HAROLD CAMPING ADMITS HE WAS WRO . . . WRO . . . WRONG!

“Even as God used sinful Balaam to accomplish his purposes, so he used our sin to … mak[e] the whole world acquainted with the Bible.”
Harold Camping, calling his insistence that Christ would return on May 21 last year sinful and wrong.
Source: FamilyRadio.com

Here is the letter posted on Family Radio’s website:
An Important Letter from Mr. Camping – March 2012

THE BOARD OF FAMILY RADIO WISHES TO POST THE FOLLOWING LETTER FROM MR. CAMPING. IT WAS OUR WISH, OUT OF RESPECT FOR OUR LISTENERS, TO MAIL OUT THIS LETTER BEFORE POSTING IT TO THE WEB SITE. HOWEVER, BECAUSE IT WAS LEAKED TO THE INTERNET WITHOUT OUR AUTHORIZATION, WE HAVE MADE THE DECISION TO POST IT IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID CONFUSION. THIS LETTER WILL ALSO BE MAILED OUT TO OUR LISTENERS.

“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” Romans 3:4
Dear Family Radio Family,

In this time of confusion and turmoil, God’s Word remains the only truth in which we can trust. God has shown us again the truth that He alone is true. In Romans 3:4 God declares: “Let God be true but every man a liar.” Events within the last year have proven that no man can be fully trusted. Even the most sincere and zealous of us can be mistaken.

The May 21 campaign was an astounding event if you think about its impact upon this world. There is no question that millions, if not billions of people heard for the first time the Bible’s warning that Jesus Christ will return. Huge portions of this world that had never read or seen a Bible heard the message the Christ Jesus is coming to rapture His people and destroy this natural world.

Yes, we humbly acknowledge we were wrong about the timing; yet though we were wrong God is still using the May 21 warning in a very mighty way. In the months following May 21 the Bible has, in some ways, come out from under the shadows and is now being discussed by all kinds of people who never before paid any attention to the Bible. We learn about this, for example, by the recent National Geographic articles concerning the King James Bible and the Apostles. Reading about and even discussing about the Bible can never be a bad thing, even if the Bible’s authenticity is questioned or ridiculed. The world’s attention has been called to the Bible.

We must also openly acknowledge that we have no new evidence pointing to another date for the end of the world. Though many dates are circulating, Family Radio has no interest in even considering another date. God has humbled us through the events of May 21, to continue to even more fervently search the Scriptures (the Bible), not to find dates, but to be more faithful in our understanding.

We have learned the very painful lesson that all of creation is in God’s hands and He will end time in His time, not ours! We humbly recognize that God may not tell His people the date when Christ will return, any more than He tells anyone the date they will die physically.

We realize that many people are hoping they will know the date of Christ’s return. In fact for a time Family Radio fell into that kind of thinking. But we now realize that those people who were calling our attention to the Bible’s statement that “of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36 & Mark 13:32), were right in their understanding of those verses and Family Radio was wrong. Whether God will ever give us any indication of the date of His return is hidden in God’s divine plan.

We were even so bold as to insist that the Bible guaranteed that Christ would return on May 21 and that the true believers would be raptured. Yet this incorrect and sinful statement allowed God to get the attention of a great many people who otherwise would not have paid attention. Even as God used sinful Balaam to accomplish His purposes, so He used our sin to accomplish His purpose of making the whole world acquainted with the Bible. However, even so, that does not excuse us. We tremble before God as we humbly ask Him for forgiveness for making that sinful statement. We are so thankful that God is so loving that He will forgive even this sin.

So we must be satisfied to humbly wait upon God, and trust He will guide His people to safety. At Family Radio, we continue to look to God for guidance. If it is His good pleasure for us to continue on with our original mission, the proclamation of the Gospel, God’s Word, then we must continue to look to Him.

We consider you to be a real part of this ministry and the tremendous opportunities which God, by His unfathomable mercy and grace, continues to give to us. And, your steadfast involvement and support is so appreciated!

