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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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Don't worry, guys. I headed off the last one, I'll head off this one too. See you on Saturday!
When you're right with God, it doesn't matter. If it does, good. If it doesn't, I'm going to work and NOT giving any money to the doomsday people.
which god? I like Odin myself, but Ragnarok is not nigh.
This is quite entertaining. This man will never give up until his personal doomsday arrives (which shouldn;t be too far from now i assume) And what's even funnier is that he's got followers! Oye haha...
Give it up ppl, no human can predict such a disaster. It's not up to us to decide when the apocalypse will happen. It's all in God's hands and he is the ONLY one that knows when this will happen. In the meantime, just live in the now and spend as much happy times with your loved ones.
Does the tooth fairy still come by your house and have you seen Elvis yet?
Stephen F Roberts: “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
Harold Camping is in violation of the 9th Commandment. He will soon die, move quickly through purgatory and directly into Hell.
It's a shame that the concept of "Purgatory" is a complete and utter fabrication by the church (like so much of Christianity)
Camping will skip purgatory then. It was not the point anyway. Camping going to Hell is the point.
@gaze
What, no stop-over in Limbo?
Oh that's right – the infallible Vatican rescinded their stance on Limbo a few years back.
Not very politic to keep the unbaptized babies out of heaven...
The worls "HELL" come from the Greek meaning Hades, which is part of the Greek Mytho's. So I thought this was a Jewish belief?
Purgatory and Limbo were invented by Dante in his 'Inferno'. It's fiction. You're either WITH God(Heaven) or WITHOUT Him(Hell). Don't define 'love' by what seems right to you, or what feels good. Get His.
@Phil,
Heaven and Hell are both part of the Greek Mytho's not the Jewish belief, they (Jews) believe your soul goes back to God (and whatever that means). However the Christian are more followers of the Greek / Roman Gods than of the Jewish God, based on the number of deities they have. To further their cause, they have man as Angels and yet the orginal Jewish belief clearly state we are not. Get your fact right.... Of course then fantasy is still fantasy.
The Good Doctor's Second Coming Rant:
“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”
—1 John 2:18
Christians have been waiting on tenterhooks for the Second Coming since the Bible itself was written.
Many have prophesied the exact time of date of His return and ALL have been wrong.
We're all still waiting.
George Rapp said it would be September 15th, 1829.
William Miller predicted October 22, 1844. Jesus’ failure to arrive is known as “The Great Disappointment”. Many of his disillusioned followers went on the found the 7th Day Adventist Church, who are still patiently awaiting His return.
Charles Russell, 1st President of the Watchtower Society told his fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses that Jesus would be back in 1874.
Rudolf Steiner maintained that from 1930 onwards, Jesus would grant certain people psychic powers to enable them to witness his presence in the “etheric plane”.
Herbert Armstrong, Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God said 1975.
Bill Maupin managed to convince his followers to sell all of their worldly goods in preparation for Jesus’ return on June 28th, 1981.
Benjamin Crème stated that on June 21st, 1982 Christ would make a worldwide television announcement.
Mark Blitz, Pastor of El Shaddai Ministries says it would be September 30th, 2008
Jerry Falwell said it’d happen between 1999 and 2009.
We're all still waiting.
Conversely, many believe He’s all ready come in the form of Sun Myung Moon, Emanuel Swedenborg, Baha u llah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, David Koresh, Hailie Selassie, John Thom, Arnold Potter, William Davies, George roux, Ernest Norman, Krishna Venta, Ahn Sahng-Hong, Jim Jones, Mashall Applewhite, Hulon Mitchell, Wayne Bent, Ariffin Mohammed, Mitsuo Matayoshi, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, Inri Cristo, Thomas Provenzano, David Icke, Shoko Asahara, Hogan Fukinaga, Marina Tsvigun or Sergei Troop.
It would appear that the much lauded Jewish carpenter has been thoroughly dead for 2000 years and will remain so.
We're all still waiting.
Actually the Jehovah Witness declared the world will end no less than 7 times during the past 100 years. On a funny note, the entire elder consul quit in 2001 after the last predication of the world ending…….The plot thickens
****bravo bravo!****
****loud cheers*****
****whistling****
and finally...
****a standing ovation!****
Biblically speaking, anyone who claims to know when Christ will return is a false prophet.
Just making an observation: but you know when a rational person says something stupid, and you say to yourself "Boy, I just said something stupid." I believe the people blindly believing and spouting off this nonsense must be mentally retarded or something and they must not have that little voice.
