End of the World Predicted to Begin May, 21, 2011
Harold Camping, an influential Christian radio broadcaster and president of Family Stations, Inc., says the end of the world will begin on May 21, 2011. The 89-year-old retired civil engineer bases his calculations on his studies of the Bible. According to him, the true believers will be taken to heaven on the May date, while everyone else remains on earth for period of torment, concluding with the end of time in October. The event he predicts to occur in May is known in Christendom as the Rapture of the church.
Camping and his followers are trying to warn as many people as they can about the end of the world. To get the word out, they are using billboards and bus stop benches, traveling caravans of RVs, and volunteers passing out pamphlets. Camping previously predicted the end would occur in 1994, but turned out to be wrong. Other religious leaders have offered their errant predictions in the past as well. But this time, Camping asserts that “Beyond the shadow of a doubt, May 21 will be the date….” On his website, he lays out the Scriptures and the clues given therein to illustrate how he came up with the May 21 date.
Camping has received criticism from leaders within the Christian community for his latest prediction. For one thing, Jesus Christ Himself taught that no man knows the day or the hour of His return (see Matthew 24:36). However, the Bible does give a number of signs that signify when Jesus’ return will occur, and warns that Christians live in readiness for Christ’s return. Consequently, past horrific events such as the Katrina disaster and the Haiti earthquake have occasioned predictions of the end of the world, but each date has come and gone without incident.
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