The Rapture: What Is It and When Will It Happen?

July 07, 2026
00:00 54:09
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Talbot New Testament scholar Dr. Alan Hultberg joins Sean McDowell to sort out what Scripture says, walk through the three major views, and ask the question everyone wants answered: are we close? Hultberg starts by clearing away the "Left Behind" imagery most of us absorbed from movies and kids' Bible storybooks, then lays out the three positions evangelicals actually debate explaining what separates them, how each handles the tribulation, Israel, and the timing of Christ's return. CHECK OUT: Logos Bible 60 Day Free Trial (https://logos.com/mcdowell)

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CHAPTERS 00:00 – The pop-culture rapture vs. the Bible 00:45 – Meet Dr. Alan Hultberg 01:06 – What is the rapture? (1 Thessalonians 4) 02:08 – Common misconceptions 04:15 – Is there even a debate that a rapture happens? 06:20 – View 1: Pre-tribulation 09:37 – Pre-trib, dispensationalism, and Israel 11:18 – Whatever happened to mid-tribulation? 11:41 – View 2: Pre-wrath 16:13 – Imminence: can there be signs? 18:32 – View 3: Post-tribulation 20:38 – How each view handles Israel 23:55 – The view Hultberg holds — and why 30:19 – The rapture through church history 33:48 – Where scholars land today 35:06 – Piecing together the whole end-times sequence 46:03 – "Newspaper in one hand, Bible in the other"? 48:33 – Signs and imminence, together 51:02 – Where to go deeper 52:42 – Closing thoughts

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Meet Your Host
Sean McDowell is a professor of Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He has earned two Master's degrees in philosophy and theology and his Ph.D. in Apologetics and Worldview Studies. He is the author, editor, or co-author of more than 20 books, including "More Than A Carpenter," "Chasing Love," "End the Stalemate," and "The Fate of the Apostles." Sean has one of the top apologetics YouTube channels with over 340k subscribers. He is an internationally renowned speaker and he is on the teaching team at his home church in southern California.
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