Topic

Rapture

Predictions framed around the Rapture, the catching up of believers described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Some entries on this site are about the Rapture in the strict sense, a gathering of believers distinct from the visible Second Coming. Others are about the Second Coming or the end of the age generally. Each entry says which.

1981 Chuck Smith and the expectation of a Rapture before 1981 Chuck Smith · Date passed In books of the late 1970s, the founder of Calvary Chapel wrote that he expected the Rapture to occur before 1981, on the basis of a forty-year generation from 1948 minus a seven-year tribulation.
c. 1988 Hal Lindsey and the forty-year generation from 1948 Hal Lindsey · Record disputed The Late Great Planet Earth (1970) argued that the "generation" of Matthew 24:34 might be about forty years from 1948. Readers often took this to mean 1988, but Lindsey did not state a Rapture date.
September 11–13, 1988 Edgar Whisenant and 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 Edgar C. Whisenant · Later revised Edgar Whisenant's booklet 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 named Rosh Hashanah, September 11 to 13, 1988, as the date. Large numbers of copies were distributed, including to churches.
October 28, 1992 The Mission for the Coming Days and October 28, 1992 Lee Jang-rim and the Mission for the Coming Days · No matching event documented A South Korean group taught that believers would be taken up on October 28, 1992. Press coverage recorded gatherings in Seoul and, afterward, legal action against the leader.
May 21, 2011 Harold Camping and May 21, 2011 Harold Camping and Family Radio · Later revised Harold Camping and Family Radio taught that the Rapture and Judgment Day would occur on May 21, 2011, followed by the end of the world on October 21, 2011. A national billboard and media campaign promoted the date.
September 23–24, 2025 Joshua Mhlakela and the September 2025 Rapture claim Joshua Mhlakela · No matching event documented A South African preacher said that believers would be taken on September 23 or 24, 2025, around Rosh Hashanah. The claim spread widely on TikTok and other platforms.