A friend at my former job sent me the following website link to get my thoughts. It's an MSNBC article entitled "End of Days in May? Believers enter final stretch." Click here to read
The article starts out: "If there had been time, Marie Exley would have liked to start a family. Instead, the 32-year-old Army veteran has less than six months left, which she'll spend spreading a stark warning: Judgment Day is almost here."Harold Camping, the leader of an independent Christian ministry called Family Radio Worldwide, has calculated that May 21, 2011 is the date for the Rapture (the day when Jesus Christ returns to take the true Christian believers to heaven), and for the start of God's judgment upon the Earth. Unstated in this MSNBC article, but stated on Camping's website, is his prediction for the date of God's destruction of the world on October 21, 2011.
I'm familiar with Harold Camping as the man who, in 1992, wrote a book called "1994?", where he predicts (or perhaps, proposes) that the return of Jesus Christ would be in September 1994. Note how the question mark at the end of the title hedges his proposal. Also note that copies of this book are now available on Amazon for as low as 16 cents. I'll let you guess why.
For what it's worth, here is the Wikipedia link concerning Harold Camping, which is a fair summary although apparently done by one who opposes Camping's methodology and conclusions. Also, here is the link to Camping's website We Can Know!, where much of his thinking is spelled out more completely: http://www.wecanknow.com/
I have already addressed the problem of "date-setting" regarding the return of Christ and various related judgments in other blogposts. The following two posts are the most relevant:
#42 should be read before #95:
#42: How can we know that Jesus coming is near?
#95: How near is the return of Christ?
Blogposts #10, #11, & #49 add a little more to the issue of "date-setting".
However (as I say in one of those posts), as the true time draws nearer (be it 2013, 2023, or 5023) someone through sheer luck may unwittingly guess the date when major end-time events start happening. Obviously this would not make him or her a great prophet. In post #95 (written in March 2010) I myself mention the year 2011 but only because others have called attention to it.
As the May 21st date draws nearer, I am sure that more will come out about this so-called prophecy, and I'll address the issue further here on The Future History blog.
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