Post Harold Camping – The Harm that Harold Camping Is Doing :: By Chris Mangan

Published on: by RR7 Category:General Articles
Those of you who have read my previous article on Rapture Ready titled “Camping’s Rapture Ruse”  (thanks for the title, Terry) will remember the two scriptures that I had quoted from the New Testament in showing clearly that Harold Camping is a false prophet.
I’m pleased that a number of other people have also written articles against Camping, such as Jack Kinsella, Bill Keller, and Jason Lovelace, with special mention to Pastor David Epstein of Calvary Baptist Church for his recent sermon criticizing Camping. All of us on this website take what Camping is doing very seriously and we all know that he’s wrong! It saddens me, however, that a number of people, Christians included, can be deceived by this man. I regard him as the Bernard Madoff of the spiritual set. As Madoff deceived with his financial money games, Camping does the same damage with his date-setting obsession.
For those of you who believe in testing everything said about the Scriptures (and all of you should), then it will not be a surprise that if you do an advanced Google search using the terms “false prophet and Harold Camping”, that a number of web pages will appear. I’ll just select one page, this webpage is from The International Business Times. The website is below:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/150713/20110524/harold-camping-may-21st-doomsday-wrong-prediction-october-21-2011-judgment-day-rapture-false-prophet.htm
This one paragraph in the I.B. Times article says it all:

The unrepentant minister did not make any apology even after a member of his inner coterie had suggested that he owed at least an apology to the public. He also abdicated all responsibility for ruining the lives of many hundreds of his followers who disposed of their properties thinking that the world was going to end on

May 21.

Unrepentant! That’s a mark for someone who will not be corrected! We all make mistakes, I firmly believe in apologies and want to hear them when the other party is wrong; and I have also apologized when I have been wrong. The mark of a true Christian is owning up to the mistakes made, and let’s face it: we have all sinned and offended God and others as well, so let me be the first to say “I’m Sorry”. Harold Camping, however, hasn’t done this!
I knew that as the May 21 deadline approached that nothing biblically relevant would happen. There simply is no way to predict days, weeks, months or even years, as many cults have done. Instead, Camping defended himself and his false prophecy with the article further citing:

 . . Camping put some more brave but vicious spin on the whole joke, saying that the rapture did indeed take place, but in a spiritual sense. Many observers had predicted that Camping would likely say this once the promised Armageddon fails to show up.

The article further quoted him as saying:

“On May 21, this last weekend, this is where the spiritual aspect of it really comes through. God again brought judgment on the world. We didn’t see any difference but God brought Judgment Day to bear upon the whole world.”

The bottom line to all of this false prophecy is what I had been concerned with: that people would think that what Camping was saying was genuine biblical prophecy; and it wasn’t! Camping is playing his “math games” again. I wish that more christians would study serious bible prophecy books written by scholars, of which Camping is not a scholar.
The method of interpretation that Camping is using is called the Ammillennialist school of interpretation; this method uses the Allegorical method, which views everything in the Bible as an allegory. In his book, “Things to Come”, subtitled “A Study in Biblical Eschatology” which is and was a text book on biblical prophecy used at Dallas Theological Seminary, J. Dwight Pentecost goes into detail in the very first chapter by quoting other scholars as follows:

Ramm defines the allegorical method thus: ‘Allegorism is the method of interpreting a literary text that regards the literal sense as the vehicle for a secondary, more spiritual and more profound sense.

In this method the historical import is either denied or ignored and the emphasis is placed entirely on a secondary sense so that the original words or events have little or no significance. Fritsch summarizes it thus:

According to this method the literal and historical sense of scripture is completely ignored, and every word and event is made an allegory of some kind either to escape theological difficulties or to maintain certain peculiar religious views . . .

Pentecost thus concludes: It would seem that the purpose of the allegorical method is not to interpret scripture, but to pervert the true meaning of scripture, albeit under the guise of seeking a deeper or more spiritual meaning. Pentecost then lists the dangers to this method of interpretation, again quoting other learned scholars:

Angus-Green express the same danger when they write:

There is . . . unlimited scope for fancy, if once the principle be admitted, and the only basis of the exposition is found in the mind of the expositor. The scheme can yield no “interpretation,” properly so called, although possibly some valuable truths may be illustrated. The above quotation suggests, also, a second danger in the allegorical method: the basic authority in interpretation ceases to be the Scriptures, but the mind of the interpreter. The interpretation may then be twisted by the interpreter’s doctrinal positions, the authority of the church to which the interpreter adheres, his social or educational background, or a host of other factors. (Bolding and Underlining, CM)

