According to this site the rapture will take place May 21st, 2011, and the earth will be destroyed October 21st.

Here's another article:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/12/20/872198/cruisin-to-the-rapture-may-21.html

Thoughts?

This is all the product of the teachings of Harold Camping's "Family Radio" (creators of the wecanknow.com site). Camping is a documented false prophet who has predicted the end of the world before and (of course) been wrong. For anyone interested in how Camping arrives at his numbers via the gross abuse and mishandling of Scripture, I recommend the following resources:

A debate between James White and Harold Camping which took place in 2009 (I actually remember posting about it here at the time) can be found on the Iron Sharpens Iron site

Debate Part I
Debate Part II (Technically Part 2. Camping refused to interact or answer questions, and instead spent all of his time eisegeting texts and self-promoting)
The Fatal flaw in Camping's arguments - A post-debate analysis by TurretinFan

Sadly, many of Camping followers renounced what faith they had the last time his predictions proved false. My sincere prayers go to those who have become wrapped-up in this modern-day "Millerite" movement, that when May 22nd comes, the living God that Harold Camping professes to teach would not allow their hearts to become hard. That rather, they would all (Camping, especially) would embrace Christ in true, saving, and lasting faith.

I've came across the date before,even before the release of 2012 movie. I recall around that time, when a christian preacher said on tv said that 2012 will be the end of the world - so yeah that was no movie induced thoughts.

and i myself had thought of starting a topic here on this

apparently my birthday is on may 22... wow.

btw, interesting reply shamax

Aparently the whole rapture idea is fairly new, a mid 19th century invention.

Too bad there's really no evidence for the rapture as popularly described in 2000 years of Christian tradition until the 19th century. :p

What ever happened to "Nobody knows the day or the hour"?

Mark wrote:

What ever happened to "Nobody knows the day or the hour"?

That's what the whole "WeCanKnow.com" thing intentionally flies in the face of. They have an article explaining-away the verse here: http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/nomanknows/nomanknows.html

Their basic argument is that during "the church age" no one *could* know the day or time, but now the church age has ended (hence Camping's teaching that true believers should assemble around the radio to listen to Family Radio and they are not to practice the sacraments of baptism or communion any more). Since "the church age" has ended, Camping asserts that those who are smart enough *can* know now. He then collapses contexts and cherry-picks things from the Old testament and pits the word of God against itself in an attempt to underline his claim by eisegeting Ecclesiastes 8:5 in contradiction to Matthew 24 and Acts 1.

Since Shamax did a stupendous job answering the OP, let me take this all in a new direction....

What do you think will happen when the day passes, and nothing happens?

Shamax already mentioned those renouncing their faith the last time this happened. What about those who keep their faith?

Will they find scripture loopholes and/or make rational excuses? Will they play the "We miscalculated" card indefinitely and keep aiming for later dates?

(Actually, I asked them that question directly) ^ _ ^

Hguols wrote:

Will they play the "We miscalculated" card indefinitely and keep aiming for later dates?

More than likely.

Hguols wrote:

What about those who keep their faith?

Will they find scripture loopholes and/or make rational excuses? Will they play the "We miscalculated" card indefinitely and keep aiming for later dates?

In interviews he (and especially his supporters) will say that even asking the question "What if May 22nd comes along and nothing has happened" is something that shouldn't be considered, it's just impossible for that to happen...



However, in his recent teachings, I'd heard mention that Camping has already been hedging his bets as far as the date goes. Saying things like God may postpone the date in his mercy, that there may be a "lengthening of the times" or some such. Camping himself runs Family Radio as though the Earth were going to be around for a long time to come. Case in point, the preface to Time Has An End:

Quote :

At Family Radio, on the one hand, we make decisions as if the end could
be quite far away. For example, contracts are negotiated as if the future was
altogether indefinite.

I sincerely hope his followers conduct their affairs the same way (unlike the Millerites, many of whom notoriously sold their homes, quit their jobs, and gave away all posessions).

Son of a gun. This was my date in the pool. Darn you Camping...darn you.

Walter Kovacs wrote:

Son of a gun. This was my date in the pool. Darn you Camping...darn you.

Better luck next time