Gained populairty primarily during the 1900s.

4) Gained attention in theological circles in 1957.

5) Now this is probably the most widely held belief among American Protestants.

6) Was not believed by Calvin or Luther and has never been Catholic dogma.
Further timeline information as well as scriptural support can be found here. (Wikipedia link)

So for my family and friends who subscribe to this belief, I would encourage you to read the information on Wikipedia and comment.

And to close, a question:  would any of you be interested in a article on the debate about whether a tribulation will happen or not?  Is the entire book of Revelation symbolic?