Read source passages and their interpretations here, or browse the full bibliography for additional works.
Commentary
Multiple contributors; selected editorial unsigned
An early Latter-day Saint newspaper; the selected editorial responds to millennial date-setting and reprints another newspaper’s argument.
Text available here
An 1842 newspaper challenges the expected millennium · commentary →
View cited source · josephsmithpapers.org ↗Edition and location
1 October 1842, pp.940–941; unsigned editorial introduction and God’s Ways Are Equal reprinted from the Boston Olive Branch. Joseph Smith Papers historical transcription; modern editorial notes excluded.
1 October 1842, pp.940–941
Nalini Balbir
Collates variant future Tirthankara identities and explains their karmic framework rather than a unique savior model.
Text available here
Why Krishna’s future birth follows punishment · commentary →
View cited source · jainqq.org ↗Edition and location
Aspects of Jainology, volume III contribution, Jain Quantum transcription
Printed pp. 34–42, 46–49; canonical/later lists, ethics and conclusion
Classic Maya scribes of Tortuguero; reading by Sven Gronemeyer and Barbara MacLeod
A Classic Maya inscription from Tortuguero, Tabasco. It refers to the completion of the thirteenth Bak’tun, 13.0.0.0.0, in 2012; Gronemeyer and MacLeod also cite other references to that date.
Text available here
Tortuguero Monument 6 and 13.0.0.0.0 →
Arnold of Villanova
Treatise of 1297 (with a part of 1300) by the physician Arnold of Villanova on the time of Antichrist’s coming, condemned by Paris theologians. Excerpts printed by Heinrich Finke in 1902 place Antichrist about the seventy-eighth year of the fourteenth century.
Text available here
Arnold of Villanova: Antichrist about the seventy-eighth year of the fourteenth century · commentary →
Arnold of Villanova: Antichrist about the seventy-eighth year of the fourteenth century · commentary →
View cited source · archive.org ↗Edition and location
Arnold of Villanova, Tractatus de tempore adventus Antichristi (first part 1297), excerpts printed from Cod. Vat. lat. 3824, fol. 50 ff., in Heinrich Finke, Aus den Tagen Bonifaz VIII.: Funde und Forschungen (Münster: Aschendorff, 1902), Quellen, pp. CXXXI–CXXXII (Internet Archive ausdentagenboni00finkgoog, leaves n450–n451). Transcribed from the page images. Finke’s spelling of the manuscript (abhominatio, terre illus, videlicat) retained; his errata (p. CCXXXII) correct “videlicat” to videlicet, and his footnote says “septuagesimum octavum” stands on a correction in the manuscript. Finke’s ellipses retained; his footnote markers omitted; German-style quotation marks as printed. Followed in the note by a new AI-assisted English translation (Rainbow Watch, 2026), labelled as such.
Finke ed. pp. CXXXI–CXXXII
Joseph Wolff
Joseph Wolff’s autobiography in two volumes (London, 1860), dictated and narrated in the third person. It says he long ago gave up fixing dates for unfulfilled prophecy and regrets having named 1847.
Text available here
Wolff in 1860: he gave up fixing dates and regrets 1847 · commentary →
View cited source · archive.org ↗Edition and location
Travels and Adventures of the Rev. Joseph Wolff, D.D., LL.D., 2 vols. (London: Saunders, Otley, and Co., 1860). Narrated in the third person; the preface says Wolff dictated it “aloud in a family circle” with verbal revision assisted by Mrs. Alfred Gatty. Internet Archive scans b29351972_0001 and b29351972_0002 (Wellcome Library), page images inspected: vol. I, p. 402, from “Napier made a mistake here.” through “the errors here alluded to.”; vol. II, pp. 128–129, from “He also talked of their friends in England” through “Because I was a great ass.” Line-end hyphenation joined; spaces before semicolons and colons closed; whitespace normalized.
