Activists believing that
© Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty ImagesActivists believing that "Judgment Day" will happen on May 21, 2011, spread their word near Manhattan City hall in New York on May 12, 2011.

Saturday came and went with no reports of the Rapture happening -- as was predicted by one Christian group.

But from the Christian militia Hutaree to a preacher with a TV show out of Rochester Hills, the belief that Christ will return in the end of times is held by many in Michigan. For some of them, it's a way to convince people to turn to God and live righteously. Overall, 79% of Christians in the U.S. believe Christ will return one day, according to a Pew survey.

In Michigan, the arrests last year of members of Hutaree - a militia in Michigan whose members called themselves Christian warriors and were allegedly plotting to overthrow the U.S. government - brought renewed attention to end-times theology. To the Hutaree, the world was in the seven-year period of tribulations that comes before Christ's return, said the head of the church they attended. They believed "the government is already influenced by the antichrist," Elton Spurgeon, pastor of Thornhill Baptist Church in Hudson, told the Free Press. And so the time to fight was now, its members believed.

The issue of whether Christ will return has been the focus of intense discussion this week because a Christian group predicted that Jesus Christ was to return Saturday during the Rapture. Those who have accepted Christ will be saved, but others will suffer through earthquakes that will open graves, said the group.

Five months later - on Oct. 21, 2011, to be exact - the world will end "with God destroying the universe and everything in it," Alison Warden of North Carolina told the Free Press. She's with www.wecanknow.com, the site putting up billboards in metro Detroit and other parts of the U.S. announcing Christ's return. The group works with a Christian radio network, Family Radio, that is based in Oakland, California and led by Rev. Harold Camping.

Many believe in the end of times, but most are unsure of the exact date, saying that Jesus never gave an exact time. During certain time periods, there is an increased interest in the end of times.

In 1999, the FBI issued report called Project Megiddo that looked at various apocalyptic groups, some of them Christian, in advance of 2000. And in recent years, the Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye that depict the end of times as a bloody apocalypse have become best sellers. Today, some believe in a supposed Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012.

But a pastor in Troy, Michigan with a doctorate in theology says it's a mistake to pinpoint when exactly Christ will return.

"Picking days and years of Christ's return has often gotten headlines, but to this date none of the prognostications have come true," Rev. Bob Cornwall, pastor of Central Woodward Christian Church in Troy, said Saturday. He notes that current Rapture theology, as popularized today by LaHaye, "dates only back to the 19th century."

At the same time, "Christians have from the very earliest days pondered the return of Christ in glory," Cornwall said.

In the Bible, Christ talks about his return and there appears to be accounts of people leaving their jobs to prepare for it. But at one point, Paul urges the early Christians to not leave their jobs.

"The question that Christians have been struggling with since the first generation of Christians began to die off was, why the delay?" in Christ's return, Cornwall said. "If, as Paul seems to suggest, the end is near, why hasn't taken so long to reach this point?"

Still, belief in the end of times drives some pastors in metro Detroit.

In a Rochester Hills studio, Jack Van Impe, a Christian preacher, broadcasts a syndicated TV show using news headlines as evidence the end of times is near. From earthquakes to military activity in the Middle East, Van Impe lays out a vision where the end of the world is coming.

"Christ's Return is Near! Don't Miss it for the World!" he says on his Web site. The Hutaree Web site featured a link to his site.

In a Pew survey in 2006, white evangelicals were most likely to believe that Christ will return one day, with 95% of them believing in his return. White mainline Protestants were least likely to believe so, with 60% of them holding that belief.

Some Muslims and Jews also believe in the end of times.

Some Jewish people - in particular those who are Orthodox - believe that a messiah who is a righteous descendant of King David will come in the future to bring a time of peace.

And some Muslims believe that a descendant of the prophet Muhammad will appear to bring peace. Islam's prophet, Mohammed, is believed to have said that one sign of the end of times is when men dress like women and women dress like men.

Among some conservative Christians, there has been talk that the end of times is growing near because of what they say is an increase in immorality and because of liberal government policies. To some of them, President Obama is seen as the anti-Christ who will appear near the end of times. Family Radio, which is behind the May 21 end date, has a poster on its Web site that claims: "Gay Pride" is "Planned by God as a Sign of the End."

Christians like Rev. Cornwall express concern that end of times theology can lead to worrisome views.

"This is a problem because it tends to detract and distract us from valuing life here on earth at this time and in the future," he said. "Thus, we needn't worry about climate change or the environment, because Jesus is coming back soon. It also reflects a view of God as angry, capricious, and judgmental. This particular incident with Camping might seem laughable, but the theology that it shares with folks like LaHaye is pretty widespread and problematic."

In the scenarios described by LaHaye and Camping, many would suffer if they are not drawn up to God during the Rapture.

"We might want to ask why so many Christians seem to take joy in the prospect that those who would be "left behind" in their scenarios would suffer," Cornwall said. "I fail to see anything Christian about such thoughts."

People who are less educated are more likely to believe that Jesus Christ will return, according to a Pew survey last year.

About 19% of Americans with college degrees believe that Christ will return by the year 2050. That increases to 35% for those with some college education and to 59% for those with a high school degree or less, according to a 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center.