I believe there will be a rapture. "Rapture" is from the Latin "rapiemur," which is how the old Latin translation of the Bible translated "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. But many Christians believe that they will be "caught up" all the way into heaven, and that this will happen before the tribulation, when the Bible doesn't promise us either of these things. It says that we Christians must go through the coming tribulation (Revelation 13:7-10, 14:12-13), that we will be caught up into the clouds to meet Jesus as he descends at the 2nd coming (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), that this will happen "after the tribulation" (Matthew 24:29-31), and that Jesus' coming to gather us together must "destroy" the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8).

*******
Should We Use The Word?

Some say we should stick as close as we can to what the Bible actually says instead of arguing over words (1 Timothy 6:4) that it doesn't even use. They say we should only refer to the "catching up" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) or to the "harpazo" (Greek for catching up) or to the "gathering together" (2 Thessalonians 2:1, Matthew 24:31) when referring to the event in question.

But just as we refer to the "Bible" and to the "Trinity" in our discussions because there is nothing wrong with these terms in themselves or with what they signify, so I believe we shouldn't be reluctant to refer to the "rapture" in our discussions, as again, there isn't anything wrong with the word in itself or with what it signifies. The challenge is to clarify exactly what the Bible says about the rapture and what it doesn't say about it.

Even if we forbid using the word "rapture," we're still left with this challenge: Where did the idea that the "catching up" or "gathering together" would be before the tribulation come from, and where did the idea that the "catching up" or "gathering together" would take us all the way into heaven come from? For the Bible teaches neither of these things, but says specifically that Christ's coming and our gathering together will be after the tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31) and that Christ's coming to gather us together must destroy the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8).

So ultimately the argument isn't over which words we use but what exactly those words are referring to.

*******
The Word "Bible"

When we point out that even "Bible" isn't in the Bible, some who refuse to use "rapture" point out that "Bible" comes from the Greek word "biblion" which IS found in the Bible. Will they then insist we say "Biblion" instead of "Bible?" According to my dictionary, "Bible" comes from the Medieval Latin "biblia," which is actually the plural of the Greek "biblion," which is the diminutive of the Greek "byblos," which means "book." So "Bible" actually means "little books," as indeed the Protestant version contains 66 separate little books in one volume.