End-of-the-world prophecies

15 failed predictions of the
end of the world during 2006

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Overview:

Predictions have been made of several events that some Christians believe are related: the second coming of Jesus, the war of Armageddon, the arrival on earth of the Antichrist, the Tribulation, the Rapture, some horrendous natural disaster, etc.  Jewish, Islamic, psychic and occult predictions have also been offered as well. ₁

In this section of our web site, we have listed over 7 dozen past predictions of the end of the world which have one factor in common: none ever came true. There is every likelihood that most (perhaps all) of the future predictions will not materialize either.

We have been criticized by some of our readers for whipping up hysteria about the end of the world. Our intent is the exact opposite: we want to dampen the level of panic. We hope that by listing many dozens of past predictions all of which have failed, people will realize that some very prominent individuals have been consistently wrong when they predicted the end of the world. End of the world predictions have been common throughout Christianity and other religions for almost 2000 years. Thus, the public has little to fear from prophets who predict a particular date for the world's end.

With the escalation of tensions in Lebanon in 2006-JUL, many Christian leaders predicted that the end had already begun. This created an intense interest among many conservative Christians about TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) prophecies. Some indications of increasing concern were:

• During the first half of 2006, this essay had been approximately the tenth most popular essay on our web site of 3,540 essays  However, during 2006-JUL it rose quickly to the most popular essay.
• WorldNetDaily, a conservative Protestant news organization noted:

"Prophecy-related products continue to be popular among WorldNetDaily readers, with two books on Israel©s involvement in end-times predictions coming in at No. 2 and 3 on ShopNetDaily©s weekly best-seller list©Dave Hunt©s 'Judgment Day! Islam, Israel and the Nations' and Greg Laurie's 'Are We Living in the Last Days?' " ₂

• Gary DeMar, writing for American Vision, a "biblical wordview ministry" commented:

"Why shouldn©t Christians snatch up these end-time books? They©re being told by prophetic writers that this is the generation that will see the rapture. Of course, previous generations of Christians were told the same thing. I predict that the prophetic scenario outlined by the authors of the books that appear on WorldNetDaily©s list will not take place as predicted. And when they don©t, memories will fade, and a new group of authors will join well-established prophecy writers and publish books that will start the cycle all over again that a Middle East Armageddon is inevitable and on the horizon." ₃

Disclaimer:

We offer no guarantees that the prophets listed below actually made these predictions. We have described their alleged predictions as they were reported on the Web, in newspapers, books, etc. We do not have the resources to track down original source material.

These TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) prophecies for 2006 have all failed:

• 2006-JAN-25: James Kingsley predicted a major "Earthquake Storm" near Los Angeles, CA. It was to start shortly after midnight of 2006-JAN-25, last for 2 hours, and be centered in Redondo Beach. The individual quakes range in magnitude from 7.1 to 7.9, and will be called "The Big One". ₄
• 2006-MAY-25: Eric Julien of the Exopolitics Institute predicted that a remnant from a comet would hit the Atlantic ocean and generate massive tsunami almost 200 meters (650 feet) in height. Most heavily affected will be the Atlantic coasts between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer. He predicted that there will be tens of millions of deaths. North America and Europe was to be hit with less devastating tsunamis. Dozens of underwater volcanoes were to erupt, raising the temperature of the ocean to the boiling point. He based these predictions on a series of visions that he has had. ₅
• 2006-JUN-06:
  • According to an E-mail that we received, the writer believes that "666," the number of the beast mentioned in the biblical book of Revelation, is really a date: 06/06/06 or 2006-JUN-6. He expected the rapture and start of the tribulation on that date.
  • A movie "The Beast" was released on this day. The story involves the discovery that Jesus Christ never existed. "The authors of the Gospels, writing 40 to 90 years after the supposed life of Christ, never intended for their works to be read as biographies." ₆ The screen play involves apparently involves a momentous event in 2006-JUN-06 (6-6-06). What the event is is unclear. The staff have been sworn to secrecy. Nothing notable happened.
• 2006-AUG-22:
  • Glenn Beck, anchor for CNN Headline News, predicted on 2006-AUG-09 that AUG-22:

  "... is the day that Israel might be wiped off the map, leading to all-out Armageddon. ... [It] could be the day that Agnostics get down on one knee and start to pray, 'Sweet Jesus, are you coming today'? "

  • When AUG-22 arrived without any sign of Armageddon, Beck responded to a critical E-mail from a viewer by saying:

  "I wasn't predicting Armageddon today. ... We talked about the predictions of renowned Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis. It is amazing to me to be called a nut job for quoting a scholar who thinks we might expect aggressive behavior from a man who wants to wipe Israel off the map. I know. Sounds crazy! But, hey, who has time to actually listen?" ₇

  • Bernard Lewis wrote in the Wall Street Journal on 2006-AUG-08:

  "In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time--Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This was at first reported as 'by the end of August,' but Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement was more precise."
  
