2012? or 2011? Are You Betting on Either?

For centuries, Christian individuals have sought an answer for when the end of the world as we know it [TEOTWAWKI] will occur. A number of different years have been put forth, including, but not limited to: 100, 1000, 1033, 1844, 1914, and 1978. Obviously, all of these previous answers were wrong.

Recently, much hype has been given to the year 2012 as the definitive date. This is based, at least in part, on an assumption based on an ancient Mayan calendar. The calendar in question inexplicably ends at 2012. This has been interpreted as a prediction of TEOTWAWKI, and Hollywood has gotten in on the act, so there must be something to it, right?

Now comes another contender. In an article (found at http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/BA8V1AV589.DTL) written by Justin Berton, Harold Camping declares without any doubt that May 21, 2011 is the date. Camping, a Civil Engineer by training, who runs Family Radio, an evangelical Christian radio ministry that beams the gospel message in 48 languages, and has been studying the Bible for 70 years, has a mathematical formula, based on his interpretation of the Bible, that proves the point. From the article:

By Camping's understanding, the Bible was dictated by God and every word and number carries a spiritual significance. He noticed that particular numbers appeared in the Bible at the same time particular themes are discussed.

The number 5, Camping concluded, equals "atonement." Ten is "completeness." Seventeen means "heaven." Camping patiently explained how he reached his conclusion for May 21, 2011.

"Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D.," he began. "Now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years."

Camping then multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days - the number of days in each solar year, not to be confused with a calendar year.

Next, Camping noted that April 1 to May 21 encompasses 51 days. Add 51 to the sum of previous multiplication total, and it equals 722,500.

Camping realized that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500.

Or put into words: (Atonement x Completeness x Heaven), squared.

"Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said. "It's the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you're completely saved.

This is not the first time Mr. Camping has ventured a prophecy about TEOTWAWKI. In the early 1990's, he assured all of his followers that September 6, 1994 would be it. So, they gathered in their Sunday best, holding open Bibles, and waited - in vain, as we now know.

The previous error is not discouraging some of them now, however. Again, from the article:

Rick LaCasse, who attended the September 1994 service in Alameda, said that 15 years later, his faith in Camping has only strengthened.

"Evidently, he was wrong," LaCasse allowed, "but this time it is going to happen. There was some doubt last time, but we didn't have any proofs. This time we do."

Would his opinion of Camping change if May 21, 2011, ended without incident?

"I can't even think like that," LaCasse said. "Everything is too positive right now. There's too little time to think like that."

There are some obvious unproven and unproveable assumptions in Mr. Camping's analysis, but such things could not deter true believers. So, which date are you betting on: 2012 or 2011? Or, are you like me and putting your faith on neither?

7 Points of Commonality Between Religions?

Jacqueline Leo, a Director at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, asserts that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism share seven common beliefs:

The Seven Shared Beliefs

1. Monotheism--belief in one God. Christians believe in the Holy Trinity (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit), but the three are one according to the New Testament.
2. Divine revelation--truths are revealed through the word of God. 3. Daily Prayer--Muslims must pray five times a day; Jews are supposed to thank God every day for the gifts he bestows; and Christians who follow Catholicism are to pray seven times a day, while most simply say nightly prayers.
4. Muslims, Christians and Jews all participate in religious fasts. Christians have Lent, a 40 day period of denial leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus; Jews fast during Yom Kippur; and Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan.
5. Prophetic Tradition--all three religions believe in "messengers of God." Jews and Christians believe in Moses among others in the Old Testament; Muslims acknowledge many prophets of Allah cited in the Qur'an, the most important being Muhammad. All three honor Abraham as great prophet. Abraham believed in the one and only God. So if all three religions believe in Abraham, they would logically believe in the same God.
6. All three believe in almsgiving and charity.
7. All three believe in holy sites: Jerusalem for Jews and Christians, Mecca and Medina for Muslims.

Do you agree that these religions share these points? Do you think others do? Is it significant that these concepts are shared? What conclusions, if any, could you draw from this?

Whither Christianity in America?

America has long been seen by sociologists of religion as an anomaly among the nations of the world for our adherence to religious beliefs. Religion within the other industrialized and educated countries in the world has been on the decline for decades. Many Western European countries see the number of regular and frequent attenders in church services in the single percentages. In fact, it was this observed decline that led many sociologists to posit a secularization of the Western nations with the expectation that America would soon join the others and experience a similar downturn in religious belief and religiosity.

Unfortunately for those sociologists and their predictions, America’s faithfulness to religion remained strong. Some of these scholars even acknowledged their error.

Yet, in 2009, there were some interesting poll results that call America’s faithfulness to religion in general and Christianity in particular into question. For example, the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey showed that the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation rose from 8% to 15%. Further, the largest concentration of such religiously unidentified was in the Northeast, the home of the Pilgrims and Puritans.

An April 2009 Newsweek poll showed that only 48% of Americans believed that faith will help answer all or most of the country’s current problems. This was a decline from 64% in a 1994 poll. And, 68% in the current poll said religion was losing its influence on American life.

Most telling, perhaps, are the results from a December 2009 Pew Research Center poll showing the amalgamation of religious views among Christians in America. From this research come the revelations that 17% of Christians believe in the “evil eye [the casting of curses]”, 22% believe in reincarnation, 23% believe in astrology, and 26% believe there is spiritual power in such things as mountains, trees, and crystals. None of these beliefs are accepted in traditionally orthodox Christianity.

So, what does all of this mean for religion in America? And for Christianity in America? Do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing?