Mrs. Precocious' Opinions!: The Rapture of Mr. Camping

I hear a lot about this whole rapture deal that's supposed to happen. Now, I'm not some Bible-thumper, but I'm a reader of the Bible and a student of religious contemplation. I am just floored by some of the things I hear, because they're just so ignorant.

To explain, the whole deal about this rapture is that at 6pm your time, an earthquake will hit. The whole world will experience earthquakes at 6pm, and it'll just travel around. The guy who came up with it says it's relevant to the amount of days that there are between the crucifiction and the end of the world.

I want to talk about Harold Camping himself. For one thing, this is his 3rd supposition of the end of times. He expected the Great Tribulation in 1988. Then he expected the rapture in 1994. That time, there were people in the church that had said goodbye to family and friends, believing this guy. And now, this time, he's absolutely sure.

I'd like to address this supposition itself.

Try to hold on, I'll try to go slowly. Confusion pics will be added to help you feel you're not alone in thinking this is all a crock of crap.

First off, this calculation starts with the supposition (that has since been disproved) that Christ was crucified on April 1, 33 AD. He starts off with using an old and disproved date. A date that has not been related to the end of the world. Nothing in the Bible says that there's any amount of time from when Christ is crucified to when the Rapture happens. But we'll go with it.

Then he added 1,978 years to that. That adds up to April 1, 2011, in calendar years. Why 1,978 years? Idunno.... But he did. He doesn't say why. This is where I start speculating that it's not that he was doing math and found the date, but that he picked the date and decided to find math to make it match.

Next, Camping multiplies 1,978 calendar years by the amount of days in a SOLAR year. Why? Well, I suppose it helps his math. It gives you 722449.0716 - which is indeed much more helpful than multiplying it by simply 365, which would give 721970 as a result, and that leaves us years away from the rapture. That's not good for his numbers.

Right, so we're at 722,449 days since the crucifiction of Christ. Then you add 51 to it to get May 21, 2011 (more proof he was trying to prove the date, not just do math in the Bible). Then you have exactly 722,500 days (...what about that pesky .0716? It's never mentioned again).

Now why is 722,500 days from the crucifiction of Christ the day of the rapture, anyway? What does that math prove?

Here it is kids. Hope you're sitting down, don't drink anything - and if you must imbibe something strong in order to swallow this, keep a paper towel nearby to clean off your monitor.

Camping found in the Bible instances of numbers matching with themes. 5 means atonement, 10 means completeness, and 17 means heaven. Where he found these or why they were attributed instead of other numbers, we don't know. But 5x10x17 squared... equals 722,500.

There you have it, proof!!!

...What if this guy just did the 5x10x17 squared and then found math that would put that number relevant to an upcoming date and a date in the Bible? How does this coincidental math mean the actual rapture is happening? Why should we trust that this means a big earthquake will roll through the whole world (something physically impossible anyway) at 6pm your time? And the Bible itself says "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:33-36)... So we won't have any idea when the rapture does come anyway.

Here's a couple places to read more: http://www.cogwriter.com/harold-camping-may-21-2011.htm http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/BA8V1AV589.DTL&ao=2

I wanted to at least try to give this some level of belief, but I really can't. In fact, I think if God were up there with a pink Sharpie marking his calendar for tonight/tomorrow's rapture and surrounding it in pretty flowers, picking out a once-in-a-lifetime outfit, he would see that this guy had made the math and would probably change the date, just so Camping wouldn't be right.

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Now, for an additional note - the people believing in this rapture. Now, recently the CDC released a zombie apocalypse preparedness blog. The whole point was even stated in the article that it was a fun way to approach the idea of overall emergency preparedness. This applies to hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, getting lost while travelling, etc.

However, now the wonderful teenagers of America have combined concepts to say that the zombie apocalypse is happening on May 21.