A Critique of Harold Camping Teachings

Table of Contents (click ^ to return)

1. Camping's methodology.

9. Does the New Testament church exclude pastors, deacons, and ordinances, and only consist of those who follow men like Camping?

2. Hebrews 6:4-8; individual people or the church?

10. Does disagreeing with Camping about the exact day of His coming being known mean that one is lost?

3. Does “believing” constitutes salvation by works?

11. Does “going on to perfection” (Heb. 6:1) refer to seeing Camping's brand of “enlightened” eschatology?

4. Does Isaiah 4:1 refer to the entire visible, pastored church engaging in salvation by works?

12. Does Camping's love for numbers allow him to take Jesus dying “once for sins” to mean twice?

5. Does "accepting Christ" constitute salvation by works?

13. Does everlasting punishment mean annihilation?

6. Are miracles adding to Scripture or a fulfillment of it?

14. Has God taken a sabbatical rest from doing miracles, and are all such from the flesh or devil?

7. What does the “dead” of Rev. 20:5 refer to?

15. Is Camping's date for the beginning of the Flood correct?

8. Does Mt. 24:21-22 refer to May 21, 1988 to September 7th, 1994?

16. Will God grant repentance to the “natural branches?”

The following is partly written by a Christian brother (and professional accountant) who has listened and read Camping a lot, and which I have edited and added more to, and is a supplement to my page, The JUDGMENT on CAMPING and his PERVERSE PROCLAMATIONS which also offers a free downloadable tract. Note that the work below is based upon what originally was a private correspondence, and lacks in references, yet the brother who provided it is well versed in Camping's teaching, and wrote it to be an honest critique.

    1. Camping's methodology.

Harold Camping is extremely doctrinaire, meaning that all Scripture must be interpreted in light of unique teachings he has already established The problem is that in arriving at his conclusions Camping engages in a highly allegorical and adaptable methodology, with a use of numbers which can be used to “prove” a wide variety of interpretations, resulting in esoteric understandings such as led to his claim that Jesus would return in 1994. Camping's teachings in other areas also increasingly contradict doctrines established by proven historically hermeneutics (principles of interpretation). ^

2. Hebrews 6:4-8; individual people or the church?

Camping's methodology, once determined, is by its very existence a guarantor that no Scripture threatening its correctness may be accepted on its face. For example, one passage seeming to indicate that man can lose his salvation is Hebrews 6:4-8, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”

There are certainly those who believe, through their study of other Scriptures, that this conflates with such texts as Gal. 5:1-4 and Heb. 3:6; 10:19-39, warning about believers casting away their faith and thus forfeiting what it procured, and thus drawing back to perdition, while others believe that texts such as Jn. 17:12; 1Cor. 11:32; Eph. 1:13, Phil. 1:6 promise that believers will finally persevere in faith so that one can lose their salvation, and that verses that convey otherwise could only refer to a person never saved.

But Camping goes even further, concluding that verses used against the doctrine of eternal security cannot refer to individual people (despite the the plain wording of texts) but instead to churches. He then, using his method of interpretation to try to find God’s salvation plan wherever he can, decides that this passage refers to all churches falling away during the Great Tribulation, and there is no possibility of them being brought back to God again.

Camping does not seem willing to consider that God might not intend all of Scripture will be as clear to us as we desire, and should be seen as an opportunity to “wrestle with,” and in the process not only see that our positions might not be fully correct, but also come to know God in a deeper personal way. Instead, he insists such a Scripture be shoved into support of a doctrine he already holds. ^

3. Does "believing" constitute salvation by works?

In a similar manner, while many hold to the doctrine that God sovereignly determines whether a particular person will be saved or not, yet in seeking to exclude even the exercise of faith as having anything to do with salvation, Camping contorts the plain meaning of many Scriptures in order to support it. One example is his use of 2 Thessalonians 1:11 (Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power),” which refers to the effect of a person’s faith, that being works, yet Camping seizes on the choice of words to somehow conclude that faith is a work, and therefore not used by God whatsoever in salvation. ^

4. Does Isaiah 4:1 refer to the entire visible, pastored church engaging in salvation by works?

In fact, Camping is also not shy about contorting Scriptures in order to support doctrines that are held by almost nobody but him. Isaiah 4:1 reads “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach”.

