End of the world prophecies

Predictions that the world's end
or a major transition will come
on or about 2012-DEC-21

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Overview:

During the interval 200 BCE to 200 CE, many apocalyptic books were written, prophesizing massively disruptive events that will happen in the authors' future -- and ours.

• One found its way into the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) as the book of Daniel written:
  • Circa 600 BCE according to most conservative Protestants and
  • In 164 BCE according to internal evidence as assessed by most mainline and liberal religious theologians, historians etc.
• Another was accepted into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) but only after a major dispute. It is the book of Revelation, written about the end of the 1st century CE, downgraded to an appendix by Martin Luther, but considered a major source book of prophecy by present-day conservative Protestants.

Based largely on these two books, fundamentalist and other evangelical Christians have predicted several events that most believe are closely related:

• The second coming of Jesus;
• The massive genocide of humans of Armageddon, eventually exterminating one third of the world's population;
• The arrival on earth of the Antichrist;
• The Tribulation, when those still alive will suffer horribly;
• The Rapture, when saved Christians will rise in the air to meet Jesus in the sky;
• Many horrendous natural disaster(s), etc.

Unfortunately, they cannot agree on the order of the events. The Bible is ambiguous on this.

We have listed over 7 dozen predictions that the end of the world was to occur in various dates in our past. All have one factor in common: none came true. Many people believe that most (perhaps all) of predictions expected to occur in our future will not materialize either. However, others firmly believe that the end will come soon.

In recent years, the date of 2012-DEC-21, the winter solstice, has received a great deal of attention as the prime candidate for "TEOTWAWKI" -- the end of the world as we know it. Unfortunately, the authors and commentators cannot agree on whether:

• All life on Earth will end on this date, or
• Humanity will be elevated to a higher spiritual plane, or
• A new human species will evolve, or
• Some other gut-wrenching experience will occur.

Thus, we tentatively believe that all books and Internet references to an earth-shaking change in 2012 should be regarded as works of fiction.

We have a hunch that this date has become a favorite among authors because:

• It is reasonably close to the present time, so its immediacy would attract the interest of the public.
• It is far enough into the future that almost all of the eventual book sales will probably have been made and the author would have already deposited all of the royalty checks in his/her bank account and be lounging on a beach somewhere anticipating a relaxing winter solstice and Christmas day on 2012.

Years-Days Hours:Minutes:Seconds Countdown to the Judgment Day December 21st, 2012

This timer appears to be based on the assumption that Judgment Day will start at 00:00 hrs on 2012-DEC-12, Eastern Time.

Some predictions of TEOTWAWKI sometime in 2012:

• 2012: Patrik Geryl predicts a pole reversal. This is not the reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles where the North Magnetic Pole relocates to the South Magnetic Pole. This has happened many times in the past. Geryl is predicting that the North Pole and South Pole will reverse and cause the Earth to start rotating in the opposite direction. He does not explain from where the required energy will come. The Earth functions as a gigantic gyroscope. The energy required to rotate the poles would be immense. ₁
• 2012: Michael Drosnin, author of "The Bible Code," found a hidden message in the Pentateuch (the first five books in the Bible). It predicts that a comet will crash into the earth in 2012 and annihilate all life. As a minimum, I suspect that at least one species will survive: cockroaches. They seem immune to all environmental disasters. If evolution is true, then we need not worry too much. As long as some species of life survives, intelligent species will eventually evolve.
• 2012: Kev Peacock predicts that the Sun's magnetic field will reverse, and induce a reversal of the Earth's magnetic field. This will cause massive geothermal and tectonic catastrophes. Something will happen to the mythical island of Atlantis which many people believe disappeared beneath the waves many thousands of years ago. Presumably, it will surface.
• 2012: Vijay Kumar predicts that World War III is most likely to happen around 2012. This will be followed by a permanent state of spiritual elevation. "Beyond 2012 it shall only be harmony and peace all over." It will be called "the golden period." However the transition will result in the deaths of millions of people -- both innocent and those guilty of crimes. Bhagwan Kalki, a spiritual master of the highest order, will deliver humanity from today's ills. ₂

Predictions of TEOTWAWKI specifically on 2012-DEC-21:

• Planet X: This was the name given by astronomer Percival Lowell to a planet that he believed existed beyond the orbit of Neptune. Although his calculations were off, and the discovery of Pluto accounted for his observations, some astronomers have suggested that a new Planet X -- "... an unseen object at least as large as Jupiter and possibly a brown dwarf" ₉ -- might be disturbing the orbits of long period comets. Others have speculated that this may be evidence for a brown dwarf star existing as part of a binary system with our sun. (Most of the stars in our galaxy are binaries.) They suggest that interaction between our sun and the brown dwarf may be increasing the temperature of the sun, generating global warming on Earth, and will cause an increase in the severity of the next peak in the 11 year sunspot cycle in the year 2011-2012. These influences may destroy the Earth's magnetic field, and induce what Emmanuel Velikovsky called a ELE: an Extinction Level Event. ₁₀ This ties in well with The Mayan prediction that the year 2012 will mark the end of the world. Even the Egyptian "Book of the Dead," the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and Christian Scriptures (New Testament) is seen by some to point towards this common date of the Winter Solstice in 2012.
• Mayan people: The prime source for this prediction is from the ancient Mayan civilization. Their calendar expressed dates in the format: "6.19.18.1.5". This particular date means:
  • 6 Baktun, an interval of 144,000 days -- almost four centuries,
  • 19 Katun (generations) of 7,200 days,
  • 18 Tun (years) of 360 days,
  • 1 Uinal (month) of 20 days,
  • 5 Kin (days)

  The example cited represents 1,007,305 days from the start of their calendar. J. Eric Thompson determined that the first day of their calendar (0.0.0.0.0) was on 3114-AUG-11 BCE according to our Gregorian calendar. ₃ This was when they believed that Venus was born. Another source says that this happened on AUG-13 of that year.
  
