Bible scholar laughs at notion world will end in 2012. He says it will end on May 21, 2011.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Biblical scholar's date for rapture: May 21, 2011

Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 1, 2010

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/BA8V1AV589.DTL&feed=rss.news



Harold Camping lets out a hearty chuckle when he considers the people who believe the world will end in 2012.

"That date has not one stitch of biblical authority," Camping says from the Oakland office where he runs Family Radio, an evangelical station that reaches listeners around the world. "It's like a fairy tale."

The real date for the end of times, he says, is in 2011.

The Mayans and the recent Hollywood movie "2012" have put the apocalypse in the popular mind this year, but Camping has been at this business for a long time. And while Armageddon is pop science or big-screen entertainment to many, Camping has followers from the Bay Area to China.

Camping, 88, has scrutinized the Bible for almost 70 years and says he has developed a mathematical system to interpret prophecies hidden within the Good Book. One night a few years ago, Camping, a civil engineer by trade, crunched the numbers and was stunned at what he'd found: The world will end May 21, 2011.

This is not the first time Camping has made a bold prediction about Judgment Day.

[lpbk2713]

1. Harold has a hot line to Jerry Falwell.

And Falwell's been getting all the inside scoop since he's been gone. :eyes:

[MercutioATC]

2. After reading the article, Camping sounds like Walter Sparrow from "The Number 23".

Play with numbers and their relationships long enough, anybody can lose their sanity.

[TheDebbieDee]

3. Ha! This reads like an Onion article.

[grantcart]

4. Camping has no scholarly credentials

He has no degrees at any level in biblical studies and has no peer review articles in scholarly publications.


If he is a biblical scholar then I am a fitness expert.

[jobycom]

5. "How can that happen without God's mercy?"

"We are now translated into 48 languages and have been transmitting into China on an AM station without getting jammed once," Camping said. "How can that happen without God's mercy?"

I'm guessing the Chinese government is having too good a laugh to want to jam it...

[Cirque du So-What]

6. Quite different in appearance from most televangelists

most of whom are overfed Baby Hueys hyping their prosperity theology to a gullible flock. This guy is a cadaverous vulture of doom. With so many suckers to fleece, I guess it takes hucksters working both sides of the street.

[geckosfeet]

7. If the religious freaks didn't hold so much power around the world this would be laughable.

On second thought - it is laughable.

Damn the religious freaks.

[Champion Jack]

8. You know, there must be a way to separate some of these true believers from

their filthy lucre.
Just sayin'

[ret5hd]

10. Well, there's that guy that promises to watch over your pets if you are raptured.

He charges a fee up front. He knows he won't be raptured because he's an atheist.

Wish I'd have thought of it first.

[HeresyLives]

9. Apparently he also predicted it for 1994.

[Oregone]

11. God procrastinates often

Otherwise, hed be right. But maybe it was the start of the end, at least in music anyway, with Cobain's suicide

[pokercat999]

12. Good, 2012 is much too long to wait.

[havocmom]

13. So, is he giving all his possessions away now, so the needy can use them awhile

or is he hedging his bets and keeping all his stuff? :evilgrin:

One thing I would like to ask all the bible de-coder guys: Decoding the oft translated and edited bible or getting it directly from the source? Seems the answer might have some bearing on accurate 'decoding'.

[pissedoff01]

14. He's way off. It's September 14, not May 21.

[azmouse]

15. Why are so many so eager for the end of the world?

I don't get it.

[mmonk]

16. Mayans vs Christians. Taking bets now.