Will Harold Camping's Career to Come to an End if the World Doesn't on Oct. 21?
Harold Camping insists that the world will end on Oct. 21, but will his career as a "prophet" come to an end after misleading followers for what many hope will be the final time?
End times "prophet" Harold Camping has had a poor track record in terms of the validity of his predictions, yet despite erroneous statements on numerous occasions concerning the end of the world, Camping still holds firm to his assertions.
This adamancy, even in the face of erroneous calculations, is quite glaring, and leads one to question the actual judgment of the Family Radio broadcaster.
In 1992, Camping penned a book entitled 1994? In the book, Camping contended that the second coming of Jesus Chrsit would be between September 15 and 27 in the year 1994. When the prediction proved untrue, the Family Radio founder told Christianity Today, "Obviously this has not happened, so that was inaccurate." Nevertheless, he went on to suggest that Christ could still come before the end of 1994.
This ability to remain unwavering in the face of obvious failure has been an interesting aspect of Camping's character.
Still, his predictions over the years have not only been inaccurate, they have been painful to many of his followers who have invested spiritual energies as well as financial resources in the interest of preparing for Camping's cataclysmic events.
After the May 21 doomsday deadline, National Public Radio spoke to a board member of Camping's Family Stations Inc., who spoke of many believers who left their jobs and their families, and even gave their savings to Family Radio.
Following the failure of Camping's predictions, they had no other recourse but to pick up and move on.
If they have not already become mistrustful of these predictions, one wonders if these followers will continue to heed Camping’s musings on the end of time, following his latest scheduled date, of which he has said: "The end is going to come very, very quietly, probably within the next month. It will happen by Oct. 21."
The end may indeed come on Oct. 21 - not of the world, but the end of Camping’s career as a prophet.