Harold Camping

Early life and Christian background

Harold Camping was born Harold Egbert Camping on July 19, 1921 in Colorado. He moved with his family to California at an early age where he spent the rest of his childhood. In 1942, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Harold Camping is best known as a Christian radio broadcaster and, recently, the man who used an elaborate system of numerology to predict the end of the world - the rapture - from his interpretation of Biblical passages.

How Camping came to predict the rapture

In 1961, Camping began broadcasting the Open Forum radio program on Christian Family Radio. The radio show encouraged listeners to call in and ask Camping questions about the meaning of particular Bible passages or Biblical messages. Camping would interpret the Bible for his listeners, often by referencing other Biblical passages, Christian theology, and his own thoughts on religion. His self-professed forte at interpreting the Bible fostered confidence in Camping that he could predict the exact date - and, eventually, the time - that the rapture would occur.

The predictions

Camping first predicted that the world would end on May 21, 1988. After the rapture did not occur on that day, Camping made a second prediction based on revised calculations that led him to believe the world would cease to exist on September 7, 1994. When neither of these predictions came true, Camping stated that the Bible should not be taken literally, but that it must be interpreted symbolically and from a spiritual perspective. Many of his followers fell by the wayside, while others continued to subscribe to Camping's interpretation of the Bible and his predictions for "the end of times".

Camping's third attempt to determine the date of the rapture led him to decisively declare that May 21, 2011 would be the day on which faithful Christians would be taken to heaven (third time's the charm, right?). This well-publicised prediction drew the ire of many, and few were surprised when Camping's predictions proved false for a third consecutive time. Disappointed but undeterred, Camping claimed that God did judge the world spiritually on that day, as he had originally predicted with complete confidence, but the final brimstone, plagues and fiery demise of the entire universe (events associated with the rapture) will occur on October 21, 2011. God, Camping said, is still in the process of judging the world during this five month period.

Harold Camping's current status

On June 9, 2011, Harold Camping suffered a stroke and was rushed to Highland Hospital near his home. He is currently in the process of recovery and still maintains that the rapture will occur on October 21, 2011. Camping has refused to return any money donated by his followers in support of his ministry because we have not yet reached the aforementioned date of the end of times.