For nearly two centuries, millions of Christians have believed in the "rapture"-the idea that believers will be secretly whisked away before end-times tribulation begins. But what if this popular doctrine, absent from Christian teaching for 1,800 years, is actually a theological innovation that contradicts Scripture and divides the church?
The Late Great Rapture offers one of the most comprehensive examinations of rapture theology ever written, tracing its surprising 19th-century origins, analyzing its biblical foundations, and exploring its cultural and political effects. Through careful historical research and thoughtful biblical exegesis, Daniel Payne demonstrates that the simple hope of Christ's return-the hope that sustained martyrs and missionaries for centuries-is more than sufficient without modern speculative additions.
This book doesn't attack sincere believers but calls the church back to the historic Christian consensus about the future: Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead, to raise the righteous and condemn the wicked, and to establish His eternal kingdom. That promise, Payne argues, is enough.