Unfulfilled religious predictions

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Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus warns of the false prophets who are to come.
illustration by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 19th c.

Predictions by authors of sacred religious texts are not included here. For these, see Bible prophecy or Qur'an and miracles#Prophecies.

This article lists predictions by leaders within various religious groups, that failed to come about in the specified time frame. They are listed regardless of whether or not these predictions had widespread support from those groups.

Contents

[edit] Claims by members of mainstream churches

[edit] Anabaptist Church

Certain Anabaptists of the early sixteenth century believed that the Millennium would occur in 1533.[1] Another source reports: "When the prophecy failed, the Anabaptists became more zealous and claimed that two witnesses (Enoch and Elijah) had come in the form of Jan Matthys and Jan Bockelson; they would set up the New Jerusalem in Münster. Münster became a frightening dictatorship under Bockelson's control. Although all Lutherans and Catholics were expelled from that city, the millennium never came."[2]

[edit] Anglican Church

In volume II of The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, author Leroy Edwin Froom tells us about a prominent Anglican prelate, who made a relevant prediction: "Edwin Sandys (1519–1588), Archbishop of York and Primate of England was born in Lancashire... Sandys says, 'Now, as we know not the day and time, so let us be assured that this coming of the Lord is near. He is not slack, as we do count slackness. That it is at hand, it may be probably gathered out of the Scriptures in diverse places. The signs mentioned by Christ in the Gospel which should be the foreshewers of this terrible day, are almost all fulfilled.'"[3]

[edit] Assemblies of God Church

During World War I, The Weekly Evangel, an official publication of the Assemblies of God, carried this prediction: "We are not yet in the Armageddon struggle proper, but at its commencement, and it may be, if students of prophecy read the signs aright, that Christ will come before the present war closes, and before Armageddon...The war preliminary to Armageddon, it seems, has commenced."[4] Other editions speculated that the end would come no later than 1934 or 1935.[5]

[edit] Baptist Church

Some Baptists also have a history of date and time predictions that have failed. In the early 1900s, the well-known Dr. Isaac M. Haldeman, pastor of the First Baptist Church in New York City, predicted that before the Jews returned to Palestine to establish a Jewish State — an event that happened in 1948 — that the Antichrist would appear. Haldeman explained: "The Scriptures teach that this man (the Antichrist) will be the prime factor in bringing the Jews back, as a body into their own land; that he will be the power that shall make Zionism a success; that through him the nationalism of the Jews shall be accomplished." There is still a group of believers that continue to believe that Haldeman was correct; and that in truth, Adolf Hitler was the Antichrist predicted in the Bible (or perhaps one antichrist of many). They offer as "proof" the fact that the end result of WWII and the holocaust drove many Jews out of Europe to their new Israel. The fact that Hitler's Holocaust killed millions of Jewish believers (called "saints" in many Old Testament prophetic passages) would correlate positively with several Bible predictions that the Antichrist will seek to murder multitudes of "saints."[6]

The "one of many" Antichrist theory has some stability within Biblical limits. In 1 John 2:18, John writes that "many Antichrists have come."

[edit] Calvary Chapel

The founder of the Calvary Chapel system is the charismatic Pastor Chuck Smith. Some years ago, he published a book entitled End Times. On the jacket of his book, Smith is called a "well known Bible scholar and prophecy teacher." In this book he wrote:

As we look at the world scene today, it would appear that the coming of the Lord is very, very, close. Yet, we do not know when it will be. It could be that the Lord will wait for a time longer. If I understand Scripture correctly, Jesus taught us that the generation which sees the 'budding of the fig tree', the birth of the nation Israel, will be the generation that sees the Lord's return; I believe that the generation of 1948 is the last generation. Since a generation of judgment is forty years and the tribulation lasts seven years, I believe the Lord could come back for his church anytime before the tribulation starts, which would mean anytime before 1981. (1948 + 40 − 7 = 1981) However, it is possible that Jesus is dating the beginning of the generation from 1967, when Jerusalem was again under Israeli control for the first time since 587 B.C. We don't know for sure which year actually marks the beginning of the last generation.[7]

This same viewpoint was published by the popular Pastor Hal Lindsey in his widely published book entitled The Late Great Planet Earth.[8]

[edit] Lutheran Church

The founder of the Lutheran Church was the reformer, Martin Luther (1483–1546 A.D.). According to one authority, Luther ventured to predict: "For my part, I am sure that the Day of Judgment is just around the corner. It doesn't matter that we don't know the precise day... perhaps someone else can figure it out. But it is certain that time is now at an end."[9] Another author says: "In all of [Luther's] work there was a sense of urgency for the time was short... the world was heading for Armageddon in the war with the Turk."[10]

