In the 1990s, evangelicals Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins rose to prominence with their novel series Left Behind. Any churchgoer is likely to have a copy of at least one of the books in this series. Churches almost always have copies of them. You can certainly find a copy, or many, at your local thrift store. If you are lucky enough to have no familiarity with these books, they portray the evangelical interpretation of the end times.

Firstly, let me give you a brief summary of what such fundamentalists believe. One day, out of nowhere, Jesus is going to appear in the sky. Suddenly, members of the church will start floating towards him. They will enter into Heaven with him. Meanwhile, all hell will break loose on earth. The nonbelievers will go to war, one of them rising to global dominance as the antichrist, and anarchy will fill the streets. All the events described in the book of Revelation will lead to human extinction and later, the casting of impure souls into a lake of fire.

Of course, as you may notice, I am highly critical of this concept. Here is a summary by a prominent evangelical in the United States:

“… the Rapture is an event where all who have put their trust in Christ, living and deceased, will suddenly be caught up from the earth, be joined with Christ in the air, and taken to heaven.”¹

Is the rapture biblical?

Despite what wholly devoted evangelicals proclaim, the rapture is not a biblical doctrine. We will start by looking at the terminology. Like hell, the rapture appears nowhere in the Bible. The term comes from the Latin word rapio, which Latin-Dictionary.net defines as “destroy, drag off, hurry, pillage, seize, or snatch.” The passage fundamentalists use to proclaim the indelible truth of the rapture is as follows:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God’s shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise; then we who are left still alive will be caught up [rapio] with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. So encourage each other with these words. (1 Thess. 4:16-18, CJB)

Now, to begin with, fundamentalists cannot comprehend the heavy use of symbolism in the Bible. They believe every word, even when translated into English, is literal. Attempting to explain metaphor in the Bible to a fundamentalist is akin to trying to teach astrophysics to a first grader. They simply cannot wrap their minds around it, and refuse to have it any other way.

N.T. Wright, a popular biblical theologian, explains the message Paul is attempting to convey in the passage. He identifies three things Paul echoes in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18: the story of Moses descending Mount Sinai with the Law (Ex. 34:29-35), the vindication of saints and their rising to glory with God (Daniel 7), and imagery of an emperor visiting a village, where the townsfolk gather to meet him. Even after explaining this to the fundamentalists, they will still play defensive and imply that the imagery is to conjure up ideas of the rapture.

If you have ever attended a fundamentalist church, you know well that they love word play. “There are three C’s of salvation!” “The three R’s of redemption!” Well, here is a case where word play bites the fundamentalist. They believe Paul is advocating for [R]apture, when in fact, he is arguing for [R]esurrection. Paul writes to encourage the saints who God will vindicate that as Christ was resurrected, so will he resurrect them.² Paul is attempting to console his audience that those who die in Christ will be raised in Christ. The distortion fundamentalists make is that Christ is simply going to snatch believers, alive or dead, and take them to heaven.

The “Rapture” in Matthew 24

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is the favorite “rapture” verse of fundamentalists. When one debunks their misinterpretation of Paul’s letter, they turn to Matthew 24:39-42. In this verse, Jesus claims the following:

“Then there will be two men in a field — one will be taken and the other left behind. There will be two women grinding flour at the mill — one will be taken and the other left behind.” (Matt. 24:40-41).

Here is a case where fundamentalists jump to conclusions. This is a case where they do not stop to think through what is going on. Most significantly, they do not examine the context of the verse they cite. Verses 40-41 are right in the middle of one line of thought. Verse 37 introduces Jesus’ message, that when the son of man comes, it will be like the days of Noah. People were eating and drinking when the flood came out of nowhere and “swept them all away.” So who is left behind?

Fundamentalists immediately use this verse to teach rapture theology. They argue that the one God takes away is righteous, being caught up in the clouds with God. Only, this ignores what Jesus starts the conversation with. As Wright shows, “’taken,’ in this context means being taken in judgment.”³ For a group bent on literalistic interpretations of every word in the Bible, it bewilders me that they cannot grasp context. Jesus’ message is literally right there in front of them. This verse in Matthew has much to do about Jesus’ second coming, but absolutely nothing to do with the mythical “rapture.”

So, how did we get here?

Examine the New Testament and you will find nothing about the rapture. Consult ancient Christian literature and you will find nothing about the rapture. Turn to Christian writings from one thousand, or even five hundred, years ago and you will find no mention of the rapture. This off-the-walls concept is practically brand new. There is zero history of rapture theology… until the nineteenth century.

