"Left Behind", the first novel in a series that went on to sell over 40 million copies, was first published on September 29, 1995. The dozen
-plus novels, by evangelist Tim LaHaye with writer Jerry Jenkins, follow the adventures of a group of late-converting Christians who were not taken up to heaven in the Rapture, and left on Earth to fight the Antichrist.
The first two books of the series were made into motion pictures starring "Growing Pains" star Kirk Cameron. The entire series was also adapted into this highly-recommended dramatic radio serial.
9/29/2012
9/28/2012
September 28: Harold Camping's Prior Failures
Harold Camping of Family Radio in Oakland, California, is famous for his prediction(s) of the Rapture and Judgment Day in 2011. But these forecasts were the last in a series of prophecies he's made in his career - according to his first, the world was to have come to an end before the end of this past night, in 1994.
Also, on this date in 1840 the Hebrew year 5600 began. A number of prophecies had held that the Messiah would appear within the year.
Also, on this date in 1840 the Hebrew year 5600 began. A number of prophecies had held that the Messiah would appear within the year.
9/27/2012
September 27: The Earth is not Hollow; It's Full of Water!
The Reverand Thomas Burnet died today in 1715. Though admired by Newton and referenced in the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Burnet's Sacred Theory of the Earth presents an idiosyncratic portrait of the world. For instance, Burnet claimed that since the oceans don't contain enough water to cover all land, the Biblical flood story implies the Earth is hollow and full of extra water.
Burnet believed the hexameron - the six-day creation - was a template of universal history. On this plan, an apocalypse in the 6000th year of the Earth will inaugurate a seventh millennial "day" of Christ's rule. (This cosmogony is at least as old as Irenaeus in the third century - see June 28).
Burnet's On the State of the Dead and of the Resurrection led the ever-skeptical Edward Gibbon to quip that far from making sense of either Revelation or the soul's immortality, Burnett had at least done a service by laying out their "inconveniences".
Burnet believed the hexameron - the six-day creation - was a template of universal history. On this plan, an apocalypse in the 6000th year of the Earth will inaugurate a seventh millennial "day" of Christ's rule. (This cosmogony is at least as old as Irenaeus in the third century - see June 28).
Burnet's On the State of the Dead and of the Resurrection led the ever-skeptical Edward Gibbon to quip that far from making sense of either Revelation or the soul's immortality, Burnett had at least done a service by laying out their "inconveniences".
9/26/2012
September 26: 1859
A Massachusetts minister named Thomas Parker predicted the milennium should begin around 1859. That same year, in France, Eugene Huzar published The End of the World by Science, a forerunning look at the environmental dangers of high technology.
9/25/2012
September 25: Mother Shipton
Mother Shipton (1488-1561) was a renowned soothsayer and hag of 16th-century England. Her pronouncements were first printed 80 years after her death, and from the beginning they included a number of fabrications. In fact Mother Shipton's most famous prophecy of all wasn't even invented until an 1862 edition of her sayings, 300 years after her death:
"The world to and end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eighty one."
"The world to and end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eighty one."
9/24/2012
September 24: 1999
Prince's single "1999" was released on this date thirty years ago in 1982. The apocalypse-themed song garnered little attention at first, but was reissued for radio play after the full album "1999", put on sale in October, saw success with the single "Little Red Corvette".
On its second try, the song "1999" would peak at #12 on the United States Billboard charts in 1983.
On its second try, the song "1999" would peak at #12 on the United States Billboard charts in 1983.
9/23/2012
September 23: Holy Toledo
Today is the anniversary, in 1186, of a planetary alignment in Libra, which had been successfully forecast by John of Toledo. In his "Letter of Toledo", John warned that the conjunction would be the herald of worldwide catastrophe, killing most of humankind.
9/22/2012
September 22: The Ring and Ragnarok
Das Rheingold, the first opera of Wagner's Ring cycle, premiered today in 1869 in Bayreuth, Germany - making this an opportune day to take note of Ragnarok, the norse apocalyptic myth of the twilight of the gods.
9/20/2012
September 20: Michael Paget Baxter Predicts Seven Armageddons
Michael Paget Baxter (1834-1910) was a traveling Anglican minister, strongly influenced as a young man by a visit to England by Dwight Moody (Moody himself had been a student of the apocalypticist John Nelson Darby).
With his wife Elizabeth, Baxter extensively toured Europe and Canada while producing a vast amount of evangelical writing in books and periodicals. In these works, he predicted specific dates for Armageddon on no fewer than seven separate occasions between 1867 and 1908.
Online books of Michael Paget Baxter
With his wife Elizabeth, Baxter extensively toured Europe and Canada while producing a vast amount of evangelical writing in books and periodicals. In these works, he predicted specific dates for Armageddon on no fewer than seven separate occasions between 1867 and 1908.
