Harold Camping, President of Family Radio, is saying that the Rapture is May 21, 2011. He says the end of the world will be five months later on Oct. 21, 1011.
Other links:
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| Posted on the Jesus Creed |
- Huffington Post, Another Huffington Post
- John Byron's Blog
- World Magazine
- May 19th Moore to the Point
- What Camping Said in 1994 When Rapture Didn't Happen
- Harold Camping's Kingdom Hall
- Michael Horton
- As suggested by Chris Poe in comment below: Westminster Seminary
- Albert Moller
- Richard J. Mouw
It seems that there is another group on the scene with a new perspective in disputing Camping's prophesies. They make a compelling statement that "Jesus is here now." Check out their billboard which I think will stir the pot a bit.
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Now, why do you assume he is a dispensationalist? :)
ReplyDeleteActually, Camping fits best with amillennialism. I haven't followed him closely in a long time, but my understanding is that he says that the rapture will occur on 5/21 as well as judgment day, something that no dispensationalist would say. (The billboards say judgment day.) He also explicitly denies a future millennium, ruling out premillennialism altogether. In contrast to dispensationalists who are known for literalism, Camping's method is highly allegorical mixed with some hyper-literal interpretations of verses that he takes out of context.
Camping used to be an elder in the Christian Reformed Church, back when it was much more confessional than it is today. In 1961 Camping started Family Radio, which featured Reformed preaching and teaching. Until the 1980's he was apparently a fairly effective teacher of Reformed doctrine.
Even after his failed prediction of the end of the world in 1994, Family Radio continued to air Reformed preaching, most of it either Presbyterian or Dutch Reformed. This included James Montgomery Boice, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and John R. Dewitt. Most if not all of these programs were removed after about 2001 when Camping declared that the "church age" was over and that the churches were apostate.
No doubt the reason why men like James White and Ligon Duncan wrote books refuting Camping's false teachings on the churches in the early 2000's (before he even set a date, IIRC) was because of his Reformed background. I understand that several Reformed churches lost a good many members who preferred to follow Camping's teaching instead of the Bible and their elders.
Here is a helpful series by Dr. Robert Godfrey that gives some additional background:
http://wscal.edu/news-and-events/details/the-end-of-the-world-according-to-harold-camping-by-w.-robert-godfrey
Chris, you are correct. I don't know that he is a dispensationalist in the classic sense or in any sense. Thanks for your excellent information.
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I keep adding to this post!
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