Rapture theology, as Americanized as it has become, actually originated in Britain. A man by the name of James Nelson Darby started this unquenchable fundamentalist movement. The idea of Jesus returning to earth was not new, however; what Darby introduced was the idea that Jesus would return twice.⁴ According to Darby, Christ will return once secretly to snatch churchgoers and take them to Heaven, then again to establish his kingdom on earth after the tribulation.⁵

Darby traveled to the United States where rapture theology caught fire. Furthermore, he created a new theological system known as Dispensationalism. For the sake of space, I will not give full treatment to this belief. What I want to highlight is that it invigorates rapture theology. A proud dispensationalist who lacked theological training wrote The Scofield Reference Bible.⁶ This is the first “Bible” to address the rapture. Ironically, despite being a “reference Bible,” it was written by someone who had no theological education. And fundamentalists are okay with that.

Conclusion

Friends, the rapture is not real. It is not going to happen. Fundamentalists like to believe that they are special and will not face the wrath of God. This pseudotheology consoles them. Like believing in the unbiblical concept of hell, it allows them to assume a “holier-than-thou” attitude. Because they are so special, they are going to enter heaven while all us non-churchgoers suffer and die in Armageddon. Before God casts us into the lake of fire, of course.

By far the gravest implication of rapture theology is that it promotes complacency. Fundamentalists are so enchanted by the rapture that they believe they will not face any repercussions when the end comes… Because it is coming, they say! Soon! If the world is going to end next week, why care about the environment? Why fight world hunger? Why put an end to all the wars going on? They do not need to worry about these things, only their enemies, the nonbelievers!

Again, as I have discussed in each of these Halloween posts, Christians resent horror. If you watch Halloween or Friday the 13^th, you are a no-good sinner who is going to face supreme suffering. The only way horror can be redeemable is if you use it to advance a theological message that Christians are better than everyone else. Everyone else will be left behind to suffer in misery for seven years, then have their souls tormented for eternity. And yet, horror movies are bad? I have questions.

Happy Halloween, everyone. Do not let the church ruin your festivities. Have fun. Be safe. Remember, you are not going to hell. You will not be left behind. The fundamentalists want you to turn or burn. It’s too bad the Bible does not promote this ill-fated lie.

1. David Jeremiah, “What is the Rapture?,” The David Jeremiah Blog, https://davidjeremiah.blog/what-is-the-rapture/

2. Barbara R. Rossing, The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation. New York: Basic Books, 2007. Accessed October 31, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, 175. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/reader.action?docID=879536#

3. Wright, Jesus Victory of God V2: Christian Origins and the Question of God. Minneapolis: 1517 Media, 1997, 366.

4. Barbara R. Rossing, 22

5. Ibid.

6. Erik Reed, “Is the Rapture Taught in the Bible?,” Knowing Jesus Ministries, 2022, https://www.knowingjesusministries.co/articles/is-the-rapture-taught-in-the-bible/

Halloween, for most cultures, is a day of celebration. As I have mentioned before, it is a day of celebrating life rather than death. Preachers love to twist this philosophy. It truly bothers me that they baselessly condemn non-Christians for celebrating death yet devote entire sermons to arguing such individuals will face unfathomable torture. Fire? Demons? Eternal separation from God? This, to me, sounds far more wicked than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Why is the church so infatuated with their opponents facing such unendurable pain and misery? Does the Bible support this?

To the last question, I would like to answer that it depends upon the translation. First, we all know that English is far different from Greek or Hebrew. Words do not simply translate over to our language and convey the same meaning. For instance, to use a popular talking point from the church, there are seven Greek words, or variations, for “love.” All seven words translate to mere “love” in English. Likewise, when translating Greek or Hebrew to English, sentence structures change. Verb usage changes. Translating the ancient languages in which the Bible is written is not as simple as copying and pasting to Google Translate. These languages are quite delicate.

There are four words that translate to “hell” in our modern English Bibles. These are: sheol (Hebrew), Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus (Greek). With the advent of the King James Version, the most prominent and revolutionary translation of the Bible in the history of English, these four words were translated into one: hell. The “doctrine” of hell rose to prominence beginning with the KJV publication in 1611. Quickly, the Old and New Testaments, as well as church doctrines, began to focus on Heaven’s antithesis. A place where the streets are not paved with gold, but blood, fire, and brimstone. Let us explore what each of these four words really mean.

Sheol

Sheol is a bit of a complicated word to grasp nowadays. We owe this, in large part, to evangelical Christians of the past five centuries who cut the word to fit their conceptualization of hell. Some scholars from the early twentieth century believe sheol comes from a word meaning “hollow.”¹ More recent scholars argue that the word means “grave” or “pit,” while still others believe it is synonymous with “underworld.”² Given the contexts of the term’s usage in the prophets (especially Ezekiel and Isaiah) as well as Job, sheol is closer to, if not synonymous with, “grave.” Job especially gives us a vivid picture, describing sheol as a pit of dust and worms. Consider the following passage from Job:

One person dies in his full strength,
completely at ease and content;
his pails are full of milk,
and the marrow in his bones is moist.
Another dies with embittered heart,
never having tasted happiness.
They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worm covers them both. (Job 21:23-16)

Good or bad, everyone goes to sheol according to Job. But Job is not alone; the patriarch Jacob even considers that he will enter sheol upon his passing (Gen. 37:35; 44:29). Both the CJB and NIV correctly translate sheol to “grave.” My favorite psalm, Psalm 88, refers to sheol as a pit or grave five times (88:4, 5, 7, 6, 12). So now that we know what sheol is, who goes there?

