The next question is to ask: what is meant by a generation? In 1988, a former NASA engineer, Edgar C. Whisenant (1932-2001), published a 55-page booklet, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture will be in 1988. It is still available free of charge on the internet in PDF format.[1] He was very confident as to the accuracy of his calculations, and said, “Only if the Bible is in error am I wrong; and I say that to every preacher in town.” Whisenant even said that he would be prepared to stake his very life on his date of Rosh HaShanah 1988. Some 300,000 copies of the booklet were posted free of charge to ministers across the United States and 4.5 million copies were sold. With so many copies distributed in this way, Whisenant certainly staked his very reputation, but apparently not his life. Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) ministry embraced his teaching and, on 11-13 September, they broadcast pre-recorded messages about the subject of the Rapture to replace their regular talk show. Some believers unwisely sold their belongings to prepare.[2]
The rest of the story makes for an embarrassing read. When nothing happened by the end of 13 September, Whisenant predicted instead that the Rapture would take place on 15 September, and then again on 3 October. When these dates failed, he attributed his mistake to the fact that there is no year zero in the Gregorian calendar and revised his date to Rosh Hashanah of 1989! Apparently, and sadly, he continued to revise his date annually.[3]
One of Whisenant’s central reasons for originally declaring the date as 1988 was his insistence that a biblical generation is 40 years...
[1] archive.org/details/ReasonsWhyTheRaptureWillBeIn1988PDF
[2] Edgar C. Whisenant, wikipedia.org
[3] Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion, isitso.org/guide/whise.html, which in turn references the book End Times Visions by Richard Abanes
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.