As a follow up to my post from yesterday, I came across this letter to those who expected Judgement Day. I have included a few excerpts but encourage you to read the whole thing.
This letter is… for those who are wondering: How did this happen? Why was I deceived? Why did God allow me, when I sought the truth in prayer, to believe this and go into the cities and distribute flyers and tell my loved ones that they should prepare for the Day of Judgment? How do I face the mockers now? And how do I know that my faith as a whole is not a falsehood as well? When I once went about with my youth group or college group or small group and proclaimed the gospel, and told people earnestly that Christ had died for them and that they should receive God’s gracious offer before the end “” was believing that and pronouncing that any different than believing and pronouncing that May 21st was Judgment Day? What if it’s all just a silly story, and I’m a fool to believe it?
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Your heart was in the right place…. You were right to believe that God will, one day, gather his children unto himself and draw history as we know it to a close….
Our faith is not placed in a person or in a prediction, but in the good news of Jesus Christ….
We should remember the difference between scripture and an interpretation of scripture. The Christian scriptures did not say that May 21st would be Judgment Day. Harold Camping’s prediction was based on an interpretation of the scriptures that used some obscure tools and methods. An interpretation of the scripture does not have the same force as what the scripture says so plainly that no interpretation is required. So what was disproven in this case is not the scripture itself “” not remotely “” but an interpretation.
We should always beware the power of charismatic leaders and groupthink to sway our beliefs. I do not believe that Harold Camping is a crackpot or a cult leader, though some will construe him as such. I believe that he got caught up in a particular way of looking at the scriptures, and was eventually surrounded by people who believed likewise. I would guess it probably gave him a sense of extraordinary insight and excitement to believe that he could find hidden truths in the scripture that others could not. He should have been humbler. But his followers should also have been more critical, quicker to test him, and less quick to explain away the inconsistencies. They also should have listened to the gentle criticisms and encouragements they received from fellow believers who did not accept the May 21st prophecy….
…If some of you find that “your faith” is crumbling as the reality dawns that you believed in a falsehood, let me suggest to you, gently, that any faith that capsizes when Judgment Day fails to arrive is not a proper faith to begin with. If your faith is shattered here, then your faith was not in God but in a particular way of thinking about God and God’s plans. There’s a very important difference between the two.
Bob – So good to see all these “outreach” type letters to Camping’s followers. I have personal experience seeing someone’s faith be shipwrecked by a false teacher and being immersed in his teaching’s for years. I wish I had written such a well grounded and heartfelt letter to my friend that emerged from that cult all those years ago. The tone of much of the world, one of mockery and a “rubbing it in” mentality, has no place. Good to see the actual Christian community being both serious about calling Camping to account and counseling him to repent, but also calling those who believed him to humble return to Bible believing churches and authentic ministry once again instead of taking a “we told you so!” approach to this epic failure.
Thanks, Paul. My prayer is for those people you describe. They are the ones who may have a shipwrecked faith because of Camping’s foolishness.