Evidence for the Rapture: A Biblical Case for Pretribulationism is an excellent recent, work that goes beyond the promise of the title to argue for the necessity of a pretribulational Rapture of the church. If your not familiar with this end-times position, it is the view that the deceased who came to faith in Christ through the Church, and living believers will be caught up out of the world to meet the Lord in the air and be taken to heaven where they will be kept safe during the seven years of tribulation that will come upon the earth.
Whether you agree with this position or not this is a work that ought to be in your library. It will equip pre-tribulationists with cogent arguments defending their view. Opponents will need to understand and respond to the arguments made by the ten contributing authors
Evidence for the Rapture provides a reasoned, rational alternative to popular end-times works that sometimes resort to date setting. It also provides an exegetically derived framework that allows the student of prophecy to integrate all that the Bible has to say with regard to Jesus’ return. The book is aimed at a thoughtful, Biblically literate, and curious audience. Each essay carefully interacts with the text of the Bible. Whenever an argument is made from the original languages of scripture it is thoroughly explained. Sources are well footnoted so that those who want to know more about supporting and opposing arguments can consult the works referenced.
Each of the essays provides an exegetically based defense of the pre-tribulation Rapture from different perspectives. Contributors are from Dallas Theological Seminary, Grace Theological Seminary, The Master’s Theological Seminary Moody Bible Institute, and Shasta Bible College and Graduate School.
I enjoyed the book so much that it is hard for me to identify individual highpoints. Nevertheless, I am going to make a try. The opening essay by Dr. Robert Thomas addressing imminency is a fantastic survey that roots the doctrine firmly in the teaching of Jesus and then shows how His teaching echoes through the subsequent New Testament books.
Similarly, the editor Dr. John Hart, demonstrates that the New Testament teaching about the Rapture of the Church is rooted in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24.
Lastly, Dr. George Gunn ably defends the eschatological promise of Jesus to take His Children to a heavenly home in John 14:1—3 against recent attempts to argue for a non-eschatological interpretation.
This is an important and much needed work in the area of Biblical eschatology. In the best tradition of dispensational hermeneutics each author grounds their argumentation in text of scripture. Without reservation I recommend this to those who both oppose and support this eschatological stance.
