Rapture vs. Rupture — What's the Difference?

Blissful contentment.

A break or tear in something.

A state of intense pleasure or joy.

A breach of peace or harmony.

An ecstatic state.

A medical condition of a torn organ or tissue.

Overwhelming emotion.

The sudden failure of a relationship.

Spiritual ecstasy.

Disruption or breakage.

The rapture is an eschatological theological position held by some Christians, particularly within branches of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." The origin of the term extends from Paul the Apostle's First Epistle to the Thessalonians in the Bible, in which he uses the Greek word harpazo (Ancient Greek: ἁρπάζω), meaning "to snatch away" or "to seize," and explains that believers in Jesus Christ will be snatched away from earth into the air.The idea of a rapture as it is currently defined is not found in historic Christianity, but is a relatively recent doctrine of Evangelical Protestantism. The term is most frequently used among Evangelical Protestant theologians in the United States.

An instance of breaking open or bursting

A feeling of intense pleasure or joy

A break in friendly relations.

(according to some millenarian teaching) the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ

A hernia, especially of the groin or intestines.

(according to some millenarian teaching) transport (a believer) from earth to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ

A tear in an organ or tissue

The state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstasy.

To cause to undergo or suffer a rupture

Often raptures An expression of ecstatic feeling

To undergo or suffer a rupture

The transporting of a person from one place to another, especially to heaven, by supernatural means.

A burst, split, or break.

Rapture An event in the eschatology of certain Christian groups in which believers in Christ will be taken up to heaven either prior to or at the Second Coming.

A social breach or break, between individuals or groups.

To enrapture.

(medicine) A break or tear in soft tissue, such as a muscle.

Extreme pleasure, happiness or excitement.

(engineering) A failure mode in which a tough ductile material pulls apart rather than cracking.

In some forms of fundamentalist Protestant eschatology, the event when Jesus returns and gathers the souls of living and deceased believers. (Usually "the rapture".)

(ambitransitive) To burst, break through, or split, as under pressure.

(obsolete) The act of kidnapping or abducting, especially the forceful carrying off of a woman.

To dehisce irregularly.

(obsolete) The act of carrying, conveying, transporting or sweeping along by force of movement; the force of such movement; the fact of being carried along by such movement.

The act of breaking apart, or separating; the state of being broken asunder; as, the rupture of the skin; the rupture of a vessel or fiber; the rupture of a lutestring.

A spasm; a fit; a syncope; delirium.

Breach of peace or concord between individuals; open hostility or war between nations; interruption of friendly relations; as, the parties came to a rupture.

To cause to experience great happiness or excitement.

Hernia. See Hernia.

To experience great happiness or excitement.

A bursting open, as of a steam boiler, in a less sudden manner than by explosion. See Explosion.

(transitive) To take (someone) off the Earth and bring (them) to Heaven as part of the Rapture.

To part by violence; to break; to burst; as, to rupture a blood vessel.

To take part in the Rapture; to leave Earth and go to Heaven as part of the Rapture.

To produce a hernia in.

(uncommon) To state (something, transitive) or talk (intransitive) rapturously.

To suffer a breach or disruption.

A seizing by violence; a hurrying along; rapidity with violence.

State of being torn or burst open

The state or condition of being rapt, or carried away from one's self by agreeable excitement; violence of a pleasing passion; extreme joy or pleasure; ecstasy.

A personal or social separation (as between opposing factions);

A spasm; a fit; a syncope; delirium.

The act of making a sudden noisy break

To transport with excitement; to enrapture.

Separate or cause to separate abruptly;

A state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion;

A state of elated bliss

Yes, rapture is a universal potential experience, often triggered by art, nature, or deep connection.

Signs include sudden pain, loss of function, or visible breakage.

Yes, it is associated with intense happiness or spiritual bliss.

Yes, it often refers to spiritual ecstasy or the joy of divine presence.

Yes, it can describe the end of relationships or agreements, not just physical breaks.

Through moments that evoke deep emotional response or a sense of transcendence.

Often as moments of transcendence or profound emotional engagement.

Typically, yes, as they involve damage or separation, but they can lead to positive change.

It can lead to estrangement or a breakdown in communication.

Rapture is more intense and often has a transcendent quality, while happiness is more general and steady.

Intense joy or spiritual experiences can lead to a sense of rapture.

Injury or stress exceeding the strength of a material or organ.

Depending on the context, some ruptures can be mended through repair, reconciliation, or healing.

No, it can also refer to metaphorical or relational breaks.

In physical contexts, preventive maintenance; in relationships, open communication.