The Rapture: Always Near or Already Fulfilled?: The Truth of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 in the AD 70 Parousia of Christ

What if the "rapture" is not a future escape but a spiritual reality fulfilled in AD 70? In this compelling study, Michael J. Sullivan challenges the dispensationalist vision of a physical evacuation in 1 Thess. 4:15-17, proving its fulfillment at Jerusalem's fall through comparative tables and meticulous exegesis. Sullivan shows that Paul's harpazo-the "catching away"-parallels Jesus' teachings in Matt. 24:30-31 and Old Testament prophecies (Isa. 25-27), marking the spiritual resurrection of the dead from Hades and the transformation of the living into the new covenant kingdom. Sullivan exposes dispensationalism's carrot and stick "always near" rapture myth, tied to evangelical Zionism's dangerous agenda to self-fulfill prophecy by igniting World War III, mistakenly believed to trigger "Armageddon" and the rapture-when Armageddon was fulfilled in the Roman-Jewish War (AD 66-70). This escapist theology fosters a fearful, unproductive church, paralyzed by a "don't polish brass on a sinking ship" mindset. Sullivan also addresses inconsistencies in amillennial and partial preterist views and debunks claims of Enoch and Elijah's bodily ascension. With a coherent Full Preterist framework, this book affirms the Parousia as a first-century event, urging believers to reject escapist doctrines and live as salt and light, advancing God's kingdom today in family, church, and political life.