May 29, 2011

Laughing at Prophets of Doom

By Fay Voshell
The cynical snickering over the failed denouement of Reverend Harold Camping's May 21st predicted rapture, now postponed to October 21st, may be somewhat justified.  Sadly, he joins the ranks of hundreds of other preachers throughout history who thought they knew more than the Messiah they professed to follow.  Ersatz prophets throughout the ages continually have failed to heed the words of the Christ, who said the secret of his return was hidden even from him, secreted in the Father's heart.  But still the irresistible urge to proclaim The End has afflicted cultists and fringe groups from time immemorial.One need only think of the founder of the Jehovah Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell, who predicted Christ's invisible return in 1874 and a much more noticeable appearance in 1914.  Christ did not appear, but world carnage did in the form of WWI.  Russell's successor, undeterred by the failure of Christ to appear on command, visibly or invisibly, determined the...(Read Full Article)