Written by KEHINDE OYETIMI Sunday, 22 May 2011
If you are reading this, then the world has again refused to end following the prediction of Harold Camping. In this piece,
KEHINDE OYETIMI chronicles similar periods of momentary hysteria created by foretelling of the end of the world.
THE
apprehension ran deep; the expectations travelled far. In some climes it trotted; in others, it sauntered. The angst was profound; it apparently cut across the subconscious of all strata of society—men, women, educated, the unschooled, within government circles, the religious, the free thinker; all, it seemed shared in the disquiet.
Some had shut themselves up as they prayed for mercy, waiting for the end to come. Others were said to have sat down and with tearful eyes, they ate what they assumed to be their last lunch as they expected the rapture to take place. They had expected to leave their pets and houses behind. 2011, according to the calculation, is expected to be the 7000th year after the flood. Some bade farewell to friends, families, as they waited. In front of one of their doors was the inscription ‘SORRY WE MISSED YOU.’
In New Zealand, reactions poured in following the failure of the prophecy when the time was past 6.00pm. From Melbourne, Australia to Florida, bashes were advertised. Skeptics planned rapture-themed parties to celebrate the failure of the prediction.
As far back as the 44 BC, there have been serious projections bothering on the probable date of the end of the world. While many would agree that this side of existence, presently inhabited by the human species would someday be ripped off and perhaps cease to be, many frown at the predictions and judge that such human calculations are not only wrong but misleading.
The list of such predictions, of which 89-year-old Harold Camping ranks as the latest, becomes inexhaustible. While some date back before the birth of Christ, others have been calculated after his death. Taking his cue from the dimensions of Noah’s ark, a Roman priest and theologian predicted that Christ would return to the earth A.D. 500. This, however, proved untrue. The list of similar predictions followed with eventual evidences and happenings offering otherwise. The scope of such prediction took a twist when some foretellers hinted of massive destruction, waste, earthquakes, and such like.
One of the most fascinating of such predictions of the end of the world came at the eve of A.D. 1000 considering the significance of the year in human history. It marked the close of a millennium as it conversely opened another. In A.D. 999, particularly in December, the height of hysteria was so intense so much the more that the entire human race expected the return of Christ. The signs that are recorded in the Bible to precede his coming were however missing. The frenzy created an unexpectedly positive change in human behaviour as Christ’s coming was seriously anticipated in December 999. Crime reduced; a deep religiosity pervaded the globe; jails were opened as criminals were released; crops went unattended to; buildings were not repaired; many sold their possessions and gave to the poor; there was a mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem as the return of Christ and the end of the human race was anticipated. But again, the world did not end.
Since the predictions are usually woven around perceived interpretation of Biblical extrapolations, with particular reference to the activities and person of Christ, there arose a similar prediction in A.D. 1033. An understanding can be deduced from here since that year in question marked a thousand years of the crucifixion of Christ. Expectedly, a mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem from around the globe was witnessed. Yet, the world did not end.
Taking a leap in human history, the year 1666 opened a foray of fit and frenzy. Nothing could be more disturbing compared to both the Biblical and mathematical perception of the number 1666. London was most devastated as over 100, 000 people were killed following the Bubonic plague and the Great Fire of London. It was a dual desolation. Playing on the number of the year (1666), it generated heated discussion both at religious and public gatherings. It was 1000+666. 1000 signified a millennium and the number 666, according to the Biblical book of Revelation is the mark of the beast, the antichrist that is expected to oppose Christ at his coming. Again, the globe sat unshaken.
1914 pointed to one of the most important calculations done by the Jehovah’s Witness of the start of Armageddon. In 1975, they had estimated that the year marked the 6000 year after Adam, the first man according to Biblical records, was created. Again in 1994, they added another 80 years to 1914 as the beginning of Armageddon. Again, the world has remained.
Two very similarly bizarre estimations were made in 1970 by late Moses David (formerly David Berg) and the True Life Church of Christ. David, the founder of the Christian religious group, known as the Children of God had envisaged that a comet would hit the earth and all lives in the United States of America would be destroyed. The second group was reportedly famous as it erroneously foretold the coming of Christ in 1970. Many of the church’s members quitted their means of livelihood in anticipation for the return of Christ. These expectations also failed.
Just as a local group in Australia calculated that Jesus would come back to earth through the Sydney Harbour at exactly 9.00am on the 31st of March, 1991, an Islamic leader, Louis Farrakhan had declared that the Gulf War, which he termed Armageddon, would signify the end of the world. The war has come and gone, yet, our world has refused to end.
Quite dramatic were the effects which the prediction of Lee Jang Rim made in 1992 when he was jailed for two years after embezzling about 4.4 million dollars of his cult members. He had predicted that by 28 October, 1992, the world would end. On that day, his members had waited anxiously; they sang songs; they prayed; they counted down. When the world would not end, some of them fainted; others committed suicide perhaps they could have given their assets to Lee Jang Rim.
Taking another leap in apocalyptic calculations, nothing could be comparable to the whirl of anxiety that swept across all human borders at the close of the year 1999 which automatically was to mark the end of the second millennium. The year 2000 when brought to the fore was divided by 3 and the number recorded a recurring 666.66666666 which of course is the Biblical mark of the beast.
Camping’s latest predictions have again gone sour since he erroneously estimated that the globe would end in 1994. He owns about 55 radio stations and was said to have advertised on 6000 billboards—all he did was warn that the world would have ended on Saturday, May 21, 2011. Again, he goofed as he did in 1994. He predicted that by now 200 million of the world’s population would be saved and “caught up (raptured) into heaven.” One wonders why these predictions have always failed.
Perhaps there is more to this side of existence than meets the eye.
tribune.com.ng/sun/index.php/news/3953-again-the-world-refuses-to-end
