Doomsday Debacles: Harold Camping and William Miller (Numbers 8 and 7)

 "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father," Mark 13:32 reads. Despite this passage many Christians have used biblical prophecies to explain the end of the world. Harold Camping, a retired engineer, believes that there is a numerical system in the bible, that when interpreted right, says that the end of the world would have been on May 21, 2011. This excerpt from http://articles.sfgate.com/explains how Camping got the date 5/21/11.

"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, 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." (Berton 2)

Many people all over the world believed, and still believe, Campings ideas. He reaches people all over the world through his Family Radio, 610 AM KEAR. In fact on May 21, 2011 many people dressed up in their nicest clothes and held their Bibles upto the Heavens, awaiting the return of Christ. However, in my opinion, this "religious man", also claims that we should ditch our churches and that we can not be forgiven, we are predestined to go to Heaven or predestined to go to Hell. I thought that Christians belived in a forgiving God and that you could be cleansed of your sins. Isn't that the whole reason He supposedly died on the cross for us?

Another religious prophesier, William Miller, also prochesied a doomsday using the Bible in mathmatical ways. "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14. From the preeceding biblical passage William Miller beleived that the world would come to an end between March 21, 1843 and March, 21, 1844. He took the days as years, so the sanctuary would be cleansed in 2,300 years and he took the sanctuary being cleansed as Jesus's return. He said that Jesus's return would come 2.300 years after the decree of Greek King Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. So, 2,300-457= 1843. When March 21st, 1844 passed by he changed the date to October 6th, 1844, The Jewish Day of Atonement. And that obviously didn't work either. but he died beliveing that a doomsday was imminent.

Berton , Justin. "Biblical scholar's date for rapture: May 21, 2011." SFGate.com. 01/01//2010: 1-3. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. <http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-01-01/bay-area/17466332_1_east-bay-bay-area-first-time-camping>.