Harold Camping--I was wrong but good came of it

[Posted at Bene Diction Blogs On Mar 7, 2012]

The staff of Harold Camping's old ministry, Family Radio, has issued a statement on his behalf.

Although the ministry does admit that the prediction was an "incorrect and sinful statement", they seem oddly cheerful about what happened as a result. In the Charisma News report, the full statement, above the names of Camping and the ministry, is quoted.

They admit that those who cited "of that day and hour knoweth no man" were correct, and add later that they have no more possible dates to cite. But they also write this:

Yes, we humbly acknowledge we were wrong about the timing; yet though we were wrong God is still using the May 21 warning in a very mighty way. In the months following May 21 the Bible has, in some ways, come out from under the shadows and is now being discussed by all kinds of people who never before paid any attention to the Bible. We learn about this, for example, by the recent National Geographic articles concerning the King James Bible and the apostles. Reading about and even discussing about the Bible can never be a bad thing, even if the Bible’s authenticity is questioned or ridiculed. The world’s attention has been called to the Bible.

.... We were even so bold as to insist that the Bible guaranteed that Christ would return on May 21 and that the true believers would be raptured. Yet this incorrect and sinful statement allowed God to get the attention of a great many people who otherwise would not have paid attention. Even as God used sinful Balaam to accomplish His purposes, so He used our sin to accomplish His purpose of making the whole world acquainted with the Bible. However, even so, that does not excuse us. We tremble before God as we humbly ask Him for forgiveness for making that sinful statement. We are so thankful that God is so loving that He will forgive even this sin..

This kind of strikes me as an odd stance to take. Those who remember the aftermath of all this might be inclined to be less charitable.

They're apologizing. Technically. I guess.