(prerequisite initial comment: Been reading a lot of these pages, but it is all starting to blend together. So, while I haven't seen if someone else
makes the same conclusions as me, they easily could have and I didn't see it. In that case, sorry for posting what others have already said.)
An attempt at pointing out flaws in the claims:
First, to directly address a couple comments people have made...
As someone else said, the reason that some people say May 21st and others say Oct 21st is because of the specifics of the original claim, which is
that on May 21st, the Rapture will start and last 5 months before the end of the world actually happens (will get into the math of that in a second).
The convenient thing with this claim is that when nothing happens on May 21st, they can claim "That is just when we said it would start. Not that it
all would happen on that one day."
Others asked how they are paying for all these banners and advertisements. Well, they probably put them on their credit cards, since they don't think
they will be alive/on earth long enough have to actually pay the bills. Sorry that I can't find the specific person who asked this, for reference.
Originally posted by grindhouzer
seriously. if judgement day doesnt come on may 21st, which the bible GUARUNTEES, all belief in faith should be abolished.
No more swearing on the bible in a court of LAW. Period
You don't have to swear on the bible now. You can affirm an oath to tell the truth.
Affirming vs. swearing oath in court
OK, now to the numbers themselves.
I was going to explain why the key dates are on the dates they chose (year of creation, year of Jesus' birth and death, flood, etc) but now I'm tired
and just want to whip through this fast. So, for arguments sake, there are a few dates talked about that just need to be accepted as being right at
this point. Many of these "facts" are taken from
Familly Radio.
Basically the biggest problem that they have is their reliance on the Bible saying "that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day." (2 Peter 3:8). So, 1 day = 1000 years.
Harold Camping at familyradio said that the great flood took place in 4990BC. God told Noah that he had 7 days before the flood to build his ark and
to warn the people of the world. The problem here is that the believers mix and match things as they see fit. They say that the 7 days before the
flood is actually 7 days, but that the destruction that will destroy the earfh completely is 7000 years away (7 days X 1000). Their math says that
7000 years from 4990 is 2011 (1 year taken off for year 0).
Anyway, as I said, the problem is their use of the 1 day = 1000 years formula is used only when it suits there needs. Otherwise they are forced to be
faced with the following questions (above formula taken into account):
Why was Noahs timeframe only 7 days?
Why didn't the rains fall for 40,000 years? (the whole "rain for 40 days and 40 nights" thing)
Was Jesus actually crucified 1,978,000 years ago? (they claim he died in 33 AD, 1978 years ago)
Did Jesus rise from the dead 3000 years after his death? And all the disciples lived 3000 years as well?
Something that is more related to present day predictions with this May 21, 2011 theory...
Since there are supposed to be 5 months/153 days (Revelation 9 says "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be
tormented five months") between the start of the Rapture and the destruction of the planet, is it actually 153,000 years until the end of times? In
which case, we now have a lot more time to prepare.
Additionally, a lot of their info comes from them counting the dates mentioned in the Bible for the ages of people. Such as Noah being 600 years old
at the time of his boat ride. Obviously, if you read this far, you know the next question: Was Noah 600 years old or 219,000,000 years old?
One of the ways that they come up with their strange numbers and dates actually come down to their belief that there are a few specific numbers that
can be applied to some of the other information to create new information. One almost-out-of-context example:
The number 722,500 is made up of two sets of identical significant numbers. Each number is intimately related to God’s salvation plan: 5 x 10 x
17 x 5 x 10 x 17 = 722,500
(More detail on these calculations at
Family
Radios Website).
Basically, if you twist around enough data, you'll get the answer you wanted to get to start with.
edit on 12-5-2011 by cuthbert because: Typo
fixed. Think I got them all.