Jesus Against the Rapture: Seven Unexpected Prophecies

by Robert Jewett

The end-is-near doomsayers are here disputed.The historical Jesus would have strongly disagreed with the new apocalyptic mood of many current writers. In seven vivid New Testament studies, Dr. Jewett demonstrates what Jesus really had to say about the end of the world as we know it. He shows how unexpectedly different Jesus€™ message was from common hopes, and how opposed it is to the teaching of modern sensationalists who speak of €œthe Rapture€ as about to usher in a new dispensation.This book is for every reader who is puzzled by the great popularity of books about the end times €“ among both laity and the leaders of the churches. Through the use of contemporary literature and illustration, Dr. Jewett reveals how Jesus€™ teaching can affect our lives. He says, €œI am convinced that if we would get Jesus€™ message straight, we would conclude that the future is still open and that there is a great deal we can do, because it is not Satan, but God wh

Genres: Christian

Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Robert Jewett taught for 20 years at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and is currently a Guest Professor of New Testament at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He is the author of Mission and Menace: Four Centuries of American Religious Zeal, and is Theologian in Residence at St. Mark's Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Reviews

[Justin Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1-- Very interesting book. Robert Jewett chose 7 remarks by Jesus to make 7 distinct points in refutation of apocalypticism, the eschatological camp which maintains that everything must be destroyed in the great Battle of Armageddon in order to purge evil from the world.. and oh yea P.S.-- all true believers are going to be physically lifted off of this planet by Jesus Himself prior to His impending wrath obliterating it, and then He'll create a new earth for His people to come back to after His triumphant victory replete with vengeful death and destruction.

I'm not a fan or proponent of the rapture theology, if you couldn't tell. Especially the politically-minded or -driven kind that plagues the Church's pulpits, TV channels, and bookstores. I appreciate and commend the author for what he did here. He published this book in the late seventies, at the height of the craze that followed Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and other damaging books. Premillenialists were throwing "2nd coming" predictions out like they were a weather forecast... the "new apocalyptics" were declaring doom and gloom upon the globe like they were reciting an upcoming sports schedule. It was a chaotic time, and Jewett bravely and astutely filled a void with sound biblical prudence and grounded logic.

Some of his connections between Jesus's original meanings and the undercurrent of the events and mentality of the twentieth century were stretches, but most of what he wrote fit well within the proper hermeneutical framework of a first century Jewish audience, and what/how we can learn from the Messiah based on their follies and obstinance.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I enjoyed it more than I thought, particularly after the first couple dozen pages or so, once I really got going in it. I jotted down some notes/quotes, and learned a few fascinating things along the way. Well worth the read! Glad I picked it out of the old boxes of books my dad gave me. :)

[Glesnertod · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Politics of Jesus aren't secret or safe.
On a cross close to Hell they'll keep us
and bleed us
dry.

Scratch that.
Rewind it back, make Jesus Rome,
or better yet, your blessed home.

They're bound to Time & Space
unlike you think of
conventional standards of measure.

They're not for the
insincere or venal type.
They attack those committed to retrospect,
not knowing this poem is about you.
Like white blood cells and Evangelical vain.

Or better yet, a hen brooding over her chicks in a menagerie of violence.

But who will listen?
Do we think in images or paintings like 'the scream'ing silence?
Do you think you can paint sounds out of your eyes?
And if you do, if we gird up our loins and thighs
and bolt my ears tight and fastened
then what will they do to us, sons of Barabbas?

So better yet, take heed.
They're smoking green
And you want Fate to intervene?
Our dry skin will catch in the heat of our own pyromaniacal needs.

Listen to the dead, 2,000 in 4 B.C.
crucified like those on calvary.
A whole town, Sepphoris, rebelled into slavery
and in 66 A.D. to 70,
you could hear an echo drop like a Temple
with sign-seeking hypocrisy.

I could go on with seven unexpected prophecies,
but you'll have to read the book, Jesus against the Rapture.

[Steven Bullmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came out at the time when "The Late Great Planet Earth" was whipping up an apocalyptic frenzy. Any number of gloom and doomers were predicting the end of the world as we know it and Jesus coming back with armies of angels to clean up the mess we (or Satan) had made of earth. In the midst of the craziness Bob Jewett wrote this wonderful little book on what Jesus REALLY said about the Rapture. Turns out it was nothing like what the Tribulationaists were espousing.
I love this book!
Says Jewett, "I am convinced that if we would get Jesus' message straight, we would conclude that the future is still open and that there is a great deal we can do, because it is not Satan, but God who is alive and well on planet Earth."
I've re-read it when all the end time foolishness was popping up around the Millennium. I read it again when some well-meaning friend suggested I read the "Left Behind" books. I suggested they read "Jesus Against the Rapture." Neither one of us took the other up on their suggestion.