When we take the Bible as a whole, both Old and New

Testaments, almost every text has its opposite some-

where, allowing for widely divergent views on every

possible subject....The so-called "Second Coming" of

Jesus Christ is no exception to this rule.

.....Fifty years after William Miller made his predict-

ions, a small group of Pentecostals began to study

the Book of Acts and experience some of the miracles

described in the New Testament....Persecuted at first,

they multiplied and attracted many poor and hard-

working people who looked more for preachers who

could "move them" than for those with a College or

University education.....This allowed a newer and

more literal [and sometimes more sensible] view of

Bible Prophecy to gain credibility.

.......The texts that indicated a visible and world-

shaking "Second Coming" to Millerites seemed to

these new preachers to be as symbolic as literal, but

after Israel became a nation once more in 1948, and

successively won a series of wars against tremendous

odds, they clearly saw that Old Testament prophecies

were taking precedence over such verses.

......It seemed unlikely that Jesus, clearly a Jew, would

totally destroy the nation He had just created, were He

literally to appear.....And so appropriate verses were

found, mostly in Paul's writings, that made the literal

Second Coming a "Secret" event.....Allowing Israel, and

the world at large, to continue.

.....By now, charismatic Pentecostal audiences were so

used to "rapturous" religious experiences, with moving

music, physical transformations, and mental ecstasy,

including unconsciousness and visions, that they could

assume that the Second Coming might indeed transport

them out of this world and into heaven while the non-

believers went on with business as usual!

.......By the 70's, however, a brighter group started to

write books incorperating a large number of texts that

seemed to indicate a severe "punishment" or "time of

trouble" for the world at large at the "End of the Age".

....After a while an itinerary was drawn up for God to

perform that was almost as horrible as the picture

drawn up by the Millerites......

......Not wishing to worry the congregations enjoying

their charismatic experiences with all these technical

details that would happen to non-believers, appropriate

texts were found to show that the "Time of Trouble"

would not occur until the majority of Christians were

safely in heaven....

Basing their theology more on Paul's writings, loosely interpreted in regards

to the "Law", and emphasizing "Grace" not "Works"...The official view

became that ALL Christians would be "raptured" [disappear from earth]

on a date known only to God the Father...if some not worthy were included

by mistake, the angels would soon know it and send them downstairs.

.....Even though officially no date was set, a prophecy became very popu-

lar that 40 years after Israel became a nation was the time for the "Rapture"

to occur, and that the Fall Feasts of Israel was the preferred time of year...

This precipitated the same type of NON-EVENT on Sept. 11-13 of

1988 that the Millerites had experienced 144 years previously.....Since

then other dates have been set, particularly in 1994, but never with the

widespread support of the 1988 expectations.........