世界末日近在咫尺 就在2011年5月21日？

Most people like to push thoughts about the end of the world to the back of their minds, hoping that the apocalypse, if it ever comes, will be a long way off。

But for one group of not-so happy campers, doomsday is a lot sooner...May 21 to be precise. According to the predictions of the Family Radio ministry, on that date a massive earthquake will shake the world apart, littering the ground with "many dead bodies"。

Those who believe in Jesus will be carried into heaven, while the rest of humanity will endure 153 days of "death and horror" before the world ends on October 21.

The group of 10 Christians have set out across the country in a convoy of caravans to bring the “awesome” message to as many people as possible. The members have given up jobs, families and all their possessions to join this final mission。

Calling themselves "ambassadors", they point to baffling biblical codes to demonstrate their reasoning. According to them, there are two "proofs" that May 21 2011 is the judgement day。

Noah's great flood occurred in the year 4990 BC, exactly 7000 years ago. At the time, God said to Noah he had seven days before the flood would begin. It is said a day for God is like a thousand human years, the church reasoned that seven "days" equals 7000 human years from the time of the flood, making 2011 the year of the apocalypse。

In its second "proof" the exact date is revealed by working forward from the exact date of the of the crucifixion - April 1, 33 AD. According to their reasoning, there are exactly 722,500 days from April 1, 33 AD until May 21, 2011. This number can be represented as follows: 5 x 10 x 17 x 5 x 10 x 17 = 722,500. Numbers in the bible have special meanings, with the number 5 signifying atonement or redemption, the number 10 signifying "completeness" and the number 17 equaling heaven。

The group's leader, 89-year-old Harold Camping said: "I know it's absolutely true, because the Bible is always absolutely true." Despite his conviction, Camping has predicted the world would end before - on September 4 1994. That, he says, was a mistake, a misreading of the biblical codes used to decipher the exact date of the "rapture"。

大多数人总是把世界末日一说抛在脑后，希望即使有那一天，也是遥不可及。

但有一个不那么乐观的组织却认为世界末日近在咫尺——5月21日！据这个Family Radio预测，将有场大地震使整个世界支离破碎，伏尸遍野。

届时信耶稣者可入天堂，其余的人将经历153天的“死亡和恐慌”，直到10月21日，世界彻底终结。

这个由10名基督徒组成的团体已组成车队横穿美国，将这一“重大”消息尽可能传递给更多人。所有车队人员都放弃了家人、工作以及他们所拥有的一切，参加这个终极任务。

这些人称自己为“使者”。他们通过圣经密码计算出世界末日的日期。他们称，有两个“证据”可以证明2011年5月21日是末日。

第一，《圣经》上诺亚方舟的大洪水发生在公元前4990年，距今恰好7000年。同时，上帝曾对诺亚说过，洪水开始前他有7天时间准备。上帝的一天相当于人类一千年，那么七天就相当于人类的7000年，因此2011年应是大灾之年。

第二个“证据”可由耶稣受刑的日期延伸出来。耶稣受刑于公元33年4月1日。他们推断，到2011年5月21日，一共经历了722500天。这个数字可以用5 x 10 x 17 x 5 x 10 x 17 = 722500表示。这些数字在圣经中有特定含义，数字5表示赎罪或者救赎，数字10代表“全部”，而17意味着天堂。

该组织的领导人、89岁的哈罗德•坎普强调说：“我知道这绝对是真的，因为圣经从未出错。” 尽管信誓旦旦，坎普曾预测世界末日在1994年12月4日到来一说并没成真。对此，坎普称那是个错误，他错误理解了用于破解世界末日的圣经密码。