Online books of Michael Paget Baxter
9/19/2012
September 19: Megiddo and Mrs. Spofford
On this date in 1918, the week-long Battle of Megiddo began between the British and Ottomans, helping usher the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the close of the Great War. (This location was also the site of an Egyptian/Canaanite battle in the 15th century BCE, and will soon be where Armageddon is fought as well.)
The British commander in the fight was General Edmund Allenvy. Allenvy, while stationed in and around Jerusalem at the war's end, wrote in his memoirs about meeting an American woman named Mrs. Spofford. Mrs. Spofford related to him how she had brought a group of believers with her to the holy land from the United States in 1881 - 37 years before - to witness Jesus' return to Earth in a "flaming golden chariot". Though the trip appeared to have been unsuccessful vis a vis the Second Coming, Mrs. Spofford had remained in Jerusalem. Allenvy did not record what became of her followers.
The British commander in the fight was General Edmund Allenvy. Allenvy, while stationed in and around Jerusalem at the war's end, wrote in his memoirs about meeting an American woman named Mrs. Spofford. Mrs. Spofford related to him how she had brought a group of believers with her to the holy land from the United States in 1881 - 37 years before - to witness Jesus' return to Earth in a "flaming golden chariot". Though the trip appeared to have been unsuccessful vis a vis the Second Coming, Mrs. Spofford had remained in Jerusalem. Allenvy did not record what became of her followers.
9/18/2012
September 18: Domitian dies; Revelation's Written
The Emperor Domitian was assassinated by members of his court on this day in 96 CE, setting an upper bound on the time when the Book of Revelation was written (scholars believe it was completed before the end of Domitian's reign).
The book's author, John of Patmos, is not to be confused with the Gospel writer John. The John of Revelation was likely an Aramaic-speaking Jew born in Roman-occupied Judea who ended up in forced exile on the island of Patmos off of Asia Minor after the 70 CE Roman defeat of a Jewish rebellion in Jerusalem.
Breaking with his Jewish roots to embrace the new Jesus movement, John wrote in a rusty, Hebraized Greek about a series of coded "visions" portending the collapse of the Roman Empire. Many later Christian eschatologists - even today - have chosen to read John's symbolism literally.
The book's author, John of Patmos, is not to be confused with the Gospel writer John. The John of Revelation was likely an Aramaic-speaking Jew born in Roman-occupied Judea who ended up in forced exile on the island of Patmos off of Asia Minor after the 70 CE Roman defeat of a Jewish rebellion in Jerusalem.
Breaking with his Jewish roots to embrace the new Jesus movement, John wrote in a rusty, Hebraized Greek about a series of coded "visions" portending the collapse of the Roman Empire. Many later Christian eschatologists - even today - have chosen to read John's symbolism literally.
9/17/2012
September 17: deaths of Hildegard von Bingen, Heinrich Bullinger, and Shabbati Zevi
We've got three big dates for September 17:
In 1179, Hildegard von Bingen died. The renowned German composer and prophetess wrote about the lurid visions she experienced - including the Whore of Babylon birthing a black-headed child within a cathedral nave. She took this to mean that the coming Antichrist would be brought forth from within the institutions of the Catholic Church. Despite this sort of thing, Hildegard was canonized a Saint by Pope Benedict XVI just this past May.
In 1575, Heinrich Bullinger died. In his "One Hundred Sermons upon the Apocalypse of Jesu Christ", he preached from Zurich that the fin du siecle, or end of the world, would occur in 1557.
And in 1676, Shabbati Zevi died. A Kabbalist from Montenegro, he claimed to be the Messiah, and led 300 families of followers as far east as Istanbul en route to reclaim the Holy Land for Israel. In Turkey, however, the Ottoman Sultan arrested Zevi, who converted to Islam under threat of death.
In 1179, Hildegard von Bingen died. The renowned German composer and prophetess wrote about the lurid visions she experienced - including the Whore of Babylon birthing a black-headed child within a cathedral nave. She took this to mean that the coming Antichrist would be brought forth from within the institutions of the Catholic Church. Despite this sort of thing, Hildegard was canonized a Saint by Pope Benedict XVI just this past May.
In 1575, Heinrich Bullinger died. In his "One Hundred Sermons upon the Apocalypse of Jesu Christ", he preached from Zurich that the fin du siecle, or end of the world, would occur in 1557.
And in 1676, Shabbati Zevi died. A Kabbalist from Montenegro, he claimed to be the Messiah, and led 300 families of followers as far east as Istanbul en route to reclaim the Holy Land for Israel. In Turkey, however, the Ottoman Sultan arrested Zevi, who converted to Islam under threat of death.
