Thanks Rob I am enjoying the dialogue as well. I have heard your clarification of the rapture as not a coming but a removal. It’s hard for me to see how that works textually in any passage where the rapture is cited, such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. Seems to be quite a public event, and not secret. (“shout” and “trumpet”)

This is not an essential Christian doctrine and that is why it is not in any confession or creed. There are, however, implications for the Christian life and mission, which I would like to discuss another time. But at this point, I would simply like to point out that Jesus seems to universally be telling his disciples to be ready for persecution and not removal, and that seems important. Many Americans seem to be doing quite the opposite.

I will just repeat, where was this doctrine before Darby and Scofield and why did the entire history of the church, including the Reformation, miss it?