(Part 1)

JBTM Book Reviews
149
Evidence for the Rapture: A Biblical Case for Pretribulationism. Edited by John F. Hart.
Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2015. 276 pages. Paperback, $19.99.
With an increasing desire of Christian pastors and laity alike to find spiritual certainty
in uncertainty times, Evidence for the Rapture comes as a thorough defense and creative
presentation of the biblical perspective of pretribulationism. Evidence for the Rapture is
a collection of essays written by pretribulationist scholars from well-known conservative
institutions. 1 John. F. Hart, general editor of Evidence for the Rapture, is professor of Bible at
Moody Bible Institute, where he has taught since 1983. Hart’s publications include: 50 Things
You Need to Know about Heaven as well as contributions to Overcoming the World Missions
Crisis and Dispensationalism, Tomorrow and Beyond: A Theological Collection in Honor of Charles
C. Ryrie. The ten contributors to Evidence for the Rapture have published commentaries in key
prophetic texts and other biblical books for the Moody Bible Commentary Series and the
Expositor’s Bible Commentary Series. Each author is well-suited to address the doctrine of
pretribulationism.
The purpose of Evidence for the Rapture is to identify key eschatological passages within
the New Testament and show how they reveal a pretribulation rapture. The Day of Lord is a
key Old Testament concept that is addressed and which is viewed through the lens of various
New Testament authors.
The organization of the book is outlined clearly in the introduction by Robert L. Thomas.
The first four chapters address the biblical (or, in this case, philosophical) underpinnings for
a pretribulation rapture. Chapter 1, “The Rapture and the Biblical Teaching of Imminence,” by
Thomas, deals with the key concept of imminence—a term used to describe the unexpected
nature of the coming of the Lord and of God’s judgment. Chapter 2, “Jesus and the Rapture,”
focuses on the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel Apocalypse passages, highlighting Hart’s belief
that the rapture originates with Jesus himself—and then was taken up by New Testament
authors. Chapter 3, “The Rapture and the Day of Lord,” examines this Old Testament concept
in the New Testament, emphasizing Glen Kreider’s focus on the judgment that will follow
the rapture moment. In chapter 4, “Jesus and the Rapture: John 14,” George Gunn provides
an eschatological analysis of John 14:1–3. He argues that the phrase “I will come back and take
you to be with me” is the strongest statement in the Bible concerning an actual rapture and
return to heaven. He goes on to state that the “place” being prepared for his followers is a
holding place for a 7-year tribulation (112).
Chapters 5–7 focus on the primary eschatological passages of Paul in 1 Cor 15, 1 Thess
4–5, and 2 Thess 2, and the book’s contributors argue for the following interesting exegetical
¹These institutions include Moody Bible Institute, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Master’s
Theological Seminary, The College of Biblical Studies-Houston, and Shasta Bible College and Graduate
School.