The Key of David's Tale

When Gerald Flurry began the Philadelphia Church of God he crafted a narrative that was used to explain the bewildering events of WCG's transformation and tell dissatisfied WCG members what action they should take to satisfy God and to give them a renewed sense of purpose under these new circumstances. This tale is a fundamental part of PCG's identity. Anyone coming to understand PCG needs to understand this tale. If this tale should turn out to be false then PCG will be proven false. The tale essentially goes like this, in my own paraphrase:

Herbert W. Armstrong was the prophesied Elijah used by God to restore all things to God's Church which had forgotten many truths over the centuries. Satan tried to attack the work but as long as people listened to HWA all was well.

Then one day he died. It was around that time, as prophesied by Mr. Armstrong, Satan attacked God once again and this time he was cast down onto the earth. In his great wrath he took possession of the Son of Perdition, Joseph W. Tkach, Jr. and inspired him to attack God's work from within unleashing the Great Falling Away. Ninety five percent of God's people then forsook the truth because of the lie of the Son of Perdition and they became the Laodiceans. Half of them will die in the Great Tribulation.

Only one man, Gerald Flurry, arose to challenge this apostasy. God revealed the Little Book to him, Malachi's Message, which was delivered to him by an Angel. He was called to "Prophesy Again." Only the Philadelphians discerned where God was truly working. They banded together under Gerald Flurry in an effort to warn the Laodiceans before the Great Tribulation comes upon them and continue the work by preaching HWA's 18 truths.

Only the Philadelphias will be able to escape by fleeing to Petra during the Great Tribulation. Half of the Laodiceans will die forever but then, finally, they will repent and know that God spoke to them through That Prophet Gerald Flurry and half of the Laodiceans will be saved.

After that we shall all be reunited from our present separation as divine members of the God Family, ruling the world as part of God's Government centered in Jerusalem. And we shall be happy forever and ever.

PCG was able to produce a moving narrative that not only explained what was happening during the transformation but also gave a sense of purpose. The PCG member also was able to become a part of a redemptive mission to restore the truth among the Laodiceans in response to the Changes.

We will see just how realistic this tale is later on. But let us further analyze the allure such a tale would hold for a WCG member cast adrift in the confusion of the Changes.

This tale has all the elements of a great movie: an original serene condition (WCG under the prophesied Elijah--HWA), a villain comes to ruin everything (Satan is banished to earth and leads the Tkaches and the transformation), spiritual darkness and oppression (the confusion during the changes), evil villains (the Laodiceans who forsake the truth), a hero emerges to show the righteous the way (Gerald Flurry receives the Little Book from an Angel to reveal that all this, the apostasy and even his appearing, was prophesied in the Bible), the call for action ("Prophecy Again," warning Laodicea, raising the ruins by republishing the writings of HWA, restoring the college, the auditorium, etc. and funding that by paying the three tithes), present day vindication (despite how Satan tried to stop us we go on, gaining the copyrights to HWA's works, building up a great work), and later future vindication (fleeing to the Place of Safety at Petra while the Laodiceans are corrected in the Great Tribulation, half of whom will die forever while the other half will see that Gerald Flurry was sent by God and will repent and submit to God's Government), and the happy ending (all of God's Church resurrected, half of Laodicea returns and are reunited because they finally came to their senses and see that Gerald Flurry is God's Man, and all together lead the world into the World Tomorrow).

Touching, is it not?

This narrative found a receptive audience among WCG members struggling to understand what was happening. Many were confused and bitterly disappointed that the leadership which Elijah had appointed had chosen to renounce the truth. They wondered where was God working now? How can the Work continue? They needed someone to explain what was happening. This narrative was Gerald Flurry's explanation to them, and it clearly had a powerful impact among the confused WCG membership.

It is so moving some may very well have forgotten to ask themselves: can this tale be trusted? We will deal with that later.

Imagine the impact this tale had upon WCG members desperately trying to understand what was happening during the Changes. One day you look in the mail and some material containing a book called Malachi's Message or maybe a few copies of their magazine The Philadelphia Trumpet are included. (In the early years of PCG it was their practice to gather up WCG mail lists and send Malachi's Message and other materials to them unsolicited. One example of this may be seen here.) What is the WCG member's reaction to such materials?:

"Satan's now here on earth? Oh my! What can I do? WCG is no longer the Work but have now become Laodiceans and half of them will die forever in the Great Tribulation? Oh! what I am going to do? Ninety five percent of God's people have forsaken the truth? Am I one of the ninety five percent? How am I ever going to get into the Place of Safety at Petra against such odds? What can I do about this? How can I be one of the five percent?"

