The Radio host says the Rapture is actually now coming on October 21, 2011.

Instead of learning from his huge mistake on predicting Judgment Day for Saturday, May 21, 2011, Harold Camping, the 89-year-old radio preacher, has now come up with a new date for the Rapture.

Speaking on a live Open Forum, broadcast on Family Radio in Oakland, the eccentric preacher says his prophecy that the world would end was “off by five months” because “Judgment Day” actually will now come on Monday, October 21, 2011.

Taking questions from a live audience, Camping, a retired civil engineer, now claims that the apocalypse will come “five months after May 21,” the original date he predicted.

Speaking on his Open Forum radio show from California, Camping, who publically predicted the end of the world was to come this past Saturday, defended his claims despite the event not happening.

Camping said, “On May 21 this last weekend…God again brought Judgment on the world…We didn’t feel any difference, but we know that God brought Judgment” on the world. “The whole world is under Judgment.”

In an extraordinary statement, Camping said not only was he correct this time, but correct in the past as well.

“Actually there are four days that are very crucial at this point in time,” he said. “We have talked about all four of these days in the past and we are not making any changes in these four days except for in the emphasis…The first part the end of the world began on May 21, 1988.”

Camping then went over dates he deemed important in church history.

The next year he pointed out was 1994, which was the year he had previously predicted would bring the world’s end.

“It is true, there was judgment in a terrible way and there was salvation in a wonderful way. The salvation came because in the previous 2,300 days…virtually no one could be saved in the entire world. We didn’t even know how bad it was. Family Radio was broadcasting in those days and we had no idea what was really going,” he stated.

Camping then claimed that this “judgment” in 1994 was “spiritual, not physical,” and said that Jesus Christ did not arrive on Earth.

According to a story in International Business Times, “Originally Camping had said that the when May 21 came around, there would be massive earthquakes and believers would be raptured. The ones who were left would suffer great calamities until October 21. He reasserted that date.”

Camping went on to say: “It won’t be a five-month terrible difficulty…that we have learned,” said Camping. Instead, he said, the world will end quickly on Oct. 21 without any build up.

According to media reports, Camping says he felt so “terrible” when his doomsday prediction did not come true on Saturday that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife.

When asked if he was prepared to apologize for misleading so many people with his original prediction, Camping said, “If you want me to say I am sorry, I will do so. I am not infallible.”

By the way, Harold Camping’s latest date is ten days before Halloween! Maybe he wants to spare Evangelicals from this Pagan celebration.
______________
Dan Wooding is Founder of ASSIST Ministries