I cannot stress enough the harm that Harold Camping is doing, and is continuing to do; to people who, incredibly, still sincerely believe in him. Many families’ finances have been destroyed; some families have been broken apart; some individuals have left their jobs, some have left their churches, and their livelihoods; only to find disillusionment and alienation.
I thank God for his mercy to me because, many years ago, I almost joined a cult. That cult was named The Worldwide Church of God, run by Herbert W. Armstrong. Armstrong’s obsession was controlling his flock using an IBM 360 computer, getting enormous tithes from his followers, and having himself and his top ministers jet-setting all over the globe in Lear-jets. He also believed in Anglo-Israelism based on the false teaching of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. You can read about that topic in “The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible”.
I had researched Armstrong during that time and had found a very revealing article in Harpers Magazine, the April issue of 1975, titled The Plain Truth About the Armstrongs and the World Tomorrow. This article opened my eyes, and I then decided to find the error in other cults as well, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Seventh Day Adventists who, at that time and in some cases still, were misled by false prophet Ellen G. White; Christian Science, which is really New Age; and “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints“, also known as the Mormon church.
For myself, within just a few years, because God had given me an interest in Bible Prophecy and Doctrine. I came to read and understand many books written by real scholars who had no ulterior motives other than to communicate God’s Word properly.
I now have more than 117 books. I would like to provide all of you reading this article with a brief listing of just a few of these books, which all of you should consider reading:
* Things to Come by J. Dwight Pentecost
* When Will Jesus Come? by Dave Hunt
* The Return of the Lord by J. F. Walvoord
I could provide more titles, but let these three books suffice. All three authors have one thing in common: they are all Dispensationalists; not Amillennialists, such as Harold Camping is. We Dispensationalists have come to this school of belief after careful consideration of the Scriptures, and it is my hope for everyone reading this article that all of you will learn Biblical Prophecy in a proper fashion, and not in the false, negative, and destructive way that Harold Camping is teaching this important and timely subject.
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Chris Mangan

Camping’s Rapture Ruse :: By Chris Mangan

Published on: by RR7 Category:General Articles

The following two scriptures alone debunk Harold Camping:

Matthew 24:35-36 (King James Version)

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

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and this Scripture below is even stronger:

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Mark 13:32 (King James Version)

But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

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ARGUMENTS: No Man knows, not even the Angels, so WHO IS HAROLD CAMPING? He is definitely not an Angel, so that leaves him as a mere Man – a Man who has set a date that the Lord did not command!

In Mark 13:32, Jesus is saying that He doesn’t know the day or the hour either! Now that baffles even me because Christians know that God is a Trinity, so how can only the Father know and Jesus does not? That’s a mystery. But of course, Harold Camping comes to the “rescue” because HE KNOWS!  Talk about an ego problem; Camping thinks he’s greater than God!

The web link, “Refute Camping” has more arguments against Camping, which should be read by all Christians who take the Bible, Scripture and Jesus Christ’s words seriously. Camping, however, doesn’t; and as with most cults, he sets dates which the Bible forbids.

The only time that Mankind will ever know when God is dealing with them will be when the Rapture DOES HAPPEN!  It hasn’t happened yet and it will probably not happen on May 21 because Camping is a False Prophet! He brings dishonor to Jesus Christ and to Christians, and makes all of us Christians look like a laughing stock to be ridiculed.

I had heard a few days ago that WABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York City will be doing a series on people who are taking what Harold Camping says seriously.

From what I have seen of Camping’s followers, some of them hang out at New York City Subway terminals such as Times Square, and 59th Street and Lexington Avenue. They hand out Camping’s tracts which push the May 21 2011 date and accept his words without any discernment done on their part. Indeed, one of them looked like the stereotype crazy prophet of doom with a sign he was carrying saying the world would end on May 21.

I had met one of these “believers”, who listened to Camping’s radio program and referred to him as “Brother Camping”.  I wouldn’t ever call Camping a “brother”, especially when I consider that some of his followers are selling their homes, their possessions, leaving their churches, buying advertising billboards and putting is message on them, and other such things based upon what Camping has said – and when this date does come and go – when nothing biblically relevant happens – then they will probably fall again for any new arguments he will think up explaining why nothing happened on that day.

These people are simple people; lacking discernment; and the following scriptures describes this situation:

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Romans 16:17-18 (King James Version)

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Ephesians 4:13-15 (King James Version)

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. 

Hebrews 13:9 (King James Version)

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

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Using the above Scriptures as a base for discerning truth, we can see that Camping does indeed deceive the hearts of the simple! He also causes divisions among believers – the wise and discerning versus the simple – and does this using “cunning craftiness”.

On his radio program, when someone with a sound mind has found some flaw in his thinking and has pointed it out, Camping goes into his phone exit tirade: “Yes, but thank you for calling and sharing; and may we have our next caller, please.”

