Christ or Camping – Who should we believe?

The belief that Jesus Christ will come again is a clear teaching of the Bible and is accepted by most of Christendom as a whole and almost all evangelicals in particular. The statement of faith of both the National Association of Evangelicals and the Staten Island Association of Evangelicals reads, “We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ…..and in His personal return in power and glory.” The statement of faith of nearly all evangelical churches is similar. As Christians, we are told to be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). It is said of us that we “eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20) We are even admonished to “Watch therefore because you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”(Matthew 24:42)

The doctrine of last things, or eschatology as it is sometimes called, is meant to be a great motivator for the followers of Christ who were told that “This same Jesus …will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.”(Acts 1:11) Sadly though, teaching about the return of Christ has often been used to abuse and confuse. That is what Harold Camping and Family Radio are instigating now with their unfounded, unbiblical claim that judgment day is May 21, 2011. They have even gone as far as predicting the hour -- 6:00 P.M.

I have been a committed follower of Jesus Christ since 1973. I can remember the various predictions about the return of Christ through the years. In 1988 I received a booklet in the mail entitled “88 Reasons Christ will Return in 1988”. The next year I got the sequel, “89 Reasons Christ will Come in 1989.” In 1994 I remember some radio host predicting Christ’s return that September. That individual was Harold Camping. This will not be the first time he has been wrong and has wronged many.

After telling His disciples about His return and warning them about false predictions of messiahs, Jesus Christ told his followers the following in no uncertain terms:
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”(Matthew 24:36) Could a verse of Scripture be clearer than this? We can’t know the hour and we can’t know the day”. Could the context be more clear? Jesus is warning against speculation about His return. Christ himself is telling us not to put dates and times on His return. Having studied Greek, the original language of the New Testament, I want to assure you that the original language does not read, No one knows except for Harold Camping.

The belief that Christ will come on May 21st 2011 and bring in a judgment day is built first on incredible arrogance. Harold Camping and his followers claim that Jesus’ words regarding no one knowing the day and the hour have been voided. They believe they have received special knowledge, an opening of a prophecy heretofore closed to us. Supposedly, the true followers (Camping and his supporters) of Christ now understand that which has been hidden in the past. It is incredibly sad to me that many believers in Christ would embrace the speculations of this group over the words of our Savior.


The belief that Christ will come on May 21st 2011 and bring in a judgment day is built also on incredible assumptions. One of the greatest of these assumptions is that we know for sure that the creation of the world occurred in 11.013 B.C. In addition, there are so many other ludicrous assumptions I can’t address them all here. Suffice it to say that none of them is provable through the Bible that this group claims to believe. None of them! The only way to these assumptions is to take Harold Camping’s word.

I have had the wonderful privilege of teaching a class on the Second Coming of Christ and other matters related to Judgment Day for fifteen years at the New York School of the Bible in Manhattan. I have been privileged to teach a similar course at the church I pastor as well as teach and preach in depth on the Old Testament prophecies of Daniel and the New Testament book of Revelation. I am a true believer and a serious Bible student and I find Camping’s teachings to be completely unfounded and unsupported by the Bible.

Why are so many sincere Christians buying ads and hunkering down for the end? I think we as believers have forgotten the instructions of Paul the apostle from the First Century. At the end of his letter to the Thessalonians, a letter that frequently mentions the second coming of Christ, Paul simply says, “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22). All prophecies about the end must be tested. In this case we test the prediction of May 21, 2011 against the words of Christ. When we do this, the result of our “testing” need not go farther than the fact that Mr. Camping is giving a specific date and time for Christ’s return. This automatically disqualifies his prediction. Remember, Jesus said that accurate predictions of the date and time of His return would not be possible!

As Christians, we are those who have “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10) It is true, that we are eagerly waiting for Jesus to come back, but we know we can’t predict when. Thus, we need not be caught up in the eschatamania (hysteria over end times) as some now are, or the eschataphobia (fear of last things) of so many others. Christians should strive to live as if our Lord were coming back today, but plan as if He is coming back years from now. Our belief in the return of Christ makes us seek to please Him everyday so that when He returns we will not be ashamed.

Speaking of being ashamed, Harold Camping and those involved in perpetrating this unbiblical rouse should be ashamed. On May 22nd they will be embarrassed. Unfortunately this is only one of many unbiblical teachings that Mr. Camping has actively propagated. Camping’s positions are not the well thought out, well reasoned beliefs of a serious Bible scholar. Instead, they are the random, baseless, careless ramblings of someone who should not be taken seriously. When Christ does return, Mr. Camping and his followers will have much to answer for.

Dave Watson, An Urban Christian

“In Christ and on Facebook”

The other day while I was riding home on the Staten Island Ferry I had an interesting technology moment. As the Ferry slowed to dock, the passengers began to congregate near the front of the boat. As I observed the crowd I noticed person after person being obsessed with their smart phones and tablets. I was actually tempted to take a picture with my Blackberry and post it on Facebook. It seemed to me that less than half the people crowded there were talking to anyone standing there. Many however were communicating with someone somewhere else.

“If a tree falls down in the wilderness and there is no one around to hear it does it still make noise” is a thought provoking question that has been asked for centuries. It makes us contemplate what makes something real. The answer of course is “yes. it still makes noise”’ because. my experience of it is not what determines its reality. Whether I or anyone else experiences the hearing of the noise of the falling tree the cause and effect of the event still happens.

We live in a media driven culture. Because of the proliferation of the smart phone in general and the IPhone in particular, we can record in picture or video almost any event of significance. Through the interfacing of social media like Facebook and Twitter or upload sites like Youtube for video and Flickr for pictures, almost instant global sharing of any significant moment in time is possible.

The recent death of death of Osma Bin Laden at the hand of Navy seals was greeted by scores of people ages 18-29 gathering in front of the White House in Washington and at Ground Zero in Manhattan. With their smart phones charged and ready, they sought to record the moment. Within minutes, the death of Bin Laden and this generation’s experience of it inhabited the cyber world now known as "the cloud".

The majority of people now in our culture were raised in front of digital media. Among them an interesting axiom has emerged. Stated simply it is “If I can’t post it or see on it on Facebook then it isn’t significant”. Reality has become dependant on what I can experience through virtual media. Its as if all of life is a movie and only by recording and posting it are we really a part of it.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a great consumer of the various media technologies. Here is the problem with all this though. My relationship with the Lord is real, dynamic and life altering. It is significant and it is not subject to Facebook, a picture can’t be taken of it and posted.

Matthew 6:6 reminds us regarding our prayer life, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Please note the reality of our private time with God. Matthew 6:3-4 speaks of our good deeds and reminds us, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Please note the power of our anonymously done good works.

I want to be real and genuine in my faith. The world of social media, smart phones and flip cameras cultivate superficiality. This occurs because we begin to become actors in a play for everyone to see. Thus, we start acting instead of living authentically. To some degree, participating in the unreal world of social media is unavoidable. Today, let’s keep in mind that the deepening of an authentic faith, a real faith occurs as I privately meet and respond to Jesus Christ not as I post what I want others to see of me on Facebook.

Dave Watson, An Urban Christian