My Experience With Harold Camping – Testimony of Jim B.

My experience with Harold – By Jim B.

The long history of his failed predictions, and heretical doctrines.

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I started listening to Family Radio and Harold Camping in 1980, he did not talk about exact dates at that time, but he constanly said that he “would be very surprised if the world would reach the year 2000” on the radio, implying that he had a date in mind, which was 1994.

I recently found out from the internet that he had privately predicted the rapture would be 1978, and the end of time in 1985, so he believed a 7 year tribulation period, and a pre-tribulation rapture, like many dispensationalists believe today. After 1978 passed, he gave up on the 1985 end of time prediction.

In 1982 I went to the Family Radio Summer Bible Conference, at Tuscorora Inn, on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. My friends and I were very close to Mr Camping, and personal friends with him. He never told us however that he had predicted the rapture in 1978, which was obviously wrong.

However in 1982, Mr Camping told us and other of his close friends that the Tribulation Period would start in 1988, and would last 2300 days, and the world will end in September 1994. He said that the tribulation may start with Israel being destroyed, and all churches would be totally apostate by then, but the believers would go through the final tribulation. Since he taught that no one would be saved during final tribulation, he taught that God would hold the wombs of the believers, so they could not have any children, or else the believers would have children born that could not be saved.

Mr Camping never publicly taught this directly over the radio, but implied it in some of his books. In 1988, Obviously the nation of Israel was not destroyed, and God did not hold the wombs of any believers, but Mr Camping still held on to his 1994 date.

Meanwhile the group of my friends that were hyper Campiingites had already declared all churches apostate in 1985! Even before Mr Camping’s date of 1988!

I also personally believed ALL CHURCHES WERE OF SATAN IN 1985!

However I never agreed with Mr Camping’s Bible Calendar, and his dates, for some reason I never swallowed the false Calendar Patriarch Theory.

My friends and I went to the Summer Bible Conference in 1985 again, and Mr Camping called us a CULT, because we left our Christian Reformed Church in New Jersey and declared all churches apostate.

He told us that his 1988/1994 dates were just his speculation, and that we should find a church to go to.

He also said the he felt responsible for our group becoming a cult. We were personal close friends to Mr Camping, and he was devastated that our group became a CULT. We were banned from attending any Family Radio functions ever again.

Mr Camping did not learn his lesson from our group but became an even larger CULT leader, by later declaring all churches apostate in 2001! And later setting more dates.

Anyway, I was thrown out of the group in 1987 for disagreeing with Mr Camping’s Calendar and his 1988 Tribulation Date, and his 1994 end of the world prediction. My brother and friends condemned me to an eternity in Hell Fire, for being a heretic.

I had Mr Camping’s personal phone number and called him in 1987, to tell him I was thrown out of the group, and he was glad, and I talked with him at the Spring Banquest in Brooklyn, and again at the Summer Conference in 1987, but my former group was banned from going to these functions.

After what happened with the cult I was in, Mr Camping shyed away from teaching his 1988 prediction, and I thought he would never predict the 1994 dates publicly. I did not listen to Family Radio or have contact with Mr Camping until I heard he published his “1994?” Book in 1992.

When I heard he published his book, I bought a copy, and started studying his Biblical Calendar of History pamphlet, and “Adam When?” Book, and I wrote him a 23 page letter.

I gave the letter to him at the Tuscarora Summer Conference in 1993, and I asked him what he thought about it at the Fall Banquet in Wayne, NJ. He told me that I was way off, and walked away. I caught up to him again, and asked if he could show me the Bible verses that proved me wrong, and he said that he did not have the time, and walked away again, and that was the last time I ever spoke to him or saw him. Mr Camping was my personal friend, and was glad I was kicked out of that Cult group in 1987, but when I disagreed with his doctrines, he walked away from me in a very defensive mannner, and never contacted me again.

After 1993, I totally tuned out of Family Radio, and it took many years to be fully deprogrammed. I tuned in a couple times leading up to September 1994 to see if he was still teaching his dates, and he was.

I never listened again to Family Radio, but for some reason in 2007, God raised my curiousity to see if Mr Camping was still alive, and what was going on. I did an internet search and found out that he was still alive, but now teaching ANNIHILATIONISM!!!!

After teaching extreme Hell and Damnation for almost 50 years and condemning the chuches for being apostate for not teaching enough Hell. I also learned in 2007, that he had alread been teaching to depart out of ALL Churches since around 2001, and on top of that HE WAS TEACHING NEW DATES IN 2011!!!!!

I immediately thought of what a hypocrite he is. After calling our group in 1985 a CULT for leaving our church, and predicting his own 1988/1994 dates, now GOD WAS BLINDING HIM, and allowing him to become worse, by teaching annihilation like the Jehovahs Witnesses, teaching all churches were apostate, and teaching his 2011 dates and have been trying to help people with Mr Camping’s heresies since then.

Well, that is part of my story.

Of course Campin-ites use this experience against me, and say that I am bitter about it, and angry with Mr Camping, and that is why I do not believe 2011, but I have constantly brought up clear verses in the Bible that prove Mr Camping wrong on all of his heresies. I am tring to help people, I have nothing to gain by this. Sometimes I stay away from this, because it brings up painful memories. But I believe God wants me to try to help others who are brainwashed by Harold Camping like I was.

God Bless,
Jim B.