It goes without saying that the wicked descend to sheol after death. But so do the righteous. Both Jacob and Job are biblical characters we would consider righteous, and yet they acknowledge that they will enter the “grave.” Hezekiah, one of Judah’s “good kings” who enacted sweeping reforms for the sole worship of Yahweh, admits he will face the same fate (Isa. 38:10).³ The Psalms beg that the wicked “return to” or “be silenced” in sheol (Ps. 9:18; 31:18). Many evangelicals, at least those familiar with the Old Testament, may refer to Proverbs 15:24, which states, “For the prudent, the path of life goes upward; thus he avoids Sh’ol below.” However, this verse does not speak of the afterlife, merely living a righteous live will be an upward life.⁴

Finally, a quick note on “eternal separation” from God in Sheol. As a homeschooled churchgoer, I was dually informed that the worst punishment of hell is being separate from God. Whether hell is a fiery pit or pure darkness, detachment from God is the most severe punishment. And yet, one psalmist declares, “If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there” (Psalm 139:8, attributed to David). In the Old Testament, eternal separation from God is nonexistent.

Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus

Let us start with Gehenna. Jesus uses this term in the Sermon on the Mount, which also translates to hell (Matt. 5:22, 29-30). The foolish who allow their eyes or hands to deceive them will be cast down into Gehenna. So, what is Gehenna? Gehenna is symbolic. Of course, fundamentalists do not understand the overwhelmingly symbolic nature of the Bible and treat every word literally. Gehenna is essentially a dumping ground for the dead, located just outside of Jerusalem.⁵ In ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures, the worst punishment one could receive is an improper burial.⁶ Jesus acknowledges this, declaring that corpses of the sinful will be lumped together in a pit.

As Jesus witnessed to people from a variety of cultures, he did not use only Jewish imagery to evoke his message. In some instances, he turned to Greek interpretations of realms of the dead. Seemingly synonymous with Gehenna, Jesus frequently referred to Hades. For those familiar with Greek mythology, you know that Hades is the god of death. He is also regarded as the king of the underworld, and his name has since become synonymous with the place. Jesus refers to Hades, often translated “hell” in English, in Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; and 16:23. In the Bible, Hades never associates with Satan and his minions torturing lost souls. Instead, it is identified as either the grave (Sheol) or simply, as in Greek culture, the realm of the dead. Some consider it an intermediate state, common to sheol.

Finally, there is Tartarus. In ancient Greece, Tartarus is “originally a place to imprison those who posed a threat to the rule of the Olympians, later [becoming] a place of punishment for those who had committed serious crimes.”⁷ The only occurrences of Tartarus in the New Testament are 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6. It describes a place where fallen angels face punishment.⁸ And, of course, 2 Peter and Jude are two books of the New Testament that barely made it into the biblical canon.

Conclusion

With the rise of evangelicalism, the flames of their make-believe hell rose. Despite what fundamentalists will wholeheartedly profess, hell is not a biblical doctrine. It is, like many other Christian doctrines, an invention of the church. It is a scare tactic. “Believe what we say, or you will suffer for eternity!” Critics of these schools of thought, including myself, identify this twisted strategy as “turn or burn” evangelism. And it is used as a protruding stratagem this time of the year.

Christians despise horror. They despise Halloween. Watching a horror film is equivalent to participating in the villainous plots of such movies. And yet, they invented an entire doctrine of eternal torment. And they use this false doctrine to judge and condemn those who reject their message. Hell is not real; it is a figment of the evangelical’s imagination. To those celebrating Halloween, fear not the turn or burn messages. The “religion of love” is wrong. The “Scripture of love” is correct. Your loved ones who do not share your beliefs are not burning.

1. Fred B. Pearson, “Sheol and Hades in the Old and New Testament,” Review and Expositor 35, no. 3 (1938): 304, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/003463733803500304?journalCode=raeb

2. Bar, Shaul. “grave Matters: Sheol in the Hebrew Bible.” The Jewish Bible Quarterly 43, no. 3 (2015): 145, https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=2bfc2708-6c0b-43cd-aca9-2f5fd6a4b655%40redis

3. Ibid., 138.

4. Ibid., 149-150.

5. Bart D. Ehrman, “What Jesus Really Said About Heaven and Hell,” Time, 2020, https://time.com/5822598/jesus-really-said-heaven-hell/

6. Ibid.

7. Michael A. Peters, “Hell as Education: From Place to State of being? Hell, Hades, Tartarus, Gehinnom.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 53, no. 4 (2021): 320. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2019.1675470

8. “What is Tartarus?” Don Stewart, Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_167.cfm