Failure to Deliver: Predictions that did not predict and a case-closing report that did not close the case

Part of The Revealer’s series on the John Jay report, The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010.

by Elizabeth Castelli

Last week, two things did not happen.  The Rapture did not take place on May 21, 2011, despite the fervent prognostications of a retired engineer-turned-Christian broadcaster and biblical numerologist.  Meanwhile, the sex abuse scandal that has mired the Catholic Church in litigation and shame for nearly three decades was not resolved nor even really explained, despite the earnest efforts of the number-crunching social scientists at the John Jay College for Criminal Justice, City University of New York.  The coincidence of these two non-happenings was more than a matter of the calendar.

For one thing, both efforts emerged out of a belief that interpreting numbers produces a useable narrative that has an explanatory power.  Under the logic of this belief, the truth is but a matter of simple ciphering—whether Rapture predictions predicated on a series of simple arithmetic calculations or the purported causes of the abuse scandal in the Catholic church carefully measured, calculated, and charted with a soul-numbing statistical precision.  For another, both non-events strove to package up unruly temporality with certainty and finality. In the case of Judgment Day-proclaiming Harold Camping and his Family Radio broadcasts, the focus was on the future, while the John Jay College researchers proclaimed the sexual abuse of minors by priests “a historical problem,” a thing of the past. Continue Reading →

Rapture Anticlimax

Just as Ari Stillman predicted here on Sunday, Harold Camping found the error in his prediction and has determined that the proper date for Judgement Day is October 21, 2011.  The AP reports one of Camping’s studio technicians has said, “I thought he would show some more human decency in admitting he made a mistake. We didn’t really see that.” Continue Reading →

Raptureless: What's a Pastor to doWhen Christ Fails to Come?

by Ari Stillman

Christianity has mastered the art of being wrong. After all, it began as a reaction to the unfulfilled Jewish prophecy of the coming of the messiah. Its various traditions and uproots are rife with prophecies that have failed to come true. Given this 2000-year history of failed predictions, Christian leaders and theologians have gotten quite skilled at the art of re-interpretation or surviving the great let-down. Failed predictions like yesterday’s by Harold Camping, the California evangelical preacher who selected May 21st for the Rapture after a flawed prediction in 1994, are part of this lively tradition, a tradition that may give us clues as to what we can expect from Camping’s camp after faux doomsday.

As history has demonstrated, interpretation of biblical prophecy is common — and so far inaccurate when getting the dates right. While Jews measured Jesus up against their criteria for the messiah and claimed, “That’s not our guy,” Christians have perfected the art of predicting His precise plans. (If you’ve ever wondered about Jewish neuroticism, ask them how long they’ve been waiting.) Continue Reading →

Raptureless: What’s a Pastor to doWhen Christ Fails to Come?

by Ari Stillman

Christianity has mastered the art of being wrong. After all, it began as a reaction to the unfulfilled Jewish prophecy of the coming of the messiah. Its various traditions and uproots are rife with prophecies that have failed to come true. Given this 2000-year history of failed predictions, Christian leaders and theologians have gotten quite skilled at the art of re-interpretation or surviving the great let-down. Failed predictions like yesterday’s by Harold Camping, the California evangelical preacher who selected May 21st for the Rapture after a flawed prediction in 1994, are part of this lively tradition, a tradition that may give us clues as to what we can expect from Camping’s camp after faux doomsday.

As history has demonstrated, interpretation of biblical prophecy is common — and so far inaccurate when getting the dates right. While Jews measured Jesus up against their criteria for the messiah and claimed, “That’s not our guy,” Christians have perfected the art of predicting His precise plans. (If you’ve ever wondered about Jewish neuroticism, ask them how long they’ve been waiting.) Continue Reading →

Raptureless: What’s a Pastor to doWhen Christ Fails to Come?

by Ari Stillman

Christianity has mastered the art of being wrong. After all, it began as a reaction to the unfulfilled Jewish prophecy of the coming of the messiah. Its various traditions and uproots are rife with prophecies that have failed to come true. Given this 2000-year history of failed predictions, Christian leaders and theologians have gotten quite skilled at the art of re-interpretation or surviving the great let-down. Failed predictions like yesterday’s by Harold Camping, the California evangelical preacher who selected May 21st for the Rapture after a flawed prediction in 1994, are part of this lively tradition, a tradition that may give us clues as to what we can expect from Camping’s camp after faux doomsday.

As history has demonstrated, interpretation of biblical prophecy is common — and so far inaccurate when getting the dates right. While Jews measured Jesus up against their criteria for the messiah and claimed, “That’s not our guy,” Christians have perfected the art of predicting His precise plans. (If you’ve ever wondered about Jewish neuroticism, ask them how long they’ve been waiting.) Continue Reading →