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.

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.

When a Concordance Falls into the Wrong Hands

Using a concordance ought to require a license. The following video is just one more sad example of sloppy and kooky biblical exegesis. And as long as it sells there will continue to be an audience for "pin the tail on the anti-Christ."



For some sanity and sound biblical studies check out:
The Man of Sin by Kim Riddlebarger
The Bible and the Future by Anthony Hoekema
Christ and the Future by Cornelius Venema

More on Amillenialism

Great links on amillenialism.

A Primer on Amillenialism

Check out this post by Kim Riddlebarger. He makes an excellent case for "amillenialsim." Actually, amillenialism is a poor name because it implies that those who hold to the historic doctrine do not believe in Christ's reign. Clearly, this is not true. However, it is a clear departure from what has been the majority view of preachers over the last 50 years or so (premillenial dispensationalism).

If you would like to learn more...
The Bible and the Future by Anthony Hoekema
A Case For Amillenialism by Kim Riddlebarger