Harold Camping, who predicted Oct. 21 to be the day Christians would be caught up to heaven and that God would judge the world, said on Oct. 16 that he is no longer able to lead Family Radio Stations, Inc. or his ministry, and his wife has confirmed that the 90-year-old radio evangelist has retired, a documentarian close to Camping told The Christian Post in an exclusive interview.
Camping also said in a private conversation that day that nobody could know exactly when the time of the apocalypse would come, according to his interlocutor. That statement constitutes a radical change in his teachings, as Camping used to claim that the date of the end of the world is encoded in the Bible, and that he had found the way to read it through studying it closely for many years.
Brandon Tauszik, a documentarian who has been attending Camping’s Oakland, Calif., church for eight months told The Christian Post Sunday that he spoke with Camping in person on Oct. 16, only a few days before the second coming of Christ was about to occur, as predicted by the Bible teacher.
Tauszik said that Camping seemed very unsure about the exact date of the end of the world when they spoke. When asked if he was wondering what would happen Friday (Oct. 21), Camping reportedly said that God has not given anyone the power to know exactly when the Rapture would come – a radical change from what Camping had said only last month in an audio message. In that September message, published on Family Radio's website, Camping, although sounding less sure about his calculations, said, "The end is going to come very, very quietly probably within the next month. It will happen, that is, by October 21."
Tauszik was one of the very few people who managed to speak to Camping recently in the days following his third failed doomsday prediction.
The radio host has not been commenting on his prediction ever since he released the recorded broadcast concerning Oct. 21 on Family Radio's website. After Friday's apocalypse did not occur, Camping refused to speak to the press. Camping's wife, Shirley Camping, was very suspicious of Tauszik when he appeared at their doorstep, wanting to make sure he was not working for any newspaper or magazine. She added that neither of them wanted to speak to the press.
Camping has been at home ever since he left the hospital after suffering a stroke in June. In his last broadcasted address he sounded weak, as he did when speaking to Tauszik. He has not been participating in services at his church, while other pastors associated with Family Radio were delivering his messages to the congregation, such as Tom Evans and John Gomez.
Camping seemed still very disappointed that his calculations about the May 21 doomsday were wrong, according to Tauszik. The radio evangelist asserted that he was very careful in making the calculations, and then said in a complaining tone that no matter how careful one is in his calculations, God can still withhold information from him.
Meanwhile, since Friday, at the church and over the radio, Camping's followers have been hearing other preachers say that, though they were all disappointed that Christ did not come, good Christians should live well every day, being ready for that date when Christ finally does return to Earth.
Camping has not spoken publicly to the press since Thursday, Oct. 20, when he reportedly told a Reuters reporter who knocked on the door of his Alameda home: "We're not having a conversation. There’s nothing to report here." Reuters reported that Camping was dressed in a bathrobe and using a walker.
On May 22, Camping reportedly told Tauszik that he was in shock and totally bewildered that the great earthquake he anticipated did not strike. He said: "I have no answers," according to the documentarian.
