Life after the 21st of May

A few months ago, during the New Year festivities, an apocalyptic movement was distributing pamphlets that proclaimed May 21, 2011 as the veritable Judgement Day. Unaware of their seriousness, I just laughed at their efforts to convince people that Judgement Day was upon us. The predictions have been receiving a lot of attention in the media since the date approached. Some gullable individuals believed the claims and even gave away earthly belongings and some went as far as draining their savings accounts. Harold Camping is all to blame for these misunderstandings.

The 89-year old retired civil engineer built a multi-million-dollar Christian media empire that publicizes his apocalyptic prediction. I am not sure whether calling him a Christian is accurate because true believers know that there is no set date for Judgement Day, not even the Angels know the date of Christ's second return. The weirdest part is that Harold Camping has previously made a failed prediction that Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994.

It turns out that the theory comes down to two numerological proofs. The first proof is based on Genesis 7:4, when God said to Noah:'Seven Days from now I will send rain on earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth, every living creature I have made.' When God referred to seven days, He meant both seven days and seven thousand years, because 'one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.' The flood occured in 4900BC. Seven thousand years later is 2011. The second proof looks at the significance of the number of days between the Crucifixion and May 21, 2011.

And so I joined in on the joke, waiting vigilantly on Saturday for the appointed hour to arrive. When 6pm came, it went with no extraordinary occurance. I sat in disbelief, amazed that one man could have so much influence in the world. Like his last prediction, Camping's doomsday date was a hoax. In a reply to his false predictions he said the delay was a further test from God to persevere in his faith.