90 years ago: An apocalyptic prediction derived from the Great Pyramid proves false

Apocalyptic predictions for particular dates are not just a recent phenomenon. Belief in the supernatural properties of Egypt's Great Pyramid were popular from the late 19th century through the 1920s. The idea was popular with believers in British Israelism (the teaching that today's British and American people are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel), and was part of Jehovah's Witnesses teaching from 1881-1928.

Two "experts" who wrote much in the 1920s on the subject of the Great Pyramid were David Davidson and "Discipulus," whose real name was Basil Stewart (a search for both authors at Advanced Book Exchange turns up works by both authors, especially Mr. Stewart). One of the apocalyptic predictions of this period, supposedly deriving from the Great Pyramid, was that Weymouth, England would be destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:53 P.M. on May 29, 1928. 20,000 people gathered at the sands in Weymouth at the appointed time to see whether the prediction would come true; it didn’t. 20 minutes before the time set for the tidal wave, a stunting machine fell into the sea, and the pilot, A. G. Cooper, drowned in the cockpit before he could be reached.

I don't feel like spending any time on my own critique of "Christian" pyramidology when I can recommend the anonymous article The Pyramid Prophecies, originally published in Bible League Quarterly. I found it reprinted in, of all places, the Seventh Day Adventist publication The Present Truth, May 24, 1928 (pp. 8-11, 13), and the reader can download it free by clicking on the link. I don't agree with Seventh Day Adventist doctrine, but they were correct in their criticism of "Christian" pyramidology.

Belief in the supernatural prophecies of the Great Pyramid remains popular with some New Agers. Southwest Radio Church has long taught that the Great Pyramid is "God's Bible in stone," which has led them over the years to make some foolish and erroneous predictions, which is the natural result of going beyond "that which is written" (I Corinthians 4:6) and adding extrabilblical sources to the Bible in order to obtain information about the future. It should be kept in mind that the oracles of God were committed to the Jews (Romans 3:2), not to pagan Egyptians, and there's no evidence that the Great Pyramid or any other pyramids were built by anyone other than pagans as part of the worship of pagan gods. For further reading, I recommend Soothsayers of the Second Advent (1989) (pp. 173-187) by William M. Alnor and Witnesses of Jehovah (1988) by Leonard & Marjorie Chretien (pp. 29-31).