2011 end times prediction
Encyclopedia
The 2011 end times prediction made by American Christian radio host Harold Camping
stated that the Rapture
and Judgment Day
would take place on May 21, 2011, and that the end of the world would take place five months later on October 21, 2011. The Rapture, in a specific tradition of premillennial theology
, is the taking up into heaven of God's elect people. Camping, then president of the Family Radio
Christian network, claimed the Bible
as his source and said May 21 would be the date of the Rapture and the day of judgment "beyond the shadow of a doubt". Camping suggested that it would occur at 6 p.m. local time, with the rapture sweeping the globe time zone by time zone, while some of his supporters claimed that around 200 million people (approximately 3% of the world's population) would be 'raptured'. Camping had previously claimed that the Rapture would occur in September 1994.
The vast majority of Christian groups, including most Protestant and Catholic believers, did not accept Camping's predictions; some explicitly rejected them, citing Bible passages including those stating "about that day or hour no one knows". An interview with a group of church leaders noted that all of them had scheduled church services as usual for Sunday, May 22.
Following the failure of the prediction, media attention shifted to the response from Camping and his followers. On May 23, Camping stated that May 21 had been a "spiritual" day of judgment, and that the physical Rapture would occur on October 21, 2011, simultaneously with the destruction of the universe by God. However, on October 16 Camping admitted to an interviewer that he did not know when the end would come, and October 21 passed without Camping's predicted apocalypse.
arguments, which he called biblical "proofs", in favor of the May 21 end time. A civil engineer by training, Camping stated he had attempted to work out mathematically-based prophecies in the Bible for decades. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle
he explained "... I was an engineer, I was very interested in the numbers. I'd wonder, 'Why did God put this number in, or that number in?' It was not a question of unbelief, it was a question of, 'There must be a reason for it.'"
In 1970, Camping dated the Great Flood to 4990 BC. Using this date, taking the statement in Genesis 7:4 ("Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth") to be a prediction of the end of the world, and combining it with 2 Peter 3:8 ("With the Lord a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years are as a day"), Camping concluded that the end of the world would occur in 2011, 7000 years from 4990 BC. Camping takes the 17th day of the second month mentioned in Genesis 7:11 to be May 21, and hence predicts the rapture to occur on this date.
Another argument that Camping used in favor of the May 21 date is as follows:
Camping said that 5 × 10 × 17 is telling us a "story from the time Christ made payment for our sins until we're completely saved."
Camping was not precise about the timing of the event, saying that "maybe" we can know the hour. He has suggested that "days" in the Bible refer to daylight hours particularly. Another account said the "great earthquake" which signals the start of the Rapture would "start in the Pacific Rim at around the 6 p.m. local time hour, in each time zone."
In Camping's book 1994?, self-published in 1992, he predicted that the End Times would come in September 1994 (variously reported as September 4 or September 6). When the Rapture failed to occur on the appointed day, Camping said he had made a mathematical error.
until it actually happens. However, Camping and his followers responded that this principle only applied during the "church age" or pre-Tribulation
period and did not apply to the present day, citing other verses (such as ) in their rebuttal.
In a 2001 pamphlet, Camping asserted that believers should "flee the church", resigning from any church they belong to, because the "Church Age" is over and the "Great Tribulation" has begun. This assertion was controversial and drew "a flurry of attacks".
Edwin M. Yamauchi
critiqued Camping's dating of the Flood when Camping first published his ideas in 1970.
Criticism of the May 21 prediction ranged from serious critique to ridicule. Theology professor Matthew L. Skinner, writing at the Huffington Post, noted the "long history of failed speculation" about the End Times and cautioned that end-of-the-world talk can lead Christians to social passivity instead of "working for the world's redemption". Some columnists mocked the prediction with humorous essays. A group of Christians set up a website called "RaptureFail" with the stated intention of undermining "this embarrassment to the Body of Christ."
Evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins
dismissed Camping's prediction, writing that "he will inevitably explain, on May 22nd, that there must have been some error in the calculation, the rapture is postponed to ... and please send more money to pay for updated billboards." California Director of American Atheists
Larry Hicock said that "Camping's well-intentioned rapture campaign is indicative of the problems with religion".
, the Dominican Republic
, Tanzania
, Ethiopia
, Lesotho
, Jamaica
, the Philippines
, Israel
, Jordan
and Lebanon
. Some people adorned their vehicles with the information. Many who believed in the prediction took time off work to prepare for the rapture. Others spent their life savings on advertising material to publicise the prophecy. One retired transportation agency worker from New York spent $140,000 on advertising.
