Rapture 2025

[Ken]

I really don’t get it when the scriptures clearly state no man knows the day or the hour… not even the Son of Man himself.

Like any other inconvenient scripture, people find a way to prove it doesn't mean what it says. I think I've heard at least 3 such explanations.
1) It's not possible to know the day or hour, but it is possible to know the week.
2) It wasn't possible to know it at the time Jesus was here, but it is possible to know it now.
3) With this last prediction I heard something about this statement being a Hebrew idiom that doesn't translate properly into English, or something like that. I didn't bother to find out any more.

2b) God wants to reveal mysteries to his people in the end times, and let them know when he is coming, while keeping these revelations hidden from the general populace.

2c) I alone know what God intends because I am a prophet and out of the 8 billion people on earth, God shares his intentions ONLY with me.

[Wesleyb]

Like any other inconvenient scripture, people find a way to prove it doesn't mean what it says. I think I've heard at least 3 such explanations.
1) It's not possible to know the day or hour, but it is possible to know the week.
2) It wasn't possible to know it at the time Jesus was here, but it is possible to know it now.
3) With this last prediction I heard something about this statement being a Hebrew idiom that doesn't translate properly into English, or something like that. I didn't bother to find out any more.

2b) God wants to reveal mysteries to his people in the end times, and let them know when he is coming, while keeping these revelations hidden from the general populace.

2c) I alone know what God intends because I am a prophet and out of the 8 billion people on earth, God shares his intentions ONLY with me.

2d) The formula for calculating it has been right there in the scriptures for 2000 years and I am the only person in all that time smart enough to figure it out.

[barnhart]

2e) God has re-instituted the office of apostle for the last days, so my knowledge is has divine origins like the New Testament apostles.

[Neto]

I tend to suspect (i.e., understand Scripture in this way) that when the time is very near, the discerning believer will know (that it is very near). He said to watch. Why tell us to watch if it will in no case make any difference? (Maybe it doesn't matter that it makes no difference anyway, because the main point of 'watching' is to be ready.)

I do not believe in the "imminent return of Christ" - that he *could* (I think he 'could not' in the sense that I have every confidence that he will respect prophecies he has made) return at any time, right now. Those who hold firmly to this doctrine tell me that if I do not believe their way, I will live in sin, expecting to be able to repent at the last moment. That's not the only way our opportunity to repent will 'expire' - WE could 'expire' at any moment. Besides, 'belief' is synonymous with obedience in Scripture.

[Praxis+Theodicy]

One of our ministers talked about this in an opening message yesterday. It sort of annoys me that we even consider something like this worth mentioning.

You are annoyed to hear about the possibility of a Rapture, or more specifically when somebody ignorantly decides to pin down the date and folks go a'flocking after it...?

I am saying that I'm sort of annoyed to have the latest ten-cent buffoon pinning a date on the Rapture taking up any space in our sermons. I'm also sort of annoyed with myself to have wasted time commenting on it in this thread.

To be fair, if my church were an evangelical Mennonite church or even conservative and adjacent to evangelical, I would assume that this latest 10-cent buffoon has spread his message at least a little bit into my local congregation; and I would feel somewhat obligated to warn against that sort of thing in the course of the church meeting if i had the pulpit for any of it.

If my church were a more conservative Mennonite church and I knew none of us were even on tiktok, I too would not mention it and would be annoyed if it got a mention.

[JohnH]

P+T,

In the less conservative conservative churches, it is amazing how many questionable theological concepts show up.

For example, in a moderately conservative church, one fellow holds the position that genocide is a political term and that it is very improper to speak of the nation-state of Israel possibly conducting a genocide in Gaza, because the Bible says that God will bless those who bless Israel, and thus we need to bless whatever the current Israeli government is doing, and using the term "genocide" is a political trick by people who are anti-Israel. Therefore, as a Christian, you cannot say there is a genocide going on. I wish I were kidding.

[temporal1]

2026

2025 / P.1:

i’m sorry the several EOW topics were lost on MD and other forum versions.
Where is george?

i viewed the video below, planned to add it here, but the description seems to not allow it?
It should be easy to find if anyone’s interested. i would describe his views are scholarly/academic, not as a believer.

He reviews several failed EOW prophecies, including the one in 1975 Jehovah’s Witnesses, which a close family member of mine got tangled up with and remains with them, she and her family. Painful. He reviews some that were discussed on MD and past forum chapters.

He emphasizes how these groups often stay together in spite of failed prophesies.

Religion for Breakfast / “Why Religions Survive When Prophecies Fail” / 22+min
https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfast

When prophecies fail, religious movements don't always collapse.
They adapt. From TikTok’s Rapture predictions to 19th-century millenarian movements, this video explores why religious groups often grow stronger after being proven wrong, and how communities survive disappointment.

Description
An educational channel dedicated to the academic, nonsectarian study of religion. We promote improving the public's religious literacy by exploring humanity's beliefs and rituals through an anthropological, sociological, and archaeological lens.

Religion for Breakfast does not endorse any particular religious tradition or non-religious perspective. Please be respectful in the comments!

The host, Dr. Andrew M. Henry, is a scholar of religious studies.
His research focus is early Christianity and late Roman religion.
He earned his PhD at Boston University. Follow him on Twitter @andrewmarkhenry.

These videos are freely available here on YouTube. If you are an instructor, feel free to use the YouTube link to my videos in your syllabi and classrooms. I do not permit downloading my videos and re-uploading them to a separate site or channel. This is called freebooting, and it violates Religion for Breakfast's copyright.