Some Christians and secular individuals
predicted several momentous events that they believed are related: occur The second coming of Jesus Christ --
his anticipated return to earth after almost two millennia.
The
war of Armageddon -- a massive battle in Israel.
The
arrival on earth of the Antichrist, an evil political, military leader.
The
Tribulation, a seven year interval of great suffering and death.
The
Rapture, when Christians who have been born again -- both living and dead --
will rise into the sky towards Jesus.
Some
horrendous natural disaster(s).
etc.
It is worth noting that all of the
following predictions have failed. We expect that all of the doomsday
predictions about our future will also fail.
We offer no guarantees that the prophets
listed below actually made these predictions. We have described their alleged
predictions as they were reported on the Web, in newspapers, books, etc. We do
not have the resources to track down original source material.
Failed prophecies: About 30 CE: The Christian Scriptures (New Testament),
when interpreted literally, appear to record many predictions by Yeshua of
Nazareth (Jesus Christ) that God's Kingdom would arrive within a very short
period, or was actually in the process of arriving. For example, Jesus is
recorded as saying in Matthew 16:28: "...there shall be some standing
here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in
his kingdom." In Matthew 24:34,
Yeshua is recorded as saying: "...This generation shall not pass, till all
these things be fulfilled." Since the life expectancy in those days was
little over 30 years, Jesus appears to have predicted his second coming sometime
during the 1st century CE. It didn't happen. More details.
About
60 CE: Interpreting the Epistles of Paul
of Tarsus literally, his writings seem to imply that Jesus would return and
usher in a rapture during the lifetime of persons who were living in the middle
of the 1st century. More details.
About
90 CE: Saint Clement 1 predicted that the world end would occur at any moment.
2nd
Century CE: Prophets and Prophetesses of the Montanist movement predicted that
Jesus would return sometime during their lifetime and establish the New
Jerusalem in the city of Pepuza in Asia Minor.
365
CE: A man by the name of Hilary of Poitiers, announced that the end would
happen that year. It didn't.
375
to 400 CE: Saint Martin of Tours, a student of Hilary, was convinced that the
end would happen sometime before 400 CE.
500
CE: This was the first year-with-a-nice-round-number-panic. The antipope Hippolytus and an earlier
Christian academic Sextus Julius Africanus had predicted Armageddon at about
this year.
968
CE: An eclipse was interpreted as a prelude to the end of the world by the army
of the German emperor Otto III.
992:
Good Friday coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation; this had long been
believed to be the event that would bring forth the Antichrist, and thus the
end-times events foretold in the book of Revelation. Records from Germany
report that a new sun rose in the north and that as many as 3 suns and 3 moons
were fighting. There does not appear to be independent verification of this
remarkable event.
1000-JAN-1:
Many Christians in Europe had predicted the end of the world on this date. As
the date approached, Christian armies waged war against some of the Pagan
countries in Northern Europe. The motivation was to convert them all to
Christianity, by force if necessary, before Christ returned in the year 1000.
Meanwhile, some Christians had given their possessions to the Church in
anticipation of the end. Fortunately, the level of education was so low that
many citizens were unaware of the year. They did not know enough to be afraid.
Otherwise, the panic might have been far worse than it was. Unfortunately, when
Jesus did not appear, the church did not return the gifts. Serious criticism of
the Church followed. The Church reacted by exterminating some heretics.
Agitation settled down quickly, as it later did in the year 2000.
1000-MAY:
The body of Charlemagne was disinterred on Pentecost. A legend had arisen that
an emperor would rise from his sleep to fight the Antichrist.
1005-1006:
A terrible famine throughout Europe was seen as a sign of the nearness of the
end.
1033:
Some believed this to be the 1000th anniversary of the death and resurrection
of Jesus. His second coming was anticipated. Jesus' actual date of execution is
unknown, but is believed to be in the range of 27 to 33 CE.
1147:
Gerard of Poehlde decided that the millennium had actually started in 306 CE
during Constantine's reign. Thus, the world end was expected in 1306 CE.
1179:
John of Toledo predicted the end of the world during 1186. This estimate was
based on the alignment of many planets.
1205:
Joachim of Fiore predicted in 1190 that the Antichrist was already in the
world, and that King Richard of England would defeat him. The Millennium would
then begin, sometime before 1205.
1284:
Pope Innocent III computed this date by adding 666 years onto the date the
Islam was founded.
1346
and later: The black plague spread across Europe, killing one third of the
population. This was seen as the prelude to an immediate end of the world.
Unfortunately, the Christians had previously killed a many of the cats, fearing
that they might be familiars of Witches. The fewer the cats, the more the rats.
It was the rat fleas that spread the black plague.
1496:
This was approximately 1500 years after the birth of Jesus. Some mystics in the
15th century predicted that the millennium would begin during this year.
1524:
Many astrologers predicted the imminent end of the world due to a world wide
flood. They obviously had not read the Genesis story of the rainbow.
1533:
Melchior Hoffman predicted that Jesus' return would happen a millennium and a
half after the nominal date of his execution, in 1533. The New Jerusalem was
expected to be established in Strasbourg, Germany. He was arrested and died in
a Strasbourg jail.