PCG in response said, in my own words: Just join us. We will warn the Laodiceans for you. You will get to the Place of Safety if you are here. Any troubles and sacrifices experienced in the present life will seem as nothing compared to the great glory awaiting you as divine members of the God Family ruling over the World Tomorrow, reunited with the now separated brethren who will repent during the fires of the Great Tribulation. This future could be yours and all you have to do is join us in the work of warning physical and spiritual Israel.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? What a beautiful vision PCG gave to those WCG members struggling to understand what was going on during the Changes.

PCG members are absolutely dazzled by the vision of ruling as God Beings as part of God's Government, reunited with their reconciled Laodicean brethren. It is this dream that allows them to excuse themselves for shunning anyone who dares to leave or get expelled from PCG, to view any outside influences as transient and ultimately of little value, to submit themselves to whatever the PCG ministry requires even to the point of abstaining from life saving medicines, paying three tithes, attending the annual Feast of Tabernacles at great expense, banning themselves from Facebook, etc.

This narrative had a powerful impact upon many WCG members struggling to understand the Changes. It served to validate those who wished to remain adhering to the teachings of HWA, gave them an explanation to understand these bewildering events, emboldened them with a goal to warn Laodicea thus showing love to them, gave them a new leader similar to HWA, reassured them that they would get to the Place of Safety at Petra.

However all these conditions would only be fulfilled if one was fully submitted to the Government of God (their rule). If for whatever reason one should leave or get expelled from PCG then all such benefits are revoked: He (or she) is forbidden to associate with any PCG member, even close family members. He discover himself to be just another "spiritually dying Laodicean." Any elitist sense of being one of the faithful five percent is now rudely taken away. The explanation is that it is his own fault even though he cannot see why. He cannot warn Laodicea because now he is one of them. He will not get to the Place of Safety, thus he will be caught up in nuclear World War III, and there is a fifty-fifty chance he will die forever. It is these fears that force the PCG member to stay inside and passively accept the many problems that occur with PCG rather than leave.

To further entrench this tale into the minds of the PCG believers most of the books of the Bible are now reinterpreted. Much of PCG's writings are devoted to interpret the various books of the Bible in order to make them conform with this narrative.

Are they any problems with this tale?

• Malachi's Message sounds suspiciously similar to Jules Dervaes' Letter to Laodicea which was written before Malachi's Message. It is simply a plagiarism. You can read Letter to Laodicea here.
  

• In one place Gerald Flurry said he got it from a mighty angel, but in other places he makes no mention of angels but simply states that he simply typed up the manuscript over a few months, as portrayed in Raising the Ruins. No Angel required. (Raising the Ruins make no mention of PCG's belief that Malachi's Message is the Little Book.)
  

• Gerald Flurry originally identified Tkach Sr, as the Son of Perdition. "At the time of HWA's death Satan was cast down to earth. Joseph W. Tkach became the prophesied "son of perdition" who has polluted most of God's "Philadelphians" into becoming "the Laodiceans.""(Ambassador Report 54, Flurry's Philadelphians, February 1994.) "Who was revealed as the "man of sin" this time? Previously, GF declared that Joseph Tkach Sr. was the man of sin, but he is dead now. So how many are there? Two? Three?" (Gerald Flurry's Sermon: Revealing Satan.) Now that he is dead Gerald Flurry has changed it to Tkach Jr. This is a failed prophecy.

• Flurry has changed the meaning of Laodiceans. Under HWA the Laodiceans were viewed as simply "lukewarm" but they not viewed as agents of Satan, as people actively trying to destroy God's Work. This redefinition is forgotten in the PCG's tale.

• PCG has altered some of the writings of HWA without making it clear to the unsuspecting reader. At least three of HWA's works have been altered, Mystery of the Ages (even though Gerald Flurry tells us that one man under the inspiration of God said the book cannot be changed), The Proof of the Bible and Who or What is the Prophetic Beast? PCG has proven itself willing to alter HWA's writings for their own benefit.

• HWA applied "Prophesy Again" to himself visiting world leaders after 1972 in a desperate attempt to recycle his failed 1972 prophecy of the beginning of the Great Tribulation. HWA did this is his November 19, 1976 co-worker letter. This fact is conveniently ignored. Also it appears that "Prophesy Again" actually applied to John writing the rest of Revelation.
  

• Gerald Flurry has blasphemously labeled himself as That Prophet. A doctrine he instituted in PCG around 1999.

• Most importantly of all, it can be conclusively proven that HWA was a false prophet as he made many false prophecies. Most notably he predicted that Jesus Christ would return in 1975, and then by 2005, but these predictions have hopelessly failed proving that HWA is not revealing messages from God. PCG are attempting to raise the ruins of a false prophet. Such efforts are vain.
  

It is for this tale that PCG members have chosen to place their relationships with God in the hands of a man who actively seeks to follow a false prophet. PCG members are allured by the promise of being part of an epic redemptive narrative, saving the Laodiceans and the world.

