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Hi, Jan —
What exactly do you mean when you say the Pope agrees with Protestants
on the Rapture??
More so than any other doctrine, the Protestants don't agree amongst themselves
with respect to the Rapture!!
The Pope certainly cannot have said anything heretical in the area. He
can't change the Church's position.
For this, you need only go to Catechism of the Catholic Church. It simply
states that we believe that Christ will return again at the "Resurrection
of the Dead". It says nothing about the Church being raptured out
of the world 7 years to the end, or 3.5 years prior or whatever the latest
variation of dispensationlist heresy being promoted by televangelists is.
This whole idea is less than 200 years old. It is a position no one in
Church history ever took. It is rooted in a complete misreading of the
Scriptures.
Yes, those who are alive at the time of Christ's return will be "raptured" or "transformed
in the twinkling of an eye", but that happens at the end of time.
Nor will there be a literal millennium (1,000 years) after which there
is another battle between good and evil. When He comes back next time,
it's over. There will be a New Heaven and New Earth.
That is not just the latest Teaching of the Church, it has been the constant
Teaching of the Church.
John
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