My friend says the Rapture is mid-trib since the church, as the restrainer, will not be removed until right before the antichrist is revealed, which is when he stands in the temple 3 1/2 years before the end. It won’t be at the start of the tribulation as no one will know who he is so the church doesn’t need to be removed. What would you say to this?
This is what comes from building one’s position on the basis of a single passage. If you put Acts 15;13-18, Romans 5:9, Romans 11:25, 1 Thes. 1:10 together, they all point to the Church disappearing before Daniel’s 70th week (the time of God’s wrath) begins.
Besides, 2 Thes. 2 doesn’t say the Church will be removed “right” before the anti-Christ is revealed. It says there will be a falling away (apostasy) and then the restrainer will be taken out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed. The order of events is given, but how quickly they follow one another is not.