The main basis for the rapture doctrine is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words”.

From this passage the meaning of the rapture is clear; at some future time all of the saints of God, both dead and alive, shall be "caught up" into the air to be with their Lord! The Greek word for "caught up" is "harpazo", which means to pluck away and would be well-translated "rapture" in a Latin Bible (Willmington, n.d, p. 825), -- so the word itself is scriptural

Paul reveals more information in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52:

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."

There are three potential general times for the rapture to occur, defined in terms of the coming "great tribulation" -- ie before the tribulation period (pre-tribulational), during the tribulation period (mid-tribulational)or after the tribulation period (post-tribulational). 

            Post-Tribulation

The main focus of the post-tribulational system is that the rapture occurs after the tribulation period -- the natural consequence is that the Church must endure it. However, Willmington (n.d., p. 825) dismisses this view of the rapture by appealing to 1 Thessalonians 5:9 ("For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ") and Revelation 3:10 ("Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth").

Nevertheless, post-tribulationists dismiss Willmington's views, appealing to John 16:33, "in this world you will have tribulation". These post-tribulationists believes it is unthinkable that God would offer a wonderful transport to the Church as an escape route in the face of global disaster, (although this was exactly what he did for Noah). It is true that throughout history the Church has suffered persecution -- and under such persecution, the Church has historically thrived, as faith is refined and tested and the gospel is spread to further regions. This was the case in Jerusalem -- "Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went" (Acts 8:4). This was also the case under Roman persecution. Persecution kept the Church pure -- it kept hypocritical, dishonest and insincere people from the Church. "No light decisions were made for Christ in those times, especially when acceptance of Christ meant possible loss of citizenship; imprisonment with daily starvation and torture until death; crucifixion, and sometimes burning while still alive and hanging on the cross.

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