The Rapture

Closely tied to one’s view on the partial and perfect, is their view of the rapture—the catching away of the saints at the Second Coming. Although we used the term “rapture” in the chapter The Veiled Generation, most Preterists do not interpret the rapture in the manner popularized by teachings such as those found in the LeftBehind series of novels. Rather than a physical catching away of the saints, they believe that it is a reference to being spiritually “gathered” into the New Covenant. While it is our understanding that most Preterists hold to a spiritual interpretation of the rapture, in the last several years there has been a group that supports a physical catching away of the New Testament saints. This group is largely spearheaded by Edward E. Stevens, in his book Expectations Demand a First Century Rapture. While many Preterists feel that a physical rapture is too radical of a departure from the spiritual nature of the New Covenant, others feel that it more adequately explains the expectations of the New Testament saints. Those that hold to a spiritual/covenantal nature of the rapture use the example of being born-again, which Paul describes as a translation . . . . (p. 398)

Since the purpose of this book is to introduce the basics of the preterist doctrine, this chapter only provides a brief overview of these two views on the rapture. To do them justice would require a separate book.