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I couldn't care less about doomsday predictions, but one thing that concerns me is that people who don't really know about the bible see billboards everywhere saying "The World Ends May 21! The Bible guarantees it!" and when nothing happens, they think the bible is completely false.
Agreed. This man did nothing but further hurt all of the honest Christians, because now people who saw those billboards might think ALL Christians are nutcases.
I actually don't see much harm coming from this. People have been predicting that Jesus would come back since the original apostle's time. Most recently there were famous predictions (that a lot of people talked about at the time) in 1980, 1988, 2000, 2008, and this year. Meanwhile there's already a famous prediction that even got a movie made about it (2012). People are used to this sort of nonsense.Most people know that this isn't mainstream Christianity making these claims, but just wacky preachers here and there. It's not like the Pope claimed that Jesus was coming back on a certain day. Therefore the only people who will respond to this with more skepticism towards Christianity are the people who are already militantly opposed to Christianity and are just looking for another excuse to attack it.On the flip side, it is possible that someone got suckered into thinking that Jesus was coming back, and examined themselves, and found that they were not ready. Perhaps some people even got saved this weekend who wouldn't have otherwise. And surely most of them won't stick with that kind of a conversion long-term. But a few of them might. So in the long run, I actually think that more good than bad could come out of this experience. At least I hope so
"THE BIBLE GUARANTEES IT!"
70 AD: the fall and desecration of Jerusalem ended the world, according to the Preterists. Whoops.500: Hippolytus of Rime worked out the Biblical ’6,000 year rule’ to apply to this year. For more fun with that same figure, keep reading.989: Halley’s Comet always brings impending doom. Just ask Mark Twain.1000: very little of an apocalyptic nature happened this year, aside from a bunch of Christians getting worked up about the rather flexible millennium date.1874: the Jehovah’s Witnesses begin a long and lucrative career of predicting Armageddon, starting with this year. BTW: it didn’t happen.1878: It didn’t happen this year, either.1881: no, really…the JW’s were on a roll.1910: again? Well, if you Witnesses say so.1914: people are probably starting to wonder about Jehovah’s Witnesses.1918: we like the four-year cycle, but could the Jehovah’s Witnesses maybe split it up into a summer apocalypse and a winter apocalypse?1925: about this time, people may be forgiven for hoping that the world ends just to shut the Jehovah’s Witnesses up about it.1975: they gave us a 50-year break (which included WWII, which was chock full of apocalyptic signs) but those scrappy Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t done yet.1982: “The Christ is Now Here”, according to the Tara Center, who later state that He’s not ready to reveal himself after all.1984: Orwell buffs and Jehovah’s Witnesses alike considered this to be a significant year. Unless Van Halen is the antichrist (not unproven), they were probably all wrong.1994: Nostradamus tries posthumously to beat the Jehovah’s Witnesses record for most failed predictions. Luckily, he’s much more vague and obscure, so he’s never really wrong…1997: No, really, the Christ is Now Here, according to Share International (a.k.a. the Tara Center). Interestingly enough, The Christ (a.k.a. Maitreya) tops the list of several groups who believe him to be the Antichrist instead. Either way is okay with us — we still get apocalypse!1998: This is the year, says Nostradamus and others (and maybe not even him). For example, Eli Eshoh proved that the Rapture was going to happen, and by golly, it did (didn’t you notice?). We’re still not sure who were raptured, but those of us Left Behind should watch out for 2028. Two ends of the world for the price of one? Good deal!2000: the change of the millennium makes a great date for the End Times. However, even the Y2K Bug turned out to be little more than a minor inconvenience.2003: Ah, those wacky Zetas. They seemed so sure, and now Nancy and the rest of the earthworm-eaters simply claim that the Pole Shift of May 15th, 2003 was some sort of smokescreen or conspiracy, and the real day is still coming. But they won’t say when.2008 2009 2010 2011: The Lord’s Witnesses (absolutely NOT Jehovah’s Witnesses, despite strikingly obvious similarities) are pretty sure that it’s all over one of these years. Well, as long as there’s still a World War I veteran alive, we’ve got nothing to worry about…so at least a year or two. Additionally, Harold Camping of Family Radio is pretty sure it’s all over in May. Or maybe October. Either way, he’s 100% sure.2012: a very popular choice lately (and will probably remain so, up until the end of December). The basis for this date is Mayan calendars, Nostradamus, and sunspot predictions — and possibly a savvy marketing campaign by the Cults and Survival Gear coalition.2014: Hey, this one comes from a Pope, so it must be true. In 1514 Leo IX gave us 500 years. You’d think that would be long enough to get our act together, but noooooooo…2017: and then there’s the “Sword of God Brotherhood” (great name) who will be the only ones surviving this year, tasked with repopulating the planet. Hopefully there’s a Sisterhood as well. Or not…2028: Eli Eshoe again. Anybody left after the great Rapture of 2008 (remember that?) and the ensuing tribulation (i.e., now) has until 2028 to prove themselves. Get to work.2240: the Talmud says that the world as we know it will only last 6,000 years, starting with the creation of Adam (which apparently happened about 5770 years ago…sorry, Lucy). The Talmud is pretty discouraging about how much fun our final two centuries are going to be, but the world after Armageddon should be very nice.2280: the Qur’an gives us 40 more years than the Talmud, according to Dr. Rashad Khalifa and a computer-assisted numerical analysis of the holy text.3797: this one comes from Nostradamus, but so have quite a few other dates (past and future). Just in case this was the year that he really meant, clear your schedule.
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I agree. This is a perfect wake-up call for some folks. While I am saddened that some were falsely misled,I also believe that God used this crazy prediction to His advantage. Image what would have happened if Christ had returned in Feb,before this got all the media attention. How many would have been left behind? Even with this guy being wrong-many probably turned to Christ because they didn't want to be left behind. Even though we don't know when,we should always be ready!God Bless Y'all!
Poor guy... probably feels quite, how to put it nicely, misled. Imagine the ridicule he might be receiving now :/. Now... on to 2012...Carry On,-C_S
Quote from: COUNTER_SNIPER on May 22, 2011, 11:17:36 PMPoor guy... probably feels quite, how to put it nicely, misled. Imagine the ridicule he might be receiving now :/. Now... on to 2012...Carry On,-C_SMaking a doomsday prediction and spending your entire fortune plus millions of dollars of donations to advertise it kind of makes you fair game for "ridicule".