Family Radio spent over US$
100 million on the information campaign, financed by sales and swap of broadcast outlets. On October 27, 2010, they launched "Project Caravan". Five recreational vehicle
s announcing on their sides that Judgment Day was to begin on May 21, 2011 were sent out from their headquarters in Oakland, California
, to Seattle, Washington
. Upon arrival, teams were sent out to distribute tracts. The caravan subsequently made stops in many states in the U.S. and Canada.
About 5,000 ethnic Hmong
gathered at a remote town in Vietnam
's Muong Nhe
District in Dien Bien Province in early May, where they planned to await the arrival of Christ. The Vietnamese government broke up the gathering and arrested some people, describing them as "extremists". Pastor Doan Trung Tin indicated that a translated version of Camping's prediction had influenced about 300 of his parishioners to go to the assembly point, selling their belongings to be able to afford the journey via bus. Many of the Hmong Christians who escaped arrest were reportedly forced into hiding after the gathering.
On May 19, 2011, the search term "end of the world may 21st" reached second position on Google Trends
, based on the popularity of the search term in the United States. The related searches "Harold Camping", "May 21 doomsday", and "May 21 rapture" were also represented among the top 10 positions. The New York Police Department stated: "We don't plan any additional coverage for the end of the world. Indeed, if it happens, fewer officers will be required for streets that presumably will be empty."
On Sunday, May 22, Camping emerged briefly from his home, saying "Give me a day, no interviews today ... I've got to live with it, I've got to think it out." He said he would make a public statement on Monday, May 23. Camping said he was "flabbergasted" that the Rapture did not occur, that he was "looking for answers," and would say more when he returned to work on May 23.
On May 23 he returned to his Open Forum radio program, with members of the press in attendance, and, departing from his typical format, took questions from the reporters present instead of from callers. He stated that May 21 had been an "invisible judgment day" which was purely spiritual in nature, and that he now realized that the physical Rapture would take place on October 21, simultaneously with the destruction of the universe. "We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "May 21 is the day that Christ came and put the world under judgment." He offered no apology for his earlier interpretation and said that all of his predictions had actually been fulfilled: on May 21, 1988, judgment came upon the churches; on September 7, 1994, judgment continued on the churches; then on May 21, 2011, judgment came upon the entire world.
He said the publicity campaign would not continue, explaining that since God's judgment had already occurred, there was no point in continuing to warn people about it. He added, "We're not going to put up any more billboards — in fact they're coming down right now." Responding to a question, Camping said his organization would not return money donated by followers to publicize the May 21 prediction, saying "We’re not at the end. Why would we return it?"
As October 21 approached the Family Radio website stated:
A Family Radio staffer suggested that the delay might be God's way of separating true believers from those willing to doubt the "clear biblical warnings."
offered a session to comfort those who had believed in the prophecy. Church deacon James Bynum told a local newspaper that "We are here because we care about these people. It's easy to mock them. But you can go kick puppies, too. But why?"
sponsored billboards in several American cities declaring the Rapture to be "nonsense". The group Seattle Atheists formed the Rapture Relief Fund which they said would be used "to help survivors of any Armageddon-sized disaster in the Puget Sound area"; since the Rapture failed to occur on May 21, the money will fund a camp that teaches children about science and critical thinking.
On May 21, groups of protesters gathered at Family Radio's headquarters in Oakland to mock the evangelical broadcaster's failed prediction. One group released human-shaped helium balloons to simulate souls rising to heaven, while another person played The Doors
' song "The End
" over a boombox
. Many atheist and secular groups in the United States hosted "Rapture parties" on May 21. Other secular groups intentionally scheduled activities for Sunday, May 22, such as "Non-Judgmental Day", celebrating tolerance, cooperation and harmony.
American Atheists hosted a two-day conference over the May 21 weekend, in Oakland not far from Camping's radio station. President David Silverman commented, "We're going to poke fun at these people, but in the end we need to keep in mind that there are people being hurt here ... We're hoping people look at this and learn to use their brains … so we don't have an occurrence of this in 2012" (when some believe
the Mayans
predicted as the Earth's demise).
As October 21 approached, the Freedom from Religion Foundation
bought space on more than 40 billboards in the Bay Area to mock Camping's predictions and urge viewers to use rational judgment. The billboards featured slogans such as, "Fool me once...", "Still here", and "Every day is judgment day. Use yours. Use reason."
