Harold Camping’s End of World – Epic Fail

Around the world followers of Harold Camping are shocked that their leader’s prediction of the rapture failed, when the 21st of May 2011 came and passed. Showing the folly of setting dates for the world’s end. Harold Camping and his timelines are now completly discredited. The rapture did not occur when he said it would, and therefore Harold Camping is a fake. Read the unchanged text below of our article warning about Harold Camping, which we put up in the months leading up to his failed prediction…

Harold Camping’s End of World – Epic Fail

Around the world followers of Harold Camping are gearing up for rapture and the start of judgement day on the 21st of May 2011, followed by the end of the world on the 21st of October 2011. Harold Camping’s earlier book “1994?” couched his predictions enough that when the year 1994 failed to bring the end Harold had an excuse, but this time he has painted himself into a corner. If judgement day does not start and the rapture does not occur on the 21st of May 2011, then his followers will know for sure that Harold Camping is a fake.

Those who follow Harold Camping’s teachings loudly proclaim that it is not Harold Camping who has revealed to them the day of the end, but that this day is self evident from the Bible. Here are the word’s of one of Harold Camping’s followers, “The Bible states in no uncertain terms that Jesus Christ’s return is set for May 21, 2011. This is the day of the Rapture when Christ will gather His people to Heaven. It is also the start of Judgment Day, the time when God will bring an end to this world because of mankind’s sin. The world will remain in the Day of Judgment for 153 days and God will annihilate it October 21, 2011.”.^[1]

The reality is quite different. These followers rely heavily on Harold Camping’s teachings, circular reasoning, Harold’s idea that all other churches have been abandoned by God, global events that they have labeled as signs, and numerology. Harold Camping’s numerology and rather liberal view of the laws of mathematics is the crux of their reasoning. Here is one example of many, from the Bible in John 21:1-14 the disciples are about 200 cubits out from the shore on the Sea of Galilee. Harold Camping has taken that figure of 200 cubits and decided that it actually means 2000 years between the first and second coming of Christ.^[2]Not only has Harold Camping inserted his own meaning into a minor detail in the Bible, he has changed the number from 200 to 2000 and the units from cubits^[3] to years. With “reasoning” like this it is amazing that anyone has taken Harold Camping seriously. To learn more about Harold Camping’s teachings here are some informative links, the Institute for Biblical & Scientific Studies and the ApologeticsIndex.

Of course all of this will be moot once the 21st of May 2011 rolls around. If the rapture does not occur on this date, then we will all know for sure that Harold Camping and his followers have grossly misinterpreted the Bible. Here is some advice for those who believe that the 21st of May 2011 is actually going to be the rapture. We hope that you consider this advice carefully:

1. Be prepared to accept that you are wrong. Many others have claimed to know the end of the world before now, and obviously they were wrong. They too misinterpreted Scripture, so if the rapture does not occur on the 21st of May 2011 then you will have joined their ranks. This will be a blow to your ego and some will find this failure very emotional. The best course of action is to prepare to be humble.
2. Don’t let this failure destroy your faith. The Bible was not wrong, you just interpreted it incorrectly. Harold Camping and his complex string of assumptions and fact fiddling has failed you, God’s Word has not failed you.
3. If you are not raptured on the 21st of May 2011, don’t panic. It is not because you are a bad Christian, it is because the date is wrong. You’ll find it hard to believe that something you held with such ardor and faith is erroneous, and so you will be prone to blame yourself. Don’t fall into the trap of self condemnation, read Romans 8:1. Remember also that it will be extremely obvious when Jesus Christ returns, like lightning across the whole sky, there is no chance that anybody will miss it, Luke 17:24.
4. Before the 21st of May 2011 do not do any of these things: do not sell your house and give the money away, do not stop paying bills, do not say anything you will regret to friends and family, don’t quit your job, don’t leave your loved ones. Don’t do anything that will damage your life if the 21st of May 2011 proves not to be rapture day.
5. Don’t harm yourself or others. Some people who were convinced the end was coming have committed suicide or even hurt or killed others. We at Cultwatch don’t believe any of Harold Camping’s followers would do this. But understand that this sort of thing has happened before, and so it is prudent to talk about this unlikely possibility. If you think you might react in this way to the failure of the 21st of May 2011 date, then you need to let people know now. Do not be alone on the 21st and 22nd of May 2011. If you think there is any risk of you harming yourself or others, then be bold enough to speak out now.

For friends and family of those people who believe in the 21st May 2011 date, we would advise that you keep a careful eye on what they are doing leading up to the date, and afterwards too. Spend time with them on the 21st of May 2011, and in the days following. There are followers of Harold Camping who have given up their jobs to travel the world handing out tracts proclaiming the world’s end. These people are going to be especially upset when the 21st of May 2011 proves to be just another day. It would be good if officials in the countries where these people are could make contact with them, again especially on and after the 21st of May 2011.

Footnotes

1 from http://www.embeddedworks.com/21May2011/

2 1994? by Harold Camping. Vantage Press. Page 503.

3 A cubit is an ancient measure of distance. One cubit is equal to about one and a half feet, or half a meter.