He and his family WERE ( past tense ) members of the Christian Reformed Church until the year 1988. During this time he served as an Elder and Sunday school teacher at the Alameda Bible Fellowship.
Because of his penchant for date setting, and his stubborn refusal to change, Camping was stripped of his role as teacher at Alameda. The official date the elders took over the adult Sunday school class was September 11, 1988.
The whole controversy that spanned Camping’s censure and departure from the church was roughly from May to September, 1988.
Is it therefore, not the least bit suspect that Camping would later declare that the Holy Spirit was removed from the church beginning on May 21, 1988, the very same period Camping himself was removed from teaching ‘in” the church? And is it not alarming that Camping now “outside” of the church would declare, soon after his own departure, that anyone still identified with any church is now under the judgment of God? I think it’s safe to say we have motive.
Pride and bitterness had so overcome Camping that he was able to declare that upon the year of his censure and departure from the church, God was done with the entire church, and from that time forward, God would only work in the “true believers” who were willing to take the stand with Camping and come out of the church.
That’s very enlightening. However, I still don’t understand why (or if) he believes in the “rapture.” Isn’t that associated with eschatologies/theologies that he has opposed for decades?