Straight from the false prophet's mouth...

"I'm not a genius."

- Harold Camping

You can read the entire article HERE.

In case you were wondering, "the world will be destroyed" on October 21, 2011. I hate that because Autumn is my favorite time of year.

It is past 6:00 in Australia

Harold Camping claimed that the Bible "guarantees" that Christ would rapture his people this day by 6:00 pm (beginning at the International Date Line). He claimed that the surface of the earth would be littered by the bones and other remains of the dead as all the graves on the planet would be emptied of their remains. Mass chaos would ensue. Well, Australia, Asia, and Europe have already sped past 6:00 pm May 21.

That it did not happen is no surprise to those who read the Bible responsibly. Camping, an engineer, treats the Bible as a mathematical equation to be solved. For two thousand years of church history the time of Christ's return remained locked away in mystery until Camping put the pieces together. It is sad that Camping has so deluded himself. It is sadder still that many others have willingly been misled.

Now we are left to pick up the pieces. Camping will go on (although, considering his age...). He will almost surely not repent. He will more than likely reveal one small detail that he failed to calculate. But what do we say to the mockers who will now see anyone who claims the name of Jesus, reveres the Word of God, and believes in the sure return of Christ as a Camping-like crackpot?

Let us remember that the Scriptures promise that Christ will return for his church. And it is a grievous mockery to deny this. 2 Peter 3:3-4 says:

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

One thing that characterizes the godless is a denial of Christ's return and the coming judgment. It is tragic that Harold Camping and his willing followers have now added fuel to the mocker's fire. They have given the godless one more reason not to believe.

Make no mistake. Harold Camping is a false prophet and his reward will be that of the false prophet. The responsibility of God's people is to confront men like Camping and their lies. It is not enough to be nice. It is not enough to cling to mere Christianity. We must actively confront error. We must be willing to be called harsh if that is what it takes to identify falsehood. Our neighbors deserve our best efforts to make both the truth and errors clear.

Read Kim Riddlebarger's comments HERE.

Just in case we're left behind...

Well tomorrow is the big day.

I was listening to a "Camping-ite" today on a national radio program. At the end of the interview I noticed that my face hurt from being in a constant cringe for almost 45 minutes. The man was a deeply sincere fellow and quite articulate. Unfortunately he has given himself to a system of biblical interpretation which has a little too much in common with pagan numerology. He would balk at this description of course. But Camping and his followers have devised a method of interpreting the Bible which is exotic to say the least. Among their beliefs is that all churches are under the dominion of Satan, and that since May 21, 1988.

This poor man on the radio claimed that there is not one scintilla of doubt that May 21st will be the day that Jesus raptures His church. Camping and his followers also specify that it will occur at 6:00 pm (measuring from the International Date Line - and, no, I'm not kidding!). He said that through television and the internet we will be able to view graves being emptied in Australia and on through Africa, Asia, and Europe as 6:00 approaches Eastern Standard Time.

All of this, the man said, is "guaranteed" by the Bible. He continued to speak of the "hundreds of Bible verses" which make Christ's return on May 21st undeniable. The only way to deny it, he reasoned, was to say that the Bible is wrong. This, of course, is very dangerous. The Camping-ites give this date the same certainty as the deity and resurrection of Jesus. So, if Jesus does not return tomorrow the only option is that the Bible is nothing but a fable for what it promises is false.

So, what if it doesn't happen? What if Jesus does not rapture his church tomorrow? The Camping-ites refuse to answer the question because, they say, it is an impossibility. "How am I supposed to respond to an impossibility?" So it will be interesting to see how they respond at 12:01 am on May 22. Hopefully they will repent. But barring repentance, then they ought to be consistent and reject the Bible and the Christian faith for erring so egregiously.

Now, I could write something about some of the dangers inherent in dispensationalism. Perhaps another time...

Check out this helpful post by Al Mohler.

Discerning Harold Camping

Robert Godfrey, church historian and President of Westminster Seminary California has written a series of helpful articles shedding light on Harold Camping's history and strange approach to biblical interpretation.

"The End of the World According to Harold Camping"
•Part 1

•Part 2

•Part 3

•Part 4

•Part 5

The end of the world as we know it?

