A Brief History of Failed End Time Predictions

In 1284, Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) predicted that the world would end 666 years after the rise of Islam. (do you see how long the divide and conquer principle has been going on?)

In 1658, Christopher Columbus claimed that the world was created in 5343 BCE, and would last 7000 years. Assuming no year zero, that means the end would come in 1658.

Mathematician Jacob Bernoulli predicted a comet would destroy the earth on April 5, 1719.

The newly formed Seventh Day Adventists, a group founded by former Millerites, predicted the Second Coming would be in 1874.

Mother Shipton, a 15th-century prophet, was quoted as saying “The world to an end shall come, In eighteen hundred and eighty one” in a book published in 1862. In 1873 it was revealed to be a forgery; however, this did not stop some people from expecting the end.

Camille Flammarion predicted that the 1910 appearance of Halley’s Comet might destroy life on Earth, but not the planet itself.

Evangelist Wilbur Glenn Voliva announced that “the world is going to go ‘puff’ and disappear in September, 1935.

On December 21, 1954, according to Dorothy Martin, the world was to be destroyed by terrible flooding on this date, claimed this leader of a UFO cult called Brotherhood of the Seven Rays.

Psychic Jeane Dixon predicted that on February 4, 1962, a planetary alignment was to bring destruction to the world.

George Van Tassel predicted the Apocalypse to occur on August 20, 1967, during which the southeastern US would be destroyed by a Soviet nuclear attack, according to this UFO prophet, who claimed to have channeled an alien named Ashtar.

Evangelist Pat Robertson predicted in 1976 that the end of the world was coming in October or November 1982.

José Argüelles claimed that Armageddon would take place on August 17, 1987 unless 144,000 people gathered in certain places in the world in order to “resonate in harmony” on this day.

Hal Lindsey suggested that the Rapture would take in 1987, reasoning that it was 40 years (one Biblical generation) after Israel gained statehood.

Louis Farrakhanm, the leader of the Nation of Islam, declared that the Gulf War would be the “War of Armageddon which is the final war.”

Harold Camping predicted the Rapture would occur on September 6, 1994. When it failed to occur he revised the date to September 29 and then to October 2 (and many more times afterwards).

California psychic Sheldon Nidle predicted that the world would end on December 17, 1996, with the arrival of 16 million space ships and a host of angels.

A prediction attributed to Nostradamus stating the “King of Terror” would come from the sky in “1999 and seven months” led to fears of the end.

Edgar Cayce predicted the Second Coming would occur in 2000.

The Nuwaubian Nation movement claimed that the planetary lineup would cause a “star holocaust,” pulling the planets toward the sun on May 5, 2000.

Nancy Lieder originally predicted the date for the Nibiru collision as May 2003. According to her website, aliens in the Zeta Reticuli star system told her through messages via a brain implant of a planet which would enter our solar system and cause a pole shift on earth that would destroy most of humanity.

Pat Robertson in his 1990 book The New Millennium, suggested April 29, 2007 as the day of Earth’s destruction.

José Luis de Jesús predicted that the world’s governments and economies would fail on June 30, 2012, and that he and his followers would undergo a transformation that would allow them to fly and walk through walls.

More to Come….

In 2015, we had a few more nutcases making end time predictions:

Religious zealots, pastor Lindsey Williams and Renee Moses predicted that a comet or asteroid would hit Earth on September 24, 2015.

YouTube user “tuddy pena” told the world that Nibiru would pass by in August of 2015. It will then loop around the sun and return past us again in September 2015.

The following are some of his YouTube video titles, all in CAPS:

• ASTEROID IMPACT SEPTEMBER PLANET X FLY BY TSUNAMI POLE SHIFT
• YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO READY TO ERUPT SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER 2015
• MASSIVE BEE DIE OFF 2011 WE HAVE 4 YEARS TO LIVE WHICH PUT’S US AT 2015
• SEPTEMBER ASTEROID IMPACT THE SIGNS OF THE END
• SEPTEMBER 2015 THE ANTI CHRIST WILL TRY TO DESTROY WORMWOOD

The use of capital letters is as equally over-dramatic as the fear-mongering titles of his videos, in my opinion.

The origin of September 23, 2017 end times prediction comes from David Meade who claimed that another planet would collide with Earth sometime on September 23, 2017 and Armageddon would take place during this date…. (yawn)

Here are a few more upcoming end time predictions that will fail:

It seems many of the world leaders are eager to fulfill end time prophecies through Armageddon despite their constituents demanding world peace.

Other religious zealots expect the return of Jesus Christ. It is interesting to note that the letter “J” was not invented until the 1500’s, which means there was no one named Jesus, John, Jacob, Jeremiah, Job, Joseph, etc… Even if Jesus’ real name was Yeshua ben Yoseph, his translated name would be “Joshua, son of Jospeh”.

In astrotheology, Jesus is the “Sun” who dies on the (Southern Cross) for 3 days and is resurrected (when the sun begins moving in its progression towards to summer solstice).