In October 2011, he retired from active broadcasting following a stroke, but still maintained a role at Family Radio until his death.

[2] Camping is notorious for issuing a succession of failed predictions of dates for the End Times, which temporarily gained him a global following and millions of dollars of donations.

[10][11] In 2005, Camping predicted the Second Coming of Christ to May 21, 2011, whereupon the saved would be taken up to heaven in the rapture, and that "there would follow five months of fire, brimstone and plagues on Earth, with millions of people dying each day, culminating on October 21, 2011, with the final destruction of the world.

[18] Camping was reported to have retired from his position at Family Radio on October 16, 2011,[19] only days before his final prediction for the end of the world.

[2] Camping admitted in a private interview that he no longer believed that anybody could know the time of the Rapture or the end of the world, in stark contrast to his previously staunch position on the subject.

[19] In March 2012, he stated that his attempt to predict a date was "sinful", and that his critics had been right in emphasizing the words of Matthew 24:36: "of that day and hour knoweth no man".

In 1958, Camping joined with other individuals of Christian Reformed, Bible Baptist, and conservative Presbyterian backgrounds to purchase an FM radio station in San Francisco, California.

The radio station – KEAR, then at 97.3 MHz – was used to broadcast traditional Christian Gospel to the conservative Protestant community and minister to the general public.

[26] In 1961, Family Radio began running the Open Forum, a live, weeknight call-in program that Camping hosted until 2011.

Occasionally, questions were posed relating to general Christian doctrine, ranging from the nature of sin and salvation to matters involving everyday life, such as marriage, sexual morality and education.

[1] The Open Forum continued running until Camping's partial retirement in July 2011,[27] and was broadcast on the more than 150 stations owned by Family Radio in the United States.

In October 2012, over a year after the failure of Camping's prophecies, Family Radio began airing repeats of his broadcasts.

Family Radio also utilized at least three television stations: WFME-TV in the New York City area; KFTL-CD in San Francisco, California; and KHFR-LD in Boise, Idaho.

Family Radio spent over US$100 million on the information campaign for Camping's 2011 end times prediction, financed by sales and swaps of broadcast outlets.

He also points out the use of qara shem in Isaiah 7:14, which he interpreted as meaning, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

[32] Camping taught that a Biblical calendar had been hidden according to Daniel 12:9 and Revelation 22:10, detailing the imminent end of the world (with alleged Biblical evidence pointing to the date for the Rapture as May 21, 2011);[33] of the "end of the church age" (which asserts that churches are no longer the vehicle used by God for salvation, 1 Peter 4:17);[34] and of predestination (Ephesians 1:4–5), according to which God determined before the beginning of the world which individuals are to be saved.

Both before and after the failure of his 2011 prophecies, Camping received criticism from a number of leaders, scholars, and laymen within the Christian community, who argued that Jesus Christ taught that no man knows the day or the hour of the Lord's return.

For example, in Camping's view, Joshua in the Book of Joshua (whose name in Hebrew is identical to the name "Jesus" in Greek) is a picture of Christ, who safely led the Israelites (who supposedly represented those who became saved) across the Jordan River (a representation of the wrath of God) into the land of Canaan (which represents the kingdom of God).

[56] Followers of Camping claimed that around 200 million people (approximately 2.8% of the world's 2011 population) would be raptured,[57] and publicized the prediction in numerous countries.

In his revised claim, May 21 was a "spiritual" judgment day, and the physical Rapture would occur on October 21, 2011, simultaneously with the destruction of the world.

[21] In January 2014, a month after Camping's death, Family Radio stated that it would maintain his mission and theology, including the belief that all established Christian churches are apostate.

They are now using content from multiple evangelical sources, such as the young-earth creationist organization Answers in Genesis and Alistair Begg's Truth for Life program.