Well, no. Harold Camping was winging it, based upon numerology apparently, and has done so numerous times in the past several decades, and has been proved wrong every time. He had no church to speak of. He was and is a false prophet.
This interpretation of The Olivet Discourse is foundational to the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses and will lead to many leaving, assuming time proves it false. It’s an erroneous interpretation that is coming up on a century old, hence the unease in JW circles. It’s not yet demonstrably false to those who’ve accepted it but that time is looming large.
Above and beyond this particular instance, it’s a group that is in error Biblically in several ways above and beyond. I can only hope that the inevitable disillusionment is limited to JW and not to the Bible or Jesus Christ. If these individuals can see or be shown the error, then maybe this can be avoided. But, they’re a determined lot, verging upon strident, the JW are. Well, some of the door-to-door proselytizers have blown right past strident and into asinine, to be quite honest, and this is coming from someone who does not look upon visitation from various churches as a bad thing.
There’s always hope, though. Always hope. As NoGrayZone has pointed out on another thread, there are a few decent people who manage to be what I accept as Christian within this church, despite the erroneous teachings.
I'll give them this also -- they are honest to admit who they are and what they believe, which also would put many to shame.
As people, as individuals, leaving aside their beliefs, the ones I met were all very decent, humble, devout people.
1889 "The ‘battle of the great day of God almighty’ (Rev 16:14) which will end in AD 1914 . . . " (Studies, Vol. 2, 1908 edition, 101).
1891 "With the end of AD 1914, what God calls Babylon, and what men call Christendom, will have passed away, as already shown from prophecy" (Studies, Vol. 3, 153).
1894 "The end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble" (WT Reprints, 1-1-1894, 1605 and 1677).
1916 "The six great 1000 year days beginning with Adam are ended, and that the great 7th day, the 1000 years of Christ’s reign began in 1873" (Studies, Vol. 2, p. 2 of foreword).
1917 "Scriptures . . . prove that the Lord’s Second Advent occurred in the fall of 1874" (Studies, Vol. 7, 68).
1918 "Therefore, we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the faithful prophets of old" (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 89).
1922 "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the scriptures than 1914" (WT, 9-1-1922, 262).
1923 "1925 is definitely settled by the scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge" (WT, 4-1-1923, 106).
1925 "The year of 1925 is here. . . . Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year" (WT, 1-1-1925, 3).
1931 "There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth concerning the dates 1914, 1918, & 1925 . . . and they also learned to quit fixing dates" (Vindication, 388, 389).
1946 "Armageddon . . . should come sometime before 1972" (They Have Found a Faith, 44).
1966 "Six thousand years from man’s creation will end in 1975, and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the fall of 1975 C.E" (Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God, 29).
1968 "The end of the six thousand years of man’s history in the fall of 1975 is not tentative, but is accepted as a certain date" (WT, 1-1-1968, 271).
No one can say they've not been persistent. Consistent, no, but persistent, yes.