.  I don't know if you have read the links I shared on the Orthodox view of the Rapture, but I do recommend reading them if you are truly interested in understanding and are not simply trying to "prove that you are right". Of course, anyone is welcome on this forum who wants to learn about and better understand the Orthodox faith. Your messages, however, seem to indicate that you are trying to "show that Orthodoxy is wrong" or "prove that your sectarian Protestant beliefs are right" based on strange interpretations of our Holy Scriptures. If you believe that you have the truth, then go your way. There is nothing anyone here can do to help you. Here we know that the Orthodox Church is the "pillar and ground of the truth", and so you are wasting a great deal of time and energy if your intent is to convert to or convince us of your strange personal beliefs. If you are genuinely interesting in learning and understanding, then please consider how your messages might be written to express a more humble and respectful attitude.  It is clear that Sola Scriptura, "Scripture alone", is a central doctrine of yours. If so, please read the following article from an Orthodox priest who also once believed this doctrine:  If you have questions about this doctrine that are not covered in these pieces, feel free to begin a separate thread on this forum to discuss your questions, or try to find an existing thread with a Sola Scriptura theme to post on. Or, better yet, contact the author of the article.  The biggest question raised by the thread so far is the question of interpretation and authority. If you begin to understand how the Scriptures came down to us from the early Church, and how the early Church (who understood the original languages and lived close to the time of the Apostles) interpreted the Scriptures, you will begin to understand why the Orthodox Church believes as it does and why we here find your approach to be filled with error. I don't know if you have any knowledge of Church history, but the Church has been confronted with enumerable heretics since the time of the Apostles, and we here who are familiar with this history, know how the heretics have always (mis)used and abused the Scriptures "to their own destruction", to use the words of St. Peter. To you, it may seem like you are starting a fresh debate. To us, it is just another encounter with the deceptions spread by the Father of Lies.  I don't know if you have read the links I shared on the Orthodox view of the Rapture, but I do recommend reading them if you are truly interested in understanding and are not simply trying to "prove that you are right". Of course, anyone is welcome on this forum who wants to learn about and better understand the Orthodox faith. Your messages, however, seem to indicate that you are trying to "show that Orthodoxy is wrong" or "prove that your sectarian Protestant beliefs are right" based on strange interpretations of our Holy Scriptures. If you believe that you have the truth, then go your way. There is nothing anyone here can do to help you. Here we know that the Orthodox Church is the "pillar and ground of the truth", and so you are wasting a great deal of time and energy if your intent is to convert to or convince us of your strange personal beliefs. If you are genuinely interesting in learning and understanding, then please consider how your messages might be written to express a more humble and respectful attitude.  It is clear that Sola Scriptura, "Scripture alone", is a central doctrine of yours. If so, please read the following article from an Orthodox priest who also once believed this doctrine:  If you have questions about this doctrine that are not covered in these pieces, feel free to begin a separate thread on this forum to discuss your questions, or try to find an existing thread with a Sola Scriptura theme to post on. Or, better yet, contact the author of the article.  The biggest question raised by the thread so far is the question of interpretation and authority. If you begin to understand how the Scriptures came down to us from the early Church, and how the early Church (who understood the original languages and lived close to the time of the Apostles) interpreted the Scriptures, you will begin to understand why the Orthodox Church believes as it does and why we here find your approach to be filled with error. I don't know if you have any knowledge of Church history, but the Church has been confronted with enumerable heretics since the time of the Apostles, and we here who are familiar with this history, know how the heretics have always (mis)used and abused the Scriptures "to their own destruction", to use the words of St. Peter. To you, it may seem like you are starting a fresh debate. To us, it is just another encounter with the deceptions spread by the Father of Lies.  