Journal: Conservative Theological Journal
Volume: CTJ 01:3 (Dec 1997)
Article: A Review of the Book “The Rapture Question Answered Plain & Simple”
Author: Mal Couch

CTJ 1:3 (December 1997) p. 235

A Review of the Book “The Rapture Question Answered Plain & Simple”

Mal Couch

President and Professor of Theology & Languages
Tyndale Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, TX

Introduction

It is another book illustrating a pathetic misunderstanding of basic Hermeneutics 101! Robert Van Kampen, author of The Sign (Wheaton: Crossway, 1992), has written again on the pre-wrath rapture position in an attempt to shore up this view first presented by Marvin Rosenthal in his book The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church (Nashville, TN: Nelson, 1990). Van Kampen’s book is entitled The Rapture Question Answered Plain & Simple (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1997, Hardback, 207 pages).

Before I even opened the book, I felt I knew the areas where Van Kampen would make his major mistakes in presenting his arguments. I felt like a “prophet,” for I had learned from the past that most who depart from a pretribulational rapture position do so in three critical areas. First, they fail to consistently apply proper hermeneutics to a given passage, and this specifically in regard to dispensational and contextual issues. This brings about the second critical area of error, that is, a misinterpretation of the Olivet Discourse (Mt. 24–25). And thirdly, this misinterpretation of the Olivet Discourse in turn brings about a misinterpretation of the Seal Judgments in Revelation 6. The Olivet Discourse is especially crucial in understanding the book of Revelation. There are many other areas of possible failure for solid interpretation, but for me, these would be the most obvious and critical.

What I had suspected was exactly the case! What is so interesting about the pre-wrath rapture argument presented by both Rosenthal and Van Kampen is how complicated their teaching is in order to arrive at their position. Some who are critical of this school of thinking have even jested that it is so complicated, even the apostles Paul and John would have difficulty explaining how this teaching works!

Who is Robert Van Kampen?

As the book jacket notes, Van Kampen was the founder of Van Kampen Merrit, an investment banking company that was sold to Xerox Corporation in the mid-1980s. This set him free to research, study, and write on biblical issues. Financially, he has helped many Christian organizations. He founded

CTJ 1:3 (December 1997) p. 236

The Scriptorium, an organization “whose sole purpose is the scholastic defense of the authenticity, accuracy, and authority of God’s Word, the Bible.”

After selling his c...