Media reports on October 21 and 22 stressed that Camping had been "wrong again". The International Business Times
proclaimed him a "false prophet." On October 21, 2011, Time magazine's website listed Camping's end times predictions as one of the "Top 10 Failed Predictions", a list compiled in Camping's "honor".
On June 9, 2011, Camping suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. By September 30 he was reportedly home and continuing to recuperate. Family Radio broadcast reruns of his May 23-June 9 Open Forum segments for several weeks. The station said that on June 23 they would begin to provide new programming in his time slot.
Books
Booklets
Tracts
Harold Camping
Harold Egbert Camping is an American Christian radio broadcaster. He served as president of Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that broadcasts to more than 150 markets in the United States, since 1958. In 2011 he retired from active broadcasting following a stroke, but still...
stated that the Rapture
Rapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
and Judgment Day
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
would take place on May 21, 2011, and that the end of the world would take place five months later on October 21, 2011. The Rapture, in a specific tradition of premillennial theology
Premillennialism
Premillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
, is the taking up into heaven of God's elect people. Camping, then president of the Family Radio
Family Radio
Family Radio, also known by its licensee name Family Stations Inc., is a Christian radio network based in Oakland, California, USA, founded by Lloyd Lindquist, Richard H. Palmquist and Harold Camping...
Christian network, claimed the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
as his source and said May 21 would be the date of the Rapture and the day of judgment "beyond the shadow of a doubt". Camping suggested that it would occur at 6 p.m. local time, with the rapture sweeping the globe time zone by time zone, while some of his supporters claimed that around 200 million people (approximately 3% of the world's population) would be 'raptured'. Camping had previously claimed that the Rapture would occur in September 1994.
The vast majority of Christian groups, including most Protestant and Catholic believers, did not accept Camping's predictions; some explicitly rejected them, citing Bible passages including those stating "about that day or hour no one knows". An interview with a group of church leaders noted that all of them had scheduled church services as usual for Sunday, May 22.
Following the failure of the prediction, media attention shifted to the response from Camping and his followers. On May 23, Camping stated that May 21 had been a "spiritual" day of judgment, and that the physical Rapture would occur on October 21, 2011, simultaneously with the destruction of the universe by God. However, on October 16 Camping admitted to an interviewer that he did not know when the end would come, and October 21 passed without Camping's predicted apocalypse.
Camping's predictions
- The rapture would occur on May 21, 2011.
- Massive earthquakes (greater in magnitude than the 2011 Japanese earthquake2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunamiThe 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
) would happen across the world at 6 p.m. local time. - The end of the world would take place five months later on October 21, 2011.
Related predictions by others
- Approximately 3% of the world's population would be called to heavenHeavenHeaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. - Earthquakes would begin on May 21 on KiritimatiKiritimatiKiritimati or Christmas Island is a Pacific Ocean raised coral atoll in the northern Line Islands, and part of the Republic of Kiribati....
Island (Christmas Island), KiribatiKiribatiKiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...
at 6 p.m. LINT (0400 UTC). - Citing JeremiahBook of JeremiahThe Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
25:32, earthquakes would continue "as the sun advances" with New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, to be affected at approximately 6 p.m. EDT (2200 UTC).
Camping's revised prediction after May 21
- On May 23, 2011, Harold Camping stated that May 21 had been a "spiritual" Judgment Day and that the Rapture would occur on October 21, 2011, together with the destruction of the world. In a web posting titled "What happened on May 21?", Family Radio explained "Thus we can be sure that the whole world, with the exception of those who are presently saved (the elect), are under the judgment of God, and will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on October 21, 2011, on the last day of the present five months period."
Rationale
Camping presented several numerologicalNumerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
arguments, which he called biblical "proofs", in favor of the May 21 end time. A civil engineer by training, Camping stated he had attempted to work out mathematically-based prophecies in the Bible for decades. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
he explained "... I was an engineer, I was very interested in the numbers. I'd wonder, 'Why did God put this number in, or that number in?' It was not a question of unbelief, it was a question of, 'There must be a reason for it.'"
In 1970, Camping dated the Great Flood to 4990 BC. Using this date, taking the statement in Genesis 7:4 ("Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth") to be a prediction of the end of the world, and combining it with 2 Peter 3:8 ("With the Lord a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years are as a day"), Camping concluded that the end of the world would occur in 2011, 7000 years from 4990 BC. Camping takes the 17th day of the second month mentioned in Genesis 7:11 to be May 21, and hence predicts the rapture to occur on this date.