They are so caught up in this tale they cannot see that Gerald Flurry was clearly influenced by Jules Dervaes' works, that they are seeking to revive the works of a false prophet and that they are caught up in error.

They do not see how fear is constantly used to keep them in when love is supposed to cast out fear.

They do not see that PCG's No Contact with Laodiceans rule is a most cruel, immoral and evil rule which PCG has no right to enforce and which will not help PCG members' standing with God in the least.

They do not see how PCG can never take them to a Place of Safety because they rely on a false prophet therefore their hope to get there through PCG is useless. Rather they should put their trust in Jesus who does not communicate through Gerald Flurry.

They do not see that the Tkach Changes were not a unique event and therefore do not prove that Satan hates this religion more than any other.

PCG and HWA do not possess the truth.

God is not a family of beings into which we can be born into. This is just an alluring tale which HWA stole from the Mormons. There is no truth in it. HWA and PCG cannot gave such things to their followers.

"Isaiah 43:10: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." " (Source.)

They do not know that HWA was just a liar as that scripture above proves.

May the Lord free them from these monstrous errors and from this deceptive tale.

Dankenbring on Meredith

I am indebted to KScribe for showing me that William Dankenbring has written information concerning Roderick C. Meredith.

KScribe through his website has introduced to me the intriguing testimony of William Dankenbring, the leader of Triumph Prophetic Ministries, concerning Roderick Meredith. I wish I had run into his info earlier as this information would have enhanced my biographical sketch of Roderick C. Meredith. I emphasize here that these are William Dankenbring's words and I do not have any special inside information but am simply relating what he has said about Meredith.

Now I wish to say before we begin that I am not endorsing Dankenbring's organization. Although he has altered many ideas of Armstrongism, such as identifying the USA as Ephraim instead of Britain, he continues to hold onto many ideas of Armstrongism that has been proven to be severely flawed, such as British-Israelism. The Anglo-Saxons are not Israelites. Like other COG splinter leaders he has made some questionable predictions. Ambassador Watch presents one of them here, although his identity is named in the next post.

Now onto the main topic:

William Dankenbring's notes on Roderick Meredith may be seen in the following articles:

Who are You?: The True Story Behind Triumph Ministries contains a fascinating and tragic account of William Dankenbring's relations with Roderick Meredith.

But in a long, hour and one half long telephone conversation, back in 1993, with a man who was helping organize the Global Church of God down in Florida, Meredith lambasted me for most of the entire conversation, dredging up things from many years ago -- things I had never given any thought to at all. To the gentleman on the phone, Rod Meredith unloaded a truckload of accusations and incriminating rhetoric, accusing me of plagiarizing ideas from ministers in the 1970s, and running back to my office to write articles using their material!...

Rod Meredith was told by this man, 'You really need to get together with Mr. Dankenbring...." Meredith replied: "I will NEVER get together with that man! "

When I heard of this, I couldn't believe it. My mind was reeling -- whatever had I done to offend this individual long ago? [He then speculates that Meredith was long jealous of him.]...

The fact is, I published the book The Incredible History of God's True Church, by Ivor Fletcher's which spoke highly of Rod Meredith's pioneer years in the Worldwide Church of God, then known as the Radio Church of God, especially his stint in England where he established the European office.

As has been noted elsewhere on this blog the positive comment that book made about Meredith concerning his meetings in Britain is used in LCG's Church history booklet as part of LCG's cult of personality:

[LCG's] church history booklet God's Church Through the Ages cites Ivor Fletcher's citation of a flattering advertisement for Meredith's speaking engagements in Britain in 1960 in Chapter 14 of his COG book. There Meredith is portrayed by HWA as "fully consecrated, utterly sincere and in earnest, stirringly dynamic."

And in another place:

If Meredith has the right to lead ["God's Church"] why does he have to resort to quoting obscure announcements of some evangelistic campaign? He is simply trying to make it appear that HWA greatly respected him to make himself appear legitimate to his Armstrongite followers. This is also used to obscure and dilute any negative information about Roderick C. Meredith the potential recruit may come across.

"Wherever the Carcass Lies, There Will the Vultures Gather" contains more information on Roderick Meredith.

The Church, perhaps seeing a repetition of fate, and even a greater cost, decided this time to settle out of court, and in December of 1992 the Church settled for $750,000. Meredith, at this point, no longer needed the legal umbrella of the Worldwide Church of God to fight this case. Is this one major reason why he waited until December 1992 to leave and to begin his own "Global Church of God"?

Had I been aware of this article I would have made mention of this possible link between the court case and Meredith's departure from WCG in my Biographical Sketch.

Also corroborating with AR54, February 1994 which reported this:

A number of Meredith's Pasadena-area associates have been put out for agreeing with Dankenbring's Holy Days position and for "Judaizing" (this includes the use of such Hebrew theological terms as Torah, Tenach, or Mischna - terms Meredith does not want used in GCG).

