Here is a collection of other "end of the world" predictions, set to happen in the near future:
Overview:
Predictions have been made of several events that some Christians believe are related: the second coming of Jesus, the war of Armageddon, the arrival on earth of the Antichrist, the Tribulation, the Rapture, some horrendous natural disaster, etc. Jewish, Islamic, psychic and occult predictions have also been offered as well. 1
We have listed over 7 dozen past predictions of the end of the world which have one factor in common: none ever came true. There is every likelihood that most (perhaps all) of these future predictions will not materialize either.
We have been criticized by some of our readers for whipping up hysteria about the end of the world. Our intent is the exact opposite: we want to dampen the level of panic. We hope that by listing many dozens of past predictions all of which have failed, that people will realize that some very important individuals have been totally wrong when they predicted the end of the world. End of the world predictions have been common throughout Christianity and other religions for almost 2000 years. Thus, the public has little to fear from prophets who predict a particular date for the world's end.
Disclaimer:
We offer no guarantees that the prophets listed below actually made these predictions. We have described their alleged predictions as they were reported on the Web, in newspapers, books, etc. We do not have the resources to track down original source material.
Predictions of TEOTWAWKI (The end of the world as we know it):
The near future: The Marian Movement of Priests issued a statement titled "Why Am I Still Weeping" on 1987-SEP-15. It allegedly quotes the Virgin Mary as saying: "Man is becoming ever more corrupt, Godless, wicked and cruel. A 'CHASTISEMENT' WORSE THAN 'THE FLOOD' is about to come upon this poor and perverted humanity. FIRE WILL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN, AND THIS WILL BE THE 'SIGN' that the 'Justice of God' has as of now fixed the hour of His great manifestation." Unfortunately, she did not offer a prediction of the date when this holocaust is to begin.
Daniel Dl-Maio believes that UFOs have been visiting Earth for all of the history of the world. They are piloted by intelligent beings who once created the biosphere that we inhabit. He believes that there are forces on Earth that are trying to create the fiction that we will soon be invaded by aliens. All of humanity will then focus on preparing to repel such an attack. But, in reality, the "invasion" will be Jesus and his army returning to save the world. See:
http://www.bibleufo.com Tyndale House Publishers have created the "Left Behind Prophecy Club." In early 2004-JAN, they noted five events in the year 2003 that they feel are "compelling signs of the End Times" in our near future: Israel is constructing a 320 mile barrier to separate itself from Palestinian controlled land.
The removal of Saddam Hussein from power may result in the rebuilding of Babylon.
French President Jacques Chirac suggested that a "pioneer group" of nations within the European Union (EU) separate from the main EU group and progress towards a reunited Europe. This could be the ten kingdom prophesized in the book of Daniel.
By moving towards equal rights for everyone, they feel that the Episcopal Church (USA) is abandoning parts of the Bible. Apostasy was one of the defining characteristics of the end times, according to the Bible.
They feel that the election of Vladimir Putin and his party may lead to a rebuilding of Russia as a dominant player on the world scene, as is allegedly prophesied in Ezekiel. 2
The American Traditional Catholic Church predicts that "the three days of darkness" will envelop the earth shortly. As a warning sign, a cross will appear in the heavens so that all can see. The family and society will fall apart. "...the gates of Hell will be opened and satan and his demons shall be released and given authority to roam the earth without limitation. There will be complete darkness for three days. " It will be as if time has come to a stand still. The only source of light will be from candles blessed according to the traditional Rites of the Church Catholic." 3
AgapePress reported that Bishop Huey Harris of the First Pentecostal Tabernacle in Elkton, MD 73-year-old said: "What I'm seeing is the Scriptures being fulfilled right before our very eyes." AgapePress reports: "He says what he is looking for next is for the Church to be raptured, and then Jews receiving Christ as their Messiah."
1998 to-2012 Gordon-Michael Scallion predicts major catastrophic earth events: global warming, melting polar ice caps, earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, etc.
1999 to 2009: Jerry Falwell predicted in 1999-JAN that Jesus could return within ten years. But before that can happen, he said that the Antichrist must appear. Referring to the Antichrist, Falwell said: "Is he alive and here today? Probably. Because when he appears during the Tribulation period he will be a full-grown counterfeit of Christ. Of course he'll be Jewish. Of course he'll pretend to be Christ. And if in fact the Lord is coming soon, and he'll be an adult at the presentation of himself, he must be alive somewhere today." Rabbi James Rudin of the American Jewish Committee suggested that Christians should be careful about making such comments. His said that Falwell's statement "plays into some latent and historical anti-Semitism from the past." 2 Rev. Falwell later apologized for his comment.
21st century: Thomas Chase 4 predicts that when the world's population reaches 6.66 billion, the war of Armageddon may occur. In early 1999, it reached 6.0 billion.
