Sunday, May 22, 2011

Correction, Not Judgment Comes for Harold Camping and Family Radio

May 21, 2011, Harold Camping's predicted day of judgment, came and went and, of course, none of his predictions came true. There are a number of reasons for that, beyond the repeatedly stated "no man knows the hour" response.

It is inconceivable that a man could predict the Rapture and the Day of Judgment accurately--taking into account that no responsible Christian pastor or teacher would make such a prediction--when he is so wrong on the rest of his theology. Camping is wrong on salvation (belieivng in an extreme election, no hell, and that actual belieivng in Jesus is a work which cannot aid in your salvation), he is wrong on the churches with his judgment that they are controlled by Satan (although at times you can hear him speaking to an audience), and he is obviously wrong in the way he interprets Scripture, not just doing it badly but his understanding of how to approach Scripture is flawed. By definition, he is part Calvinist, part cultist, part charlatan. HE IS EVEN WRONG IN HIS UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN WHEN THE END DOES COME, not reflecting any responsible reading of Scripture I ever heard of, nor does it fit into any category that I am aware of! His arbitrary ruling that the churches began to be controlled by Satan starting in 1988, and that since then the churches have, for all intents and purposes, lost their way, is phantasmagoric!

Before moving to New York, I had never heard of Harold Camping. Once I caught wind of his theology, I was alarmed but considered him to be fringe and assumed he was largely unheeded. Then came his prediction and the evidence that many, many people placed their trust in his interpretation of Scripture. He has hurt many people and needs to be corrected.

Other than the fact that he seems to believe that the Bible is the word of God, Harold Camping's theology bears little to no resemblance to genuine Christian theology and is not to be trusted.

I wonder how much money was collected by Family Radio in the month prior to the May 21 from people hoping to get on God's good side as they "hoped, hoped, hoped" that God would save them? That money needs to be returned.

And what about Family Radio? Off the air? Done with Camping? I hope so. The worst kind of deception is the kind that is mixed with truth.

A word to those who have been hurt by the Camping foray into madness: read the Bible for yourselves, go back to church, focus on Jesus.