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 This time around, there are no RVs or signs carrying the "awesome news" of the end of the world.
October 21st, 2011
06:00 AM ET
The End, again? If it is, we thank you for your timeBy Jessica Ravitz, CNN (CNN) - In case you are reading this, might we suggest you read really fast? The world may end any minute now, if the latest doomsday prediction is on target. We realize October 21 didn’t get the shout-out that May 21 did, so our apologies if this comes as a surprise. But if you had heard the complete message the first time, you would have known. “The warning is out,” Dennis Morrell, 44, of Jacksonville, Florida, reminded us a couple of days ago. “There’s nothing else you can do.” Earlier this year, and with the backing of the Christian broadcasting network Family Radio, billboards touting May 21 as Judgment Day dotted the landscape. RVs plastered with the fateful date crisscrossed the country as believers wearing T-shirt announcements and waving fliers sounded the alarm. That was to be the day when a select 2% to 3% of the world’s population, predetermined by God, would be raptured up to heaven. Everyone else, the story went, would endure months-long judgment amid chaos, destruction and unspeakable suffering. A massive earthquake would ravage the land, bodies would be tossed about and terror would reign for the duration. Five months or exactly 153 days later, it was said, the world would disappear – which brings us to today. This was the schedule laid out by God’s word in the Bible, the faithful said. It was the plan deciphered and shared by Harold Camping, now 90, the founder of Family Radio, based in Oakland, California. Camping, who has an engineering degree, had spent more than 50 years combing through his Bible and crunching numbers embedded in scripture. Sure, he’d made a similar end-of-the-world prediction for September 6, 1994, but who hasn’t been tripped up by biblical verses? With additional studying, calculations and new signs that would be revealed later, he said earlier this year that he had no doubts this time around. “I know it’s absolutely true, because the Bible is always absolutely true,” he told CNN before May 21. “If I were not faithful that would mean that I’m a hypocrite.” Problem is, May 21 came and went, and the world remained the same. Soon the billboards disappeared. The T-shirts and hats worn by believers got tossed. The RVs were quietly parked, tucked away in storage yards, possibly sold. Camping came forth, two days later, with an explanation - and his last news conference. October 21 would still be the end, he said, but a “loving and merciful” God had opted to spare humanity the five months of turmoil. A couple of weeks later, Camping had a stroke. He is said to be recuperating at home after a hospital and rehab stay and has only made a handful of radio addresses in the months since. Family Radio declined our requests to interview him. Fred Store, a 66-year-old retired electrician and longtime Family Radio listener, dedicated seven months of his life to sharing the “awesome news” that was the May 21 message. He led a caravan of believers, five RVs strong, on a tour of the United States for Family Radio. He was in Boston in May when he expected to be raptured up to heaven. When nothing happened, “We were caught by surprise. ... But we realize now that it’s very possible that we misunderstood some of the things we thought were true,” Store said this week from his home in Sacramento, California, where he has put up a number of caravan friends. “I believe that October 21 is the end, and I trust in God. Whatever way he chooses to end things will be perfect.” On the Family Radio website, the May 21 events, or nonevents, have been clarified. “What really happened is that God accomplished exactly what he wanted to happen. That was to warn the whole world that on May 21 God’s salvation program would be finished. ... For the next five months, except for the elect (the true believers), the whole world is under God’s final judgment,” the statement reads. As for that massive, body-flinging earthquake anticipated by believers, well, it turned out to be less literal. “We always look at the word ‘earthquake’ to mean the earth, or ground, is quaking or shaking violently. However, in the Bible the word ‘earth’ can include people as well as ground. ... Therefore we have learned from our experience of last May 21 what actually happened. All of mankind was shaken with fear. Indeed the Earth (or mankind) did quake in a way it had never before been shaken.” No one was raptured on May 21, but that’s just because “universal judgment” will come on the last day. “The elect” or “true believers” are still guaranteed their day of rapture, and everyone else will be “annihilated together with the whole physical world.” For Paul Anatiychuk, 36, of Charlotte, North Carolina, the way this played out has been a relief, a blessing. A husband and father of two children, ages 8 and 9, he wasn’t sure if his own family members would be saved. The thought of leaving them behind on May 21, to suffer what would come over the next five months, troubled him. “God tortures them while we’re hanging in the clouds?” he said this week. “It didn’t completely