May 21, 2011 Doomsday prediction by Harold Camping - true End of the World prophet or crazy fraud?

May 21, 2011 Doomsday prediction by Harold Camping - true End of the World prophet or crazy fraud?

Harold Camping, the head of the Family Radio who famously predicted May 21, 2011 as the Doomsday, will be proved either as a true prophet of God or another crazy Doomsday fanatic in less than 40 hours.

The self-claimed Doomsday prophet has made a prediction that May 21, 2011 will be the Doomsday, or Judgment Day, when 200 million righteous people will be saved and the rest will await their destiny till October 21, when the whole world will be completely destroyed by a series of cataclysmic events, including violent earthquakes that would make the earth quake of Japan that struck in March look look like a Sunday school picnic in comparison. He claims that his calculations are based on certain passages in the Bible viz. Genesis 7:4 (Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth) and 2 Peter 3:8 (With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day) to conclude that the Doomsday - May 21, 2011 - will take place 7000 years after the Great Flood (4990 B.C.).

According to Anthony Hernandez, a frequent speaker on the Family Radio, claims even repentance by human beings will not prevent the end of the world. I look at this the same way that God sent Jonah to the people of Nineveh. He said, 'go to Nineveh, tell them in 40 days they are going to be destroyed. However, whereas He [God] did not destroy that city. This is guaranteed that He's going to destroy this world, Hernandez said.

Hence, Hernandez said many of his friends are also letting go their earthly possessions in time for May 21. In my view that's a good thing, he remarked. I'm in agreement. I believe with all my heart that this is the end so I don't see anything wrong with that.

The followers of Camping are preparing for the End of the World, which they say will come this Saturday at 6 p.m.

According to a recent report by National Public Radio, one of Camping's followers Adrienne Martinez and her husband Joel quit their jobs and now are spending last bits of their money in a rented home in Orlando.

We budgeted everything so that, on May 21, we won't have anything left, Adrienne said.

However, Christian leaders have denounced Camping's prophesy, saying that his prophesy is actually anti-Bible.

Here are the reactions from them:

Pastor Greg Laurie, Senior Pastor of 15,000-member Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, CA: I'm not one of those date setters. Some looney tune will come along and say he's cracked the code. No man knows the day or the hour.

W. Robert Godfrey, president of Westminster Seminary California: Camping's teaching reaches the status of heresy in his recent appeal to the world, 'Judgment Day.'

Jason Boyett, the Christian author of books Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse and O Me of Little Faith: Camping's faith will survive the impending disappointment, as will his ministry and radio empire. He'll make excuses and set another date. I don't worry about him; I worry about his followers and their families. (Wrote on The Washington Post's On Faith page)

James Kreuger, author of Secrets of the Apocalypse: For all his learning, Camping makes a classic beginner's mistake when he sets a date for Christ's return.

Dr. R. Albert Moher Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: Christ specifically admonished his disciples not to claim such knowledge. (Acts 1:7), and they are not to draw a line in history and set a date.

Dr. Thomas B. Slater, Professor of New Testament at Mercer University: Jesus has told his disciples that they should not be concerned with the end of the world but they should be worried about making the world a better place (Matthew 24:36). These people are doing the exact opposite.

An earlier attempt by Camping in predicting the Doomsday failed miserably when he said the world would be destroyed in September 1994. He managed to not get branded as a false prophet that time, saying that he made a calculation error. But he says he is absolutely certain this time:We know without any shadow of a doubt it is going to happen.

We will find out soon enough - on Saturday, May 21, 2011 6 p.m. to be precise - whether Harold Camping is a false prophet or not.