A Response Demanded: The Evangelical Church and the Problem of Harold Camping
By Shawn M. Boyd
May 21, 2011
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"When the rational, scientific, non-theistic populace of the world around us dismisses Harold Camping and his false prophecy into the abyss, they will also dismiss the true Gospel which he has distorted."
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Over the last several months, I have regularly turned my attention toward news focused on the very false and sensationalist teaching of Harold Camping, a name and story now very familiar to all. Today, May 21, 2011, according to Camping, was to begin God’s judgment of the world. Today came. And with no surprise to those who actually study the teaching of the Bible, today went, without incident.
It would be easy to simply write this story off into the annals of other unfulfilled predictions of doom and divine judgment. And, for the most part, that is indeed what will happen to this story beginning May 22, 2011.
What will not depart, however, is the damage done by Camping. Countless of his so-called disciples are left angry, embarrassed, confused, and filled with questions. Many are also left without jobs, homes, money, or credibility.
Still others, the self-proclaimed non-theists and atheists, have yet a new religious clod to vilify in the public square as an inciter of fear-mongering and irrationalism. In countering Harold Camping’s campaign of doom, these groups have assembled en masse to spread their anti-gospel which promotes human reason above faith in any higher authority. I have no doubt their efforts have been fruitful. Those who were skeptical of Christianity before today are certainly more so now. The gospel of Christ has taken a beating because of one man who falsely proclaims to know it intimately.
There is another group I have found to be an intriguing story line as Harold Camping and his disciples caravanned around the globe spreading their false prophecy: the evangelical Christian community. For weeks I have scoured with anticipation the blog sites of prominent Christian teachers who have amassed large followings, only to find, with great disappointment, almost no one addressing the issue until just this week, Albert Mohler finally did take on the issue. (http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/05/16/the-end-is-near-the-false-teaching-of-harold-camping/). Rob Bell has apparently been garnering a great deal of their attention! While the Rob Bell controversy on love and hell has been fading from mainstream media news, Harold Camping was front and center. But almost only in mainstream news media. Very few Christian organizations or individuals have been addressing the theological problem that is Harold Camping. Even yesterday while on the campus of a prominent U.S. Bible college campus, I noticed people were just hearing about “Judgment Day” for the very first time. The church, it seems, has turned an idle ear and a mute tongue to a monstrosity of a problem.
The problem lies not in the evangelical, Bible-believing community’s theology, but in its response. In many ways, we initially react the same way non-theists do to such modern day false prophets as Camping. We mock and chide them because we sense a stain of embarrassment upon humanity. “Here comes another loon spreading messages of doom and fear” is a statement both evangelicals and atheists make. But I fear that even with that in common, the voice of non-theists has rung out more resoundingly than our own.
When the evangelical community fails to react in the public square to false teachers and their incendiary claims of new revelation from God and His Bible, we make the gospel of Christ grossly susceptible to slander and mockery. If we will not willfully and emphatically rise up to proclaim the truth, who will? Who else will defend the sacred truth of God’s Word, the truth of the future rapture of Christ’s church, the truth of future judgment on each and every person and nation, and most importantly, the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). The answer is obvious: no one else will.
When the rational, scientific, non-theistic populace of the world around us dismisses Harold Camping and his false prophecy into the abyss, they will also dismiss the true Gospel which he has distorted.
The Bible does foretell of a day coming when God will suddenly and without warning remove from this world those who by faith belong to Him.
"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will” (Matthew 24:42-44).
"It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert--for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning-- in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'" (Mark 13:34-37).
“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
As evangelicals, we cannot remain silent as this truth is publicly relegated as an invented notion of crazed prophets. Harold Camping taught falsely when he predicted (wrongly) an hour and a day. No one knows the day. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:35-37).
Additionally, the Bible does teach of coming judgment, but not as Harold Camping taught. Jesus himself will be the judge “of the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1). People who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ and surrender to him in faith while alive in this world will face judgment (Romans 2:5-7), and yet they will still ultimately surrender to Christ’s authority, though too late to be saved from hell (Romans 2:10; Matthew 25:46).
Matthew 25:31-46 speaks of a second future judgment of all nations for the way they have operated in the world. A third “judgment” is to come for those who do believe in Christ, true Christians, but this is an accounting of our works in order to measure reward, not a judgment of condemnation. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5.24); “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1); (see also Romans 14: 10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31-46; Angels and demons will also be judged (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; 1 Corinthians 6:3)).
The Bible also teaches that there will be destruction from great earthquakes, but again Harold Camping distorted the truth. Not only does Harold Camping apply signs to the rapture of the church (which the Bible does not), he also misplaces the actual context of globally destructive earthquakes which will come. There will be a 7-year period in the future (after the rapture of the church and before Christ returns to reign on the earth) in which great tribulations will come upon the earth. These events are scattered throughout the Bible’s teaching, but here is a selection from the Gospel of Mark:
7"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. 8"For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.…19"For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. 20"Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.”…. 24"But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken” (Mark 13:7-8, 19-20, 24-25).
Once these (and many other events) take place during the tribulation period, Christ tells those seeking for Him, “When these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). But these are not signs, nor instructions for the church, but rather for the “elect” who are seeking after Christ when the church has already been removed from the earth. Christ says at that time he will return to reign and rule, to be the salvation for those still living. Harold Camping’s teaching is inaccurate and misleading.
As I have shown, the Bible does give us prophetic truth regarding the future. Harold Camping is not wrong in that he seeks to make prophetic truth known, but he is categorically wrong to claim he holds new revelation apart from the Bible. Four passages must be noted here:
"You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2).
"Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32).
“Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6).
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).
Harold Camping’s actions, whether he is truly a follower of God nor not, have invited God’s reproof upon himself.
Conclusion:
My objective in this short treatise is to make known the actual truth presented to us in the Bible regarding the finer points of Harold Camping’s false prophetic teachings. I firmly adhere to and uphold the Bible as the actual, living Word of God. I view it not as a truth, but as the truth, for that is what it claims to be. I am fully aware that the topics presented here remain difficult for many to rationally accept. The topics I have covered can be perceived as fanciful mythologies and can be unconditionally dismissed. Many people do just that. But, as one theologian puts it, “[t]hat is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace”[i] (Romans 4:16). I choose to believe even the hard things, because God is trustworthy.
The evangelical church must arise to defend the truth when the truth we hold is derided, altered, or disregarded, whether in the public square or within the church itself. When we do not, we fail those who have yet to hear the truth. We fail them the opportunity to hear the gospel call and choose Christ, or to reject Him.
In closing, if you have read this to the end, thank you. My prayer is that you know God’s truth. I plead with you to consider these things as well:
Do not mock God because of one who falsely claims to represent Him. Harold Camping was wrong, but that does not mean God or the Bible aren’t believable.
“The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:6-8).
Unbelief in God’s truth does have consequences, and God has made known those consequences to us.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (Romans 1:18-23).
If you have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, this is the core of the message:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17).
Many people have stood up in the public square and claimed to represent God when they have never known Him in obedient faith. Men like Harold Camping proclaim only judgment which incites fear, draws attention, and instills terror. The Gospel is not a message of fear and terror, or even of judgment. The message of the Gospel is that of redemption and hope, out of love, demonstrated by grace, and understood in mercy. Know what you are choosing.
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[i] Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. 731.