Camping here decides that the seven are indicative of the seven churches of Revelation and therefore of churches in general, and the plea is actually a prideful plea by the church to God that they be able to work for their salvation, and that such pleas are among the reasons why the Holy Spirit has left the churches.

That this is a real stretch of of Is. 4:1 does not deter Camping from using it within his argument that all of the local, pastored churches are teaching salvation by works, which he erroneously supposes disallows any God-enabled act of God-given faith instrumentally procuring justification.

In the process of taking this position, Camping ironically loses an opportunity to more reasonably defend another one of his positions, probably held by a few others, that there will be no more possibility of salvation once the Rapture has occurred. Camping could say, for example, that this plea is like the five unwise bridesmaids pleading for admittance to the marriage. But, he misses this opportunity in order to espouse his own esoteric teaching on the end of the Church age. ^

5. Does "accepting Christ” constitute salvation by works?

Camping says that salvation, beyond having nothing to do with faith, cannot be obtained by “accepting Christ”, nor does repentance play any role, because “accepting” and “repenting” are also works. Camping states that a person crying for mercy to God, claiming no righteousness of one’s own, is the only way to be in a position where God might choose to save that person. Camping uses the Ninevites as a model for this, citing Jonah 3:9, “Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”

But Camping neglects to refer to the immediately prior verse, Jonah 3:8, “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.” This verse clearly shows that repentance is indispensable to being saved. And Camping also neglects to mention Luke 13:3, which reads “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” while Peter required repentance and a confessed faith (in baptism) in order to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, (Acts 2:38; cf. Eph. 1:13) and the promise of forgiveness is stated to be upon believing, (Acts 10:43; 15:7-9) which constituents repentance, (Acts 11:18) and a basic turning from sin. (Acts 3:26; 26:20; cf. Jn. 3:19-21) Faith in the Lord Jesus effects changes which correspond to the known will of its Object, including repentance when convinced or not doing do.

The fact is that that salvation by grace through faith does not mean that man makes no response of faith which instrumentally appropriates justification, but that God enables and moves man to do what he otherwise would not be able to do. God draws souls to Him, (Jn. 6:44; 12:32) opens hearts, (Acts 16:14) and grants repentance, (Acts 11:18) and gives faith, (Eph. 2:8; Ja. 1:17) which is counted for righteousness when one believes, (Rm. 4) and which manner of faith is one that has works of faith which correspond to the will of its object, (1Thes. 1) and which works justify one, as being one that has saving faith. (1Thes. 1:4-10; Heb. 6:9,10; Ja. 2:14-26) And which faith is rewarded, (Heb. 6:10-12; 10:36) by rewarding works done by faith; (Mt. 25:33-40) all by and to the glory of God. ^

6. Are miracles adding to Scripture or a fulfillment of it?

Camping teaches that all “Signs and Wonders” from God ended with the conclusion of the writing of the Book of Revelation, in about 95 AD, and he is certainly not alone in taking that position, though we would not have the Scriptures or Christianity if God did not do miracles, the new birth being just one. But Camping clings so strongly to Revelation 22:18-19 (For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book), that he says God will no longer “speak” to man in any way whatsoever, beyond what is already written in Scripture. By taking this position, Camping effectively states that texts such as John 10:4, And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice”, and Luke 11-12, “And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say, are no longer in effect, because they entail some means of spiritual leading, such as by impressions upon ones heart, in leading man in accordance with the Scriptures. Yet it is interesting that Camping’s website gives testimony of a particular adherents of his being “led” to go to particular places in the course of communicating Camping’s May 21, 2011 Rapture Day teaching. But Camping gives no evidence of rebuking this person for believing that God could personally lead them. ^

7. Does the “dead” of Rev. 20:5 refer to living souls who become saved during the Great Tribulation, or the “resurrection of damnation?”

