Lee W Brainard

The Greek word apostasia in 2 Thessalonians has long been understood to be a reference to departure from the faith (apostasy) in the last days that comes to an explosive climax during the dark days of the antichrist. Recently, some prophecy teachers have popularized the idea that apostasia in this verse refers to the rapture, not apostasy. They base this on two claims. One, the semantic range of apostasia includes both physical and spiritual departure.
Two, the early Bible versions translated apostasia by departure, a nod to the rapture. Are they correct? Is apostasia a reference to the rapture? Should it be translated by departure? Are translations like falling away, revolt, and apostasy wrong? In this volume I present a mountain of evidence from Koine Greek, the Church Fathers, and the Bible versions that shouts an emphatic "NO!" to all four questions.