Dad of the year...
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.
Hearld Camping simply did not believe everything that Jesus said. "...no one knows...only the Father..." How ever, I think Reality needs to be the most concerned of any of the posters here– –his/her doesn't have to much time because his/her head is going to explode with all that information, of course it may be more copy and paste. So, unless he/she is using crazy glue, there is no concern.
er.... huh?
pepperoni pizza says what?? lol
Only God the Father knows. You are destroying your own faith by trying to "compete" with God rather than worship Him. What Camping is doing is essentially wasting his time because of his huge ego and at the same time making the strong base of Christianity question his "not at all according to the Bible" logic.
well its already october 22 in many countries new zealand, austrailia and such .... are we going my our time zones here in the us????
Still waiting.....
I find it truly funny that all of these idiots think they will be the ones raptures and all of the sinners will perish Isn't it prideful to think you are the elite 3% that will be saved? Isn't pride one of the seven deadly sins?
While I am a Christian, and I fully understand that there are people out there that aren't, I find Camping a false prophet. How can a prophet of God teach from PART of the bible and not the whole bible in itself. How can he post scripture from the bible but not fully understand the IMPORTANT verse in Matthew 24:36 that states: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father" Futhermore, I have a 4 year old child who has yet to reach the age where she can fully understand who God is and our beliefs, SO according to Camping...she won't be going to Heaven today because she wasn't saved by May 21st. My God says we can call on him to be saved anyday, anytime, any hour. Matthew 24:44 "So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." I pray for Camping and his followers.
To the 4yo innocent child
If by chance you get to read this one day, know that your dad is WRONG.
There is no 'god' watching over you, it is a pathetic fear driven sick belief that thankfully not everyone believes in.
The christ spirit is ridiculous and I only hope that your Dad will one day come to his senses, but if not then I can only say to you get out as quick as you can, as your dad can't wait to die and he feels the same way with all the people (including you) around him.
I'm finding the whole damn belief in any GOD(S) being false to a point of tyry to find which fairy tell would make more sense.
Stephen F Roberts: “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
Religion is dumbing our society down to epic levels. Hopefully one day these people can find the courage to live life w/o having to embrace fairy tales.
He's too young to understand god or OUR beliefs.... so how old will he be before you start shoving them down his throat?
hi JRhodes,
A statement that is always correct is referred to as a Barnum statement. It is mostly used by psychics to always seem correct. Camping said (I'm paraphrasing of course), 'there is a high probability that the world would end in may.' This statement is always true: If it did end, he would have been right. If it didn't end (which is what happened), he is still right cause he said high probability! a good Barnum statement from Mr. Camping.
Sadly, the bible verse u quoted is the best barnum statement of all time! No one knows but the father when he will return. Hmm...lets see, so if he does return, that statement is right. If he never returns (the most likely case) that statement is still right cause his followers will wait forever! WOW what a great barnum statement you posted there.
Guess what? The world comes to an end for thousands of people every day. So pick a day, any day, and you'll be right. On that same day, thousands are born into it. When that stops happening, we can safely say it's the end of the world. Until then, I'll quietly enjoy my beer.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know the problem is that when christians drive these huge billboards around with their nonsense, children sometimes read them.
This type of false advertising and scare tactic is just WRONG, I don't know how many times I have helped children by telling them that religion is nonsense. As parents WE all must guide our children and protect them from these horrors of religious beliefs.
Note a child does NOT know any better, you MUST help them by saying this is utter nonsense.
Eventually if you help enough children there will be no crazy religious adults believing in this rubbish.
I am not ashamed to profess my faith in God... you still have time to change your eternal destiny. Just be sincere...
I sincerely state that ALL religion is ridiculous.
And namely the jesus spirit is right up there with pathetic Allah as the most disturbing ludicrous religious ridiculous insult to the entire of humanity.
Is that the truth you wanted or needed to hear?
You seem to be trying so hard to get others to not believe in God, that it seems to me you are not sure about your unbelief and are looking to others to valdate that, everyone has a right to believe or not believe and it is their choice to do so without being pushed one way or the other by someone else who believes different.
James – No, it's because we're sick and tired of this nonsense being pushed to us in the 21st century. God knows (pun intended) why religion still exists today; it's probably due to all that brainwashing during childhood.
NOOOOO! .....I forgot to plan a party for this one. My rapture party had a pretty good turnout. I can't believe I forgot about the end of the world...