fit.” Now, Anatiychuk said, he can take solace knowing that when he’s saved, sinners will simply die. “Of course (the world) has to be destroyed and burned up by fire,” he said. “But it’s going to be very quiet.” Finding a way to save faith, and face, is part of the process when a prophecy fails, said Lorenzo DiTommaso, an associate professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal, who has been studying apocalyptic worldviews for a dozen years. He said those who become disillusioned aren’t quick to talk, and the rest find a new way to spin what has transpired. When nothing happened on May 21, Camping was left with a choice, said DiTommaso, whose book, “The Architecture of Apocalypticism,” is scheduled for publication next spring. Camping could have admitted he was wrong. He could have said the calculations were off and needed further analysis. Or he could have spiritualized the apocalypse, which is exactly what he did, DiTommaso said. That tack, that way of looking at the apocalypse, has a long history, he said, and dates back to early Christian theologians. Tyconius, in the late fourth century, took this approach, as - more notably - did Augustine in the early fifth century. Augustine “preferred to understand the millennium predicted in the Revelation of John in spiritual and metaphoric rather than literal terms,” DiTommaso said. He “sought to diminish the emphasis on hard calculations.” The obvious advantage of this sort of interpretation for a man like Camping, who has prided himself on his numbers, is that he can “divorce himself a little bit from the fact that he was so darn wrong.” What Camping will say - if anything - come Saturday, assuming there is a Saturday, is anyone’s guess. But DiTommaso said a new explanation, perhaps a new doomsday date, may be on the horizon. It would be just another in a long line of end-time predictions across the ages. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another attempt” by Camping, he said. “If he were an artist, this is his masterpiece, his life work.” soundoff (2,353 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Next »
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All friggin' nuts.
Anything built or constructed by this moron Harold Camping should be immediately inspected for safety risks.
Especially if he used The Babble's value for pi...
Here is what really happens. You are born, your bodies senses and surroundings influence you into the person you are as you go through life, and then when you die your body is harvested through many different processes and distributed back to the earth and its inhabitants. If you do not believe me then think about your meals throughout the day. Plants and animals come to life. They are both consumed and guess what. This cycle has been ongoing for millions of years. Oh and as for the rapture and clouds and fire and brimstone....those are tangible things. The whole idea of afterlife is spiritual so stop trying to create a magical place that does not exist. Leave imaginary places to Hollywood. They portray it much better!
I don't understand why this is news. There is a neighbor boy that is severely retarded due to an accident durring his birth where he didn't get enough air. He often talks of how santa is comming "tomorrow", but he gets no press coverage that I am aware of. Why not? I am truely shocked how the media covers these stories as if they were something more than the mere ramblings of a mentally ill person.
You're an idiot.
Santa??? Jebus man, where is this kid? I need to interview him now!
Maybe we can roll all the end-of-timers/wrestling groupies/racing fans into one big cult and call them the Holy Nascar Hillbillies, then pick the most pathetically lacking amongst them and hand over the white house.
oh, wait – we did that.
Typical CNN. They take the ramblings of some idiot who calls himself a Christian and use it to bash Christianity and make us all look bad, as if we all were following this loon.
Father [or Mother] please forgive Bill C for he no knows what he says. angels go get the mada
There really has been an abundance of people who claim Christianity who do a bunch of stupid things. Most of the time they are accepted as being Christian right up until that moment they do the stupid thing. If 'real' Christians would demonstrate more ability to recognize and call out these fools or if 'real' Christians would demonstrate through actions the differences between themselves and the fools only claiming to be Christians it would probably happen less.
CNN merely reported the silly statements made by a christian. If christians don't want to look stupid they should stop doing stupid things in public. And you are aware that Fox News also carried an article about this prediction – aren't you?
You Christians are saying "This guy is crazy and gives Christians a bad name!!" because he believes the end of the world is at hand and gave a date for the event. The only difference I see between other Christians and Camping is that he proclaimed the date of the event. Period. Thats it. He put a date on what ALL CHRISTIANS believe will happen someday. Are you wrong that he is crazy? No. Does he give Christians a bad name? Only if you as a Christian fear being found out as the crazies you really are.