Camping has also concluded that salvation, among those having already physically died, is not confined to only the “first resurrection” of Revelation 20, but that Revelation 20:5 refers to those being saved during the Great Tribulation, rather than this being the “resurrection of damnation” that the Lord referred to in Jn. 5:29, who are not in the Lamb's book of life, and are sentenced according to their works and accountability. (Rev. 20:11-15) Revelation 20:5-8 reads “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

The reason that Camping concludes this is that he believes that Satan’s “loosing” refers to nothing more than his being released to rule in churches during the Great Tribulation, and that those coming to life after the thousand years (which Camping conforms to fit his construct) were finished (Revelation 20:5) are those being saved during the Great Tribulation.

Camping’s conclusion is ludicrous because it is only those participating in the first resurrection who are cited as “blessed and holy”, and as not being under the power of the second death. Camping forsakes the plain meaning of the Scripture in another attempt to further reinforce his teaching to leave the church. ^

8. Does Mt. 24:21-22 refer to May 21, 1988 to September 7th, 1994?

Camping also contorts Matthew 24:21-22, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” Rather than concluding as per the traditional teachings that this refers to either time needing to be shortened to prevent the physical death of the elect, or their eventual deception (Matthew 24:24), Camping looks to buttress another of his teachings by concluding this means the shortening of days means the ending of the first part of the Great Tribulation which he says started May 21, 1988, and ended September 7th, 1994, so that the “Latter Rain could commence (which began immediately thereafter and will end on May 21, 2011) and mark the saving of many, but all of which are outside of the churches.

The problem with Camping’s teaching, if true, is that this Scripture would teach no flesh will be saved. Yet Camping, perhaps embarrassed by published testimonies of those saying they were saved through Family Radio during the first part of the Great Tribulation, separately acknowledges a few were probably saved during that time. In this process, Camping also has to reconcile what he has said about Revelation 8:1,And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour”, which he said refers to the first part of the Great Tribulation, the silence refers to no rejoicing in heaven because no one was being saved. ^

9. Does the New Testament church exclude pastors, deacons, and only consist of those who leave the Biblical model and follow men like Camping?

To defend himself against those who claim that Family Radio is effectively a church, with Harold Camping the pastor of a world-wide congregation, Camping states that a church can cease to be a church when “The elders will no longer be elders. The deacons will no longer be deacons. The pastor will no longer be pastor. In other words, no individuals will have spiritual rule over the congregation.” Harold Camping says the absence of such authority clearly ensures that Family Radio is not a church. And yet, Harold Camping rules over the teachings espoused on Family Radio like very few Pastors in the world rule over what is said in their churches. Absolutely no other opinions of other Family Radio employees may be expressed on air, no other evangelism material other than that produced by Family Radio may apparently be used in their outreaches, and any references to churches made by the very few outside syndicated programs that they permit to be aired are edited out. ^

10. Does disagreeing with Camping and agreeing with Jesus that the exact day of His coming cannot be known mean one is lost?

Harold Camping’s teachings are held by him with increasingly little humility. In the Introduction to “The End of the Church Age – and After”, written in 2001, Camping acknowledges that his teaching will be controversial, and in a somewhat humble way states “The best this writer can hope for is that each one who reads this book will carefully and diligently check the Bible for the validity of each conclusion that is taught in this study.”.

Yet immediately under the title of “We Are Almost There!”, Camping’s 2008 book which states his view that the Day of Rapture and the Judgement will be May 21, 2011, Camping writes ”WITH NO APOLOGIES, IT IS THE INTENT OF THIS BOOK TO WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THE ABUNDANT BIBLICAL EVIDENCE THAT THE END OF THE WORLD IS ALMOST HERE.” Camping goes even farther in “No Man Knows the Day or Hour”, a more recent tract written to defend the May 21, 2011 teaching. In it, Camping gives his explanation of 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

Rather than true believers looking forward to the “blessed hope,” and knowing the time is near due to obvious and distinctive signs such as expressed in 2Thes. 2:4,9,10; Rev. 13:11-15, which would be distinguishable from the normal deceptions which are a historical constant, Camping believer that this Scripture plainly means that the specific Day of Judgment will be clear to true believers in the last days, by reliance upon an esoteric eschatology achieved through the use of highly allegorical interpretations and use of numbers, which has failed him once already (1994).