Vol. I, p. 402; vol. II, pp. 128–129
Hemacandra; translated by Helen M. Johnson
Hemacandra’s work recounts the lives of sixty-three illustrious figures in Jain tradition. Its Mahavira narrative includes accounts of coming decline and an oppressive ruler called Kalkin.
Text available here
Kalkin persecutes the monks →
Time measured from Mahavira’s nirvana · commentary →
The monks’ response · commentary →
View cited source · wisdomlib.org ↗Edition and location
Helen M. Johnson translation, Wisdom Library transcription
Mahavira-caritra chapter XIII, parts 5–7 (fifth spoke, Kalkin, sixth spoke)
Anonymous Zoroastrian treatise; B. N. Dhabhar translator
First treatise discusses57years before resurrection and end of evil; alternate version names successive restorers and expanding scripture before final renewal.
Text available here
Three restorers before the resurrection →
Blochet’s reference for Bahrâm Amâvand · commentary →
Blochet’s reference for Bahrâm Amâvand · commentary →
Two readings of “words on this matter” · commentary →
Two readings of “words on this matter” · commentary →
An alternative reading of the closing sentence · commentary →
An alternative reading of the closing sentence · commentary →
View cited source · avesta.org ↗Edition and location
Dhabhar1932English, Avesta.org transcription
Dhabhar Persian Rivayats437ff; MU II72–80 and alternate80–86, especially latter34–40
Buddhist — Mahāyāna
Anonymous Buddhist scripture; dialogue between the Buddha and Subhuti
A Mahāyāna scripture presented as a dialogue between the Buddha and Subhūti. It examines attachment to concepts and the qualities of a bodhisattva; section VI places continued understanding within the future decline of the teaching.
Text available here
Faith during the decay of the good Law →
A translation question about faith · commentary →
Müller’s reading of the five-hundred-year periods · commentary →
“Frame a true idea” · commentary →
View cited source · sacred-texts.com ↗Edition and location
F. Max Müller English translation in Buddhist Mahayana Texts, Sacred Books of the East XLIX; Internet Sacred Text Archive transcription.
Section 6, printed pp.115–117; discussion of believers in the last 500 years and Müller’s accompanying note
Traditional attribution Vyasa; online English translator not explicitly verified
The Vayu Purana is a Sanskrit religious collection covering cosmic history and other subjects. Chapter 58 describes recurring ages and the deterioration preceding renewal.
Text available here
Renewal after Pramiti's destructive campaign →
The people named as enemies · commentary →
Earlier ages and difficult wording · commentary →
Zoroastrian textual tradition; James Darmesteter translator
Yima receives warning of destructive winters and instructions for a refuge preserving living kinds; relevant to later renovation traditions.
Text available here
Yima’s enclosure →
The winter demon in later interpretation · commentary →
What is a Vara? · commentary →
Darmesteter on the winter tradition · commentary →
View cited source · avesta.org ↗Edition and location
Darmesteter English translation, Peterson digital edition
Fargard 2.1–36, especially 20–30, and synopsis/notes
Chuck Smith
Chuck Smith’s verse-by-verse teaching through the Bible at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, recorded 1979–82 and published as transcripts by Blue Letter Bible with permission of The Word for Today. Passages on Hosea and Jeremiah set out the 1948-generation reckoning with 1988 and 1981 and a 6,000-year count reaching about 1996.
Text available here
Chuck Smith in 1981: the fig-tree generation, 1988, and the rapture by May fourteenth · commentary →
Chuck Smith: on Ussher’s chronology the seven thousandth year begins about 1996 · commentary →
View cited source · blueletterbible.org ↗Edition and location
Chuck Smith, “Verse by Verse Study on Hosea 5-9 (C2000),” transcript of the 1979–82 audio teaching at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/smith_chuck/c2000_Hsa/Hsa_005.cfm (audio listed as “Hosea 5-9 (1979-82 Audio)” at https://www.blueletterbible.org/audio_video/smith_chuck/5000/hsa/verse-by-verse-study.cfm). One passage, from “Now here the nation” through “continue much longer.”. Transcript wording kept, including its bracketed insertions and spoken grammar; whitespace normalized. Chuck Smith, “Verse by Verse Study on Jeremiah 31-35 (C2000),” transcript of the 1979–82 audio teaching at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/smith_chuck/c2000_Jer/Jer_031.cfm (audio listed as “Jeremiah 31-35 (1979-82 Audio)” at https://www.blueletterbible.org/audio_video/smith_chuck/5000/jer/verse-by-verse-study.cfm). One passage, from “The interesting thing to me” through “a kingdom that will never end.”. Transcript wording kept, including its bracketed insertions and spoken grammar; whitespace normalized.