Hey, at least he's not into buggering little boys.
Bill C,
We're all out to get you. We've even contaminated your canned food stockpile and p!ssed in your bottled water supply.
Seriously, Christians deserve all the flack they get, for all the stupid things they've done. And their god never has delivered on a promise. Losers.
@Bill C- it's not CNN that's doing anything wrong. It's a legit story to discuss. Now the jerks who think it is wise to take one person of a certain faith and use that one person to make a broad generalization about a group of a billion+..well...let's just say those ppl are not very intelligent.
@ Bill C: The bible is full of ramblings that make Christians look bad. One of my favorites comes from the 10 commandments (the 2nd 10 that Christians don’t like to talk about). Before you hear the commandment I think it’s important to remember that this is one of the 10 most important rules god has given. He didn’t bother to condemn slavery or mention women’s rights. He also must have thought that this was more important than the concept of the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness because none of these were included in the big 10 (neither set). His final commandment to the world, repeated 3 times in the bible
“Don’t cook baby goats in their mother’s milk”
- Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21
NAh – the world did end – but the liberal media won't report it.....
how dare you folks call me false prophet, I am a false pastor, not a prophet, also silence am working on the new date...
It is really stunning that a person could fall for this guy once, much less three times.
peace to all mankind and womankind
The World will End... I Believe he is actually talking about himself... When his time is Up...
all i can say about people like camping (jw's etc) is quack, quack, quack. (false prophets are quacks) and, the boys in the the bright white coats in bellview have a nice spot in a padded cell for them. quack, quack, quack.
"Believing the evidence that is all around us that nature happens is far more comforting than looking around and saying "gesh maybe some invisible sky fairy waved it's mystical supernatural hand and poof it all suddenly existed". Sorry if you believe that you really need to get to the library or something."
Because believing that a God made the universe is more ridiculous than believing that some Great Almighty Force of nature turned some hot energy into quark–gluon plasma, and turned that into matter, and turned that into the universe, and assembled the galaxies and all that other stufff ...?
This is where you could say, "Yeah, but who made God?"
And then that's where I say, "Well, where did the hot energy come from?"
I guess we're stuck because, unfortunately, nobody was there when it happened, and we're left to believe whatever seems right to us, even if other people think it's a bunch of bs.
LOL, like comparing apples to skyscrappers but I guess you have a point in there somewhere worth mentioning. You are correct that "believers" will always believe whatever suits them the best and people who base their beliefs on evidence and reason will continue to do so unmoved by irrationalityThough where you see a wall I see a wall with a door in it. I believe it's possible to rescue those who believe in the supernatural and guide them to a better understanding through logic, reason and evidence.
Kaitlyn, I agree with a portion of your argument. The religious can't prove God exists and the non-religious can't prove how the very beginning of matter was created. The fact remains that members of both groups continue to try and figure those things out.
While it is impossible to prove that god exists generally, it is possible to prove that a god with the characteristics that Christians claim for their god, e.g. a personal loving god, does not exist. Such a personal, loving god would not allow indiscriminate suffering and death such as is witnessed daily on our planet.
So, the Christian god is a big steaming pile of hooey. There, now you know. Now get on with living.
"I guess we're stuck because, unfortunately, nobody was there when it happened, and we're left to believe whatever seems right to us, even if other people think it's a bunch of bs." No one was there to see that random tree fall in the woods either but you'd have serious doubts if I told you that aliens knocked it over with their spacecraft wouldn't you. Just because someone might like to believe something doesn't make it an acceptable way of doing things. Imagine if scientists decided to forget about using evidence and just believe whatever poped into their heads and made them feel nice. You certainly would not be communicating on a public forum on the internet with a computer right now if that's how things were done. I prefer to have as many beliefs that are likely true based on evidence as possible because I care if my beliefs are true or not. I don't rely on feelings to guide me to what is likely true. I'd even lay money on the fact that you don't either in any aspect of your life except for your belief in the supernatural.
So what time is the flying spaghetti monster supposed to appear and spew his saucyness on all of us unworthy pastafarians?