1669:
The Old Believers in Russia believed that the end of the world would occur in
this year. 20 thousand burned themselves to death between 1669 and 1690 to
protect themselves from the Antichrist.
1689:
Benjamin Keach, a 17th century Baptist, predicted the end of the world for this
year.
1736:
British theologian and mathematician William Whitson predicted a great flood
similar to Noah's for OCT-13 of this year.
1783:
On JUN-08, a volcanic eruption in southern Iceland started. It pumped massive
amounts of toxic dust, sulphur dioxide and fluorine into the atmosphere. Cattle
died, crops failed, and about one quarter of the island's population died of starvation.
By the end of June, poisonous clouds had reached England and much of Europe.
Boats had to stay in harbor because they could not navigate. There was massive
loss of life in England, particularly among farm workers. Many predicted that
the end of the world was imminent.
1792:
This was the date of the end of the world calculated by some believers in the
Shaker movement.
1794:
Charles Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, thought that Doomsday would
occur in this year.
1830:
Margaret McDonald, a Christian prophetess, predicted that Robert Owen would be
the Antichrist. Owen helped found New Harmony, IN.
1832?:
Joseph Smith (1805-1844) was the founder of the Church of Christ, which became
the Restorationist movement after many schisms. It now includes The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- a.k.a. the Mormons, and about a hundred
other denominations and sects. He heard a voice while praying. He wrote, in
Doctrines and Covenants section 130:
14:
"I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the
Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:"
15: "Joseph, my son, if thou livest
until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of
Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter."
16: "I was left thus, without being
able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium
or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his
face."
17: "I believe the coming of the Son
of Man will not be any sooner than that time." 14
The
year in which this event occurred is not recorded. However, one commentator
suggested 1832 or earlier. 16 Smith is later recorded as having said:
"I prophesy in the name of the Lord
God, and let it be written--the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of
heaven till I am eighty-five years old." 17
Smith would have reached the age of 85
during 1890. Unfortunately, by that year, Smith had been dead for almost a half
century, having been assassinated by a mob.
1843-MAR-21:
William Miller, founder of the Millerite movement, predicted that Jesus would
come on this date. A very large number of Christians accepted his prophecy.
1844-OCT-22:
When Jesus did not return, Miller predicted this new date. In an event which is
now called "The Great Disappointment," many Christians sold their
property and possessions, quit their jobs and prepared themselves for the
second coming. Nothing happened; the day came and went without incident.
1850:
Ellen White, founder of the Seven Day Adventists movement, made many
predictions of the timing of the end of the world. All failed. On 1850-JUN-27
she prophesied that only a few months remained before the end. She wrote:
"My accompanying angel said, 'Time is almost finished. Get ready, get
ready, get ready.' ...now time is almost finished...and what we have been years
learning, they will have to learn in a few months." 10
1856
or later: At Ellen White's last prediction, she said that she was shown in a
vision the fate of believers who attended the 1856 SDA conference. She wrote
"I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: 'Some
food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and
remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus." 11 That
is, some of the attendees would die of normal diseases; some would die from
plagues at the last days, others would still be alive when Jesus came. "By
the early 1900s all those who attended the conference had passed away, leaving
the Church with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to explain away such a
prominent prophetic failure." 12
1881:
Mother Shipton, (1488 - 1561), a 16th century mystic predicted the end of the
world: "...The world to an end shall come; in eighteen hundred and
eighty-one."
1891
or before: On 1835-FEB-14, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church,
attended a meeting of church leaders. He said that the meeting had been called
because God had commanded it. He announced that Jesus would return within 56
years -- i.e. before 1891-FEB-15.
(History of the Church 2:182)
1914
was one of the more important estimates of the start of the war of Armageddon
by the Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society). They based their prophecy of 1914 from prophecy in
the book of Daniel, Chapter 4. The writings referred to "seven
times". The WTS interpreted each "time" as equal to 360 days,
giving a total of 2520 days. This was further interpreted as representing 2520
years, measured from the starting date of 607 BCE. This gave 1914 as the target
date. When 1914 passed, they changed their prediction; 1914 became the year
that Jesus invisibly began his rule.
1914,
1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 1994, etc. were other dates that the
Watchtower Society (WTS) or its members predicted. Since late in the 19th century, they had taught
that the "battle of the Great Day of God Almighty" (Armageddon) would
happen in 1914 CE. It didn't.
The
next major estimate was 1925. Watchtower magazine predicted: "The year
1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more
clearly than that of 1914; but it would be presumptuous on the part of any
faithful follower of the Lord to assume just what the Lord is going to do
during that year." 6
The
Watchtower Society selected 1975 as its next main prediction. This was based on
the estimate "according to reliable Bible chronology Adam was created in
the year 4026 BCE, likely in the autumn of the year, at the end of the sixth
day of creation." 8 They believed
that the year 1975 a promising date for the end of the world, as it was the
6,000th anniversary of Adam's creation. Exactly 1,000 years was to pass for
each day of the creation week. This prophecy also failed.
The
current estimate is that the end of the world as we know it will happen
precisely 6000 years after the creation of Eve. 9 There is no way of knowing
when this happened.
More
details on the WTS predictions.
1919:
Meteorologist Albert Porta predicted that the conjunction of 6 planets would
generate a magnetic current that would cause the sun to explode and engulf the
earth on DEC-17.
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