  Mayans also had a "Great Cycle of the Long Count" of 13 Baktuns or 5,125.36 years. Many interpreters believe that the Mayans expected that the universe would last precisely that length of time. That is, they anticipated the end of the world at 13.0.0.0.0 in their notation. This is the Winter Solstice, 2012-DEC-21 CE in in the Gregorian calendar. ₄  John Jenkins has determined that on this date, there will be "an extremely close conjunction of the winter solstice sun with the crossing point of Galactic Equator and the ecliptic." This is an event that will not be repeated for thousands of years.
  
  Author Carl Johan Calleman disagrees that the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world. He writes that "the Mayan calendar is about the progress of evolution, not about the end of the world." _5,6

• Terence McKenna: He is webmaster of "The Final Illusion" web site. He predicts that on 2012 at "the moment of the [winter] solstice and the heliacal rising of the galactic center, levels of planetary novelty will exponentially increase." The results of this "ultranovel event" are difficult to predict, but may include "Hyperspatial Breakthrough, Planetesimal Impact, Alien Contact, Historical Metamorphosis, Metamorphosis of Natural Law, Solar Explosion, Quasar Ignition at the Galactic Core." Some of these don't sound too healthy for life on earth. ₇  I am personally hoping for the latter, because it would take about 50 millennia years for any effects of that ignition to impact earth -- long past my life expectancy.
• Email: A visitor to our web site predicts that two days after the solstice, on DEC-24, one third of the Oort cloud will rain down on the earth. The Oort cloud is a incredibly large collection of comets that encircle the solar system beyond the ex-planet of Pluto. Devastation would be total. It is unclear why such a large part of the Oort cloud would suddenly implode and zero in on the Earth's location.
• Email:  Another visitor suggests that a new cosmic cycle will begin after midnight on DEC-24. The sun will collide with another sun made of antimatter producing a "humungous nuclear explosion" which will turn every living entity -- from humans to microorganisms on Earth to ashes or dust. The 4th dimension will be "thrust upon Earth right after midnight." You might want to make certain that your insurance policies are paid up to date!
• Email: Ric Steiner wrote: "On December 21st, 2012, the ZODIAC will be in perfect alignment for the first time in some 24,000 years. Those who worship Lucifer and Satan are already anticipating that he will manifest bodily on Planet Earth on or near that day. Even the top guns of those huge radio and television pulpits now have their sticks in the pot. 'Maybe,' they say, 'it just might be coincidental with the Second Coming.' So, in toying with it, they keep it on the back burner or even place it on the top shelf."

Predictions of TEOTWAWKI soon after 2012:

• 2012-2019: Damon_051572, who describes himself as "the physical and spiritual Jew,"  distributed an Email widely on 2006-AUG-19. It it titled: "Message from God: Some events of the end of the world." He of the events that he predicts will happen sometime before 2019 are:
  • The Two Witnesses mentioned in Revelation will issue prophecies and send plagues.
  • 144,000 Jewish virgins convert many to Christianity.
  • People will be required to receive a mark on their hand or forehead. Any that accept the mark "will be cast into the lake of fire forever to experience unimaginable suffering forever."
  • Satan and his angels attack God's kingdom.
  • Nuclear war begins.....
• 2014:
  • According to Sun magazine for 1999-DEC-21, Pope Leo IX (1513-1522) wrote on 1514: "I will not see the end of the world, nor will you my brethren, for its time is long in the future, 500 years hence." 
  • Isaiah Robertson predicts that Jesus' second coming will happen in Niagara Falls. He said: "Niagara Falls is a holy place, like Jerusalem. The sound of the water going over the falls is the voice of God." He expects that the water at the base of the falls will turn into a "lake of fire." He said that a cross in his home came "straight from God. It’s not man’s work. This cross is telling you that the coming of the Lord is at hand. If you walk away from this cross and don’t accept Christ, then you’re lost forever." ₈

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Related essays:

• Books about predictions of events in 2012
• Will the world end in the near future?
• The end of the Millennium: What people thought would happen: The Y2K Problems: Social, Economic, and Spiritual Aspects
• Past end-of-the-world scenarios which have failed
• Predictions that the end of the world will happen between now and 2010
• Predictions of the end after 2010
• Premillennialism and other competing Christian theories about the end of the world.

References:

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

1. Patrick Geryl, "Pole shift & pole reversal in 2012," at: http://survive2012.com/geryl1.php
2. Vijay Kumar, "End of the world 2012," at: http://www.godrealized.com/
3. Bill Joy, "Why the future doesn't need us," Wired Magazine, 2000-APR. Online at: http://www.wired.com/
4. Asteroid 1997 XF11 has its own web page at: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/
5. Carl Johan Calleman, "The Mayaonics: Where science and spirituality meet," at: http://www.ioon.net/
6. "End of Mayan Calendar," at: http://www.disastercountdown.com/
7. Terence McKenna, "The Final Illusion," at http://www.levity.com/
8. Bill Michelmore, "Niagara Falls prophesied as site of Second Coming," The Buffalo News, 2007-OCT-28, at: http://www.buffalonews.com/
9. "Plenet X," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
10. Emmanuel Velikovsky, "Worlds in Collision," (1950). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store

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Latest update: 2008-JUL-29
Author: B.A. Robinson

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