Even after Luther's death in 1546, Lutheran leaders kept up the claim of the nearness of the end. About the year 1584, a zealous Lutheran named Adam Nachenmoser wrote a large volume entitled Prognosticum Theologicum in which he predicted: "In 1590 the Gospel would be preached to all nations and a wonderful unity would be achieved. The last days would then be close at hand. Nachenmoser offered numerous conjectures about the date; 1635 seemed most likely.[11]

[edit] Mennonites

Russian Mennonite minister Claas Epp, Jr. predicted that Christ would return on March 8, 1889, and, when that date passed uneventfully, 1891.[12]

[edit] Presbyterian Church

Thomas Brightman, who lived from 1562 to 1607, has been called "one of the fathers of Presbyterianism in England." He predicted that "between 1650 and 1695 [we] would see the conversion of the many Jews and a revival of their nation in Palestine...the destruction of the Papacy...the marriage of the Lamb and his wife."[13] This did not happen.

Christopher Love who lived from 1618–1651 was a bright graduate of Oxford and a strong Presbyterian. Love predicted that: (1) Babylon would fall in 1758 (2) God's anger against the wicked would be demonstrated in 1759 and (3) in 1763 there would occur a great earthquake all over the world.[14]

[edit] Roman Catholic Church

The most circulated prediction among Roman Catholics during the time of the Reformation, focused on the founder of the Lutheran Church, the great reformer, Martin Luther (1483–1546 A.D.). According to one authority, Luther's son would be the Antichrist (being the scion of monk and nun). Erasmus proclaimed this prediction to be wrong for if the Antichrist shall be be born of a monk and a nun, as some say, how many thousands of antichrists would there be in the world already ? Martin Luther's son was not the Antichrist.[15]

In 1771 Bishop Charles Walmesley predicted that God would destroy the Anglican churches by 1825. His popular book on the subject, titled "General History of the Christian Church from her birth to her Final Triumphant States in Heaven chiefly deduced from the Apocalypse of St. John the Apostle" (1790) was written under the nom de plume of "Signor Pastorini".[16]

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Saint Malachy predicted about Ireland that: "At the end of seven centuries she would be delivered from her oppressors (or oppressions), who in their turn would be subjected to dreadful chastisements, and Catholic Ireland would be instrumental in bringing back the British nation to that Divine Faith which Protestant England had, during three hundred years, so rudely endeavoured to wrest from her."[17] St. Malachy died in 1148, just 23 years before the Norman invasion of Ireland, which conquered a large part of the island, was effected in 1171. Despite his apparent success in predicting a "Protestant England", Ireland was still being run from London in 1872: an independent Irish state was not reestablished until several decades after that date.

[edit] Claims by other groups

[edit] Irvingism

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The well known Scottish cleric, Edward Irving, is the founder of the Irvingism (not to be confused with Catholic Apostolic Church), and a forerunner of the Pentecostal movement. In 1828 he wrote a work headed The Last Days: A Discourse on the Evil Character of These Our Times, Proving Them to be the 'Perilous Times' and the 'Last Days'. On pages 10-22 we find some telling[citation needed] information which includes the following:

I conclude, therefore, that the last days... will begin to run from the time of God's appearing for his ancient people, and gathering them together to the work of destroying all Antichristian nations, of evangelising the world, and of governing it during the Millennium... The times and fullness of the times, so often mentioned in the New Testament, I consider as referring to the great period numbered by times...Now if this reasoning be correct, as there can be little doubt that the one thousand two hundred and sixty days concluded in the year 1792, and the thirty additional days in the year 1823, we are already entered upon the last days, and the ordinary life of a man will carry many of us to the end of them. If this be so, it gives to the subject with which we have introduced this year's ministry a very great importance indeed.

[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses

Main article: Controversies regarding Jehovah's Witnesses' Unfulfilled predictions

Charles Taze Russell, the first president of what is now the Watchtower Society, calculated 1874 to be the year of Christ's Second Coming, and until his death taught that Christ was invisibly present, and ruling from the heavens from that date prophesied.[18][19][20][21]Russell proclaimed Christ's invisible return in 1874,[22] the resurrection of the saints in 1875,[23] and predicted the end of the "harvest" and a rapture of the saints to heaven for 1878,[24] and the final end of "the day of wrath" in 1914.[25] 1874 was considered the end of 6,000 years of human history and the beginning of judgment by Christ.[26]

Joseph Franklin Rutherford, the second president of the Watchtower Society, predicted that in 1918, God would begin to destroy churches and millions of its members.[27] He also predicted that in 1925, the Millennium would begin, with Biblical figures such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David coming back to life. The Watchtower even bought property and built a house in California for their return.[28]

"In the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by the millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell."[29]

[edit] Mormonism

Main article: Prophecies of Joseph Smith, Jr.

Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon faith, made several dozen prophecies during his lifetime, many of which are recorded in the sacred texts of the Mormon faith. The prophecies included predictions of the Civil War, the fall of the U. S. government, the coming of Jesus, and several less significant predictions. Church apologists cite many prophesies that they claim came true,[30] and church critics cite many prophecies that they claim did not come true.[31]

[edit] Other claims by period

[edit] Third century to eighteenth century

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Date Author/Predicter Prediction/Notes
200 Montanus Christ returns and sets up the New Jerusalem in the small town of Pepuza in Phrygia.

[edit] Nineteenth century

Date Author/Predicter Prediction/Notes
September 15, 1829 George Rapp George Rapp, founder and leader of the Harmony Society, predicted that on September 15, 1829, the three and one-half years of the Sun Woman would end and Christ would begin his reign on earth.[32] Dissension grew when Rapp's predictions went unfulfilled. In March 1832, a third of the group left and some began following a man named Bernhard Müller who claimed to be the Lion of Judah. Nevertheless, most of the group stayed and Rapp continued to lead them until he died on August 7, 1847. His last words to his followers were, "If I did not so fully believe, that the Lord has designated me to place our society before His presence in the land of Canaan, I would consider this my last".[33]
1843 William Miller William Miller, an important figure whose major surviving offshoot is the Seventh-day Adventist Church, used the Book of Daniel to predict the Second Coming, and said it would be between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844.[34]
October 22, 1844 William Miller William Miller revised the Return of Christ to this date, which is known as the Great Disappointment.[34] Members of the Bahá'í Faith believe that Christ did return on May 23 1844 as the Báb (the Gate), the forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh (Glory of God).
1889 Jack Wilson Wilson predicted a peaceful end to white American expansion while preaching messages of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation, hastened by the Ghost Dance.

[edit] 20th century

Date Author/Predicter Prediction/Notes
January 11 – 21, 1973, David Berg Colossal doomsday event in USA heralded by comet Kohoutek[35][36]
1975 Herbert W. Armstrong: 1975 in Prophecy! A number of predictions, most of them dire, such as drought causing population of America to fall by one-third. [37]
June 21, 1982 Benjamin Creme The followers of the New Age Theosophical guru Benjamin Creme, like Alice A. Bailey, believe the Second Coming will occur when Maitreya (the being Theosophists identify as being Christ) makes his presence on Earth publicly known--Crème believes Maitreya has been on Earth since 1977, living in secret.

Creme put advertisements in many of the world’s major newspapers in early 1982 stating that the Second Coming would occur on Monday, June 21, 1982 (summer solstice in the northern hemisphere), at which time Christ (Maitreya) would announce his Second Coming on worldwide television (this is called the Emergence or Day of Declaration ; this is when, Creme's followers believe, the Maitreya will telepathically overshadow all of humanity when he appears on worldwide television) [38]. When this event did not occur, Crème claimed that the “world is not yet ready to receive Maitreya"; his followers continue to believe it will happen “soon”.
September 11– 3, 1988 Edgar C. Whisenant, in the book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture is in 1988 Return of Christ.
1989 Benny Hinn A short man appears within a "few" years who will rule the world as the Antichrist.[39]
1990s Benny Hinn America's first female President will be appointed "in the next few years". Unfortunately, she ends up destroying the nation.[40]
1990s Oral Roberts Televangelist Jim Bakker is put on trial for fraud but is found completely innocent.[41]
1993 David Berg — Children of God Christ returns[42]
1994 William Kamm The island of Guam is sunk after being hit by a tidal wave from an Earthquake in Japan and a subsequent volcanic eruption.[43]
September 6, 1994 Harold Camping, in the book 1994? Second Coming of Christ occurs September 6
1995 Benny Hinn God destroys America's Homosexual community.[39]