We are all worthy of sauce in His eyes and can be touched by His Noodly Appendage. It happens daily.
Pasta and sauce be upon you and yours.
rAmen.
Harold Camping is a tool of Satan. The Bible is true, and points the way to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Harold Camping does not know Jesus Christ.
how dare thou question my credibility, satan send for the imps...where are the pitchforks...
Well, he might, but either way, he is severely confused.
And who might you be Dave?
If you want a relationship, just ask me out already, jeez...
The Bible is clearly not TRUTH. Get over it.
God,
I had a date with an invisible guy once. I had to do and say *everything*. It was almost like nobody was there.
I like the cut of your jib.
@Dave-O: How can the bible be true when it is full of contradictions. For example
John 3:13 (KJV) [See 2 Kings 2:11, next.]
"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."
– 2 Kings 2:11 (KJV)
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
I don't know about "tool of satan" ... but he certainly IS a tool!!!!
i liked the way they put it . "the end,- again"
Guess I didn't make the cut again... I was sure my ex-wife would though so I stopped the alimony check...
Religion: What a waste of time!
Totally. Why waste your time trying to be "good" when you're going to go to hell no matter how hard you try? I might as well just have some fun while I'm here. And since we'd feel really stupid if we believed in some god, we could make up a bunch of BS to replace him.
No but seriously. Nobody can be perfect, so why bother, right?
IMO, a belief in non existent does not make you good. Goodness and belief are entirely separate.
Predict something more realistic like, nobody will win the jackpot lottery today!
I predict the sky will grow dark and the land will grow cold and a bright opal shall rise in the sky replacing the Sun!! but only for a few hours till the wrathful orange of flaming fury lay's waste to the darkness and regains his rightful rule as king of the sky...but only until the wraithlike pale disk of white returns to battle him once again under the cover of darkness...
Jesus never liked false prophets.
it takes one to know one..
I also never liked liar's, but I forgave you Peter... what was that those guys were saying "Hey, theres Peter who was with Jesus." and you were all "No I never knew him"? Hmmm?
Jesus was a false prophet preaching a false religion. Actually that's a redundancy. ALL religion is false. There was no Zeus, Odin, Thor, Apollo, Isis, Osiris, right? So why would you believe there's one singular "god"? I contend we are all atheists to some degree. Once you realize why you have dismissied all those others I've mentioned, you'll understand why I have dismisssed yours as well. I don't have to prove you wrong, you made the claim, the onus is upon YOU to prove yourself right. I refer you to "Russel's teapot" (look it up) for reference.
Mirosal
If you tell me to go twirl my finger in purple Jello and then I will understand quark translusancy, I do it then suddenly understand quark translusancy does that make you right?
So, Jesus said if you come to me with a broken and contrite heart I will hear your prayer and you will be healed. I did it and was healed. Does this mean Jesus was right?
So, Jesus said If you believe in me, repent of your sins and ask for forgiveness I will send the Holy Spirit the helper to guide you in all truth. I did just that then the Bible came alive for me and I understood things, felt things just as Jesus said. Does this mean Jesus was right?
No Fred, it just means you're gullible enough to believe a myth that's thousands of years old. If you need to be guided to the truth, as you said, you're just another sheep. Also, you said "Holy Spirit the helper" .. this "god" of yours is supposed to be omnipotent, why is there a helper? If this jesus would be around today, spewing the exact saame thing he did 2000 years ago, he'd be taken to the nearest mental ward, and no one would ever take him seriously. So why do YOU take this guy seriously? You'd better read that "holy" book a little more carefully. Cover to cover. EVERY word.
Let us try that again. If you give me a list of 5 procedures to get my car running, I do all 5 just as you said then my car starts running. Were you right?
As far as the car goes, then I'd be right, but you're talking about a physical object with direct cause and effect. Id love for you to tell me about the realities of naked women conversing with talking snakes, and a big boat that carried a sample of ALL the animals on this planet for 40 days, while evey plant was underwater and survived that way for those 40 days. I'd also like to know just where did the water recede to, because it was a global flood?
Mirosal
You are going back to events 6,000 or more years ago. The Bible is a story of God redeeming a choosen people for Himself. We must take into perspective God was revealing himself to a people in the best way they could understand at that time and place. Remember these were people that could only understand a god that was in thunder, earthquake, fire etc. No way could they every under spiritual concepts yet.
