It is all the rage to see the rapture in 2 Thess. 2:3. The claim is made that apostasia meant “departure” not “apostasy” and that all the early translations featured “departure.” This view is based on a shallow investigation of the subject. The Middle English word “departure” meant dissension, not physical departure. The versions cited all inform us (in footnotes, marginal notes, introductions, prefaces) that they meant “falling away” or “apostasy” when they used the word “departure.” We still use this word this way today. Furthermore, I examined all 283 instances of apostasia from its first use in Archimedes’ Sand Reckoner until 500 AD. Not once was the word ever used for physical departure. Apart from a handful of rare and unrelated technical senses, it was used exclusively for political rebellion (10% of the time) and religious apostasy (90% of the time).
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