Bertrand Russell explained in 1921 the problems with proving that the universe was created, intact, at a set point in the past in his "five minute hypothesis":
“”There is no logical impossibility in the hypothesis that the world sprang into being five minutes ago, exactly as it then was, with a population that "remembered" a wholly unreal past. There is no logically necessary connection between events at different times; therefore nothing that is happening now or will happen in the future can disprove the hypothesis that the world began five minutes ago.
—
Bertrand Russell, The Analysis of Mind, 1921, pp. 159–60)
[2]
The recent manifestation of Last Thursdayism occurred on the
Usenet group
talk.origins in 1992, as a hyperbolic response to omphalism and apocalyptic preaching:
[3]
“”As everyone knows, it was predicted that the world would end last Wednesday at 10:00 PST.
[4] Since there appears to be a world in existence now, the entire universe must therefore have been recreated, complete with an apparent "history", last *Thursday*. QED.
It gradually gained popularity; on August 25, 1996, the "Church of Last Thursday FAQ" (an early version of "The Last Thursday Catechism"
[5]) was posted to talk.origins by Michael Keane.
[6] This version is similar to
Unicornism or
Pastafarianism, and claims that the universe was created Last Thursday by "Queen Maeve the Housecat", who on Next Thursday (
Judgment Day) will admit those who were nice to cats to Paradise and damn the unkind, the uncaring, and Creationists to the never-cleaned Eternal Litterbox.
In some circles, especially
talk.origins,
Last Tuesdayism is taken as a schism of Last Thursdayism and is founded on the belief that the world was created last Tuesday — but, unlike last Thursdayism, this happens
every Tuesday.
A new incarnation of Last Thursdayism has popped up, and appears to be a kind of
solipsism:
[7]
“”We, the Last Thursdayists, followers of Last Thursdayism, members of The Church of Last Thursday, believe:
- that the universe was created on Thursday, and will expire on Thursday.
- that the universe was created by You as a test for yourself.
- that you will be rewarded or punished when this universe expires based on your actions here.
- that left-handedness is a sinful temptation.
- that everyone but you was placed here and pre-programmed to act as parts of your test environment.
- that everyone but you knows this