Tribute to Harold Camping on Family Radio Network Leaves Out Any Mention of His End Times Prophecies
A recently aired tribute to the life of Harold Camping by the Family Radio network omitted any mention of the former president and founder's much publicized end times prophecies.
For years, Camping had predicted that the Rapture would occur on May 21, 2011, according to his interpretation of what the Bible said about the End Times. The radio segment, which aired Friday evening, focused instead on other projects and endeavors of the controversial Christian radio host.
Camping's projection came through looking at certain numbers in the Bible and reasoning that they, when calculated property, gave the exact date for the Rapture.
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"Because I was an engineer, I was very interested in the numbers," said Camping tto the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'd wonder, 'Why did God put this number in, or that number in?' It was not a question of unbelief, it was a question of, 'There must be a reason for it.'"
While Camping had previously predicted the end of the world as happening sometime in 1994, he devoted a greater effort at spreading awareness of his May 2011 end times prophecy. This included radio broadcasts focusing on how he came to his conclusions, an ad campaign involving cars going across the country to major cities, and even a hymn set to the tune of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."
Even after the date came and went, Camping maintained that the end was near, telling media that the real date will be October 21, 2011.
"…at this point, looks like it will be the final end of everything," said Camping, reasoning that the May 21 date was a "spiritual" end of days.
The audio tribute aired by Family Radio last week did not mention any of Camping's prophecies regarding the end of the world.
Rather the tribute, which lasted a little under a half-hour, focused more attention on the Family Radio president's life, background, his effort to start Family Stations, Inc., and his Open Forum program.
"Instead of buying a radio station for a profit...why don't we make this the work of the Lord altogether," said Camping from an interview in 1984, included in the tribute.
"Why don't we just operate as idealistically as we possibly can and to God's glory? And these are the basic concepts we began to put together."
Neither was there mention of Camping's longstanding claim that in the 1990s, the "church age" had come to an end. Camping argued that all the institutional churches were apostate, having abandoned the Bible's teachings on many matters.
With a degree in civil engineering, Camping had no official academic background in theology. He concluded that his knowledge of the Bible came from studying it in his own time.
In addition to the audio tribute, Family Radio also released a statement via a blog where they declared Camping was now at "home with the Lord."
"We are so grateful to God for Brother Camping's dedication to Family Radio and for his lifetime of service to God. We are thankful to know that Family Radio is God's ministry, and will continue to be in God's care and keeping," reads the statement in part. "Please remember the Camping family in your prayers, in particular, Mrs. Camping, Mr. Camping's wife of over seventy-one years. May God sustain her in her loss."