2004: 2004-OCT-17: Clay Cantrell computes the date of the Rapture from size of Noah's Ark with particular attention to the precise location of the "escape window" in the top of the vessel.
Late 2004: Arnie Stanton noted on 1997-SEP-16 that that evening was the fourth Jewish festival since 1996-APR-3 on which a lunar eclipse occurred. 5 He quotes Luke 21:25-26 which mentions "signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars and on the earth distress of nations" He believes that "these recent lunar eclipses are the last known astronomical signs that will precede a 7 year (360 day/year) countdown to Armageddon/Christ's return to the Earth." He expects that Christ's return will occur within a few months of 2004-SEP-29 when Asteroid Toutatis will make a very close approach to the Earth - perhaps even a collision!
2005: No predictions yet.
2006: Michael Drosnin predicted in his book "The Bible Code II" that "the Bible code clearly states the danger in modern terms- 'atomic holocaust' and 'World War' are both encoded in the Bible. And both are encoded with the same year, 2006." Amazon.com visitors who review the book give it a rather low rating: 2.5 stars out of 5. 6
Annie Stanton predicts that a 14.4 mile long asteroid will collide with the earth. Jesus will arrive and a 1000 year period of peace will start.
According to an E-mail that we received, the writer believes that "666," the number of the beast mentioned in the biblical book of Revelation, is really a date: 06/06/06 or 2006-JUN-6. He expects the rapture and start of the tribulation on that date.
A movie "The Beast" is in pre-production as of 2004-SEP. The story involves the discovery that Jesus Christ never existed. "The authors of the Gospels, writing 40 to 90 years after the supposed life of Christ, never intended for their works to be read as biographies." 9 The screen play involves apparently involves a momentous event in 2006-JUN-06 (6-6-06). What the event is is unclear. The staff have been sworn to secrecy.
According to the Sunday Times in England, a religious group called "The Family" anticipates the end of the world in 2006. "Members are said to be stockpiling food and planning to hide in caves in India."
According to the Weekly world News for 2001-FEB-13, hydrogen bombs hidden in London, Washington and Tel Aviv will be detonated. This will be the start of the war of Armageddon
2007: According to the Weekly world News for 2001-FEB-13, the rapture will occur on the 7th hour of the 7th day of the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar year that corresponds to 2007 CE. Jesus will appear simultaneously in Jerusalem, Baghdad, Washington, Moscow and in every other capital city of the world.
2008: 2008-MAR-21: After a lengthy calculation based on the Bible, a British group, The Lord's Witnesses, has concluded that the start of Armageddon will happen on this day. Three quarters of the world's population will die during the subsequent war. This will be preceded by the United Nations taking over complete control of the world in the lunar month preceding 2001-APR-24. This is exactly 666 Hebrew months after the founding of the United Nations in 1945. 7
2008-APR-6: Philip B. Brown incorrectly predicted that the Great Tribulation would start on 2001-APR-7, with the appearance of the the two witnesses described in Revelation. He also predicted that the start of Jesus' millennial reign would be on 2008-APR-6. 8
2009-AUG-29: John Dutchman claims to be an astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory. He allegedly believes that a small star is passing through the Oort Cloud, the area surrounding the solar system where comets originate. He says that the gravitational pull of the star is forcing at least a third of all of the comets into the sun -- over one million. He predicts that the earth will be hit by from one to many hundreds of comets, ranging in size from 100 meters to near 600 miles in diameter. He expects the collisions to happen on 2009-AUG-29.
Related essays:
Will the world end in the near future?
The end of the Millennium: What people thought would happen: The Y2K Problems: Social, Economic, and Spiritual Aspects
Past end-of-the-world scenarios which have failed
Predictions that the end of the world will happen after 2010
Premillennialism and other competing Christian theories about the end of the world.
References:
Tom McIver, "The end of the world: An annotated bibliography," McFarland & Company, (1999) You can read a review and perhaps buy this book from amazon.com online bookstore. "This bibliography contains careful and bias-free annotations of close to 3,500 works written over many centuries about the end of the world." It mainly lists Christian sources, but also includes some Jewish, Islamic, psychic and occult predictions. An Amazon.com reader regards this book as "Indispensable for serious researchers."
"Left Behind Series: Interpreting the signs," Tyndale House Publishers, at:
https://secure.agoramedia.com/ "The three days of darkness: The mercy and justice of God," at:
http://www.atcc.com/3daysof.htm Thomas Chase, "Astrology for the New Age, prophecies of the future, economic predictions, comets, plane crash patterns," at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2360/ John Jenkins, "The How and Why of the Mayan End Date in 2012 A.D.," at:
http://www.levity.com/eschaton/Why2012.html Michael Drosnin, "The Bible Code II: The Countdown" Viking Press, (2002). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
"The date of Armageddon without using the code," The Lord's Witnesses, at:
http://www.bibledecoded.com/understanding16.html http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl1.htm 