  "What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to 'the farthest mosque,' usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (cf Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for [2006-]AUG-22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind. ₈

• SEP-08/09: The Lord's Witness and the True Bible Code predicted that a nuclear bomb will hit the UN plaza in Manhattan on the Sabbath, sometime between sundown on SEP-08 and sundown on SEP-09. This is the same group who predicted that the UN would take over the world sometime between 2001-MAR-26 and APR-24 and that a word-wide famine would being during 2001-SEP.
• SEP-12: The House of Yahweh issued a news release stating that nuclear war was to begin on SEP-12. The war would start around the Euphrates River. Their leader, Yisrayl Hawkins, says that the countdown to the nuclear war began with the signing of the Oslo accords on 1993-SEP-13. He interprets the Book of Daniel as stating that this is a seven year agreement but would take 14 years to be fully carried out. He interprets Revelation as implying that nuclear war would begin a year, a month and a day prior to the end of the Oslo agreement. Hawkings has posted a video clip on YouTube.com that explains his predictions. ₉
  
  Eliezer Kamotho, an elder of the House of Yahweh group in Kenya, said that North Korea's nuclear bomb test on 2006-OCT-09 proved that a nuclear war was about to begin.

• DEC-17: Dr. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda predicted that Jesus Christ's second coming would happen in Puerto Rico on DEC-17. His website stated, in part:

  "Este 17 de diciembre, el mundo ser© testigo de la segunda venida de Cristo. El Rey de Reyes llega a suelo boricua. Puerto Rico ser© el escenario donde cientos de personas presenciar©n en vivo, mientras millones sintonizar©n v©a sat©lite, el evento que marcar© el rumbo de la historia."

  A rough translation is: 

  "This December 17th the world will be a witness of the second coming of Christ. The king of kings will touch upon the boricuan [Hispanic] land. Puerto Rico will be the stage where hundreds of people will witness 'live' while millions will watch through satellite TV the event that will put a mark upon history." ₁₀

  It didn't happen either.

There are a few failed TEOTWAWKI prophecies for 2006 without a specific date:

• Michael Drosnin predicted in his book "The Bible Code II" that:

"... the Bible code clearly states the danger in modern terms- 'atomic holocaust' and 'World War' are both encoded in the Bible. And both are encoded with the same year, 2006."

Amazon.com visitors who review the book give it a rather low rating: 2.5 stars out of 5. ₁₁

• Annie Stanton predicted that a 14.4 mile long asteroid will collide with the earth. Jesus will arrive and a 1000 year period of peace will start.
• James Kingsley has predicted an:

" 'End of Days' Atomic Air Strike in 2006. Two or three MiG fighters will drop bombs on nuclear facilities in Washington State, Oregon and San Francisco. This will be done by a secret alliance of China, Iran, Syria. Somehow France is involved. The attack will begin at 9 AM Pacific Time and cause massive damage that will effect the whole planet." ₄

• According to the Sunday Times in England, a religious group called "The Family" anticipates the end of the world in 2006. "Members are said to be stockpiling food and planning to hide in caves in India."
• According to the Weekly world News for 2001-FEB-13, hydrogen bombs hidden in London, Washington and Tel Aviv will be detonated. This will be the start of the war of Armageddon

Related essays:

• The end of the Millennium: What people thought would happen: The Y2K Problems: Social, Economic, and Spiritual Aspects
• Premillennialism and other competing Christian theories about the end of the world.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Tom McIver, "The end of the world: An annotated bibliography," McFarland & Company, (1999) You can read a review and perhaps buy this book from amazon.com online bookstore. "This bibliography contains careful and bias-free annotations of close to 3,500 works written over many centuries about the end of the world." It mainly lists Christian sources, but also includes some Jewish, Islamic, psychic and occult predictions. An Amazon.com reader regards this book as "Indispensable for serious researchers."
2. "Time Line," Revelations of the Bible, at: http://www.revelationsofthebible.com/

3. Gary DeMar, "Snatching Up End-Time Books," American Vision, 2006-AUG-03, at: http://www.americanvision.org/

4. Personal communication on 2006-JAN-12.
5. Eric Julien, "May 25, 2006 - the Day of Destiny," Exopolitics Institute, 2006-APR-11, at: http://exopoliticsinstitute.org/
6. "The Beast," at http://www.thebeastmovie.com

7. "Beck, Carlson noted that apocalyptic August 22 predictions were wrong; Beck still foresees a 'world war of biblical proportions'." Media Matters, 2006-AUG-23, at: http://mediamatters.org/

8. Bernard Lewis, "August 22: Does Iran have something in store?," Wall Street Journal, 2006-AUG-08, at: http://www.opinionjournal.com/

9. "Nuclear War begins September 12, 2006," ReligionNewsBlog, 2006-AUG-28, at: http://www.religionnewsblog.com/

10. David M, "Puerto Rico watch out ...," posted at Thomist Tacos for the Soul, 2006-NOV-18, at: http://www.thomisttacos.com/

11. Michael Drosnin, "The Bible Code II: The Countdown"  Viking Press, (2002). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store

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Copyright © 1997 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-NOV-05
Author: B.A. Robinson