This scripture below informs us what to do about some one such as Camping:

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1 Timothy 6:3-5 (King James Version)

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

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Camping isn’t in any way “wholesome”. Using terms such as “the end of the world” which, while this expression can be found in the King James Version of the Bible, is not backed up by the actual meaning of the word, “world”, which is translated from the Greek word, aion. Scofield, in his  Scofield Study Bible, the 2003 Edition, provides the following note where aion is used in Mark 10:30:

World. Thirty-six times in the N.T. the Greek noun aion is rendered “world,” twice “worlds.” It has various connotations: a period of time (e.g. the Mosaic age; the Church age) and in certain contexts eternity or forever. Where the KJV translates it “world,” the margin in this edition of the Bible has “age” or “ages.” “World” is normally the translation of the Greek kosmos (see Mt. 4:8 and Rev. 13:8, notes) or of the Greek oikoumene (see Lk. 2:1 note).

In the forward to the book “Shock Wave 2000!” subtitled “The Harold Camping 1994 Debacle”, written in 1994 by Robert Sungenis, Scott Temple and David Allen Lewis, refuting Camping’s own book “1994?”, we have the words of a definite scholar on Biblical Eschatology: John F. Walvoord! I will retype Walvoord’s words, printed in the Forward section of “Shock Wave 2000!” in their entirety below:

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“The history of the Church has not been kind to people who have predicted dates of the Lord’s return. Countless attempts have been made, some of them fortified by extensive systems of proof, all to fail when the date predicted fails. In spite of that, this is another attempt at setting the date of the Lord’s return. A number of considerations make this, however, an unusual work.

1. Like many preceding predictions, there is a total lack of scholarly agreement with Mr. Camping. In fact, not a reputable scholar in the area can be quoted in favor of his position nor a single work supporting it outside of his own writings. If Camping is right, all other Bible students are wrong.

2. Camping’s dating system is very unusual because he is an amillenarian, that is, he does not believe that prophecy indicates a literal millennium of Christ’s reign on earth after the Second Coming. Ordinarily, amillenarians do not set dates and do not take Scriptures cited for this purpose literally.

3. A curiosity of this development is that some amillenarians are taking the lead in refuting Mr. Camping’s books supporting his position.

4. In keeping with his amillennialism, Camping does not interpret the Rapture literally or the events of the Great Tribulation, though he claims we are in the Great Tribulation right now. Obviously, no literal fulfillment of the Book of Revelation is taking place. No reigning world dictator claims to be God and has killed countless individuals who refuse to worship him (Rev. 7:9-14; 20:4-6). There has been no fulfillment of Revelation 6:8, where a fourth of the world is predicted to have been killed when the fourth seal is broken. The prediction of Revelation 9:14, that a third of the world remaining alive at that time will be killed, has not been fulfilled. The prediction of the seven bowls of the wrath of God in Revelation 16 has not been fulfilled, including a great earthquake which levels the cities of the world in Revelation 16:18-19. The city of Babylon has not been rebuilt and destroyed according to Revelation 18.

5. In a two-hour radio talk show interview with Mr. Camping, he affirmed with absolute certainty that the Lord would come on the date indicated, September 1994. When asked whether he had any substitute suggestion in case it did not happen, he declared he did not. It can be safely predicted that when the date comes and goes, he will come out with an alternate theory, as have most of his predecessors.

6. While many who do not agree with Camping would welcome the coming of the Lord on the date he indicated, the prediction will be subject to lack of fulfillment and disappoint for hundreds who have faithfully followed his teachings and read his books. Though it may turn some to consider their faith in Christ and their dedication to Him, the net result of such false interpretation is extremely detrimental to the study of prophecy which, correctly interpreted, gives the Christian a wonderful hope that the Lord is coming, and perhaps soon.
 — John F. Walvoord

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In the prologue of the above mentioned book, this portion written by Scott Temple, we learn that Camping has said that God plans to destroy the church, and he quotes Camping as saying in his book “Satan uses his final opportunity to win a decisive victory over Christ by defeating the external church.”

Sungenis mentions on Page 25 that Campiing “has also appeared in three debates, the first against Scott Temple on WMCA in New York in 1992; the second against John F. Walvoord, chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary on KFAX in San Francisco in January 1994; and finally in May 1994 against Dr. Tremper Longman III, professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary and Dr. Peter Lillback, a Presbyterian pastor. Camping was originally asked to debate R.C. Sproul and James Montgomery Boice, but he declined in favor of Longman and Lillback. I had also asked Camping for a debate in April 1993, but he declined in a letter to me saying, “I have neither the time nor the interest in a public debate.”

So, based on the above information, you can perceive where Camping is coming from. It is unfortunate that his followers can’t see the ruin that they are creating – for themselves and others.

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Chris Mangan