When you want 411 on when world ends, are you going to listen to some centuries dead culture, or a guy named Harold? (yeah, I've have said neither, too)
The popular date thatidiots people who believe the world will end is 2012 doesn't mean much to Harold Camping. "That date has not one stitch of biblical authority." And he should know, because he runs Family Radio, an Oakland based evangelical station that reaches and preaches to idiots listeners around the world.
He says the real date for the end in 2011. Having scrutinized the Bible for almost 70 years, Camping (who is 88) says he has developed a mathematical system to interpret prophecies hidden within the Good Book. One night a few years ago, after crunching the numbers, he determined the world will end May 21, 2011. By Camping's understanding, the Bible was dictated by God and every word and number carries a spiritual significance. Building on that unsubstantiated claim, he noticed that particular numbers appeared in the Bible at the same time particular themes are discussed.
The number 5, Camping concluded, equals "atonement", while ten is "completeness" and seventeen means "heaven". So how's that give us a May terminus? "Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D. - now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years." Huh? Next, Camping multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days (the number of days in each solar year). Wait, why? Then, noting the the number of days between April 1 and May 21 is 51, he added that to the sum of previous multiplication total. So what do you get? 722,500! Clearly you too can see just like Camping that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500. Or in words, Atonement x Completeness x Heaven, squared.
Yeah, what a total load of bullshit. And it's not the first time Camping has made a bold predictions about Judgment Day. Back in September 1994, dozens of Camping's believers gathered to await the return of Christ, an event Camping had promised for two years. And guess what? Right, the world did not end, and Camping admitted that he may have made a mathematical error. Conveniently, he spent the next decade running new calculations as expanded his media company to 55 US stations and international broadcasts in 48 languages.
I have zero doubt the world will be around on May 22nd, but not so much that an 88 year old zealot will. That's one of the benefits to being old and crazy - wait long enough and it doesn't matter that you're completely wrong...but you'll still be dead.
The popular date that
He says the real date for the end in 2011. Having scrutinized the Bible for almost 70 years, Camping (who is 88) says he has developed a mathematical system to interpret prophecies hidden within the Good Book. One night a few years ago, after crunching the numbers, he determined the world will end May 21, 2011. By Camping's understanding, the Bible was dictated by God and every word and number carries a spiritual significance. Building on that unsubstantiated claim, he noticed that particular numbers appeared in the Bible at the same time particular themes are discussed.
The number 5, Camping concluded, equals "atonement", while ten is "completeness" and seventeen means "heaven". So how's that give us a May terminus? "Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D. - now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years." Huh? Next, Camping multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days (the number of days in each solar year). Wait, why? Then, noting the the number of days between April 1 and May 21 is 51, he added that to the sum of previous multiplication total. So what do you get? 722,500! Clearly you too can see just like Camping that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500. Or in words, Atonement x Completeness x Heaven, squared.
Yeah, what a total load of bullshit. And it's not the first time Camping has made a bold predictions about Judgment Day. Back in September 1994, dozens of Camping's believers gathered to await the return of Christ, an event Camping had promised for two years. And guess what? Right, the world did not end, and Camping admitted that he may have made a mathematical error. Conveniently, he spent the next decade running new calculations as expanded his media company to 55 US stations and international broadcasts in 48 languages.
I have zero doubt the world will be around on May 22nd, but not so much that an 88 year old zealot will. That's one of the benefits to being old and crazy - wait long enough and it doesn't matter that you're completely wrong...but you'll still be dead.
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