Harold Camping Oct. 21 Rapture: Wrong Again
Harold Camping's doomsday prediction has failed to take form once again.
Camping, the leader of Family Radio International, caused a worldwide furor when he predicted the end of the world would occur on May 21.
When his claim was proved spurious, Camping said he had calculations wrong, and that May 21 was in fact the “spiritual” end, and that a “physical” end would come about Oct. 21.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
For most May 21 was a normal spring day, but Camping claims God warned us that the “spiritual judgment” came at that time.
"What really happened this past May 21st? What really happened 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," the Family Radio Web site offered an official interpretation.
Prior to his revised prediction, Camping was confident the rapture was coming.
"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 Oct. 21, 2011," he said.
Family Radio and its followers have spent millions of dollars trying to promulgate their predictions. Some quit their jobs and donated family savings to promote the idea.
This time around Camping is trying to keep a low-profile by staying away from the press.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we at Family Radio have been directed to not talk to the media or the press," Camping's daughter, Susan Espinoza said in an email, according to CSM.
Camping bases his prediction on two passages from the bible. One where God tells Noah that he will bring a flood in seven days, and the other stating that for God, a day is like a thousand years; Camping thinks the world will end exactly 7000 years after the flood.
Camping suffered a stroke in June and turned 90 on July 19.