As May 21, 2011 approaches we will certainly hear and see more warnings from Harold Camping and his followers. Camping has declared that the Bible "guarantees" May 21 this year as the day Jesus will return. The sad strange story of Harold Camping is that of a man who isolated himself from the church of Jesus Christ and thus became his own authority. In the first of a series of articles, Robert Godfrey helps us understand the impact of this isolation on Harold Camping's understanding of the Bible.

After Camping began to work full-time with Family Radio, he spent much time studying the Bible. His knowledge of Bible verses is impressive indeed. But his study of the Bible was undertaken in isolation from other Christians and theologians. He adopted a proud individualism. He did not really learn from Bible scholars. He studied the Bible in isolation from the church and the consensus of the faithful. As a result his understanding of the Bible became more and more idiosyncratic. No one could help, direct, or restrain him. He was really an autodicdact, that is, someone who teaches himself. He never really submitted his ideas to be challenged and improved by others. He was truly his only teacher. He has repeatedly said that he would be glad to change his views if he is shown that he is wrong from the Bible. But this humble statement covers a very arrogant attitude, because no one can ever show him that he is wrong. He alone really understands the Bible.

Read the entire article HERE.

Read Part 2 HERE

Camping's Craziness

Chris Gordon has written a helpful article concerning Harold Camping's possible motive behind his latest prediction about Christ's return. As many of you know, Camping and his unfortunate followers are proclaiming May 21, 2011 as the return of Christ and the end of the age. In the article Gordon gives a brief history of Camping's sad trajectory. Take time to read it. It is the first in a series of articles Gordon is writing on Camping and the damage done by his kind of end-time predictions.

What's Next for Harold Camping?

Does this mean Harold Camping will repent and romove himself from the airwaves on May 22, 2011?

Issues Etc. on Harold Camping's latest prediction

Kim Riddlebarger was featured on Issues Etc to discuss Harold Camping's exotic approach to interpreting the Bible in light of his prediction that Jesus will rapture the church on May 21, 2o11.

Take a listen HERE (scroll down to the episode on Camping).

When will we stop listening to false prophets?

As many of you know, Harold Camping is at it again. This time he predicts that Jesus will return in May of 2011. It's not hard to dismiss Camping as a bit of a nut. But let us not think that he is unintelligent. He also has followers who are true believers. Some of them invade our church parking lot from time-to-time to bless us with Camping's propaganda. The question that fascinates me is not so much why is Camping a false prophet but why are so many willing to follow a demonstrably false prophet?

Take time to read Scott Clark's comments about what may be the very heart of the errors of "Campingism."

How we interpret the Bible matters folks!

More Foolishness from Harold Camping

Harold Camping would be easy to ignore. In fact it would be a virtue to ignore him. The problem is that Camping heads Family Radio which is broadcast around the world. The hyper-dispensationalism of Camping and others has been causing division and confusion in the church for years.

Camping has been hard at work calculating the day of the Lord's return. The following, from an article in SF Gate, is a lesson in wildly irresponsible and incompetent biblical exegesis.

By Camping's understanding, the Bible was dictated by God and every word and number carries a spiritual significance. He noticed that particular numbers appeared in the Bible at the same time particular themes are discussed.

The number 5, Camping concluded, equals "atonement." Ten is "completeness." Seventeen means "heaven." Camping patiently explained how he reached his conclusion for May 21, 2011.

"Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D.," he began. "Now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years."

Camping then multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days – the number of days in each solar year, not to be confused with a calendar year.

Next, Camping noted that April 1 to May 21 encompasses 51 days. Add 51 to the sum of previous multiplication total, and it equals 722,500.

Camping realized that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500.

Or put into words: (Atonement x Completeness x Heaven), squared.

"Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said. "It's the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you're completely saved.

"I tell ya, I just about fell off my chair when I realized that," Camping said.

If you have ever met any of Camping's followers then you probably already know that they seem to be impervious to facts (Just a few months back a pamphlet from Family Radio was left on my windshield). They also don't seem to mind the fact that Camping has made previous predictions about the the second coming of Christ. Among Camping's exotic teachings is that "the church age" is over and it is a sin for Christians to remain in churches. Rather, he says, they should be at home listening to Family Radio.