Another argument that Camping used in favor of the May 21 date is as follows:
- The number five equals "atonement", the number ten equals "completeness", and the number seventeen equals "heaven".
- The number of days (as calculated below) between April 1, 33 AD, and May 21, 2011 AD, is 722,500.
- Christ is believed by Camping to have hung on the cross on April 1, 33 AD. The time between April 1, 33 AD, and April 1, 2011, is 1,978 years.
- If 1,978 is multiplied by 365.2422 days (the number of days in a solar, as distinct from lunar, year), the result is 722,449.
- The time between April 1 and May 21 is 51 days.
- 51 added to 722,449 is 722,500.
- (5 × 10 × 17)2 or (atonement × completeness × heaven)2 also equals 722,500.
Camping said that 5 × 10 × 17 is telling us a "story from the time Christ made payment for our sins until we're completely saved."
Camping was not precise about the timing of the event, saying that "maybe" we can know the hour. He has suggested that "days" in the Bible refer to daylight hours particularly. Another account said the "great earthquake" which signals the start of the Rapture would "start in the Pacific Rim at around the 6 p.m. local time hour, in each time zone."
In Camping's book 1994?, self-published in 1992, he predicted that the End Times would come in September 1994 (variously reported as September 4 or September 6). When the Rapture failed to occur on the appointed day, Camping said he had made a mathematical error.
Criticism
Camping's rapture prediction, along with some of his other teachings and beliefs, sparked controversy in the Christian and secular Western worlds. His critics often quoted Bible verses (such as ) they interpret as saying that the date of the end will never be known by anyone but GodGod the Father
God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
until it actually happens. However, Camping and his followers responded that this principle only applied during the "church age" or pre-Tribulation
Tribulation
The Great Tribulation refers to tumultuous events that are described during the "signs of the times", first mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet discourse...
period and did not apply to the present day, citing other verses (such as ) in their rebuttal.
In a 2001 pamphlet, Camping asserted that believers should "flee the church", resigning from any church they belong to, because the "Church Age" is over and the "Great Tribulation" has begun. This assertion was controversial and drew "a flurry of attacks".
Edwin M. Yamauchi
Edwin M. Yamauchi
Dr. Edwin Maseo Yamauchi is a Japanese American historian, Christian apologist, editor and academic. He is Professor Emeritus of History at Miami University, where he taught from 1969 until 2005...
critiqued Camping's dating of the Flood when Camping first published his ideas in 1970.
Criticism of the May 21 prediction ranged from serious critique to ridicule. Theology professor Matthew L. Skinner, writing at the Huffington Post, noted the "long history of failed speculation" about the End Times and cautioned that end-of-the-world talk can lead Christians to social passivity instead of "working for the world's redemption". Some columnists mocked the prediction with humorous essays. A group of Christians set up a website called "RaptureFail" with the stated intention of undermining "this embarrassment to the Body of Christ."
Evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
dismissed Camping's prediction, writing that "he will inevitably explain, on May 22nd, that there must have been some error in the calculation, the rapture is postponed to ... and please send more money to pay for updated billboards." California Director of American Atheists
American Atheists
American Atheists is an organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating for the complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs and the news media. It also publishes books and the monthly...
Larry Hicock said that "Camping's well-intentioned rapture campaign is indicative of the problems with religion".
Information campaign
In 2010, Marie Exley of Colorado Springs made news by purchasing advertising space in her locality, promoting the alleged Rapture date on a number of park benches. After that, more than 3,000 "Judgment Day" billboards were erected at locations across the world, including in GhanaGhana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Some people adorned their vehicles with the information. Many who believed in the prediction took time off work to prepare for the rapture. Others spent their life savings on advertising material to publicise the prophecy. One retired transportation agency worker from New York spent $140,000 on advertising.
Family Radio spent over US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100 million on the information campaign, financed by sales and swap of broadcast outlets. On October 27, 2010, they launched "Project Caravan". Five recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
s announcing on their sides that Judgment Day was to begin on May 21, 2011 were sent out from their headquarters in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Upon arrival, teams were sent out to distribute tracts. The caravan subsequently made stops in many states in the U.S. and Canada.
