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The False Prophet and the Second Coming That Wasn't
By Nick Radovanovic
Following a well-publicized prediction that the world would come to an end, hundreds of thousands of followers waited in great anticipation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, expecting to be taken away to heaven. But the time came and went, and when the prediction didn't come true, many followers, most of whom had made considerable material investment in the prediction, experienced severe disappointment. A minority continued to hold firm in their beliefs, but most were devasted, their lives and faith shattered. One of them wrote: Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before. It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison. We wept, and wept, till the day dawn. The prophecy being referred to here, of course, was that the world would end on October 22, 1844. William Miller had predicted that the world would end in 1843 or 1844, in an event called the "Blessed Hope," and one of his followers, Samuel Snow, had narrowed the prediction down to a precise date: October 22, 1844. Publicized across the United States, the so-called Millerite movement grew to hundreds of thousands of believers. Needless to say, the world didn't end on that day. In fact, nothing at all happened, except that the "Blessed Hope" was re-christened "The Great Disappointment." But in a queer turn of events, a new movement arose from the ashes of the failed prediction, and has grown into an established church with a global presence, namely the Seventh-Day Adventist World Church. It doesn't seem logical or rational that a successful church would grow out of a failed prediction, but it's not really surprising if one understands that the underlying system of beliefs - Christianity - is rooted in faith, not logic, and, indeed, the suspension of logical thought in the form of absolute belief in God is a prerequisite to membership. The prophecy of 1844 bears striking similarity to what transpired yesterday, on May 21, 2011. Anyone who hasn't been hiding in a cave knows that Harold Camping's Family Radio network predicted the end of the world on that day, and his message was spread far and why by hundreds of thousands of fervent believers, many of whom gave up their worldy possessions in anticipation of being 'raptured' into heaven. History repeats itself and, despite advances in technology, apparently society doesn't learn much from the past, perhaps because the one fact that hasn't changed since 1844 is that people are desperate for a savior and will believe anything if it gives them hope. It is entirely possible that what happened more than 150 years ago could happen again: one of the believers in Camping's prophecy reports a vision, and a movement starts to sprout, turning miserable failure into global success. But personally, I hope that it turns out Harold Camping withdrew $100 million in donations from the bank accounts of his non-profit organization on May 20th and settled on a Caribbean island under a new identity, living the heavenly life right here on earth, with virgins in bikinis and hot-tubs full of milk and honey. When confronted by FBI agents about his failed prediction, he'd utter a classic one-liner: "Hey, it came true for me." Now THAT would make a good movie. |
Seventh-Day Adventists official site
William Miller, courtesy of adventist.org
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 |  | crawfish liked this intel. May 22, 2011 |  | | biblefreeorg loved this intel. May 22, 2011 |  | | Sid admired this intel. May 23, 2011 |  | | Grace liked this intel. May 23, 2011 |  | | azgold liked this intel. May 23, 2011 |  | | liked this intel. May 28, 2011 |  | | Laraine liked this intel. Jun 18, 2011 |  | | noline liked this intel. Jul 28, 2011 |  | | Night Bird liked this intel. Aug 18, 2011 |  | | gembiz applauded this intel. Aug 31, 2011 |  | | Poddys loved this intel. Oct 5, 2011 |
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Nick, you did a nice job on this Intel. Good thing I was still here today to get a chance to read it.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Amen.
The Millerites also have some foundations in other sects that are still with us today. You would think they would figure out that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." stated in Matthew 24:36 means what it says. Why do they keep trying to guess?
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
And why do people keep believeing these guesses?
In response to biblefeedorg's post (excellent by the way), I believe man is so stubborn and just denies the truth. And there lies a large portion of the problem. We must have a place where truth exist. That must be in the Lord and his Word, the Bible. Otherwise man will continue to stray in the wrong direction, such as Harold Camping and other before and after him.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Hi, thanks for commenting! I'm not so sure I get what you mean, though, every photo I've seen of Harold Camping has him clutching a bible.
Well Done Nick, It's people like this that cause mass hysteria and they have been around as long as the human race has existed. I worry what ideas they put in the minds of their children especially if they ask questions as I heard in the supermarket on the day that wasn't. "Mummy, are we all going to die today?" Just imagine the nightmares this little 8 year old is going to have in the coming days.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
So they successfully got the word out all the way to Australia then? We didn't hear about it at all in the Philippines. I read about it on the BBC only the day before.
If you can ever figure out why people keep believing these guesses please let me know LOL
As Franklyn says, Since these ones claim to be guided by the Bible, I wonder what they would think about Matt. 24:36? Maybe they discount it as so many do with the first five books of the Bible. Or perhaps they are not thinking .. just following blind guides.
 | | Laraine Jun 18, 2011 05:20 |  appreciated |
'far and why' should read far and wide.
Honestly, I don't believe that this world will ever end. People will keep coming and going. Those that have reached spiritual perfection will stay on in Paradise when they die. And those who need a 'resit' will come back by reincarnation.
 | | gembiz Sep 1, 2011 07:14 | appreciated |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
An attractive notion; it almost sounds like Buddhism. 
I think that this world has a lot of very gullible people, people who are willing to follow someone who can convince them of something that may not really be true. These followers of the sects that predicted the end of the world are gullible, as are those those who donate all their wealth to television evangelists. I believe that most of religion is man made, with at least 95% of the laws and rules being man made. The rules were there to keep the masses under control, and to ensure that the priests and leaders of the church remained powerful and wealthy. There is no need for Jewish people to not eat pork for example, and for Catholics to not eat meat on Fridays (although this has mostly disappeared these days), then don't get me started on why Muslim women have to just have their eyes exposed. It's so sad really that people fall for tricksters.
 | | Poddys Oct 5, 2011 14:19 | appreciated |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Agreed; if I were into eating mammals I'd be tempted to convert to Judaism and tuck into bacon and pork chops just to prove a point. 
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This intel was contributed by nick
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