Even in the 21st century we have people believing and stating that the end of the world is near, giving specific dates, as did pastor Harold Camping this year, not once but twice. However this is not a new phenomenon. Many have expressed their views on this matter. Some of these are:
William Miller had a passion of reading the Holy Bible. He used to read it over and over again and reached to the conclusion that between the lines the end of the world is evident. He believed, through his research, that the Second Coming would take place between the 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844. Thousands followed his beliefs. Together they came to the conclusion that the end of the world would occur on the 23 April 1843. Chaos prevailed. Hundreds of families sold or gave their properties away, since they wouldn't need them due to the fact that Jesus was coming again. On the 24 April many stopped believing in Miller's teachings. Nevertheless many still kept their belief to William Miller, forming the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The dangerous tail of the Halley Comet. In 1881 one astrologist studied the comets and discovered that within their tails they have a deadly gas, similar to cyanide. The study was published, but no one took it seriously, not until a few years later (1910) everyone realised that Halley's comet would pass so close to Earth so the tail would touch our planet. Many newspapers across the globe asked the question: Will this plunge our earth in a deadly gas? However they were re-assured by the greatest scientists of the time who stated that there was nothing to be afraid of.
The Millennium Bug. Many believed that the beginning of the new millennium would bring the end of our civilisation due to technology. The problem was first identified in 1970, where scientists revealed that most computers would not be able to tell the difference between 1900 and 2000. Although no one knew what the result would be, many theories arose. Weapons sales increased and many celebrated the coming of the new year and the new millennium in bunkers. A solution was found to this problem, which cost (as many believe) about 600 billion dollars. However nothing happened!
The ice are melting! SOS! Richard Noone believed since the end of the world did not come from the computers it would come from the melting of the ice, as analysed in his book "5/5/2000 Ice: The Ultimate Disaster". According to his book, the ice in Antarctica on the 5th of May 2000 would only have 3 miles of depth. Also on the same day the planets would form a perfect alignment. This could be a magnificently catastrophic end of the world, however the sales of his book were, I believe, more important to him.
We have been hearing for years now that the end of the world would occur in 2012, as believed by the Mayans, Nostradamus and other scholars and representatives from various religions and eras. However 2012 is not the last date given to us through other prophecies. An Orthodox monk, Fr. Maximus, states that the end will come in 2018. Newton is believed to have written on the back of an envelope, just before he died, that the end of the world would come in 2060.
However if we are to see this from a Christian perspective we have to acknowledge that although the Book of Revelations explains how the end will come, it does not give us a date. Even when Jesus was asked he replied that only the Father knows that, meaning that only God has that knowledge. It is not important to know exactly the date, but as the parable of the ten virgins emphasises, we have to always be ready for the Second Coming.
