It is important to note that this is non-essential doctrine. In the end, it is relatively unimportant when the rapture will happen; it is more important that it will happen. Moreover, the premillennial position does not hinge on the rapture. Instead, the timing of the rapture is an in-house discussion within the premillennial view.
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Problem: Critics note that Paul says that “we” will remain until Jesus returns. From this statement, they conclude that Paul made a mistake, thinking that Jesus would return before he died.
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Problem: Paul spoke here to the Thessalonian Christians of “we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord.” This seems to imply that he was affirming that Christ would come before he died. But Christ did not come before the death of Paul (2 Tim. 4:6–7). Did Paul make a mistake here?
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Problem: Several times the Bible refers to the dead as being asleep. Does this mean that the soul is not conscious between death and resurrection?
Problem: Some interpreters[1] argue that the “vessel” refers to a Christian man’s wife (see RSV translation). Peter uses the same Greek word skeuos in 1 Peter 3:7 to refer to Christian wives. Is Paul commanding Christian men to “possess” their wives?
Problem: Critics argue that this passage refers to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. Since Paul died before this time, critics claim that this must have been added (or interpolated) after his death. In addition to this, critics argue that this passage is Anti-Semitic, which favors the literature of the church fathers in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries.
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Problem: Critics argue that Paul wrote this passage, because he was anti-Semitic and racist against Jews.
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Problem: Some interpreters argue that God chooses some believers for heaven and others for hell.
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CLAIM: Paul commanded that the church of Colossae should exchange letters with the church of Laodicea (a city that was only ten miles away). This implies that Paul had another letter, which was authoritative and inspired that is now lost to us. Is this the case?
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Problem: Paul refers to the “epistle from Laodicea” as a book he wrote that should be read by the church at Colosse, just as the inspired Book of Colossians was to be read by the Laodiceans. However, no such 1st century epistle to the Laodiceans exists (though there is a 4th century fraud). But, it is very strange that an inspired book would perish. Why would God inspire it for the faith and practice of the church (2 Tim. 3:16–17) and then allow it to be destroyed?