The Evangelical Universalist Forum

dreams and visions

I have a question-why do only pre tribulation rapture people dream of the idea of the rapture its self…what do post and mid tribbers dream about :question:

Huh? That makes no sense. Explain your premise better.

why do only pre tribbers seem to dream about the rapture :question: you never see post tribbers putting this stuff about rapture dreams on YouTube :question:

Maybe if you have a dream about the rapture, and you believe your dream to be from God, then you believe in it because of the dream?

Actually, I almost hate to admit it in present company, but I did have a dream about the rapture (but very symbolic) and that was in fact (with other things that followed after) what caused me to believe in it and that it’s pre-trib – but I wouldn’t expect anyone else to believe merely because of my dream. :laughing:

Hey, what’s-his-name – the crazy guy – (I call him the Rush Limbaugh of UR, but I truly and honestly can’t remember his name just now!!) also believes in the rapture, so it’s not like I’m ALL alone. :wink:

thats a strange combo pre trib rapture AND UR

not tooooo odd a combo. if you are more of a believer in a form of purgation for those who currently reject Christ, you might be open to the idea of the 7 year tribulation period (as understood by the tribulationist crowd, obviously) being a part of that purgation for the sinners. all the saved are taken out of the world, and God’s disciplinary wrath is poured out for a set period.
afterwards (in ways that i expect differ from adherent to adherent), all are reconciled.

personally, i’m (i think) amillennial, but i can see the validity of that view.

i personally don’t put alot of stock in dreams. i am sure that prophetic ones occur, and i’m sure that God does speak to some of us through dreams (afterall, it’s in the Bible!)…but i know that such a message is in serious danger of being ignored in this day and age. the plethora of dreamers out there saying “thus sayeth the Lord!” combined with the plethora of rational explanations for those dreams and why people seem to want to follow them makes it nearly impossible to objectively find the truth behind the dreams in every case. there’s just far too many.

i think as Cindy says, a dream should (these days at least) be a personal thing, and it’s very dangerous for people to get up behind a pulpit with a future type prophecy based on a dream or a voice, etc. there is a huge danger of being wrong, and leading many astray. imagine the dissilusionment of those who followed Harold Camping’s ridiculous and unBiblical pronouncements? they could lose their faith in God totally! what a horrible thing.
no, we must be honest about what we don’t know, and constantly humble enough to say that we could be wrong…that the listener must weigh the truth of what we say for themselves. they must check the fruit and they must check if it’s in agreement with the least ambiguous parts of Scripture.

i suppose why i am so agnostic about future prophecies is because i grew up with rabid pre-trib theology. i was told the others were just pure rubbish, etc etc.

and then i travelled the world a little and discovered that ACTUALLY there was plenty of Scriptural validity for any number of futuristic views.

the fact that certain people go down the route of fanaticism with this viewpoint means that they’d be susceptible to dreams on the subject…and if they also believe that such dreams are from God…well it all goes wrong.

could it be (and Cindy, i mean no offense to you or any other pre-trib person here, i really don’t believe anyone posting from this point of view here is at all a rabid fanatic! nor do i think your belief LEADS to fanaticism) that this view is the most attractive option available to those of fanatic procilivity who are already susceptible to weird subjective dreams etc? maybe the other trib views and a-milennialism are just not exciting enough to attract them? it doesn’t make it wrong…afterall truth is often inflammatory!

Hear, hear James

I find the obsession of some Christians with ‘the rapture’ somewhat bemusing. It seems a bit odd to me to base a whole school of doctrinal thought on a single verse. Hey ho.

But as far as dreams and visions go, I think we should exercise extreme caution in claiming any sort of divine inspiration. A previous pastor of my church came in one day and declared that he had had an angelic vision informing him that all the chairs in the church ought to be turned to face the side of the church rather than the front! You can imagine the reaction this elicited from the congregation. And rather than listen to the majority opinion of the church members (that this was a deeply impractical, not to say crackpot, idea), the pastor resigned his position.

Of course, it is possible the pastor really was the recipient of an angelic vision. (Although like me you might find it perplexing that an angel should appear to him - a pretty miraculous event in anyone’s book - merely to instigate a bit of interior design in the church.) It is also possible that he just had a dream.

And as you so wisely point out, James, a dream is, by definition, entirely subjective - and, I might add, utterly unverifiable.

Shalom

Johnny

well there alot of this type of people on youtube

well anyone can post a video on youtube…and given the intellectual heights to which the commentators rise (at least a mile below sea level :smiling_imp: ), well i don’t give much credence to much that’s on youtube generally.
it, like the rest of the internet, gives a voice to those who…let’s be honest…don’t really deserve one

Oh haha.

So want to know why people claim to have dreams of the Rapture! It is because from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If all they fear is the rapture, then it stands to reason they will dream of it too. It is all imaginations.
**
Psalm 73:7**
Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish; and the imaginations of their minds overflow [with follies].

My apologies, no offense intended to those who may actually still believe in a rapture, I don’t believe you have any theological standing especially if you believe in UR.

Hear, hear, AUniversalist

In my personal, humble opinion, the rapture as it is popularly imagined - ie (and correct me if I’m wrong) the notion that some believers will be ‘snatched up into the air’ somewhere, while the rest of humanity is left to fester on earth - is, in that finest of English phrases, a load of old bollocks. It’s a sound rule of thumb that the more people post on an esoteric subject on YouTube (ie not something mainstream like, say, ‘I love Justin Bieber’), the more likely to be bollocks it is.

But of course, I could be wrong …

Pip Pip!

Johnny

A curious thing. When things go well, it is human nature to say it is ‘too good to be true’ and always look to destroy that which gave them happiness just because it lasted too long.

I personnaly don’t believe in the rapture theology.

yeah but why do only pre trib rapture believers seem to put these dreams they have on the internet :question:

Because they want to have everyone else believe in their dreams or vision?

Colossians 2:18-19
Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit, And not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.