Moreover, Camping teaches that even if one leaves the church, but believes in the Lord Jesus to save him by faith and overall obeys Jesus, then he cannot be saved if he holds that the day or hour of Jesus coming cannot be known or is not known. (“No man knows the day or the hour,” Time has an end”.) ^

11. Does “going on to perfection” (Heb. 6:1) refer to progressing in a faith of virtue and holiness, in the light of a better high priest and covenant, which Hebrews details and exhorts, or Camping's brand of “enlightened” eschatology?

Harold Camping has a view of Christian maturity that apparently has very different priorities than the writers of the New Testament had. In the famous Phillipians 3:8-13 passage, Paul writes “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”

And 1 John 4:17-18 reads, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

And yet, Camping coveys the perfection referred to in Hebrews 6:1-2, Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment” is not the sort of things Paul and John were talking about above. Instead, in Chapter 6 of Wheat and Tares, Camping says “going on to perfection” referred to in Hebrews simply means always trying to learn new things from the Bible. And in this endeavor, Camping claims that his method of Scripture study to ultimately be an exercise in Parable interpretation is the only one endorsed by God (Mark 4:34), and has enabled him to uncover great truths which Daniel 12:9 would be hidden until the end. This may serve to help make Camping a living legend among his followers, but does little to bring him or them more deeply enter into the life of Christ. ^

12. Does Camping's love for numbers allow him to take Jesus dying “once for sins” to mean twice?

Camping’s teaching that Jesus had already fully suffered for the sins of the elect prior to the foundation of the world, based on Hebrews 4:3, ignores the use of that phraseology elsewhere, including Luke 11:50, which reads “That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation”. Although Jesus indeed already existed before the foundation of the world, his prophets did not. So, the “foundation of the world” phraseology merely indicates something that God ordained, and as His Word is always true it can be considered to have happened even before it happens on earth as a matter of time and space. Furthermore, note that God is addressing the future when He speaks to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This event occurred after the foundation of the world, and if Jesus had already suffered on behalf of the elect Satan’s head would already be bruised.

Moreover, Hebrews 9:26 and 1 Peter 3:18, among others, puts to rest the idea that Christ suffered for man's sins before coming to earth, "but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: " Thanks be to God. ^

13. Does everlasting punishment mean annihilation?

Camping bases his belief that the unsaved are annihilated, as opposed to eternal torment in the Lake of Fire, that the Hebrew word “Sheol” is often translated as “death” instead of torment, and also that death without resurrection was understood to be mankind’s general punishment for his condition of sin, as first told Adam before he sinned. Camping also believes Scripture like Matthew 25:31-46, the account of the Sheep and the Goats, is only a Parable, and simply refers to God’s positional categorization of the saved, who will rise and live with Him in eternity, and the unsaved, who will never rise again. But Camping's basis for this, Mark. 4:34, refers to the body of stories which just preceded it, (Mk. 4:1-33) and cannot refer to all that Jesus taught, as that would render His own death and resurrection to be a parable. (Mk. 10:33,34)

Jesus also clearly differentiates between earthly death, and a separate eternal death, in Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,” and 2Thes. 1:8,9 reveals this to be everlasting destruction, and the lost in Mt. 25:41 are sent into the “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”, and which Rev. 20:10 makes clear this is eternal torment. (cf. Rev. 14:11)

Annihilationism rests upon the premise that the word for “everlasting” (aiōnios) denotes something less than eternal, which it only does in a minority of times in the Old Testament, but never when speaking of the spiritual realm in which God exists, while in the New Testament every instance of aiōnios can mean eternal

