Raptures, Eagles, and Bodies

The Academia.edu Essay Chat

Raptures, Eagles, and Bodies: Questions Concerning Those Who Will be Left Behind

“Smith addresses the widespread idea that when Jesus says in the Gospels: ‘One will be taken, the other left,’ He’s talking about the Rapture. But Smith thinks that’s a big misconception… He says we’ve completely lost track of what Jesus was actually saying by pulling those words out of context… Smith goes back to the actual texts, when the disciples ask Jesus, ‘Okay, where are they being taken?’ And Jesus’ response is this weird image: ‘Where the bodies are, there the vultures will gather’… Smith’s argument is, these verses are talking about a gathering for judgment or even a battlefield, not a glorious reunion in the sky… In this case, ‘the taken’ are actually taken in judgment—although Smith still believes in the Rapture, just not that these particular verses are describing it. He thinks Paul’s letters are talking about a different event than what Jesus describes here. So, it's not anti-Rapture, it’s anti-misreading…”

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HER: The paper we’re diving into today is called Raptures, Eagles, and Bodies: Questions Concerning Those Who Will Be Left Behind by W. Kent Smith. And I have to say, the title really grabs your attention, doesn’t it?

HIM: Yeah, totally. I wasn’t sure if we were about to talk about, like, an action movie or a theological treatise, but no, this one goes straight at a huge topic in Christian circles—the Rapture. And more specifically, at this idea of people being taken or left behind that’s, you know, so baked into popular culture.

HER: Exactly. So, the core problem Smith addresses is, really, the widespread idea that when Jesus says in the Gospels: “One will be taken, the other left,” He’s talking about the Rapture. Smith thinks that’s a big misconception. In fact, he argues that those verses are not actually about the Rapture at all, which, I don’t know, feels like poking a hornet’s nest in some churches.

HIM: Yeah, and it’s significant because, like you said, that image—people vanishing, chaos everywhere—it’s everywhere, from sermons to movies. Smith points out how both believers and nonbelievers have latched onto this story and built up this massive expectation of, like, any minute now.

HER: What’s wild is how he shows the roots of this idea. He walks through how Christians have taken those verses about two people in a bed or at a mill and, over time, have built this global narrative, helped along by secular media. And Smith says we’ve, like, completely lost track of what Jesus was actually saying by pulling those words out of context.

HIM: Right, he’s pretty methodical about it. Smith goes back to the actual texts, especially in Matthew and Luke. He connects the dots that, when you keep reading in Luke, the disciples actually ask Jesus, “Okay, where are they being taken?” And Jesus’ response is this weird image: “Where the bodies are, there the vultures will gather.”

HER: Kind of unsettling, honestly. And Smith goes into the Greek, showing that “bodies” really means “corpses,” and those “eagles” are probably “vultures.” So, if that doesn’t kill the Rapture vibe, I don’t know what does.

HIM: Yeah, and Smith’s argument is, if anything, these verses are talking about a gathering for judgment or even a battlefield, not a glorious reunion in the sky. He traces the language. There’s this whole bit about how God acts in patterns, evacuating the faithful before judgment, but in this case, “the taken” are actually taken in judgment.

HER: Which flips the script, doesn’t it? For listeners, I think the big takeaway is, like, context really matters. You can’t just cherry pick a verse and build an entire theology or elaborate fiction around it. And maybe we should be just a tad suspicious when an idea is everywhere: songs, movies, bestsellers, church billboards.

HIM: Hmmm, yeah. Although, as Smith admits, he still believes in the Rapture, just not that these particular verses actually describe it. He thinks Paul’s letters are talking about a different event than what Jesus describes here. So, it’s not anti-Rapture, it’s anti-misreading.

HER: There’s also that bit of humility at the end, you know? Smith says, “Look, biblical prophecy has always been hard to grasp until after it happens, so maybe we shouldn’t speak with such absolute certainty about it all.”

HIM: And, you know, that idea runs through a lot of academic research, not just in theology. It’s not about delivering the truth. It’s about offering new perspectives, fresh insights, reminding us to kind of slow down and dig deeper.

HER: Also—side note—his comparison of Satan to dark matter was kind of amazing. Made me want to Google black holes for like an hour.

HIM: Yeah, apparently all metaphors eventually lead to the cosmos. But for anyone who’s ever wondered if that left-behind story is really as clear-cut as Hollywood makes it, this paper definitely gives you something to chew on.

HER: For sure. So next time you see—I don’t know—a movie poster with people evaporating into the sky, just remember: context, context, context.

HIM: Couldn’t have put it better myself.

The preceding work is the by-product of a previously published book, entitled Fish Tales (From the Belly of the Whale): Fifty of the Greatest Misconceptions Ever Blamed on The Bible.

It’s available here on this website, as well as Amazon Books, Barnes and Noble Books, and Sacred Word Publishing. It’s available as a complete work and as a three-part series, as a paperback and an e-book; and Reel One is available as an audiobook.

Previews of Fish Tales (From the Belly of the Whale)

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To hear author and historian W. Kent Smith talk about his book Fish Tales (From the Belly of the Whale), CLICK HERE.

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