Community Corner

Judgment Day 2011 Believers Sound Alarm

Is Saturday the end of the world?

With all the rain this week, one might be forgiven for suddenly believing it's the end of the world.

But for some time—even before the rain—California radio station personality, 89-year-old Harold Camping, and others have been predicting the return of Jesus Christ on Saturday, May 21, 2011 and the destruction of the world on October 21, 2011.

The station is part of a Christian radio network with 66 outlets and a website www.wecanknow.com.

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Indeed, billboards across New Jersey and the country are warning the public that the end is near, noting that: "The Bible guarantees it!"

According to leaflets distributed by Camping and the radio network, there are signs preceding the Day of Judgement.

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"Jesus warned of several spiritual signs, such as the complete degradation of the Christian church, the devastating moral breakdown of society, the re-establishment of National Israel in 1948, the emergence of the 'Gay Pride Movement', and the complete disregard of the Bible in all of society today as direct evidence of His return."

Camping has said he figured out the date by studying the Bible, which he sayd predicts the Rapture will occur 7,000 years after God's first warning about the flood. He said the flood occurred in 4990 B.C., on what would be May 21 on the current calendar.

According to Camping, a single day equals 1,000 years to God and God warned Noah about the flood a week ahead of time. Therefore, there is a 7,000-year gap between Noah's flood and the Rapture—which led him to May 21, 2011.

But not everyone believes the end of the world is coming on Saturday.

"I am focused on picking up my daughter from the airport. She's been in London for the semester and is coming home that day, said Joy Kay, the Montclair area coordinator for a faith organization called Moms in Touch. "I guess that tells you what I think. Only God knows the ending day."
 
Should you be worried about May 21 and are you worried? One final note: Camping predicted the end of the world once before, in 1994, a mistake he believes he's corrected through a more careful study of the Bible.


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