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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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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Can we push it off till the 23rd? I would like one more day of college football. Thanks!
HUGE PARTY AT MY PLACE THE NIGHT BEFORE.. again.
You know what annoys the crap out of me about this nonsense? These self-righteous, arrogant people who claim to be Christians actually think that they will be "raptured to heaven", leaving behind their families. I mean, did that jackbutt actually say he doubted his family would be saved, therefore they would suffer horrible deaths while he was "hanging in the clouds"?
Ugh! What it must like to be so perfect that you know without a shadow of a doubt that you are going straight to heaven!
Un-freakin'-believable.
Can't we just end Harold Camping?
Dang! Republicans really are nuts!
Harold Camping is a snake oil salesman and anyone who believes a word he says is truly an idiot who is likely a danger to him or herself and to the population in general.
Can't these morons just commit mass suicide like normal cultists?
By definition, all religions can be considered cults. Whether you call it a religion or cult, they ALL should go away.
How about we just end these people? Stop covering this nonsense.
We need to get Obama out of office early. He has been working on the destruction of America for over 2 years. Take out Pelosi and her liberal zombies too, they where ruining America 4 years before Obama took office.
BWAHAHAHA!!! You fundies cry worse than any liberal. Spew your treason elsewhere.
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You get the message...
Ecchhh. Relevance?
Seriously? Get a life. Bush and Cheney(the devil himself) should be tried for their crimes. Maybe Cain will make it to the oval office. I would love to hear more about his 666 plan. I'm sorry, I meant 999.
people like you obviously have not learned 1 (one) thing over the past years...
increasing jobs? just like your republican friends, you probably think that's a bad idea, right? so vote that Obama suggested idea out, great
improving health insurance... same thing, anything else? can't happen
do you understand, that what happened in the past 4 years was a very good first step in fixing what was messed up in the years before?!?!?
you probably also believe the earth was created in 7 days, right?
do we really need some republican in office who can mess up the country even more in the next 4 years so that a democrat has to fix it again in the years after?
c'mon, american's really can't be that stupid, can they?
Can I just say that Judas Iscariot was obviously intelligent enough, to remove this man called jesus (jesus who was spewing out his lies to everyone about being the son of god)
Obviously Judas should have been one of the great people in our society as one who stood up for the truth.
Again religion has made this clear thinking hero (Judas) out to be not welcomed.
I know if I was back then (2000 + years ago) I'd be congratulating Judas on removing this psycho pathetic form of life jesus from society.
Good on him, well done.
You're ignoring the fact that if Judas had kept hi peace we may not have Christianity. Blame the Sanhedrin if anybody.
Hmm
Oh well at least Judas had good intentions, I probably would have got jesus to seek help too.
But jesus telling people that all they have to is die all the time, probably would have made me do exactly would Judas did.
If I believed the crap spewed in the Old and New Testament, then I'd think all jews are murderers
Believe in ancient aliens... it's the only logical explination
Agree ancient aliens is more probable
But I'm still sticking to science for the moment
I dunno, he seems like a harmless hippie who got in way over his head...
The worst thing he did was pull an Occupy WallStreet at the Temple. Actually, it was more like a PETA maneuver, but you get the idea. The rest is just silliness.
Actually, Judas' betrayal stemmed from greed – monetary compensation, which he regretted to such an extent that he committed suicide shortly thereafter.
@believe
actually, judas's betrayal was because god made it that way. god took away judas's free will.
Jesus predicted that Judas would betray him and Peter would deny him. Those were future events. Do you think Judas could have used his free will to opt out? Not, if Jesus/God was omniscient. Same goes for Peter.
THerefore god betrayed himself, so to speak.
What time?
7:48 pm Eastern time. U.S.
Thanks!
Sad that adult human beings in the most technologically advanced civilization yet still believe these fairy stories. "Bible" = MYTH
What's sad is that you are going through life with nothing to believe in...why don't you just take yourself out now. What's the point in living if there is nothing to look forward to. It's sad that you have obviously never felt God's presence. He is everywhere around you and He loves you whether you want to believe it or not. It doesn't matter what you do He will always love you. You can take that as me being a crazy Christian if you want. Fine by me. The Bible may seem like nothing but "fairy tales" to you but it has been a tremendous source of hope, strength and understanding when I have had trials in my life. Most Christians are not like the crazy ones predicting the end of the earth. Most of us are loving, caring individuals who want nothing but to love God and hope that we can do our ultimate duty and live our lives just like Jesus did and love one another with a pure, true heart.
@NMF: How WRONG you are. The fundamental error in your "thinking" (if it may be called such) is the false assumption that all those who do not believe as you essentially believe in "nothing." SCIENCE and REASON provide the individual with a far richer perspective and deeper knowledge of the universe than the MYTHS of RELIGION ever can or will. Your refusal to acknowledge or accept this is a direct failure of your flawed belief system.
Need any further elucidation?
Didn't think so. (Excuse the pun.)
@NMF: "...why don't you just take yourself out now..." Now there's some compassion for you. X-tianity teach you that?
Jesus wept. For all the sheep of his flock like YOU!
I'm so ashamed to live in Jacksonville, FL right now. Please believe that MOST of the people here aren't religious idiots. We're just idiots.
I like that part of the bible where Jesus gets the undead army from the mountain and lays waste to the orc army besieging the white tower but we all know the true story was of St. John finally throwing the ring into the fires of Mordor with Judas hanging onto it. Wait...am I confusing my fiction books?
So when do I go pick up my pets from the rapture petsitting service because this was a hoax again? I'm going to sue that guy for $3000 bucks because it costs me $1500 per rapture claim to make sure my pets get fed! Your going to be judge in about 7 months Harold Camping, only my god is Judge Judy!!!!!
"All of mankind was shaken with fear. Indeed the Earth (or mankind) did quake in a way it had never before been shaken.”
erm, no, i dont thnik they were. Really, they werent.
For them it is the end of the world, the end of their world.
Please rapture all republican and tea baggers. I will stay here.
Who is going to pay your welfare check?
I think you're on to something here. Also rapture people who spit gum on sidewalks, take turns without directionals, and move too slowly down crowded sidewalks while speaking on their cellphones. This whole rapture thing might be a good way to clean up the planet.
"Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people."
Well said!
This man might be "old", but there's no need to make fun of him. What I would like to know from >him< is, how he thinks part of the bible was meant to be understood? I am not 100% sure of the exact words but they sounded something like this "God loves everybody the same way..." so why would he only "save" a few? I don't get that? Oh, while we're talking... maybe he could also explain to me (us?) why the dinosaurs (for example) where left out of the bible... How does he explain the difference between what the bible says and what scientists tell us? Bible: the world was created in 7 days (7, right?) but scientists say everything started with a "big bang" billions of years ago... Isn't it a tiny bit possible, that the "creator(s)" of the Bible – when they wrote it – where living in a time where they had no idea that dinosaurs ever existed? If they had known, they somehow would have had to find a way to include them in the Bible and then the "7 days"-suggestion would have had to be stretched by just a few billion years...and probably a couple of pages... So what I'm going to do today, is finish my coffee, hope my headache leaves me alone soon and I'll just continue to work and hope we'll be able to pay the next few bills... Good (last) day everybody...
Agreed. Making fun of the mentally ill (or just plain delusional) is never a good thing. Shame on us sane folks.