ENGLISH RECORD 132
Harold Camping’s 2011 Rapture Prediction
Radio broadcasts, books, billboards and contemporary reporting fix the claims before both deadlines.01 · WHAT IT IS
Overview
Harold Camping used biblical number calculations to announce a rapture on 21 May 2011 and final destruction on 21 October.
02 · ORIGINAL TEXT AND EARLIEST SOURCE
What can be traced?
03 · HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The world behind the text
An original editorial reconstruction created specifically for this archive record. It visualizes the subject and is not documentary evidence or an authenticated historical image.
SALGIL original illustration · record sources below ↗05 · DOCUMENT TIMELINE
When the record changed
- Earliest reviewable baselineCBS News · Camping campaign anchors the first layer used on this page.
- Interpretation expandsEarlier failed date · global advertising · May deadline · October deadline
- Claim meets outcomeBoth dates passed without the predicted events; spiritual-judgment reinterpretation followed before Camping acknowledged calculation error.
- SALGIL editorial reviewOriginal, interpretation and outcome are retained as separate records.
06 · EDITION AND WITNESS COMPARISON
How the evidence for Harold Camping’s 2011 Rapture Prediction changes
The date of a document and the date of an interpretation are recorded separately.| Witness or edition | Date | Editorial status | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBS News · Camping campaign | 2011 | Baseline source | Radio broadcasts, books, billboards and contemporary reporting fix the claims before both deadlines. |
| Scholarly or institutional interpretation | Later review | Context layer | Explains language, history and uncertainty without becoming the original text. |
| Viral quotation or modern event match | Recent circulation | Derivative layer | Most vulnerable to translation drift, omitted failures and hindsight; compare with CBS News · Camping campaign. |
07 · MAJOR CLAIMS
Representative claims and their limits
Central claim
Chosen believers would disappear on 21 May amid global judgment, and the world would end on 21 October 2011.
Original-first test
The claim is checked against CBS News · Camping campaign, not against a later summary.
Outcome test
Both dates passed without the predicted events; spiritual-judgment reinterpretation followed before Camping acknowledged calculation error.
08 · WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Comparison with events
Both dates passed without the predicted events; spiritual-judgment reinterpretation followed before Camping acknowledged calculation error.09 · DISPUTES AND COUNTERARGUMENTS
Where interpretation changes
The main dispute concerns the distance between 2011 and Earlier failed date · global advertising · May deadline · October deadline. Translation, selective quotation, changed definitions and hindsight can make a broad record appear more exact than it was. Competing readings are therefore preserved rather than silently merged.10 · EVIDENCE SCORE & PROVISIONAL CONCLUSION
Extensive pre-event record · repeated failure
Harold Camping used biblical number calculations to announce a rapture on 21 May 2011 and final destruction on 21 October. SALGIL's provisional score reflects source traceability and testability, not religious worth or cultural importance.11 · SOURCES AND REVIEW