Upcoming Rapture Calculations Foiled By Inability To Understand Basic Math

I'm terrible at math, and that may help me understand this because I can usually see when others are terrible at math. This whole theory of the rapture occurring on May 21, 2011 is based on a miscalculation.

A.D. stands for Anno Domini. Divides history into the years before Christ's birth (B.C.) and after his birth (A.D.). Consider this:

There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC.

So if Jesus was born in the year 1 A.D., he didn't turn 1 until 2 A.D. And if he was 33 when he died, that would place his death in the year 34 A.D. Not 33 A.D. Jesus was crucified 722,135 days before May 21, 2011, not 722,500 days before. You get this by subtracting 365 days (one year) from Camping's figure. So since this first number is wrong, everything else that stems from these calculations is wrong. I can't tell you how satisfying it is for me to be able to point this out, since I can't even do long division. Just makes my day. Plus I'M PROBABLY GOING TO LIVE PAST SATURDAY whether these nuts like it or not!

It speaks volumes about the rapture crowd that this guy's influence was not affected by the fact that he was completely wrong the first time he predicted the rapture on Sept. 6, 1994. Plus none of them are spotting that this is one year off. But I guess since some people are so anxious to ascend to heaven they will not let bad math or being just plain wrong get in the way. My mistakes are largely unpublished. Can you imagine spending all your time on this crap and getting it wrong right from the jump? Nobody pointing it out. I hang out with a crowd of idiots and I feel pretty sure one of them would have figured this out and spared me the embarrassment. But I guess if the world goes on 17 years after you predicted it would end you are probably beyond embarrassment.

Anyway, good luck to all surviving the upcoming apocalypse! Whenever it may arrive.

The May 21 Judgment Day meme is the brainchild of an 89-year-old radio evangelist named Harold Camping. Using a mathematical system of his own creation to interpret obscure prophecies in the Bible, Camping originally predicted that Sept. 6, 1994 would be Judgment Day, or the day of the "Rapture" when Christian believers will ascend to heaven, leaving the rest of humanity to its deservedly dreary fate.

But 1994 came and went relatively uneventfully, and Camping has since reworked his equations in such a way that they now point to a May 21, 2011 Rapture. Once the 200 million true Christians (in Camping's estimation) have been whisked away this coming Saturday, he says hell on Earth will ensue and last for 5 months, until Oct. 21, at which point the world will end.

Here's the gist of Camping's calculation: He believes Christ was crucified on April 1, 33 A.D., exactly 722,500 days before May 21, 2011. That number, 722,500, is the square of 5 x 10 x 17. In Camping's numerological system, 5 represents atonement, 10 means completeness, and seventeen means heaven. "Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said on his Oakland-based talk show, Family Radio, last year. "It's the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you're completely saved."

He added, "I tell ya, I just about fell off my chair when I realized that."

Over the past few months, Camping's prophecy has gained considerable traction with Christian fundamentalists. Signs, billboards, and volunteer evangelists around the country have helped spread the word.

[LiveScience]