Rapture predictions by decade

500s

• c. 500 Hippolytus of Rome expects the end around the year 500 Hippolytus of Rome · Date passed In his Commentary on Daniel (about 204), Hippolytus reasoned that Christ was born 5,500 years after creation and that the world would last 6,000 years, placing the end about 500 years after Christ's birth.

1000s

• c. 1000 Apocalyptic expectations around the year 1000 Various medieval chroniclers and preachers · Record disputed Historians disagree about how widely Europeans expected the world to end in the year 1000 or 1033. Some chroniclers describe apocalyptic unrest; others suggest the idea of mass panic was exaggerated later.

1600s

• c. 1600 Martin Luther and a limit of about 1600 Martin Luther · Record disputed Luther is often reported to have said the world would not last beyond about 1600. Exactly how he phrased this, and how firmly, is disputed.

1840s

• 1843–1844 William Miller and the return of Christ in 1843 to 1844 William Miller and the Millerites · Later reinterpreted William Miller concluded from Daniel 8:14 that Christ would return around 1843. He later refined the window to the Jewish year from March 21, 1843 to March 21, 1844.
• October 22, 1844 Samuel Snow, the seventh-month message and October 22, 1844 Samuel S. Snow and the Millerites · Later reinterpreted After earlier dates passed, Millerite preacher Samuel Snow argued in August 1844 that Christ would return on the Jewish Day of Atonement, which he calculated as October 22, 1844.

1910s

• 1914 The Watch Tower Society and the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 Charles Taze Russell and the Watch Tower Society · Later reinterpreted From 1889, Watch Tower publications taught that Bible chronology showed the "Gentile Times" would end in 1914, and early writing expected major changes to follow, including the end of existing governments.
• 1918 Watch Tower expectations for 1918 Joseph F. Rutherford and the Watch Tower Society · Date passed After 1914 passed, some Bible Student publications, including The Finished Mystery (1917), pointed to 1918 as the year when the existing church systems would be brought down and faithful Christians would be taken to heaven.

1920s

• 1925 Watch Tower expectations for 1925 Joseph F. Rutherford and the Watch Tower Society · Date passed Watch Tower publications of the early 1920s, including the pamphlet Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1920), linked 1925 to the expected return of faithful figures of the Old Testament and the start of a new order.

1970s

• 1975 Watch Tower expectations for 1975 Watch Tower Society · Later revised A 1966 Watch Tower book calculated that 6,000 years of human history would end in 1975. The organization later said it had not made a firm prediction and that some members had read too much into the date.

1980s

• 1981 Chuck Smith and the expectation of a Rapture before 1981 Chuck Smith · Date passed In books of the late 1970s, the founder of Calvary Chapel wrote that he expected the Rapture to occur before 1981, on the basis of a forty-year generation from 1948 minus a seven-year tribulation.
• 1982 Pat Robertson and the "judgment on the world" statement of 1980 Pat Robertson · Record disputed In a 1980 broadcast of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson said that a judgment on the world would come by the end of 1982. Whether he meant the end of the world is disputed.
• c. 1988 Hal Lindsey and the forty-year generation from 1948 Hal Lindsey · Record disputed The Late Great Planet Earth (1970) argued that the "generation" of Matthew 24:34 might be about forty years from 1948. Readers often took this to mean 1988, but Lindsey did not state a Rapture date.
• September 11–13, 1988 Edgar Whisenant and 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 Edgar C. Whisenant · Later revised Edgar Whisenant's booklet 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 named Rosh Hashanah, September 11 to 13, 1988, as the date. Large numbers of copies were distributed, including to churches.

1990s

• October 28, 1992 The Mission for the Coming Days and October 28, 1992 Lee Jang-rim and the Mission for the Coming Days · No matching event documented A South Korean group taught that believers would be taken up on October 28, 1992. Press coverage recorded gatherings in Seoul and, afterward, legal action against the leader.
• September 6, 1994 Harold Camping and September 1994 Harold Camping and Family Radio · Later revised In his book 1994? (1992), Harold Camping argued that Christ would return in September 1994. After the date passed he said he had made a calculation error and later named 2011.

2000s

• January 1, 2000 Y2K and end-times expectations around the year 2000 Various authors and commentators · No matching event documented 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.

2010s

• May 21, 2011 Harold Camping and May 21, 2011 Harold Camping and Family Radio · Later revised Harold Camping and Family Radio taught that the Rapture and Judgment Day would occur on May 21, 2011, followed by the end of the world on October 21, 2011. A national billboard and media campaign promoted the date.
• December 21, 2012 The 2012 Maya calendar claims Popular authors and online communities · No matching event documented Popular books and online communities claimed that the end of a Maya Long Count cycle on December 21, 2012 marked the end of the world or a transformation. Maya scholars and NASA stated that no Maya text predicts the end of the world.
• 2014–2015 The four blood moons of 2014 and 2015 John Hagee and Mark Biltz · Record disputed A sequence of four total lunar eclipses fell on Jewish holidays in April 2014, October 2014, April 2015 and September 2015. Authors linked it to Joel 2:31 and said it signaled coming change. Hagee did not name a Rapture date.
• September 23, 2017 The Revelation 12 sign and September 23, 2017 David Meade (pen name) and others · Later revised A planetary alignment on September 23, 2017 was linked by some authors to the "great wonder" of Revelation 12:1. Author David Meade said it would mark the start of catastrophic events. Astronomers and many Christian commentators rejected the claim.

2020s

• September 23–24, 2025 Joshua Mhlakela and the September 2025 Rapture claim Joshua Mhlakela · No matching event documented A South African preacher said that believers would be taken on September 23 or 24, 2025, around Rosh Hashanah. The claim spread widely on TikTok and other platforms.