Is Jesus Coming Again On May 21?

I saw the billboard on a westward swing through Phoenix, Arizona in March: "Jesus is Coming on May 21, 2011."

Simple. Direct. To the Point. Good ad, I guess...

I remember thinking, "Who in the heck paid for that?" closely followed by, "They must be nuts!" As the date is now about 48 hours from the time I am sitting down to write this, I guess I'm stopping to examine that second part. What if the guy behind all of this isn't nuts?

Harold Camping is 89 years old, a retired engineer (the mathematical kind, not the kind that drives trains.) At the tender young age of 74, he predicted that Jesus would come again on September 27, 1994 --and caused a fair amount of stir as hundreds of people sold their belongings and traveled to California to join him in waiting for the big event. The Messiah was a no-show, and Camping said, "Apparently, that was incorrect."

The man has a gift for cutting to the chase.     (read the coverage from 1994 here, if you'd like)

Since 1958, Mr. Camping has been building a network of radio stations around the world under the rubric of Family Radio. He's done a pretty good job, as they have an estimated worth today of around $166 million. I have no idea how much cash flows through their coffers, but they bill themselves as "listener supported."

A quick visit to their website (familyradio.com) delivers a sort of "God Housekeeping Seal of Approval" on the May 21, 2011 prediction. "The Bible Guarantees It" -- thus saith Brother Camping.

Now, as end-of-the-world prophets go, Mr. Camping seems to be fairly gentle and his followers strike me as nothing but sincere, dedicated and heart-felt in their faith. He is not really asking anybody to drink the Kool-aid in a Jim Jonesian sense of the word, certainly.

But talk about cryptic! Here's a little sample of his reasoning for the certainty of the date:

...certain numbers repeat in the Bible along with particular themes. The number five means atonement. Ten means completeness. Seventeen is heaven.Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D. Now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years. If you multiply that number by 365.2422 -- the number of days in the solar calendar -- it equals 722,449. And if you add 51 (the number of days between April 1 and May 21) to that number, it equals 722,500. Multiply five by ten by 17 to equal 850, and multiply 850 by 850 and the result is the same: 722,500.

I didn't check it, but I'm betting that his math is correct. What it all means is another story.

There has been much more ado over the prediction of the Mayan Long Count Calendar and its December 21, 2012 "end of the age." That date even got its own movie, which is way cooler than radio. But Mr. Camping and his followers are making up for what they lack in technology with good, old-fashioned "take it to the streets" proselytizing.

(A well-written and respectful report by Jaweed Kaleem can be found here.)

I love reading the Bible, and I'm not ashamed to be called a follower of Jesus. I happen to believe that, one day, Jesus is indeed going to come again and cleanse the earth -- that, in and of itself, will be a heavenly time.

I'm not too sure about this whole May 21, 2011 thing...maybe Mr. Camping got it right this time. One thing you can say about it all, though.

We'll know in a coupla' days!