9/15/2012
September 15: Christian-Socialist Revolutionary Apocalypticism
Early Socialist William Weitling broke with Marx and Engels, and from the ideas of Fourier and Saint-Simon, to write the Christian-Communist manifesto "Gospel of a Poor Sinner" in 1843. In it he advocated for a revolutionary-messianic Millenarianism, in which social justice was tied to the return of Christ. Tried and imprisoned for blasphemy in Zurich, Weitling emigrated to New York and died in 1871.
9/14/2012
September 14: 100 Shopping Days Left Until the End of the World
100 days remain until the Mayan long-count calendar terminates on 12/21/12.
9/13/2012
September 13: Peace in Israel = EOW
The Oslo I Accords, signed this day in 1993 by Yitzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat in Washington, DC, is at the heart of the apocalyptic theories of leading Hamas figure Bassam Jirrar. Since 1992, using a mixture of news items and numerological analysis of the Koran, Jirrar has been promoting his prediction that Israel will be destroyed in the year 2022.
9/12/2012
September 12: Ottoman Defeat at Vienna, and The First Rule of Prophecy Club Is...
In the Battle of Vienna today in 1683, the Austro-Hungarians lifted two months of Ottoman siege with the aid of the Poles, decisively checking what had long threatened to be a gradual Turkish conquest of Europe. The drastic severity of the stakes caused observers on both sides to interpret the conflict as a sign of coming apocalypse.
***
Stan Johnson of "The Prophecy Club" (a ministry which appears to be widely criticized even among prophetic evangelicals) rated the odds at 90% that the Tribulation would begin on September 12, 1997.
***
Stan Johnson of "The Prophecy Club" (a ministry which appears to be widely criticized even among prophetic evangelicals) rated the odds at 90% that the Tribulation would begin on September 12, 1997.
9/11/2012
September 11: Whisenant's Rosh Hashanah Prediction, and 9-11
Edgar Whisenant's book "88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will be in 1988" argued that god would take the living faithful into heaven on Rosh Hashanah 1988, which began September 11. After issuing a handful of new rapture predictions throughout the 90s, Whisenant died in May 2001.
Less than four months afterward, on September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists would kill over 3000 people in New York and Washington, DC. Their motive seems to have been to spark an apocalyptic battle between Islam and Judaism/Christianity, opening the way through Islam's ultimate victory to a worldwide Caliphate.
Less than four months afterward, on September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists would kill over 3000 people in New York and Washington, DC. Their motive seems to have been to spark an apocalyptic battle between Islam and Judaism/Christianity, opening the way through Islam's ultimate victory to a worldwide Caliphate.
9/10/2012
September 10: Rev. Major Jealous Divine, and a CERN Black Hole
The Reverend Major Jealous Divine, a Georgia preacher who went on to minister from Long Island, died on this date in 1965. He claimed to be God.
(Also see October 10)
***
The Large Hadron Collider was first operated on September 10, 2008 at CERN in Switzerland. Some had feared it might generate a small black hole which would rapidly consume the entire Earth.
***
The Large Hadron Collider was first operated on September 10, 2008 at CERN in Switzerland. Some had feared it might generate a small black hole which would rapidly consume the entire Earth.
9/09/2012
September 9: A Messiah in Crown Heights
Menachem Schneerson was a Hasidic rabbi of the Crown Heights district of Brooklyn. Born in 1902 in Russia, he studied science and engineering in Germany and France, and escaped the Nazis in 1941 to settle in America.
Accepting the title of Rebbe in 1951, Schneerson's energetic outreach programs and opening of schools and synagogues led to a movement known as Chabad-Lubavitch messianism, which held that Schneerson was himself the messiah. Schneerson seems not to have claimed this openly for himself, however, predicting that the messiah would appear on September 9, 1991 (one month, as it happened, after the three-day Crown Heights riots). Schneerson died in 1994.
Accepting the title of Rebbe in 1951, Schneerson's energetic outreach programs and opening of schools and synagogues led to a movement known as Chabad-Lubavitch messianism, which held that Schneerson was himself the messiah. Schneerson seems not to have claimed this openly for himself, however, predicting that the messiah would appear on September 9, 1991 (one month, as it happened, after the three-day Crown Heights riots). Schneerson died in 1994.
9/08/2012
September 8: Ann Lee and the Shakers
Ann Lee died on September 8, 1784. After emigrating to the United States in 1774, she formed the "United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing", or more simply (due to their ecstatic dancing and Quaker affiliation) the Shakers.
To remain prepared for the coming kingdom of god, Shakers practiced strict chastity, damping the group's size over time. In the meantime, however, "Mother Ann" was considered by her followers to be herself the female manifestation of Christ, complementary to the male Jesus.
To remain prepared for the coming kingdom of god, Shakers practiced strict chastity, damping the group's size over time. In the meantime, however, "Mother Ann" was considered by her followers to be herself the female manifestation of Christ, complementary to the male Jesus.
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