What is the word used in the Bible for rapture?

A:

The closest synonyms for 'rapture' are bliss or ecstasy. Neither of these is in the King James Bible. However, pleasure is used several times, not necessarily in the true sense of rapture.

Another meaning was given to the Word 'Rapture' by John Nelson Darby, the nineteenth-century founder of the Plymouth Brethren who said that believers will be 'raptured' up to heaven at the end-times, but this is a relatively modern theological invention and is not mentioned by any name in The Bible.

Additional Comments:

The usual terms those who hold to this idea of a secret rapture are translated from the Greek term 'harpagesometha' meaning 'caught up' in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. This term was then translated into Latin as 'rapere' meaning 'to seize or abduct' and it is this term that is found in most English Bibles.

Adherents to this idea like to point to Acts 8:39 which uses the Greek term for 'caught up' also found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. This is speaking about Philip who was caught away by the Spirit of God in Acts 8 and these use this term to 'prove' 1 Thessalonians is speaking of his being taken to Heaven. However, God's Spirit took Philip from one place on Earth to another. Remember, Jesus Himself, clearly said no one has gone to heaven but He (see John 3:13). Further, they attempt to use 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 as additional evidence of this secret taking away of God's people but this is Paul telling of Christ's 2nd Coming to gather His Saints at the sound of the 7th Trumpet - something very loud and definitely not secretive.

Lastly, some also call the Rapture, 'the blessed hope' based upon the Scripture in Titus 2:13. Here adherents read into the Word 'appearance' as some secret and sudden event. This then becomes a type of shorthand for them in literature and films when discussing this doctrine of men.