May God bless you,
Harold Camping and the staff of Family Radio.

Some Comments on Camping’s Statement*:

1. “God has shown us again the truth that He alone is true.” As the above picture shows, the millions spent on billboards, vans, and buses implied that this was not only Mr. Camping’s interpretation, but was actually what the Bible teaches!

2. “Even the most sincere and zealous of us can be mistaken.” This humility was not present in any of the ads for the proposed Second Coming!  As we suggested in an earlier post, perhaps Mr. Camping’s greatest mistake was not listening to other members of God’s family.  His lack of accountability led him to embarrass Christianity in the eyes of the world.

3. How is at all possible to call the “May 21 campaign” “an astounding event”? Rather than “millions, if not billions of people” becoming concerned about the Second Coming, Camping misled millions if not billions with his dogmatism. This eschatological mockery may well have hardened millions if not billions to the gospel!

4. People “who never before paid any attention to the Bible” are now more open to what the Bible actually says?  This was a major part of Camping’s error.  He did not distinguish between what he believed and what the BIble actually teaches (see van photo above:  “The Bible guarantees it!”).  “Reading about and even discussing about the Bible can never be a bad thing, even if the Bible’s authenticity is questioned or ridiculed. The world’s attention has been called to the Bible.” But don’t cults do the same thing — drawing attention to the Bible to support their doctrines?  One could argue that Mr. Camping did not draw attention to the Scriptures, but to his own mathematical date-setting.

5. “Yes, we humbly acknowledge that we were wrong about the timing . . .” It took almost a YEAR for him to acknowledge that he was wrong.

6. I applaud Mr. Camping for giving up date-setting: “Though many dates are circulating, Family Radio has no interest in even considering another date. God has humbled us through the events of May 21, to continue to even more fervently search the Scriptures (the Bible), not to find dates, but to be more faithful in our understanding.” I appreciate his honest admission that “. . . But we now realize that those people who were calling our attention to the Bible’s statement that “of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36 & Mark 13:32), were right in their understanding of those verses and Family Radio was wrong.”  What does Mr. Camping mean by being “more faithful in our understanding”?

7. I am grateful for what appears to be an honest admission of serious error when he writes: “We were even so bold as to insist that the Bible guaranteed that Christ would return on May 21 and that the true believers would be raptured. Yet this incorrect and sinful statement allowed God to get the attention of a great many people who otherwise would not have paid attention. Even as God used sinful Balaam to accomplish His purposes, so He used our sin to accomplish His purpose of making the whole world acquainted with the Bible. However, even so, that does not excuse us. We tremble before God as we humbly ask Him for forgiveness for making that sinful statement. We are so thankful that God is so loving that He will forgive even this sin.” As pointed out in an earlier post, claiming that God said something that God did not say is a form of blasphemy.  The statement that “He used our sin to accomplish His purpose of making the whole world acquainted with the Bible” seems incredibly boastful.  Did the whole world become acquainted with the Bible through the May 21st campaign?

8. “So we must be satisfied to humbly wait upon God, and trust He will guide His people to safety. At Family Radio, we continue to look to God for guidance.” I wonder what Mr. Camping means by guiding His people “to safety”?

9. He closes his confession with a financial appeal:  “your steadfast involvement and support is so appreciated!” He should make every effort to refund the monies collected in light of his misguided prophetic declarations.  He should immediately resign as head of Family Radio, join a local church, and submit himself to the loving shepherding of its spiritual leaders.

One additional question remains: Will he repent of his aberrant views on the church and his appeals for Christians to abandon local congregations?

* I would like to make it clear that I have no personal vendetta against Mr. Camping.  As a theologian, I have seen the damage that well-intentioned date-setting has done to believers world-wide.  It has led some to suicide or others to the sin of abortion.

If you are interested in reading my past blogs on Mr. Camping, please click on the following links:

“4 Days to Go”

“3 Days to Go”

“2 Days to Go”

“1 Day to Go”

“No Days Left”

“How to Pray for Harold Camping“