(Mat. 19:16, Mat. 25:46, Mk. 3:29, Mk. 10:17, Mk. 10:30, Luk. 10:25, Luk. 18:18, Jn. 3:15, Jn. 4:36, Jn. 5:39, Jn. 6:54, Jn. 6:68, Jn. 10:28, Jn. 12:25, Jn. 17:2-3 (2), Acts 13:48, Rom. 2:7, Rom. 5:21, Rom. 6:23, 2Co. 4:17-18 (2), 2Co. 5:1, 1Ti. 6:12, 1Ti. 6:19, 2Ti. 2:10, Tit. 1:2, Tit. 3:7, Heb. 5:9, Heb. 6:2, Heb. 9:12, Heb. 9:14-15 (2), 1Pe. 5:10, 1Jo. 1:2, 1Jo. 2:25, 1Jo. 3:15, 1Jo. 5:11, 1Jo. 5:13, 1Jo. 5:20, Jud. 1:7, Jud. 1:21

everlasting, 25: Mat. 18:8, Mat. 19:29, Mat. 25:41, Mat. 25:46, Luk. 16:9, Luk. 18:30, Jn. 3:16, Jn. 3:36, Jn. 4:14, Jn. 5:24, Jn. 6:27, Jn. 6:40, Jn. 6:47, Jn. 12:50, Acts 13:46, Rom. 6:22, Rom. 16:26, Gal. 6:8, 2Th. 1:9, 2Th. 2:16, 1Ti. 6:16 (2), Heb. 13:20, 2Pe. 1:11, Rev. 14:6

world, 3: Rom. 16:25, 2Ti. 1:9, Tit. 1:2

ever, 1: Phm. 1:15)

While the word for “ever” can denote an age, if aiōnios is temporary, then so could everlasting life be.

Moreover, for many, being annihilated at the end would hardly serve as much of a deterrent against living a life time fulfilling one's lusts, and holding such a position is tantamount to charging the Lord will misleading souls, as that is clearly not the import of such warnings that it would be better to pluck an eye out if it caused one to sin, “than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mk. 9:47,48)

Neither the interpretation that the Lord was using hyperbole (since the heart is the problem) nor His analogical method of using temporal earthly realities to illustrate spiritual ones allows relegating the latter reality here to be something less than everlasting. If it did, then things as the kingdom of God could also be temporary, as pearls are. (Mt. 13:45,46)

Furthermore, while attempts are made to reduce the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Lk. 16:19-33 to being a parable, yet in every parable the Lord taught He used known physical realities to illustrate spiritual ones, but if annihilationism is true, with no postmortem prolonged consciousness and suffering, then for the first and only time then the Lord was using science fiction.

Finally, while Camping holds that if only one death, without resurrection to heaven, is the only judgment, Revelation 20:14 says otherwise And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” ^

14. Has God taken a sabbatical rest from doing miracles, and are all such from the flesh or devil?

Camping believes that a great amount of judgment will be due to the belief and seeking after “signs and wonders” by many professing Christians. He believes signs and wonders will be the main means by which the anti-christ, which Camping says is not a literal person but rather refers to Satan’s rule of churches during the Great Tribulation, deceives the religious but unsaved during this time. Camping seems particularly persuaded by the “slain in the spirit” phenomenon, which he says has no physical explanation, and which he says is an imitation of God (based on John 18:6) that Satan is able to perform, even as Satan is not able to literally send down fire from heaven (note Camping believes Revelation 13:13 is only an allegory, since the prophets of Baal were not able to command fire to come down from heaven).

Camping’s anti-Pentecostal perspective brings him to define “slain in the spirit” as a supernatural wonder that is disallowed today, as he holds all miracles to be, and to be a sign of apostasy.

Finally, Camping believes that signs and wonders are the means by which Satan attempts to deceive the world, and it is only God’s intervention that prevents the elect from being deceived (Matthew 24:24).

However, while it is true that the flesh and the devil seek to do what God does, and “slain in the spirit” experiences can be explained as being effected by the power of suggestion, or due to a subject wanting a spiritual experience, and just going along with others, but if so, then they would not be “signs and wonders” at all.