First of all, this old guy is just sad except for the fact that he's exploiting people who I honestly find it hard to believe are that gullible but ok I guess some are enough to lose money over this. And that's sad.
But to anyone reading some of the dull, dull, blind comments about religion in general, do yourself a favor and don't listen to them. This is not "religion." Jesus Christ in the Bible plainly said only God the Father in heaven knows the time of the end of the world. Everyone else, be they this guy, Y2K people, 2012 movie makers, rapture novelists, whatever, that's not religion so I'm just hear to say as someone who only started discovering the beauty of the Truth in Jesus at the age of 30, if you don't go to church or what have you, I just encourage you to keep an open mind and not let some comment on here that this is why "religion" is wrong be a negative influence on you. Because again, this man making a prediction – that's a flawed human error, not religion.
Keep an open mind, but be skeptical. All religions share at least one thing in common, namely none are true in a literal sense.
The Taoists (I think it's them) have a saying: When I die, the whole world dies with me.
It means that when you die, the world as you know it ceases to exist because you are no longer there to know it that way. So if Camping gets hit by a bus tonight then technically he's won - from his perspective the world just ended in an earthquake and a flash of light. Again, this is old news for the rest of us who will wake up tomorrow and fry some eggs and keep living.
As a christian existentialist, I would like to offer a gentle warning on your exploration of the "Truth of Jesus": make sure that whatever truth you find is found and used for the right reasons. Religion is a powerful tool, but like all tools the value is in how it is wielded.
~Shadowflash
PS I just had to play off your name haha
Churchianity has not gotten the basic teachings of Jesus right, so what makes anyone think that it can interpret St. John's Book of Revelation right? Not that the material earth will not errupt or end eventually considering the way it is run, but that's not what Revelation is really all about. To tantalize my audience further, churchianity itself with its lack of absolute love for GOD. man and lack of spiritual understanding and demonstrations may be a phase of what 666 is all about- that which says it is genuine and complete but is not. Which is the story of the whole unenlightened race, i may add.
That is why science as a way of knowing has been so successful – it does not claim to have all the answers. Throw in a saucer full of humanism an we might find a reasonable way to live together with all the other cool creatures on Earth.We lurch towards knowledge, getting better as we go and learning from our mistakes (flat earth, geocentrism, slavery anyone?). Any system based on infallibility is doomed to repeat its mistakes.
When the real head of the true Christian Church, Christ himself when he was here in the flesh, stated that even HE did not know the date of the rapture, then just what arrogance is it for ANY of his followers to state that they know the date??
WELL SPOKEN BLESS UP... SELLAH
...typical behavior for the religious!
Agreed. Personally, it isn't something to worry about. The end will come for all of us one way or another and there is no way to know when or how in most cases. I prefer to worry about living as holy of a life as I can between now and then loving God and people.
To those who would mock. I've seen miracle after miracle happen, and I'm not talking about the 'I needed 20 bucks and I miraculously found a 20 dollar bill.' I've seen people instantly healed of a total loss of hearing and even a jawbone regrown. So you are welcome to believe what you want, but I’ve seen enough evidence.
@frodo and other blind believers
A statement that is always correct is referred to as a Barnum statement. It is mostly used by psychics to always seem correct. Camping said (I'm paraphrasing of course), 'there is a high probability that the world would end in may/oct.' This statement is always true: If it did end, he would have been right. If it didn't end (which is what happened), he is still right cause he said high probability! a good Barnum statement from Mr. Camping.
Sadly, the bible verse u quoted is the best barnum statement of all time! No one knows but the father when he will return. Hmm...lets see, so if he does return, that statement is right. If he never returns (the most likely case) that statement is still right cause his followers will wait forever! WOW what a great barnum statement you posted there.
Don't u see that u r believing a statement that is ALWAYS true? When do believers put their thinking caps on when it comes to their religion?
My favorite color is blue.
This guy had brain issues waaayy before his stroke. If the world ends today I'll give everyone on this board $1000. hahahahaha. Have fun collecting. He'll probably come back later saying he made a mistake again. After all, he's only human right? It's NEXT October 21.
We have to remember, the Bible says "No man knoweth the day nor the hour when Jesus will return"...so I would have to believe that regardless of what anyone says...we don't know when the end of time will come.
No, WE don't have to remember...those who state without a doubt need to remember.
BLESSINGS OF THE ALMIGHTY CHRIST WATCH OVER YOU.. AMEN