Based on Psalm 104 the flood does not need to be a global flood and my gut feeling says it really does not matter if it is allegory or not to a non believer. By this I mean either way you will think it foolish and find something wrong. The issue is you cannot accept that God protected His chosen through a time of great natural disaster which is what this story is about. The reading is beautiful in how God closed the door on the ark. You cannot skip over the small parts. Noah was a kind caring man, was it to keep his eyes from the screams of the lost that he may try and save? Does God shield His chosen from non believers and emotional pain as well as physical pain? The stories within the stories of the flood alone seem endless yet, they all tie down with the themes of the Bible from start to finish. Ask yourself how you miss these key points as you look to science to disprove what cannot be proven.
The serpent (evil enti-ty or deception) was sly enough to fool a naked woman. Things went south when Eve fell for the deception. The knowledge exposed her nakedness. She now had to hide from God whom she rejected for the knowledge of good and evil. There was hope for Eve because God covered her nakedness(sin) Just as today there is hope because Jesus covered our nakedness. I am amazed that this theme is carried throughout the Bible given the different authors. Yet, one cannot see it if they only see a snake and a naked woman. You missed Gods love for Noah and the hope carried in that family line if you are part of the crowd that mocked Noah as he built a boat in a dessert where it never rained.
The Bible is written this way just as Jesus spoke in parables so that only those that seek truth can find it You will not see the truth if you are looking for something else.
Sorry, need to fix a server problem so I am out of here. Hope to finish later, good nite
So was this "adam and eve" thing REAL or not? yes or no ... and the "noah" thing .. real or not ?? yes or no ... are you one of those "6000 year old earth" believers as well? no allegory, no parables ... real or not, yes or no .. simple question, simple answer
Mirosal
fred
We cannot see or even imagine God yet alone His ways or His mind. How is God who; is outside time and space, who created our time and space, in an instant can see past, present and future going to reveal Himself to man? As God reveals Himself man continues to evolve intellectually, emotionally and culturally. Take a photo album from an old guy that is say 80 and look at the snapshots over this short period. The modle A Ford just came out then today he sees his great grandkids on an Ipad. Add 3,400 years and tell me what the snap shot looks like when Moses wrote Genesis. 3,400 years ago the people used a common Middle Eastern form that was more of a symbolic picture language. Moses grew up in the Pharaohs house in Egypt an educated man. I think it is remarkable that the Bible was understood then and now. I think the Bible is a remarkable photo album of God and the chosen people.
I am closing in on an answer for you.....
One of Christs closest Apostles John said: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and came and dwelt among us. So here even 1400 years later we see God reflected in and through a man Jesus in the Word a picture of love, servants heart, unity with the Father, unity with the Spirit, unity with the beleiver. Jesus was not God in the context of a Zeus for example that was a god to the Greeks because as stated earlier God cannot be put in a construct of man. Jesus was the manifistation of God in a form we could identify with, perhaps incarnate is still a better word. Although artists have drawn pictures of Christ we know it is not an accurate picture of Jesus. In the same way Jesus as God is not an accurate visual Adam ,Eve , the Ark are not accurate visuals we must use the Word and in the beginning was the Word.
Jesus said when you see me you have seen the father. Well you could not "see" the father. So as I said it does not matter if you see the Ark as alagoy or methaphor or litteral. When you "see" God you "see" the picture story of the Ark.
In that context I see Moses describing the first ancestors of the chosen people, as a man named Adam and woman named Eve,to his audiance. Then He goes on to list the generations. That would be a "yes" to your question. Time frame for the beginning of this generation of chosen peoples was a few hundred years before man worked with bronze. Now, wheter you choose to apply this beginning to that of other peoples gets complicated.
@fred
"Let us try that again. If you give me a list of 5 procedures to get my car running, I do all 5 just as you said then my car starts running. Were you right?"
Let's try this instead: If one of the 5 procedures is "you must say 'Heil Hitler!' or 'Jesus Lives!' or 'ooga-booga-zooga!' before turning the key; you do this; and the car starts, did the words help the car start?