Greg Gwin

Remember Edgar Whisenant? Probably not, but he was the retired NASA engineer who became famous (or infamous) by making predictions about the second coming of Christ. His first guess was September 12, 1988. He became an instant celebrity when he wrote a book explaining his reasons why the event would absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it occur on that particular date. He was featured in magazines and newspapers throughout the world. His book sold hundreds of thousands of copies. But, as you obviously know, September 12, 1988 came and went like any other day.

Whisenant went back to his drawing board. What could have gone wrong? Finally he announced that he had discovered his error. He had made the simple mistake of forgetting to allow for an extra year between 1 BC and 1 AD. And so he began to assure everyone that the second coming was certain to be on September 1, 1989

But, of course, this second prediction also failed. But, never fear, Whisenant made more calculations. News reports quoted him as saying he was “96 percent” certain the second coming would still occur sometime in 1989 - and if not in 1989, then definitely in 1990 or, at least, in 1991, or 1992, or 1993. “No way it’s going past 1993,” he said with the utmost resolve.

Men like Whisenant are nothing new. End-time date setters go all the way back to the first century (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). We wonder if folks will ever wise-up and take Jesus at His word: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Think!