'Left Behind' Author Tim Lahaye Says May, 21 2011 Judgment Day Won't Happen

The author of the popular "Left Behind" book series, Tim Lahaye, has written on his website that he does not subscribe to the growing belief that May 21, 2011 will mark the end of the world.

The "Left Behind" series lays out a fictionalized image of the Christian prediction for the end of the world and suggests that the Rapture may be imminent. In addition to his career as an author and evangelical minister, Lahaye has recently drawn attention for identifying the earthquakes and tsunami that hit Japan in March and President Obama's administrative agenda as signs of the coming apocalypse.

With this seemingly eager attitude, it is somewhat surprising that Lahaye has come out in opposition to Harold Camping's judgment day bandwagon. Instead, Lahaye sticks to the oft-cited passage from the Gospel of Matthew that is interpreted to mean the apocalypse will not be predicted:

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36).

Lahaye points out that Camping has been wrong about the date of the end times before, and he goes on to explain:

You can be sure the rapture will not occur when anyone sets a date because God wants us all to live every day as though Christ could come today. A great motto for daily living is PERHAPS TODAY. For one day it will happen and we don't know when, but we don't want you to be left behind!

What do you think? Does the rejection of conservative Christians like Tim Lahaye affect the credibility of the May 21 movement?

Comments

[Grada3784]

10:01 PM on 06/08/2011

Of course not, seeing how he was Left Behind.

[POPE INNOCENT]

04:34 PM on 06/05/2011

I AM GOD ON EARTH!

Lahaye is a fraud.

I am deceptions INC

Please return we have reduced rapes :)

[Misterioso Adversario]

06:53 PM on 05/30/2011

So its far more likely, and less crazy, to believe that it will happen on a future, yet unknowable date, instead of May 21st?

(Answer: Its just as improbable and equally crazy!)

[hungryaardvark]

04:53 PM on 05/25/2011

He doesn't buy 5/21 because he knows he's going to still be getting royalty checks from folks after then. All for the buck, the whole bunch of them.

[ThinkCreeps]

03:55 PM on 05/23/2011

He doesn't buy it?

But he could. Publishing ordurical novellas is a good business.

[zwyziec]

01:12 AM on 05/23/2011

Rapture is not a word found in the bible. The theory was conjured up by John Nelson Darby an Irish evangelist in the 1800's.

The rapture theory grew in popularity among evangelicals largely due to a preacher named William Eugene Blackstone (1841-1935). His book, Jesus is Coming, sold more than one million copies.

For those who believe in a future Rapture, it is regarded to be a sudden and cataclysmic event that will be unlike any other phenomenon in history. Millions of people will disappear from the Earth without warning.

As a result, tragic and unexplained accidents will occur on a wide scale basis, ushering in the tribulation period. Many speculate that the non-believers left behind who may have known of the Rapture theory, yet previously rejected it, will finally come to belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as a result of the Rapture. Others left behind will remain in unbelief, finding theories to "explain away" the bizarre event.

The idea of a rapture appeals to people whose amygdala's are larger then their anterior circulate cortex.

That means they have an anatomical predisposi­tion to fear and their reaction to fear inducing ideas like gay, mexican immigrants with guns invading Arizona, or Jebus coming to call them, or a black muslim intelligen­t man in the white house, is abnormal.

[Hpotterfan77]

10:55 AM on 05/23/2011

I have an easier time believing the Mayan prediction (if you can call it that) than anything that comes out of an evangelical's mouth...lol

[zwyziec]

12:59 AM on 05/23/2011

Of course he wouldn't accept it. He and his wife want to continue to receive royalties on his book sales.

[sakredkow]

11:13 AM on 05/22/2011

He really went out on a limb.

[gemmax]

11:16 AM on 05/22/2011

This is true...how sad for those people

[Startreklivz]

10:34 AM on 05/22/2011

He's probably annoyed at someone trying to infringe upon his "trademark" brand ...

[tcny]

10:20 AM on 05/22/2011

"Camping's lunacy doth not alligneth with my lunacy, ye verily, so I rejecteth it."

[ThinkCreeps]

03:56 PM on 05/23/2011

Forsooth and verily. If all the nutjobs surfeth upwards, who will be left to buyeth my books?

[anahata56]

09:30 AM on 05/22/2011

The eschatologists are all the same--they make their living tapping into the 1gnor@nt and gullible fear and bitterness of people who are comforted by the thought that their social awkwardness is validated --that they are "not of this world". LaHaye is as much a false prophet as Camping is, and makes a ton of money scaring the bejabbers out of people who would rather believe in a meaningful afterlife than putting the life they have to good use. It's all a cop-out--an excuse to waste their time and talents and shirk their responsibility to live successfully.

[zwyziec]

01:00 AM on 05/23/2011

A good reason for reincarnation. We all get as many go arounds we need to get it finally right with nature.

[jupitervi12]

04:25 AM on 05/22/2011

. My name is Victor. And i am studying cnc to be a engineer. . The world is not ending today nor tomorrow.And when it does happen! It will happen in a blink of an eye. You nor I, will see it or feel it. Reality will breath its lovely breathe upon us. When the crescent moon aligns itself in front of the star sirius. Jesus appearance then will be discerned by only a few. He could be in the form of a homeless man or woman that you may or may not pass upon the street. He could come as a president, king, queen, politician, scientist, .even perhaps a student. Remember many will not discern him for a moment. So its a strong possibility that he will come as a careprovider. But not hardly under the umbrella of religion. He will be against the religions of the world. Because they will be foreign to him. The only physical sign of his timing is the crescent moon an its alignment in front of the star sirius. Because when his mother Mary was giving him birth. The crescent moon and the star sirius were aligned over the city of Bethelehem, being observed by a few shepards and early mourning risers. So beware of the religious fanatics and soothsayers, and insurance policies. Continue the good work. Be loveable and just .Now can i get a few dollars before d.t.e. turn my lights off ? [e-mail]

[zwyziec]

01:02 AM on 05/23/2011

What do you say to people like me who don't believe in Jebus, who don't accept the bible as the word of god, and who feel strongly that so called christians are a plague on the earth?

[hungryaardvark]

04:57 PM on 05/25/2011

I've got a pink unicorn you might be interested in adopting. Really cute and cuddly. And doesn't instill irrational fear. Doesn't need to be fed, and doesn't poop on the floor. What a deal! Call me at 666-666-6666.

[almostlyniceguy]

10:03 PM on 05/21/2011

I saw a post earlier on another article I'd like to paraphrase:

"Maybe the rapture did happen. Maybe he was left behind."

[koppenberg]

07:43 PM on 05/21/2011

Does this mean that all that is required to thwart end of days theology is someone saying that a specific date is The Day? Well, that's pretty easy to do, maybe write a program that publishes a monotonically later date as Judgement Day on a web page. Generate a few million hits a day and that should take care of it until our sun explodes in a few billion years.

I do like the notion that folks should live each day as good people, though it'd be better if folks were good because it's the right way to go rather than as anticipation or fear of Judgement Day. But if fear is what it takes for some folks to be good, that's better than them actually acting badly.

[springsm]

07:31 PM on 05/21/2011

Good for you, Lahaye...but your book series "Left Behind" is nothing to crow about either.  Just sayin....