Harold Camping

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Harold Camping

Born July 19, 1922 (1922-07-19) (age 85)
Flag of the United States Boulder, CO, U.S.
Occupation Civil Engineer, Christian author and talk radio personality.
Website
Family Stations, Inc

Harold Camping (born July 19, 1922)[1][2] is the president of Family Stations, Inc., a California-based, non profit, ministry with worldwide broadcast facilities, including more than 150 outlets in the United States. Harold Camping came from a Dutch Reformed Church background and owned a construction company before founding Family Stations, Inc. (also informally known as "Family Radio") in 1958. Family Stations, Inc. began obtaining FM licenses on commercial frequencies before many Americans owned FM radios and now has affiliates in the New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington, and San Francisco radio markets which are on prime commercial frequencies.[3] [4].

Contents

[edit] Biography

Harold Egbert Camping was born in Colorado and moved at an early age to California. He earned a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (1942)[5] . He and his family were members of the Christian Reformed Church until the year 1988. During this time he served as an Elder and Sunday school teacher at the Alameda Bible Fellowship. Mr. Camping earned his living from his own construction business, Camping Construction, which he began shortly after the end of World War II. In 1958, he together with two others formed the non-profit ministry of Family Stations, Inc. (Family Radio - a Christian educational network) in which he has served as President. Eventually he sold his business and became a full-time volunteer executive of Family Radio, serving without pay as President and General Manager.[6]

[edit] Family Radio

Main article: Family Radio

Camping's trademarks include his deep, sonorous voice coupled with a slow cadence. He runs many religious programs on his radio station. These programs can be heard by radio, satellite, television, or Internet broadcast.

In 1961, Family Radio began the Open Forum program, a live weeknight call-in program that he hosts. This program has continued to the present time and is broadcast on the more than 160 stations owned by Family Radio in the U.S. The Open Forum is also translated into many foreign languages and together with other Family Radio programing is broadcast worldwide via shortwave station WYFR, a network of AM and FM radio stations, and the Internet.

[edit] Teachings & Beliefs

Central to Camping's teaching is the belief that the Bible is the Word of God and completely true. However, he emphasizes, this does not mean that each sentence in the Bible is to be understood only literally, as stated. Rather, the meaning of individual Biblical passages also needs to be interpreted in the light of two factors. The first is the context of the Bible as a whole. The second is its spiritual meaning: in Camping's words, "the Bible is an earthly story with a Heavenly meaning." In Camping's latest publication,"We are Almost There!"[7], he states that certain Biblical passages point unquestionably to May 21, 2011 as the date of "Rapture", and October 21, 2011 as the end of the world.

[edit] Controversy

Camping's Biblical study regarding time and Christ's second coming is based on the cycles of:

He projects these into modern times and combines the results with other information in the Bible[8][9].

Camping stated that he had, and that his calculations showed the crucifixion of Christ taking place on April 1, 33 AD.

However, when comparing the events of Christ's childhood with the known times for the reign of Herod the Great[10], some individuals have speculated the crucifixion had to take place in either 29 or 30 AD. If 29 or 30 AD were correct, Mr. Camping's date of May 21, 2011 for the Rapture would have been different.

In the early 90's, he published a book titled "1994?" in which he proclaimed that Christ might return in September, 1994. His latest 2008 publication, "We are Almost There!" provides his, and other individuals', understanding of additional Biblical evidence establishing 2011 as the year in which both the Rapture and the end of the world will occur.

[edit] Literature

Camping has written around 30 books and booklets, almost all self-published including We are Almost There!,I Hope God will Save Me,Time Has an End: A Biblical History of the World 11,013 B.C. - 2011 A.D.,The Ultimate Terror: Judgement Day,1994?, The Fig Tree, The End of the Church Age...and After, Family Hymnal, Through the Bible in a Year, The Gospel, God's Covenant of Grace, The Perfect Harmony..., What is the True Gospel?, 70 Weeks of Daniel Nine, First Principles of Bible Study, Let the Oceans Speak, When is the Rapture?, Are You Ready?, Baptism, What God hath Joined Together, Biblical Calendar of History, Exposition of Galatians, Feed My Sheep, Lord, Teach Us to Pray, The Glorious Garden of Eden, How Do I Know the Bible is True, Speaking in Tongues, Sunday the Sabbath, We Talk to God in Prayer, and Witness of the Word. He rejects all scholarship that identifies multiple authorship of the Bible, particularly in the Torah (see documentary hypothesis), as well as academic, historical Bible scholarship, arguing that all Biblical interpretation must be based exclusively on internal references to the Bible itself.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mr. Camping's birthdate", Myspace(anonymous), <http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=318206760&MyToken=54feed3e-f0b9-4f6b-83fd-5b5045a44723> 
  2. ^ Harold Camping's birthdate", Quoteland.com, <http://www.quoteland.com/authorinfo.asp?AUTHOR_ID=2328> 
  3. ^ Harold Camping's biography. and "Who or What is Family Radio?", Family Stations, Inc., <http://www.familyradio.com/english/connect/bio/haroldcamping_bio.html> 
  4. ^ Family Stations, Inc. fact sheet, Hoovers, a D&B Co., <http://www.hoovers.com/Family-Stations,-Inc./--HD__ffckkrfsy,src__dbi--/free-co-dnb_factsheet.xhtml> 
  5. ^ Harold Camping's Education. Sacramento Business Journal.
  6. ^ Mr. Camping's Biography. Family Stations, Inc..
  7. ^ Harold Camping, We Are Almost There!, Family Stations, Inc, <http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/waat/contents.html>. Retrieved on 10 April 2008 
  8. ^ Harold Camping. Time Has an End: A Biblical History of the World 11,013 B.C. - 2011 A.D.. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  9. ^ Harold Camping, excerpt from “God's Magnificent Salvation Plan”, Quoteland.com, <http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=2328>. Retrieved on 11 April 2008 
  10. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great

[edit] External Links