Apocalypse Now? North Texans Say No

Group of Christians says Rapture is Saturday

A loosely organized Christian movement says Saturday is Judgment Day, but North Texans say they are confident they'll live to see Sunday.

Believers say Jesus Christ will return to gather the faithful into heaven, leaving all the bad people stuck on Earth to witness its destruction.

But people in Sundance Square said Friday that they aren't buying it.

"No, I'm a Christian, and the Bible says no man knows the time or the date, so that's total hogwash," Warren Norred said.

Six p.m. also passed in Texas without incident.

If people are reading into our recent stormy weather as the beginning of the end, why are they still going through the daily grind? Well, they aren't.

"I would be doing something more enjoyable with my family rather than be off working," Norred said.

The Rapture -- the belief that Christ will bring the faithful into paradise prior to a period of tribulation on earth that precedes the end of time -- doesn't happen all at once. You could call it a rolling rapture, taking place at 6 p.m. across all time zones.

"If it's so important ... why does nobody care? Look, everyone is enjoying the Colonial, the Rangers, you know?" said George Rodriquez.

He said he has heard a lot about the prediction but doesn't believe in it.

"I hope it doesn't happen, of course,"

Rodriguez said. "It's just funny -- awkward funny."

The Internet was alive with reaction in the hours past 6 p.m. Saturday in New Zealand.

"Harold Camping's 21st May Doomsday prediction fails; No earthquake in New Zealand," read one posting on Twitter.

The end-of-the-world prediction originates with Camping, an 89-year-old retired civil engineer from Oakland, Calif., who founded Family Radio Worldwide, an independent ministry that has broadcast his prediction around the world.

The Rapture is a relatively new notion compared to Christianity itself, and most Christians don't believe in it. And even believers rarely attempt to set a date for the event.

Camping's prophecy comes from numerological calculations based on his reading of the Bible, and he says global events like the 1948 founding of Israel confirm his math. But even some Christians who believe the Rapture will occur think he's wrong.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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