OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A Christian radio evangelist in California who has already made one mistaken prediction about the world's end now says May 21 is the date.
Harold Camping told The Philadelphia Inquirer in a telephone interview last week he has simple plans for the day -- to "watch and wait" for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He believes Jesus will gather up 200 million of the saved while the rest will die and decay.
"The Bible uses some ugly language," he said.
Camping, 89, previously predicted the Second Coming in 1994. His new date is based on revised calculations.
While a belief in the Second Coming and the Apocalypse is common in the United States, many point out Jesus himself said he did not know the day and hour of his return. Camping, however, not only has May 21 fixed as the date for Armageddon but says the universe will end Oct. 21.
The Rev. J.A. Jones, pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Camden, N.J., a block from a Camping radio station, said some members of his flock have asked him if he believes the prediction.
"I tell them, 'No, but if you're so concerned, why don't you deed us your house and car?' and then they laugh," he said, adding that previous prophets "got egg on their faces."
