Post by Neil on May 11, 2011 16:05:18 GMT -5
Pray Judgment Day predictor's calculations are wrong again
BILLBOARDS erected across the city proclaiming May 21 as Judgment Day are part of a worldwide effort to warn people about the pending end of times.
The billboards were paid for by supporters of the Family Radio Network, an Oakland, Calif.,-based Christian broadcast network whose president, Harold Camping, has determined the second coming of Christ will occur May 21, when God's chosen -- among the dead and the living -- will be saved and risen to heaven, and followed by 153 days of a rolling earthquake that will end with the destruction of the world and the universe. Camping is considered a cult-like figure whose doomsday prediction would cause most Christians to roll their eyes with exasperation.
"The world has been around for 13,023 years but God has exhausted his patience with the world. That's just the reality," said Gunther von Harringa, president of Bible Ministries International and a spokesman for Camping and Family Radio.
The series of earthquakes will end on Oct. 21 with the destruction of the earth and the universe, he said.
Von Harringa said God could destroy the earth in an instant if he wanted to but will drag out the destruction for 153 days, as predicted in passages in the Bible. He estimated about 30 million to 40 million of the dead around the world will rise up on May 21 and lead about 160 million to 170 million chosen from among the living into Heaven.
"Then God will annihilate the entire universe. Nothing will remain of planet Earth or its inhabitants," von Harringa said. "Then God will create the universe all over again."
Von Harringa said the Apocalypse will begin in New Zealand and spread eastward.
"Because we're about 16 hours behind, we'll be able to watch the Rapture as it moves from country to country," he said. "We'll be able to see the chosen rise to heaven."
Family Radio and its supporters have placed about 2,000 Judgment Day billboards overseas and another 1,000 across the U.S. and Canada.
Camping predicted the world was about to end in 1994, but admitted his understanding of biblical passages and his math were weak and when it didn't, he spent the intervening years revising his research.
Rev. James Christie, director of the Ridd Institute for Religion and Global Policy at the University of Winnipeg's Global College, said doomsayers like Camping are a part of a long Christian tradition. Those who believe his predictions are looking for some sort of order and understanding, even if it means the destruction of the Earth.
"When it doesn't happen, (Camping) will either say it was because of the complexity of the calculations and produce a new date or say the prayers and devotions of people around the world persuaded God to give a stay of execution."
Bruce Martin, pastor of Calvary Temple, said he doesn't know Camping or if his prediction is correct but he cautions that it's written in the Bible that no man knows the day or hour of Judgment Day.
"A few people have asked me (about the billboards) and I just tell them to trust in God and in His forgiveness and leave the date to Him."
www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/pray-judgment-day-predictors-calculations-are-wrong-again-121620814.html
BILLBOARDS erected across the city proclaiming May 21 as Judgment Day are part of a worldwide effort to warn people about the pending end of times.
The billboards were paid for by supporters of the Family Radio Network, an Oakland, Calif.,-based Christian broadcast network whose president, Harold Camping, has determined the second coming of Christ will occur May 21, when God's chosen -- among the dead and the living -- will be saved and risen to heaven, and followed by 153 days of a rolling earthquake that will end with the destruction of the world and the universe. Camping is considered a cult-like figure whose doomsday prediction would cause most Christians to roll their eyes with exasperation.
"The world has been around for 13,023 years but God has exhausted his patience with the world. That's just the reality," said Gunther von Harringa, president of Bible Ministries International and a spokesman for Camping and Family Radio.
The series of earthquakes will end on Oct. 21 with the destruction of the earth and the universe, he said.
Von Harringa said God could destroy the earth in an instant if he wanted to but will drag out the destruction for 153 days, as predicted in passages in the Bible. He estimated about 30 million to 40 million of the dead around the world will rise up on May 21 and lead about 160 million to 170 million chosen from among the living into Heaven.
"Then God will annihilate the entire universe. Nothing will remain of planet Earth or its inhabitants," von Harringa said. "Then God will create the universe all over again."
Von Harringa said the Apocalypse will begin in New Zealand and spread eastward.
"Because we're about 16 hours behind, we'll be able to watch the Rapture as it moves from country to country," he said. "We'll be able to see the chosen rise to heaven."
Family Radio and its supporters have placed about 2,000 Judgment Day billboards overseas and another 1,000 across the U.S. and Canada.
Camping predicted the world was about to end in 1994, but admitted his understanding of biblical passages and his math were weak and when it didn't, he spent the intervening years revising his research.
Rev. James Christie, director of the Ridd Institute for Religion and Global Policy at the University of Winnipeg's Global College, said doomsayers like Camping are a part of a long Christian tradition. Those who believe his predictions are looking for some sort of order and understanding, even if it means the destruction of the Earth.
"When it doesn't happen, (Camping) will either say it was because of the complexity of the calculations and produce a new date or say the prayers and devotions of people around the world persuaded God to give a stay of execution."
Bruce Martin, pastor of Calvary Temple, said he doesn't know Camping or if his prediction is correct but he cautions that it's written in the Bible that no man knows the day or hour of Judgment Day.
"A few people have asked me (about the billboards) and I just tell them to trust in God and in His forgiveness and leave the date to Him."
www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/pray-judgment-day-predictors-calculations-are-wrong-again-121620814.html