Biblical scholar Harold Camping knows when the rapture is happening, and he basically doesn’t want you wasting time making Memorial Day plans next year. Lest you be skeptical, rest assured it’s not God that told Camping the date of Christ’s return—math did! Click below for the full, um, formula …
To Camping, who has a media ministry and has published numerous books, every
word and number of the Bible carries a spiritual significance. He noticed that
particular numbers appeared in the Bible at the same time particular
themes are discussed. 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.," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "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.
"Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said. "It’s
the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you’re
completely saved. "I tell ya, I just about fell off my chair when I realized that," Camping said.
James Kreuger, author of Secrets of the Apocalypse — Revealed, has
been studying the end of times for 40 years and is familiar with
Camping’s work. While Kreuger agrees that the rapture is indeed coming,
he disputes Camping’s method. "For all his learning, Camping makes a classic beginner’s mistake
when he sets a date for Christ’s return," Kreuger wrote in an e-mail.
"Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:36, ‘Of that day and hour knows no
man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only.’"
