Harold Camping retires as head of Family Radio

[ChrisSmolinski]

For nearly 53 years Harold Camping has been a prominent figure in Christian broadcasting. On Monday The Christian Post was exclusively told that the 90-year-old was no longer able to lead his Family Radio ministry, and would be retiring.

During the last several years the Family Radio network has suffered operating losses and two of their stations, WKDN in Philadelphia and WFSI in Annapolis, Maryland covering the Washington, DC area, are being sold, tentatively to CBS. On Monday, Family Radio began soliciting donations to offset those losses, even though the broadcasting outlets currently owned by the company are potentially worth hundreds of millions.

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/harold-camping-retires-as-head-of-family-radio

[Swede P]

A shame in a way. Of course, the mainstream media was only interested in all the end-of-the-world stuff last May. Anyone into shortwave understands that Camping has been a presence on the radio scene for half a century.

Yes, he was in over his head thinking he had the one and only intepretation of the hidden mathematics of the Bible (assuming there is any) and calculating the end of the world to the day. What is not widely known was that as far as the text of the Bible itself is concerned, there are few men alive who are more familiar with that text and he was most commonly known for answering call-in questions about scripture itself and was able to give callers an insight into the historical context and symbolism behind the versus. Both believers and non-believers alike had a rare opportunity to get some deep reflection on this fascinating and timeless book.

I hesistate to come to Camping's defense generally, since the end-of-the-world stuff really served to sabotage everything else he was doing and  truly was an embarrassment (even before 21 May). While I didn't share his religious beliefs, I enjoyed listening to his show and was very impressed with his vast knowledge of his topic.

Now that he is 90, and after being disgraced in the eyes of many (not me: I always thought he was wrong about the end of the world, so no loss), I don't think he is much longer for this world. Retirement is essentially a death sentence for people who have devoted their entire lives to something well past the age of 65 so passionately and then suddenly find themselves with nothing to do.

History will only remember what people did last, so Camping will leave this world in ridicule. While Camping himself insisted that he was not a prophet, but rather deduced the timeline of history he believed the Bible contained using simple arithmetic, sure enough, the mainstream media made a mockery of him calling him a "doomsday prophet" and completely ignored his entire history and life as a radio personality and Bible scholar. I suppose I should not be too upset, since mainstream media is just titillation for the vulgar masses.

[Nella F.]

There's "mathematics" in the Bible!? More like arithmetic & at very simple, ancient level.  

[Fansome]

Interesting take on Camping. I've never listened much to him, but I used to enjoy Eugene Scott for the same reasons. He seemed to know a lot about the Bible and related literature, and he made a real effort to entertain as well as inform.

A shame in a way. Of course, the mainstream media was only interested in all the end-of-the-world stuff last May. Anyone into shortwave understands that Camping has been a presence on the radio scene for half a century.

Yes, he was in over his head thinking he had the one and only intepretation of the hidden mathematics of the Bible (assuming there is any) and calculating the end of the world to the day. What is not widely known was that as far as the text of the Bible itself is concerned, there are few men alive who are more familiar with that text and he was most commonly known for answering call-in questions about scripture itself and was able to give callers an insight into the historical context and symbolism behind the versus. Both believers and non-believers alike had a rare opportunity to get some deep reflection on this fascinating and timeless book.

I hesistate to come to Camping's defense generally, since the end-of-the-world stuff really served to sabotage everything else he was doing and  truly was an embarrassment (even before 21 May). While I didn't share his religious beliefs, I enjoyed listening to his show and was very impressed with his vast knowledge of his topic.

Now that he is 90, and after being disgraced in the eyes of many (not me: I always thought he was wrong about the end of the world, so no loss), I don't think he is much longer for this world. Retirement is essentially a death sentence for people who have devoted their entire lives to something well past the age of 65 so passionately and then suddenly find themselves with nothing to do.

History will only remember what people did last, so Camping will leave this world in ridicule. While Camping himself insisted that he was not a prophet, but rather deduced the timeline of history he believed the Bible contained using simple arithmetic, sure enough, the mainstream media made a mockery of him calling him a "doomsday prophet" and completely ignored his entire history and life as a radio personality and Bible scholar. I suppose I should not be too upset, since mainstream media is just titillation for the vulgar masses.

[Swede P]

There's "mathematics" in the Bible!? More like arithmetic & at very simple, ancient level.  

Yep, the level that Camping applied in his analysis. Not much beyond a four-function calculator.

[Newfoundland DXer]

Can't say much about Camping himself, but WYFR originated a trend that took over shortwave broadcasting.  If I remember correctly, they had the first transmitter exchange arrangement with Taiwan, which still exists today.  Prior to this exchange, every tx site was owned by the govt doing the transmitting.  This trend grew, and led to the commercialization of shortwave transmitter sites.  For good or for bad, this changed shortwave broadcasting forever.

Cheers, Terry