But as regards a Scriptural basis for the “slain in the spirit” phenomenon, though it may be may be arguable whether every form of spiritual experience must actually have a precise precedent in Scripture, Scripture does establish that believers can have manifestly supernatural experiences, and Pentecostals may see support for being slain in the spirit in texts such as 1Kg. 8:11, or Ezek. 1:28; Rev. 1:17.

Moreover, contrary to Camping, that God allows the devil to do some miracles is plainly attested to in Scripture, (Ex. 7:22; 8:7,18) in order to show that God is more powerful. And rather than supernatural signs being a sign of apostasy, Scripture and the Christian faith would not exist if it were not for the Divine supernatural attestation God gave (and gives) to His men and His word, (Ex. 9:17; 1Ki 17:24 ; Mt. 8:16; Jn. 10:25,37; 14:11; Acts 2:43; 4:33; 5:15; 6:8; 8:6; 10:38; Rm. 15:19) including the new birth, and which He promised would accompany such. (Mk. 16:20; Jn. 14:12)

Finally, while (wrongly, i say) some see the gifts of healing, etc. given to believers (1Cor. 12:7-11) as ceasing with the completion of the last book of the Bible and or the death of the apostles, but not all miracles, if Camping's rejects all supernatural miracles (except perhaps the new birth) and attributes them to being fake or by the devil, it further confirms that it is Camping that is manifesting deception, and is in danger of Hell fire. ^

15. Is Camping's date for the beginning of the Flood correct?

Camping says that "one day is as 1,000 yrs, 1000 yrs as one day" statement made in 2 Peter 3:8, when coupled with God's statement in Genesis 7:4 that the judgment (the Flood) would begin in seven days, can be taken to mean that final judgment will be in 7,000 years after the Flood occurred. Camping separately determined the year of the flood, based on the calendar used today, to be 4990 BC (he states this in his book Adam When? released in 1974).

Genesis 7:11 says the flood did in fact begin 7 days after God spoke, which (based on the calendar used then) to be the seventeenth day of the second month of that year. Camping says that May 21, 2011 is the seventeenth day of the seventh month if the calendar used during Noah’s day was extrapolated to the present, and therefore May 21, 2011 is exactly 7,000 years after the Flood, and therefore the day final judgment begins. 

However, Camping neglects to acknowledge that God made his statement 7 days before the Flood, so (if all other Camping calculations are correct), 7000 years after the date of God's statement is May 14, 2011, not May 21, 2011.  This is significant, because Camping makes much of the fact that May 21, 2011 is exactly 722,500 calendar days after the date Camping says Jesus died on the cross (which Camping said, also in Adam When?, was April 1, 33 AD), and that 722,500, because it equals (5*17*10)*(5*17*10), has great significance due to the numbers represented. This coincidence, says Camping in his recent tract One More Infallible Proof, should remove all doubt that May 21, 2011 is the Day of Rapture and the beginning of Judgment. But May 14, 2011, the true 7000th year anniversary (if all other Camping calculations were true) of the date of God’s statement in Genesis 7:4, is in fact not the same date as May 21, 2011. ^

16. Will God grant repentance to the “natural branches?”

Finally, Camping seems to have a great antipathy towards the nation of Israel. He believes that God ended all use of Israel as a special nation when Jesus was crucified. He teaches that Luke 21:24, which reads “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” means that Israel will never regain significance in God’s eyes, because the times of the Gentiles will only be fulfilled when Jesus comes back again.

In this teaching, Camping ignores Romans 11:25-26, which speaks of a similar topic but has a very different conclusion “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob”.

This chapter seems to convey a much better outcome for Israel than Camping is anticipating, and Rm. 11 promises that the “natural branches” are yet “beloved for the father's sake,” and thus God has not utterly forsaken the natural seed of Abraham, and as they must be saved through faith in the Lord Jesus, some, like Paul, have come to faith throughout the centuries, and Rm. 11 indicates that God will yet “reverse the curse” in granting and working repentance to all that remains of Israel.

Furthermore, Paul, the writer of Romans, knew the apostle Peter, who would have heard Jesus speak the words in Luke 21:24, and might thus have had a ready knowledge of what Jesus meant by his words. ^