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1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

If the rapture is true, why is the word “rapture” not in the Bible? 

Christians believe many words that are not found in the English Bible. There are some words we use to help explain the concepts found in the Bible. The word "Trinity" is one of them. Although it's not used in the English Bible, the concept is clearly taught in Scripture. The word "eschatology" is another example. It's just a word scholars use when they talk about the study of the end times. It's not in the English Bible, but it is absolutely valid. The same goes with the rapture. Even though English Bible translators decided not to use the word in their translations, the concept of the rapture is definitely present in Scripture.

If you were to read the Latin Vulgate, an early Latin Bible, and you came across 1 Thessalonians 4 (shown above), you would see the word "rapiemur" in verse 16. That is where the term “rapture” comes from. The English Bible uses the phrase "caught up" in verse 16. It uses it more than once to explain the rapture event. The Greek word used is actually ἁρπάζω (har-pad-zo). It means “to seize, carry off by force, or snatch away.” It's translated "caught up," because that is what the word "rapture" means. I suppose the translators could have used the word “rapture,” but they chose not to. 

I will say this, though, it confuses people. Because of the confusion, sometimes I wonder if we should use "caught up" when we talk about the event instead of the word “rapture.” That might alleviate some confusion. I hope that answers the question. I also hope we can remember that wherever side of the spectrum we fall on when it comes to this topic (see part 1), we can still get along with other Christians who differ in opinion, relying on the unity of the Holy Spirit.

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