Impact
Camping's prediction and his promotion of it via his radio network and other promotional means spread the prediction globally, which led believers and non-believers to a variety of actions. Some followers of Camping gave up their jobs, sold their homes, stopped investing in their children's college funds and spent large sums promoting Camping's claims.About 5,000 ethnic Hmong
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
gathered at a remote town in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
's Muong Nhe
Muong Nhe
Muong Nhe is a district of Dien Bien Province in the Northwest region of Vietnam.As of 2003 the district had a population of 34,829. The district covers an area of 2,508 km². The district capital lies at Cha Cang...
District in Dien Bien Province in early May, where they planned to await the arrival of Christ. The Vietnamese government broke up the gathering and arrested some people, describing them as "extremists". Pastor Doan Trung Tin indicated that a translated version of Camping's prediction had influenced about 300 of his parishioners to go to the assembly point, selling their belongings to be able to afford the journey via bus. Many of the Hmong Christians who escaped arrest were reportedly forced into hiding after the gathering.
On May 19, 2011, the search term "end of the world may 21st" reached second position on Google Trends
Google Trends
Google Trends is a public web facility of Google Inc., based on Google Search, that shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages...
, based on the popularity of the search term in the United States. The related searches "Harold Camping", "May 21 doomsday", and "May 21 rapture" were also represented among the top 10 positions. The New York Police Department stated: "We don't plan any additional coverage for the end of the world. Indeed, if it happens, fewer officers will be required for streets that presumably will be empty."
Reaction from Family Radio and Harold Camping
On the weekend of May 21-22, the Family Radio headquarters was closed with a paper note in the window stating, "This office is closed. Sorry we missed you!" The Family Radio network remained on the air during May 21 and May 22, mostly broadcasting its normal schedule of programming, but with no mention of the Rapture and without the usual replays of Harold Camping's Open Forum.On Sunday, May 22, Camping emerged briefly from his home, saying "Give me a day, no interviews today ... I've got to live with it, I've got to think it out." He said he would make a public statement on Monday, May 23. Camping said he was "flabbergasted" that the Rapture did not occur, that he was "looking for answers," and would say more when he returned to work on May 23.
On May 23 he returned to his Open Forum radio program, with members of the press in attendance, and, departing from his typical format, took questions from the reporters present instead of from callers. He stated that May 21 had been an "invisible judgment day" which was purely spiritual in nature, and that he now realized that the physical Rapture would take place on October 21, simultaneously with the destruction of the universe. "We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "May 21 is the day that Christ came and put the world under judgment." He offered no apology for his earlier interpretation and said that all of his predictions had actually been fulfilled: on May 21, 1988, judgment came upon the churches; on September 7, 1994, judgment continued on the churches; then on May 21, 2011, judgment came upon the entire world.
He said the publicity campaign would not continue, explaining that since God's judgment had already occurred, there was no point in continuing to warn people about it. He added, "We're not going to put up any more billboards — in fact they're coming down right now." Responding to a question, Camping said his organization would not return money donated by followers to publicize the May 21 prediction, saying "We’re not at the end. Why would we return it?"
As October 21 approached the Family Radio website stated:
- “What really happened (on May 21) 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 on that day. For the next five months, except for the elect (the true believers), the whole world is under God’s final judgment. To accomplish this goal God withheld from the true believers the way in which two phrases were to be understood. Had He not done so, the world would never have been shaken in fear as it was.”
A Family Radio staffer suggested that the delay might be God's way of separating true believers from those willing to doubt the "clear biblical warnings."
Reaction from Harold Camping believers
Individual followers who had spent time and money promoting Camping's prediction were "crestfallen" after May 21 passed without evidence of the Rapture. A New York man commented "I was doing what I've been instructed to do through the Bible, but now I've been stymied. It's like getting slapped in the face."Reaction from other Christians
A group of Christians in Milpitas, CaliforniaMilpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
offered a session to comfort those who had believed in the prophecy. Church deacon James Bynum told a local newspaper that "We are here because we care about these people. It's easy to mock them. But you can go kick puppies, too. But why?"
Reaction from non-believers and protesters
In response to the prediction, more than 830,000 registered as attending a "Post Rapture Looting" event on Facebook. The group American AtheistsAmerican Atheists
American Atheists is an organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating for the complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs and the news media. It also publishes books and the monthly...
sponsored billboards in several American cities declaring the Rapture to be "nonsense". The group Seattle Atheists formed the Rapture Relief Fund which they said would be used "to help survivors of any Armageddon-sized disaster in the Puget Sound area"; since the Rapture failed to occur on May 21, the money will fund a camp that teaches children about science and critical thinking.