Hosea 5–9; Jeremiah 31–35
Traditional attribution to Vyasa; English H. H. Wilson · Parashara as textual speaker; historical authorship not established
Kalki restores Vedic practice and Krita age amid political and moral decline; adjacent royal lists need separate historical treatment.
Text available here
Kalki and the renewal of the age →
Wilson identifies the star of Tishya · commentary →
View cited source · archive.sacred-texts.com ↗Edition and location
H. H. Wilson, The Vishnu Purana (1840), Internet Sacred Text Archive transcription
Book IV, chapter XXIV, pp.483–484, paragraph beginning When the practices; ends Krita age shall return
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon; Joseph Smith Papers edition
Vision jointly attributed to Smith and Rigdon describes celestial persons returning with Christ, sharing the first resurrection, and dwelling with God. Only selected pages read, not every category of destiny.
Text available here
The vision of heavenly glory →
Joseph Smith; Joseph Smith Papers edition
Reports heavenly messengers and Elijah's declaration that the day of the Lord is near. This is a recorded visionary claim, not independent observation of supernatural events.
Text available here
D&C 110: the Kirtland Temple visions and Elijah’s keys →
Elijah in the Kirtland Temple · commentary →
View cited source · josephsmithpapers.org ↗Edition and location
Joseph Smith Papers featured historical witness, specified in locator and source note; modern documentary transcription
Joseph Smith Journal 1835–1836, pages 192–193
Historical account
James J. Strang and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Voree
The newspaper of James J. Strang’s movement in Voree, Wisconsin Territory, preserving revelations and contemporary claims.
Text available here
A promised record and a gathering at Voree →
The place of the buried record →
Reported revelation dates and surviving printed witnesses · commentary →
Reported revelation dates and surviving printed witnesses · commentary →
View cited source · archive.org ↗Edition and location
Volume 1, January 1846 pp.3–4 and August 1846 pp.1–2. Original newspaper scans; independently transcribed selected complete revelations.
Volume1, selected January and August issues
CESNUR; Massimo Introvigne, with Rodney Perkins and Forrest Jackson
CESNUR’s watch page collects outside reporting on Chen Tao and its expectations for March 1998, drawing on work by Rodney Perkins, Forrest Jackson and Massimo Introvigne.
Text available here
Chen predicts God’s appearance in March 1998 →
What Chen expected people to see · commentary →
Chen on 25 March 1998: “my predictions of March 31 can be considered nonsense” · commentary →
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Connects the Lord's Supper to expectation of a personal return and urges readiness without claiming knowledge of the hour.
Text available here
Spurgeon keeps watch without fixing the sequence · commentary →
Spurgeon keeps watch without fixing the sequence · commentary →
View cited source · spurgeon.org ↗Edition and location
Spurgeon Library transcription from Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit; printed volume listed on page
Luke 12:37–38; opening communion and watchfulness discussion
Harold Camping
Camping predicts a May rapture followed by the world’s end in October.
Text available here
Camping’s two dates for 2011 →
Camping places 7 September 1994 inside the tribulation · commentary →
How Camping connects the two dates · commentary →
Neil L. Andersen; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Contrasts contemporary declining belief with an anticipated universal confession of Jesus as Christ.
Text available here
All the angels, and the gathered righteous · commentary →
All the angels, and the gathered righteous · commentary →
John Wesley
Separates the questions about Jerusalem and the end of the world while allowing some warnings to refer to further events.
