Is May 21, 2011, the time of the Rapture?

End of the world and apocalypse forecasts have existed for as long as humankind has had religious beliefs to gently (or not so gently) suggest how they should think and behave. May 21, 2011, will reportedly be the day of the Rapture. According to WFMY 2 News in Greensboro, N.C., there are even billboards advertising the event.

‘The Bible guarantees it’

Judgment Day can be May 21, 2011 if you ask Family Radio network in Oakland, Calif., founder Harold Camping. He has put that individuals should “cry mightily unto God” on several billboards. On May 21, from 8:30 to 10 p.m., the Family Radio affiliates will broadcast the program. There are over 150 affiliates around the country to do this.

Camping believes May 21, 2011, will be the Rapture, when true Christians are gathered together in the heavens to meet with Jesus Christ. Five months later on Oct 21, 2011, Camping believes God will destroy the Earth and the universe entirely. The last time Camping forecasted these events would kick off was in Sept of 1994.

Hard to determine when Doomsday will appear

Harold Camping isn’t unlike the many before him who forecasted the end of the world. They have all used the Bible to figure it out. End of the world is decided depending on the belief that seven days is equal to seven millennia where mathematical calculations are needed. Camping used the Hebrew calendar to determine when 7,000 years from the day God told Noah judgment would be is. He decided it was May 21, 2011.

“The Bible has given us absolute proof that the year 2011 is the end of the world during the Day of Judgment, which will come on the last day of the Day of Judgment,” says Camping on FamilyRadio.com.

Four memorable doomsday prediction failures, Caucasian blend

For doomsday pleasure, here are four of many notable apocalypse reservations which were broken:

The Prophet Hen of Leeds, 1806

Supposedly, there was a hen that laid eggs saying “Christ is coming” in 1906 in the English town of Leeds. Closer inspection of the egg-laying process bucked this disaster.

Guessing April 23, 1843 for the Millerites

Doomsday was anticipated in a one year span by New England farmer Miller. He thought someplace between March 21, 1843 and 1844 would be when the ending of the world came. His followers, the Millerites, helped him figure out an exact date. This is how April 23, 1843 came about. Followers sold much of what they owned. They didn’t even sell it for much money. Eventually, some formed the Seventh Day Adventists. They worked together to do this.

End comes from Halley’s Comet in 1910

In 1881, Astronomers decided that 1910 would be the end. This would be due to a tail of Halley’s Comet the Earth would pass through. Stories about mass extinction via poison gas made the front page of the New York Times, but by 1910, scientists knew better.

Heaven’s Gate, 1997

There was a mass suicide with the Heaven’s Gate cult. There were 39 members that passed away. The alien spaceship was anticipated to be coming in 1997 when really it was the Hale Bopp comet. Marshall Applewhite as the Heaven’s Gate leader told everybody that leaving their bodies would be the only way to get to paradise.

Citations

FamilyRadio.com

familyradio.com/index2.html

LiveScience

livescience.com/7926-10-failed-doomsday-predictions.html

WFMY News 2

bit.ly/ksDgPL

Wikipedia entry for Harold Camping

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping

Doomsday and apocalypse (Beware: Contains scripture)

youtube.com/watch?v=djH4NZo78Rw