In A Case for Amillennialism, Kim Riddlebarger gives a great biblical refutation of the secret rapture that dispensationalists teach. Here’s one paragraph of that section.
“One of the most telling criticisms [of a secret rapture] is the language used by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the very passage used by dispensationalists as a proof text for two comings of Jesus Christ and the secret rapture. Three times in the passage, Paul used terminology to convey the idea that Jesus Christ’s return to earth will be accompanied by divine announcements which are clearly universal in nature. In verse 16, Paul mentioned that ‘the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.’ The whole thrust of the three-fold announcement is that God himself will proclaim the return of Jesus Christ so loudly that the whole world will hear. Not only so, but the world will also witness the subsequent catching away of believers (v. 17).
If dispensationalists are correct in saying that this coming is secret, then only believers will hear the divine declaration. As my colleague, Rev. Ken Jones, so aptly puts it, this turns the thrice-repeated announcement of Christ’s return into something akin to a cosmic dog whistle. It is another example of a text where the champions of literal interpretation cannot take the key passage literally. What is worse, if dispensationalists are correct about a secret rapture, then Jesus does not have two advents but three.”
As I’ve said before, I really like this book and highly recommend it. This quote is found on page 143 of A Case for Amillenialism.
shane lems
The Reformed Reader Blog 