(John Coats) Q: "what's real about the Rapture?" A: "19th century rebellion against Modernity"

John R. Coats:

In fact, before 1830, no one had heard that "[i]n one cataclysmic moment, millions around the globe disappear," or that "those left behind, terror stricken, are desperate to determine what happened," which is what you'll find on the back cover of Tribulation, volume two of the Left Behind series. ...It was around 1830 that Darby, having selected scripture passages from Daniel, Revelation, 1 and 2 Thessalonians and elsewhere, pasted them together, called them a whole, and invented the Rapture, a word not found in the Bible...
... So, what's real about the Rapture? Its roots are in the nineteenth-century rebellion against Modernity with its scientific rationalism" -full article

See

Of course Christians will be left behind

and posts marked "apocalyptic" at right