Today is, once again, the end of the world.

Coming just days after the world failed to cease as had been suggested on 28 September, Chris McCann of the eBible Fellowship has outlined his predictions in a handy online PDF.

Entitled A Strong Likelihood That October 7, 2015 Will Be The End of The World, it promises a “fiery trial” of faith and quotes Revelation 14:10 in detailing “that awful day” of God’s final judgement of mankind:

It gets better–I thought, back when Harold Camping died, that we’d never see his end-of-the-world prophecies again… but today’s date was explicitly based on Camping’s most recent failed prediction (cos it couldn’t be that he was just wrong). Maybe they remember how lucrative making false predictions was for Camping. Which explained his tenacity. My bold prediction: today’s group will be wrong, again.

There is one neat thing about the HuffPo story, though; at the bottom, they have a listing of various different apocalypse predictions. Most are ridiculous, and one is quite genuine. Which gives me a chance to re-post this one, which I really like.

I was driving along, with the radio tuned
To the lowermost end of the dial;
Through the static, two stations were both coming in
So I listened to both for a while.
First one, then the other, would drift into range
As the road, through the hills, wound around;
And I gradually noticed, the speakers on both
Were discussing the same common ground.
The topic today was the end of the world,
And both stations had stories to tell;
The first speaker told how the sun would expand
But the second was speaking of Hell.
The first station spoke of the Messenger mission
And NASA’s new triumph in space
With instruments measuring surface and core
And cameras detailing its face.
The craters and faults look a lot like our moon
But the temperature there can melt lead!
As the speaker continued, I found myself shocked
By the very next thing that he said:
He noted “of course, in a few billion years,
We know that the sun will expand,
And the Earth will be hotter than Mercury now—
We’ll be long gone by then, understand.”
Now, I know that our species is really quite young
When compared to the age of the Earth
And the odds of survival are frankly quite small,
So today is of infinite worth.
But to hear this astronomer matter-of-factly
Discuss how our planet would die
Was a sobering thing—even more so because
Of the evidence none could deny.
Now, the funny thing is that the alternate station
Was speaking of fire as well
And the punishment meeting each ignorant sinner
Eternally sentenced to Hell.
The end is not coming in billions of years
But when God calls us back to his side.
It could happen tomorrow, so live your life right
With the Bible alone as your guide.
Today’s not important; the whole of your life
Is just prelude to life after death
In Heaven or Hell, so your choice must be made–
It’s too late once you draw your last breath.
He was blatantly trying to frighten his listeners
But strangely, I wasn’t afraid.
A Bronze-age mythology doesn’t stand up
When there’s evidence there to be weighed.

It’s funny—the world-view that talks about Heaven
And promises souls will survive
Has to stoop to extortion and threats, like I heard
As I motored along on my drive.
The so-called “dispassionate world-view of science”
Has beauty, and greater appeal—
What’s more, in a contrast from mythical Hell
What is studied in science is real.
No threats of damnation, just projects like Messenger
Quietly getting it done—
Enjoy your Earth—only a few billion years
Till the whole thing’s engulfed by the Sun.