Collection
Failed Rapture predictions: dates that passed
This page lists predictions in which a stated date passed without the predicted event. "Failed" is used here as a plain description of the outcome. It is not a judgment on the people involved, many of whom were sincere and several of whom publicly acknowledged their error.
Each entry records what the author said afterward, because the aftermath varies: some admitted a mistake, some revised the date, and some reinterpreted what had been predicted.
13 entries, in date order.
- c. 500 Hippolytus of Rome expects the end around the year 500 Hippolytus of Rome · Date passed In his Commentary on Daniel (about 204), Hippolytus reasoned that Christ was born 5,500 years after creation and that the world would last 6,000 years, placing the end about 500 years after Christ's birth.
- 1843–1844 William Miller and the return of Christ in 1843 to 1844 William Miller and the Millerites · Later reinterpreted William Miller concluded from Daniel 8:14 that Christ would return around 1843. He later refined the window to the Jewish year from March 21, 1843 to March 21, 1844.
- October 22, 1844 Samuel Snow, the seventh-month message and October 22, 1844 Samuel S. Snow and the Millerites · Later reinterpreted After earlier dates passed, Millerite preacher Samuel Snow argued in August 1844 that Christ would return on the Jewish Day of Atonement, which he calculated as October 22, 1844.
- 1918 Watch Tower expectations for 1918 Joseph F. Rutherford and the Watch Tower Society · Date passed After 1914 passed, some Bible Student publications, including The Finished Mystery (1917), pointed to 1918 as the year when the existing church systems would be brought down and faithful Christians would be taken to heaven.
- 1925 Watch Tower expectations for 1925 Joseph F. Rutherford and the Watch Tower Society · Date passed Watch Tower publications of the early 1920s, including the pamphlet Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1920), linked 1925 to the expected return of faithful figures of the Old Testament and the start of a new order.
- 1975 Watch Tower expectations for 1975 Watch Tower Society · Later revised A 1966 Watch Tower book calculated that 6,000 years of human history would end in 1975. The organization later said it had not made a firm prediction and that some members had read too much into the date.
- 1981 Chuck Smith and the expectation of a Rapture before 1981 Chuck Smith · Date passed In books of the late 1970s, the founder of Calvary Chapel wrote that he expected the Rapture to occur before 1981, on the basis of a forty-year generation from 1948 minus a seven-year tribulation.
- September 11–13, 1988 Edgar Whisenant and 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 Edgar C. Whisenant · Later revised Edgar Whisenant's booklet 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 named Rosh Hashanah, September 11 to 13, 1988, as the date. Large numbers of copies were distributed, including to churches.
- October 28, 1992 The Mission for the Coming Days and October 28, 1992 Lee Jang-rim and the Mission for the Coming Days · No matching event documented A South Korean group taught that believers would be taken up on October 28, 1992. Press coverage recorded gatherings in Seoul and, afterward, legal action against the leader.
- September 6, 1994 Harold Camping and September 1994 Harold Camping and Family Radio · Later revised In his book 1994? (1992), Harold Camping argued that Christ would return in September 1994. After the date passed he said he had made a calculation error and later named 2011.
- May 21, 2011 Harold Camping and May 21, 2011 Harold Camping and Family Radio · Later revised Harold Camping and Family Radio taught that the Rapture and Judgment Day would occur on May 21, 2011, followed by the end of the world on October 21, 2011. A national billboard and media campaign promoted the date.
- September 23, 2017 The Revelation 12 sign and September 23, 2017 David Meade (pen name) and others · Later revised A planetary alignment on September 23, 2017 was linked by some authors to the "great wonder" of Revelation 12:1. Author David Meade said it would mark the start of catastrophic events. Astronomers and many Christian commentators rejected the claim.
- September 23–24, 2025 Joshua Mhlakela and the September 2025 Rapture claim Joshua Mhlakela · No matching event documented A South African preacher said that believers would be taken on September 23 or 24, 2025, around Rosh Hashanah. The claim spread widely on TikTok and other platforms.