[edit] 21st century

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ When Prophecy Fails, Festinger, Riecken and Schaeter, page 7
  2. ^ Soothsayers Of The Second Advent, William Alnor, page 57.
  3. ^ The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers, pages 417, 419.
  4. ^ April 10, 1917 edition, page 3
  5. ^ May 13, 1916 pp 6-9 etc
  6. ^ The Signs of the Times, Isaac Massey Haldeman, pages 452, 453
  7. ^ pages 35, 36
  8. ^ see page 43
  9. ^ Reformation Principles and Practice: Essays in Honor of Arthur Geoffrey Dickens, p 169
  10. ^ Luther's View of Church History, John M. Headley, Yale University Press, 1963, pp 13,14
  11. ^ Prophecy and Gnosis — Apocalypticism in the Wake of the Lutheran Reformation, Robin Bruce Barnes, p 64
  12. ^ Bartsch, Franz and Richard D. Thiessen. Epp, Claas (1838–1913). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2005. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
  13. ^ A Great Expectation — Eschatological Thought in English Protestantism to 1660 by Bryan W. Ball and E.J. Brill, page 117
  14. ^ The Logic of Millennial Thought by James West Davidson, page 200
  15. ^ Alexander Chalmers, The General biographical dictionary, Volume 20, J. Nichols Pub 1815 p. 523
  16. ^ "Pastorini" notes; UCD online essay
  17. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia online, 1911 edition
  18. ^ Charles Taze Russell – FREE Charles Taze Russell Information | Encyclopedia.com: Find Charles Taze Russell Research
  19. ^ "The writer, among many others now interested, was sound asleep, in profound ignorance of the cry, etc., until 1876, when being awakened he trimmed his lamp (for it is still very early in the morning.) It showed him clearly that the Bridegroom had come and that he is living "in the days of the Son of Man." C.T. Russell (April 1880). "From and To The Wedding". Zion's Watch Tower: 2. http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/Reprints/Z1880APR.asp. 
  20. ^ Russell explained how he accepted the idea of an invisible return of Christ from N.H. Barbour in "Harvest Gatherings and Siftings" in the July 15, 1906 Watch Tower, Reprints page 3822.
  21. ^ The Three Worlds and The Harvest of This World by N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell (1877). Text available online at: http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/3worlds.pdf Scan of book in PDF format
  22. ^ The Three Worlds, p. 175
  23. ^ The Three Worlds, pp. 104-108
  24. ^ See pages 68, 89-93, 124, 125-126, 143 of The Three Worlds.
  25. ^ The year 1914 was seen as the final end of the "day of wrath": "...the 'times of the Gentiles,' reach from B.C. 606 to A.D. 1914, or forty years beyond 1874. And the time of trouble, conquest of the nations, and events connected with the day of wrath, have only ample time, during the balance of this forty years, for their fulfillment." The Three Worlds, p. 189.
  26. ^ In 1935, the idea that the 6,000 years ran out in 1874 was moved forward 100 years. "The Second Hand in the Timepiece of God". The Golden Age: 412–413. March 27, 1935. http://www.a2z.org/wtarchive/docs/1935_Calendar_Golden_Age.pdf. .
  27. ^ Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 7, 1917, p. 485.
  28. ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 1922; Sep. 1, 1922; Apr. 1, 1923; Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1925, p. 110
  29. ^ Finished Mystery p. 485
  30. ^ http://www.fairlds.org/The_God_Makers/tagm36.html
  31. ^ Abanes, Richard (2003). One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church. Thunder's Mouth Press. pp. 461-467. ISBN 1568582838. 
  32. ^ Frederic J. Baumgartner, Longing for the End: A History of Millennialism in Western Civilization (1999) p.166
  33. ^ William E. Wilson, The Angel and the Serpent: The Story of New Harmony (Indiana University Press, 1984) p.11
  34. ^ a b Shelley, Bruce (January 1, 1999). "American Adventism: The Great Disappointment". http://ctlibrary.com/4334. Retrieved 2006-04-01. 
  35. ^ David, Moses (September 8, 1973). "THE CHRISTMAS MONSTER". http://www.xfamily.org/index.php/HomeARC_ML_0269. Retrieved 2006-04-01.  ML#269 - The Children of God
  36. ^ ""40 DAYS!" — And Nineveh Shall Be Destroyed! (Jonah 3:4) — MO". November 12, 1973. http://www.xfamily.org/index.php/HomeARC_ML_0280. Retrieved 2006-04-01.  ML#280 - The Children of God
  37. ^ Armstrong, Herbert W. (June 1956). "1975 in Prophecy!". http://www.cgca.net/pabco/1975pro.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-01. 
  38. ^ Creme, Benjamin Maitreya's Mission Amsterdam:1986 Share International Foundation
  39. ^ a b Fisher, G. Richard; M. Kurt Goedelman. "PROPHECY OR PRESUMPTION? TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON THE SPURIOUS ORACLES OF BENNY HINN". http://www.pfo.org/prophecy.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-01. 
  40. ^ "Let Us Reason Ministries". http://www.letusreason.org/b.hinn12.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-01. 
  41. ^ "ORAL ROBERTS". http://www.ondoctrine.com/10robero.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-01. 
  42. ^ Berg, David. "Prophecy". http://www.xfamily.org/index.php/Prophecy. Retrieved 2006-11-05. 
  43. ^ Pebble, Little. "Prophecies". http://www.shoal.net.au/~mwoa/book_extracts/list_prophecy.html. Retrieved 2006-04-01. 
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