Text available here
Wesley: Jerusalem’s generation and the day of judgment · commentary →
Wesley explains his debt to Bengel · commentary →
Wesley explains his debt to Bengel · commentary →
The 1810, 1832 and 1836 chronology in Wesley’s notes · commentary →
Wesley’s notes place the end of the period in 1836 · commentary →
View cited source · biblehub.com ↗Edition and location
Bible Hub English transcription of Wesley's Notes on the Bible; exact print edition requires collation.
Matthew 24:3-15
Family Radio (Harold Camping, president)
Unsigned web page of Family Radio, posted after 21 May 2011 and archived on 20 June 2011. It says that on 21 May Christ came spiritually to put all the unsaved into judgment, and that the world will be annihilated on 21 October 2011, when the elect will be raptured.
Text available here
Family Radio after 21 May 2011: judgment came spiritually; the world is annihilated on 21 October 2011 · commentary →
View cited source · web.archive.org ↗Edition and location
Family Radio (Family Stations, Inc.), “What Happened on May 21?”, web page www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/whathappened.html, read in the Internet Archive’s copy of 20 June 2011 (https://web.archive.org/web/20110620004316/http://www.familyradio.com:80/graphical/literature/whathappened.html): the first four sentences of the first paragraph; the last two sentences of the fourth paragraph from the end, from “Indeed, on May 21” to “October 21, 2011.”; and the first two sentences of the last paragraph but one. Retrieved 5 October 2026; copied from the archived page text; space before “?” closed; whitespace normalized; omissions marked “…”. The page is unsigned; Harold Camping was president of Family Radio.
web page
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; unsigned institutional article
Calculates six thousand years from Adam to autumn 1975 and discusses possible millennial coincidence while acknowledging fallibility and uncertainty about Adam–Eve chronology. Claims of chronological accuracy and 607 BCE are the publication’s premises.
Text available here
The Watchtower: 6,000 years end in the autumn of 1975 · commentary →
View cited source · wol.jw.org ↗Edition and location
Watchtower Online Library transcription of identified issue
The Watchtower, pp. 494–501, especially paragraphs 26–33
William Miller
William Miller’s 1845 Apology and Defence recounts his calculations, dated expectations and disappointment after the expected return of Christ.
Text available here
William Miller’s expectations for 1843–1844 →
Miller’s 1843–1844 prediction · commentary →
Miller’s later October 1844 expectation · commentary →
View cited source · adventaudio.org · PDF ↗Edition and location
Modern 35-page PDF transcription carrying1845 Himes imprint and embedded original-page markers
Definiteness of Prophetic Time: PDF pp22–24; embedded original pp24–26
William W. Phelps
W. W. Phelps’s letter from Kirtland to his wife Sally in Liberty, Missouri, April 1836. It describes the temple dedication of 27 March and reports that on 3 April Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery learned in a manifestation that the great and terrible day of the Lord named by Malachi was near, even at the doors.
Text available here
Phelps reports the Kirtland manifestation: the day of the Lord near, even at the doors · commentary →
Phelps reports the Kirtland manifestation: the day of the Lord near, even at the doors · commentary →
Phelps reports the Kirtland manifestation: the day of the Lord near, even at the doors · commentary →
View cited source · contentdm.lib.byu.edu ↗Edition and location
William W. Phelps, holograph letter to Sally Phelps, Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, from Kirtland, Ohio, April 1836, signed “WW Phelps”; four pages, headed “Letter 27” and paginated 187 on the first page. L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Vault MSS 810, William Wines Phelps papers, series 1, item 10; digital images in BYU’s CONTENTdm collection SCMisc (record 54671; page 3 is record 54669). Page 3, from “On Sunday, April 3” through “six years old this day:”. Transcribed from the page image. Spelling, capitalization and punctuation as written; line ends joined; “&” kept. Square brackets enclose letters supplied where the paper is torn or stained (“Josep[h],” “Lo[rd],” “M[a]lichi”); “[…]” marks a word lost at the torn right edge.
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