Kimberly Winston has a few examples of prophetic speculation that the world would come to an end on a specific day. The latest speculation is September 23rd. Not mentioned in Winston’s piece is Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith’s prediction that the rapture would occur before the end of 1981….Hal Lindsay’s book “The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon“….John Gribbin and Stephen Plagemann’s “The Jupiter Effect”.…Edgar Whisenant’s “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be In 1988”….John Hagee’s “Four Blood Moons” — all sheer speculation. Books such as these sell like hotcakes in the Christian community. Those who write these sorts of sensationalist books make a bundle off gullible Christians who buy them. So – pay no attention to false prophet David Meade’s wild speculation that the “Planet Nibiru” will collide with the earth tomorrow, and just go about your business.
Now to Kimberly Winston’s piece over at USA Today :
Short answer — no.
But David Meade, a Christian and self-published author of end-of-the-world survival guides, predicts doomsday is near — very near, as in this Saturday.
Meade’s ideology, laid out in his book “Planet X — The 2017 Arrival,” is described by the author as “a compendium of information from every sphere—astronomical, scientific, the Book of Revelation and geopolitics.” There’s some astrology in there, too.
Meade is the latest in a very long line of American self-proclaimed prophets who claim they know when — sometimes to the hour — the biblically predicted “end times” will arrive. And while it’s fun to laugh at his belief that the “Planet Nibiru” will collide with the Earth this week, the failed prophesies of some of his predecessors have, at times, led to important religious movements or illuminating ways of thinking about faith. Let us explain: