Part 2 of Reading PCG's Booklet, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Let us now continue to look through Wayne Turgeon and Gerald Flurry's booklet, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This booklet was first printed in 1995. It was later revised in 2001, 2005, 2008 and 2013. Here I am reading through the 2005 version. Last time I only read Chapter 1 as that was the only chapter written by Gerald Flurry. The rest was written by his son-in-law Wayne Turgeon. You can read the current version of this booklet on their website. However I am reading through the 2005 version of this booklet for this post.

We continue from Part 1 which covered Chapter 1.

Chapter 2

In this chapter Turgeon asserts that cataclysmic wars barely conceivable to the human mind are just about to occur. We are in the end of the end time!, he blares out in this booklet. 

Though Christ was addressing His disciples then, He had a much larger audience in mind—the multiple billions who inhabit this Earth today—at the end of the end time. (p. 15.)

It is now nineteen years since this booklet was first released. Nine years since this version of this booklet was printed.

Turgeon talks about wars. He injects a lot of fear inducing talks about nuclear war, nuclear winter,the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Today, the independent Soviet states still have a similar destructive potential. Between America and the former Soviet Union, there is over 700 times the destructive power of all the bombs dropped by the Allies on Germany and Japan in World War II. (pp. 18-19.)

This statement is still present on page 18 of the current 2013 version of this booklet. This is a curiously inaccurate statement. Shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union the other newly independent republics agreed to hand over all their nuclear weapons to Russia. That is one reason why Russia was not afraid to annex the Crimea from Ukraine.

Here is one intriguing article that discusses how Kazakhstan give up its nuclear weapons from Eurasianet.org, Why Did Kazakhstan Give Up Its Nukes?, written by Joseph Kucera in 2013.

When Kazakhstan became independent 22 years ago and inherited some of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, it decided to give them up. If you follow Kazakhstan at all, you know this because Kazakhstan's government doesn't waste a single opportunity to mention the fact.

Kazakhstan has made its status as one of the few governments to ever give up nuclear weapons the centerpiece of its efforts to position itself as a responsible member of the global community. It has started the anti-nuclear weapons testing group The Atom Project, and hosted international diplomatic negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

Kazakhstan, of course, not only hosted Soviet nuclear weapons but was the site of Soviet nuclear weapons testing, with devastating consequences for the long-term health of Kazakhstan's people. In the narrative that Kazakhstan has constructed since then, it was the searing experience of being subject to nuclear tests that made Kazakhstan give up its nukes.

Why is Turgeon so badly informed about such matters? Why is it that even in the current 2013 version of this booklet contains this woefully outdated information? Why do PCG's leaders continue to allow these words to misinform readers? This is especially bizarre since he is in a group that devotes so much resources to "watching" world events.

After that astounding error Turgeon talks about how these future wars will worse then anything you know.

With a little imagination, we can see that John is not just speaking of conventional warfare, but mainly radiation sickness, the effects of germ warfare and other modern weapons. (p. 21.)

No wonder so many PCG members are so fearful of the future. No wonder they are willing to throw away so much money to them in order to save themselves from the dire "prophesies" of people who follow a man who said Christ would return in 1975.

But Jesus Christ said it will happen! The Bible even reveals what percentage will die! Notice the “kill ratio” foretold about 1,900 years ago. “And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths” (Revelation 9:17-18). We could speculate on the exact particulars of nuclear weapons and radiation fallout, but the end result will be the same—one third of all humanity will die! (p. 22.)

Strange. I thought that Scripture referred to the sixth trumpet, not the second seal. This booklet is advertized as being about the four horsemen of the Apocalypse who are symbolized by the first four seals. Yet here Turgeon is talking about the sixth trumpet instead.

After that Turgeon talks about how end time events supposedly will culminate with the forces of the revived Holy Roman Empire assembling their forces together in the Holy Land only to be destroyed by the returning Christ. He then says only after that will the world truly know peace.

Meanwhile, a resurrected Holy Roman Empire (the abomination of desolation) will destroy anyone in its path caught unawares. Only a small remnant will escape. The majority, including God’s lukewarm Laodicean Church, will be slaughtered or enslaved in the Great Tribulation. Those who escape will be the ones who warn today in the tradition of the endtime Elijah, Herbert W. Armstrong (Ezekiel 3 and 33). We have no choice but to warn those we love. (p. 25.)

This paragraph captures so much of PCG's distinctive worldview.

When Turgeon writes of "a small remnant" he really means PCG members. One of PCG's promises is that anyone who joins them will be saved from the Great Tribulation. However this fear of the Great Tribulation seems to be often used to keep PCG members subservient to PCG's leaders regardless of their true feelings.Also one of the many requirements of PCG members is to pay three tithes and extra offerings. The PCG members are told that if they are not in PCG then they shall be cast into the Great Tribulation and that is one reason why they remain in PCG despite the problems in there.

Also to link these doom and gloom prophesies with a demand to WCG members to repent by joining PCG, which Gerald Flurry has been constantly preaching since publishing Malachi's Message, is Gerald Flurry's distinct twist to PCG's teachings compared to what was taught in HWA's WCG.

It needs to be stated that many of the ideas within Malachi's Message were plagiarized from The Letter to Laodicea by Jules Dervaes, written December 1986-January 1988. It was sent to 237 WCG ministers including Gerald Flurry and John Amos. In fact on September 26, 1990 Jules Dervaes sent a letter to Gerald Flurry in which he denounces Malachi's Message as "a direct and clear plagiarism" of his work.

Also Gerald Flurry uses teaches that HWA was the end time Elijah. He uses this doctrine to discredit the other COG groups. He often claims that no other COG groups teach that HWA is the end time Elijah. This is not true at all. Many within the COGs happen to share this belief. Despite this fact Flurry has made this deceptive claim again and again. He even made this claim earlier in this very booklet.

None of the Laodiceans today recognize Mr. Armstrong as this end-time Elijah. And it is to their own shame! (p. 6.)

Gerald Flurry has made this most deceptive claim again and again.

Again, none of the Laodiceans believe Mr. Armstrong was the end-time Elijah. That is why they are blind to the real meaning of 2 Thessalonians 2! (Gerald Flurry, The Little Book, 1995 version, p. 19. Page 18 in the current version.)

They all agreed that the first-century Elijah was John the Baptist. Today all of the Laodicean churches of God reject Mr. Armstrong as the end-time Elijah. They all reject the government Christ taught through him. (Gerald Flurry, From the Beginning, 1996, 2001, p. 51.)

All of the Laodicean groups reject Mr. Armstrong as the end-time Zerubbabel or Elijah because they first rejected God’s government! And since God’s government is based on His law, they have caused the members to stumble at God’s law! (Gerald Flurry, Haggai: Proof of God's Work Today, 2005 version, p. 7.)

All of the Laodiceans reject Mr. Armstrong as fulfilling this end-time Elijah role! (Gerald Flurry, Isaiah's End-Time Vision, 2013 version, p. 102.)

Why does Flurry say untrue things? Over and over again.

Also Turgeon calls upon PCG members to "warn those we love." Tragically PCG's leaders have ordered PCG members to have no contact with the members of WCG or any other COG group, the so-called Laodiceans. PCG's leaders have claimed that they are merely trying to warn the Laodiceans by doing this. That is nonsense. PCG's leaders are simply trying to control PCG members in a most frightful way. PCG's leaders are deathly afraid that PCG members will come in contact with other COG groups and leave them. It is possible that Turgeon's words were written before 2000 so originally they might have had nothing to do with PCG's no contact policy. But now those words are very likely used by PCG ministers to justify this most wicked and cruel no contact policy.

Chapter 3

Here Wayne Turgeon fantasizes about the severe famines that supposedly is just about to occur because of PCG's God's wrath. He brings up nuclear winter, the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 which caused all the Earth to have no summer that year, makes alarmist statements that the US could very easily run out of food, etc, etc. Says nuclear war would greatly hamper such preparations. Reading this it is no wonder why so many PCG members seem to be so fearful about the future and why they ignore the authoritarianism in order to be saved by entering the place of safety.

Tragically, more deaths, about 10 times as many, can be attributed to some form of malnutrition (the wrong foods) as opposed to starvation (lack of food). (p. 31.)

Here Turgeon is likely alluding to PCG's restrictions on what meats can and cannot be eaten.

Ezekiel 5:12 reveals that one third of the United States and the British Commonwealth, including countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, will be killed in the opening volleys of war. Many of these people will die from the combined destructiveness of the third and fourth horsemen—famine and pestilence. Verse 10 describes our citizenry’s last, desperate act of survival—cannibalism! (For more details of what lies immediately ahead for us, please send for our free booklet on Lamentations). (p. 32.)

PCG's old booklet was uses Lamentations is discussed in a previous post.

The future appears very bleak. But there is a way of escape (Revelation 12:13-17). God will hear and forgive anyone who will repent. The only ones promised divine protection are those few who have yielded to God and His way of life. (p. 33.)

Translation: join PCG or face your worst fears.

Chapter 4

Here Wayne Turgeon fantasizes about various disease epidemics he claims are just around the corner and are about to strike any moment from now.

Look up pestilence in any Bible concordance and you will be amazed by the link between the second, third and fourth horsemen representing war, famine and pestilence (Jeremiah 21:9; 27:13; 29:17-18; 32:24; 34:17; 38:2; 42:16-17; 44:13). These three horsemen derive their origin directly from the first horseman of religious deception, as we have already shown. (p. 35.)

PCG wants you to think that all these terrible things are caused by other religions not following PCG's teachings.

Closer to home, an influenza epidemic in 1917-18 killed about half a million Americans. (p. 38.)

Wayne Turgeon is wrong. That influenza occurred in 1918-19.

Turgeon ends this booklet with these words.

God will mercifully end the deadly sweep of the four horsemen just before they eradicate mankind from off the Earth. Finally, man will have the sweet, childlike attitude that God can work with in the wonderful World Tomorrow (Matthew 18:1-6). Are we each working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) so we can be a part of God’s great master plan for humanity? (p. 43.)

So we see yet another fear inducing booklet produced by PCG in order to get more members who, scared out of their wits of fear of nuclear war, germ warfare, disease epidemics, famines, cannibalism, the darkness of nuclear winter, etc, etc, pay three tithes and extra offerings because PCG promises that if one joins PCG they shall escape all these things. Meanwhile the leaders of PCG enjoy the fruits of this life at the expense of thousands of PCG members who have not yet realized they are being financially and mentally exploited.