January 1, 2000
Y2K and end-times expectations around the year 2000
Record disputed No documented event matching the prediction occurred End TimesEvangelicalismModern Predictions
Quick facts
- Predicted date
- January 1, 2000
- Who predicted it
- Various authors and commentators
- When announced
- 1998
- Reasoning
- None specific. The expected date was January 1, 2000, set by the computing problem and not by a Bible calculation.
- What happened
- January 1, 2000 passed with only minor technical failures. Analysts disagree on how much of the lack of disruption was due to remediation work and how much to the problem having been overstated.
- Historical status
- Record disputed. Historians disagree on what was actually claimed, by whom, or how widely it was believed.
- Outcome label
- No documented event matching the prediction occurred
- Editorial certainty
- Low: thin or conflicting sources
- Editorial review
- Pending. This entry has not yet been checked line by line against its sources. Treat details as provisional.
Prediction
What was predicted?
The Year 2000 computer problem was a real technical risk, and some religious commentators framed it as a possible sign of the end. There was no single widely accepted Rapture date, so this entry records a pattern of expectation and not one prediction.
Interpretation by the author
Why did they believe it?
Two separate ideas were joined. The first was a practical concern that software storing years as two digits could fail on January 1, 2000. The second was the symbolic weight of a new millennium. Some commentators argued that large-scale failures could lead to social breakdown that fitted their end-times scenarios.
Scripture as used by the author
Biblical basis cited
Varied between authors. Some drew on Revelation and on the broader tradition of millennial thinking, though the Bible says nothing about computers or about the year 2000.
Method
How the date was calculated
None specific. The expected date was January 1, 2000, set by the computing problem and not by a Bible calculation.
Historical record
Historical context
Governments and companies spent large sums fixing the software problem. Christian publishers released books and videos on Y2K preparation, some of them advising stockpiling of food and supplies. Not all of them linked Y2K to the Rapture, and many Christian leaders warned against doing so.
Historical record
What happened when the date passed?
January 1, 2000 passed with only minor technical failures. Analysts disagree on how much of the lack of disruption was due to remediation work and how much to the problem having been overstated.
Historical record
What happened afterward
Y2K is now cited in discussions of how technological risk and religious expectation can be combined. Several authors who had written books on the topic revised or withdrew their claims.
Scripture
Passages cited
-
Matthew 24:36 (KJV)
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
Cited by Christian critics of Y2K speculation.
Excerpts are from the King James Version (public domain). Listing a verse here does not mean this site agrees with how the author used it.
Sources
Sources and further reading
- Michael S. Hyatt. The Millennium Bug: How to Survive the Coming Chaos. Regnery. 1998. Primary source A widely read Christian publisher's book on Y2K risks. It argued for preparation and does not itself name a Rapture date.
Found an error or a better source? Send a correction. See also the methodology.