What happened to the “end of the world”?

The Rapture didn't happen either, I take it…

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Harold_Camping On May 21, 2011, so many “Christian” churches, and some others, believed that the world was going to end, that a certain number of specially born-again believers would be “taken up” in the Rapture to be with Christ in Heaven, and that the period of Tribulation would begin on Earth. All this according to Scriptures, so they claimed.

So, what happened? I guess someone got the calculations wrong. But then again did not the Lord say that we will not know what day or hour He is going to return? That was also a basic warning not to even dabble in attempting to fathom a time and day; be ready always, it was supposed to be.

Instead of entering the annals of history as the day that the world ended and that the “true” believers were gathered up this day will become known as yet another “Great Disappointment” for some of those Christian groups.

This is what happens when one takes the Bible, or any holy book, too literal and when one tries to calculate dates from certain mentions and quotes in the text of those Scriptures. Just to make things a little more awkward... which calendar are we to use? The Gregorian or the Julian?

In addition to that the very idea of the Rapture is not at all scriptural and has basis only in the fact that some people like to “read between the lines” of the New Testament and also the Old. But, hello people, there is nothing written between the lines. Honest, I have checked.

Followers of the “prophet” Harold Camping, and others, who predicted the end of the world and rapture for May 21, 2011 now say that G-d is further testing their faith for it not have happened. Wakie, wakie, people! That's not the way the cookie crumbles.

Have those people never read the passages about the “false prophets?” Apparently not or they believe that everyone else is a false prophet bar their lying and conniving leaders and “pastors.”

As to Harold Camping – who should do more of the latter – this is not the first time he falsely predicted the Rapture and the Second Coming. And still the people following him have not learned. A little like the Jehovah's Witnesses who also still believe in the garbage put out by their sect despite the fact that predictions of Christ's Return have been wrong more than once.

It is not G-d that is the problem nor the Nazarene; it is organized Religion that is, and especially the three Abrahamic Faiths in their organized form. They so easily develop fanaticism and not just in Islam, for sure. Christianity and Judaism too have their fair share of fanatics and fanatic groupings.

You do not have to belong to a grouping if you are a follower of Christ. All you have to do is to follow Him, according to the Gospels and the New Testament. G-d does not dwell in a building, whether temple or church, nor are house churches required either.

Leaders come and go and many are false, but Christ and the Word endures.

© 2011