Rapture this time?

Harold Camping says it’s rapture time again and after his failed prediction earlier this year, he must be hoping that this time he’s right.

The Californian preacher and founder of Family Radio made international headlines when he predicted that the world would end on May 21.

After May 21 came and went to the embarrassment and bewilderment of those who had put their faith in him – some of whom gave their life savings to publicise the prediction - he came out with a new date for the Rapture - October 21.

In a message on the Family Radio website, the 90-year-old preacher said: “We can be sure that the whole world, with the exception of those who are presently saved (the elect), are under the judgement of God, and will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on October 21.”

After the disappointment of the last time, Camping and his supporters aren’t making such a hullabaloo about this latest prediction – no billboards, no posters on the transport systems, no large flyer campaigns, and no statements to the press.

Camping’s daughter Susan Espinoza said in an email to the Daily Mail: “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we at Family Radio have been directed to not talk to the media or the press.”

Some of his supporters may have forgiven him for getting it wrong but one critic isn’t so forgiving.

Senior pastor of Dallas First Baptist Church, Robert Jeffress, has some harsh words for Camping.

“The Bible says that if someone makes a prophecy that doesn’t come true he is to be considered a false prophet and stoned to death,” he told The Christian Post.

“Harold Camping has made at least three false prophecies about the day of the Rapture. And so, if he’s not going to be stoned to death, he at least needs to be muzzled.”

He continued: “I think Christian leaders ought to continue to speak out against making predictions about the return of Christ.”