On May 21, groups of protesters gathered at Family Radio's headquarters in Oakland to mock the evangelical broadcaster's failed prediction. One group released human-shaped helium balloons to simulate souls rising to heaven, while another person played The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
' song "The End
The End (The Doors song)
"The End" is a song by The Doors. Originally written by Jim Morrison as a song about breaking up with girlfriend Mary Werbelow, it evolved through months of performances at Los Angeles' Whisky a Go Go into a nearly 12-minute opus on their self-titled album. The band would perform the song to close...
" over a boombox
Boombox
Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...
. Many atheist and secular groups in the United States hosted "Rapture parties" on May 21. Other secular groups intentionally scheduled activities for Sunday, May 22, such as "Non-Judgmental Day", celebrating tolerance, cooperation and harmony.
American Atheists hosted a two-day conference over the May 21 weekend, in Oakland not far from Camping's radio station. President David Silverman commented, "We're going to poke fun at these people, but in the end we need to keep in mind that there are people being hurt here ... We're hoping people look at this and learn to use their brains … so we don't have an occurrence of this in 2012" (when some believe
2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar...
the Mayans
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
predicted as the Earth's demise).
Prediction for October 21, 2011
Camping continued to predict that October 21 would mark the end of the world, but modified his prediction with words like "probably" and "maybe". "I really am beginning to think as I've restudied these matters that there's going to be no big display of any kind," Camping said in a podcast. "The end is going to come very, very quietly." He kept a low profile as the date approached, and his daughter responded to a media request by saying, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we at Family Radio have been directed to not talk to the media or the press."Reaction
No statement was issued by Camping or Family Radio on October 21 or 22. It was later reported that Camping told an interviewer on October 16 that God has not given anyone the power to know exactly when the Rapture would come. He has retired from his leadership position at Family Radio. Sometime after October 21, Family Radio posted an audio message from Harold Camping on their home page. In the message, Camping stated, regarding end times prophecy, that "we are finding it very very difficult". He also told followers to "not feel abandoned by God" and that "God is still in charge of everything".As October 21 approached, the Freedom from Religion Foundation
Freedom From Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is an American freethought organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. Its purposes, as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the separation of church and state and to educate the public on matters relating to atheism, agnosticism and nontheism. The FFRF publishes...
bought space on more than 40 billboards in the Bay Area to mock Camping's predictions and urge viewers to use rational judgment. The billboards featured slogans such as, "Fool me once...", "Still here", and "Every day is judgment day. Use yours. Use reason."
Media reports on October 21 and 22 stressed that Camping had been "wrong again". The International Business Times
International Business Times
The International Business Times is an online global business newspaper, published in 17 editions in 10 languages across 13 countries. The publication, sometimes called IBTimes, offers news, analysis and editorial commentary on business and business related stories...
proclaimed him a "false prophet." On October 21, 2011, Time magazine's website listed Camping's end times predictions as one of the "Top 10 Failed Predictions", a list compiled in Camping's "honor".
Personal developments
Family Radio has removed from its web site the archive of audio recordings of Mr. Camping's Open Forum program recorded prior to May, 2011.On June 9, 2011, Camping suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. By September 30 he was reportedly home and continuing to recuperate. Family Radio broadcast reruns of his May 23-June 9 Open Forum segments for several weeks. The station said that on June 23 they would begin to provide new programming in his time slot.
Publications
Camping's writings that detail the timing of the end include:Books
- 1994? (1992) – predicts the End Times for September 1994
- Time Has An End (2005) – discusses Camping's belief that 2011 is in all likelihood the end of the world
Booklets
- Has the Era of the Church Age Come to an End? (2001) – advises that the Great Tribulation has begun and that Christians should "flee their churches"
- We Are Almost There! (2008) – contains information on how the end's date of May 21, 2011 was deduced
Tracts
- The End of the World is Almost Here! Holy God Will Bring Judgment on May 21, 2011 (2009)
- God Gives Another Infallible Proof That Assures the Rapture Will Occur May 21, 2011 (2009)
- No Man Knows the Day or the Hour? (2009)
See also
- End time
- Great DisappointmentGreat DisappointmentThe Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history...
- Last JudgmentLast JudgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
- List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events
- Millenialism
- Unfulfilled religious predictions
External links
- We Can Know
- EBibleFellowship
- The Latter Rain
- Family Radio Discussion Forum
- May 21: Judgment Day — slideshow by Life magazine