Rapture

4 sources

Small Theological Bible Dictionary by Various (1900)

The act of transferring a person from one place to another

New Believer's Bible Glossary by Various (1990) ↑

When Christ takes his followers from earth to be with him (1 Thes. 4:17).

—New Believer’s Bible Glossary

CARM Theological Dictionary by Matt Slick (2000) ↑

The rapture is an eschatological (end times) event whereupon the return of Christ the true believers who are "alive and remain shall be caught up together with them [those who already died as Christians] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air..." (1Th 4:17). This is the time of the resurrection where the Christian receives his resurrected body. First to receive their new bodies are those who have died as Christians, and then "those who are alive and remain."

There is much debate over the time of the rapture. Does it occur at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the tribulation period? (See Tribulation.)

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary by Mission Mutual, adapted from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary (2023)

Christian term used to denote the ascension (or lifting up) of Christians at the time of Christ’s second coming. This is the noun corresponding to the verb used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where those believers who are still alive at the coming of Christ are described as being “caught up” together with their resurrected fellow Christians to meet him “in the air.” (It may be relevant to note that the verb of 1 Thes 4:17 is used in 2 Cor 12:2–3 to denote Paul’s mysterious experience of being “caught up” into the third heaven, or paradise.) Differences of interpretation about the chronology of the rapture at the time of Christ’s second coming in relation to other end-time events has led to the emergence of distinct schools of eschatological thought.