Dankenbring also mentions this, using this incident as polemical ammunition to discredit Meredith.

Meredith's true distaste for the things of God, and His Law, [meaning Dankenbring's own positions] is revealed in the fact that on the Day of Atonement he blasted the Jews, and shouted that anyone who goes to a Jewish synagogue is committing idolatry just as bad as attending a Catholic Church! Furthermore, his elders have let it be known that the words "Torah," "Mishnah," and "Talmud," and similar words, are not to be used around the Global Church of God -- as "some members are offended."

Crisis in the Worldwide Church of God contains this intriguing snippet of information:

The year of the massive defection was 1974. This was the year when Ted returned to power, and began to consolidate his position in the Church by removing from high office all those whom he did not consider to be "loyal" to him, personally. Rod Meredith was shipped off to England, to get him out of the way;

An Overview and Time-Line of My Life and Ministry contains this heart to heart moment from HWA:

During this conversation, which was mostly one-sided, he then gave me a real, deep insight into his own heart. He said that NONE of the ministers of the church, including Garner Ted Armstrong, Albert Portune, Rod Meredith, Herman Hoeh, or the other evangelists, HAD ANY WISDOM! He then confessed, “I lack wisdom, too. God never gave me wisdom.” I sat there astonished.

Also found in that article was this account of the following encounter Dankenbring had with Meredith:

He stared at me, and even though I had been a top student in his Bible class, he didn’t know or even seem to care to know me, personally. He stared or glared down upon me, and pointed out that at that time he was the “third most important man in the Universe – after Herbert Armstrong, and Garner Ted Armstrong.”

Leona McNair also testified in court that Meredith said a very similar thing to her during a counseling session in 1960, as may be seen in AR#29, October 1984:

She needed to obey his dictates because he (Meredith) was "God's number three man on earth" and would very likely remain in authority over her for all eternity!

Had I been aware of these two testimonies I would have made mention of this in my Biographical Sketch.

So this is what Dankenbring has to say about Meredith. Although we do need to take into consideration that he does have an organization to run it and therefore it is too his benefit to discredit rival Armstrongite splinter groups, still is not a pretty picture.

A Man who Studied the Bible Himself like HWA

Here's a tragic testimony from a former cult member who studied the Bible himself from a clean slate and came to embrace mainstream Christianity. How his personal study of the Bible lead him to renounce Mormonism sounds quite similar to HWA's story. And yet clearly he did not come to the same conclusions that HWA came to.

COGs and Their Sermons

Among the COGs the common practice is to post their sermons online for the whole world to hear. You can listen to LCG's sermons as far back as 2005. CGI, Garner Ted Armstrong's original spliter group, provides them as far back as last year. The PCG splinter Church of God's Faithful have sermons online dating back to 2005. COG-EIM has their own. Raymond Cole's sect, Church of God the Eternal has sermons dating back to 1990. ICG hosts many sermons by GTA. UCG has sermons online dating as far back as 2001.

You can listen to Dave "Send Me Your Assets in a" Pack's sermons. His most infamous sermon was Clarion Call which called for member to hand over assets to him and bullied them saying, essentially, if you can't do this than you don't love God. This sermon has been subject to much comment, universally negative. Examples of this reaction may be seen here and here. Despite all this you can still listen to this sermon. He still has it posted online mocking those of us who know that his followers deserve better than being treated like this. He obviously does not feel threatened leaving it online.

Even the Insane Lying False Prophet Ronald Weinland posts his sermons online despite bloggers who regularly comment on and criticize what is said in those sermons, such as Mike's Don't Drink the Flavor-Aid, Seeker of Truth's As Bereans Did, Dill Weed's Ronald Weinland The Prophet who Failed and Jack 635's Jack Said. These blogs regularly comment on what is said in ILFPRW's sermons and yet he still posts them online. Although it has been noted that some embarrassing information has been whitewashed from his website as Mike shows.

Yet although all these other Armstrongite false prophets are willing to post their sermons online Gerald Flurry's PCG, quite unusually, is utterly unwilling to do so. Unlike all these other Armstrongite splinters they have not only refused to post their sermons online but since at least 2005 have destroyed sermon CDs once they have been played (see December 12, 2005 Pastor General's Report, pp. 3-5). Although even such paranoid measures have not succeeded as several PCG sermons have been leaked. No wonder so many are concerned by PCG's behavior.

My Encounter with The Two Babylons

The day I saw the Dateline report about the WCG-derived Robidoux cult I went on the Internet to read up on HWA. While searching I came across a web page of HWA's anti-Christmas diatribe, The Plain Truth about Christmas. It was there that I was first introduced to Armstrongism's Nimrod theory. I read it and my mind was absolutely blown away when he confidently described to me the origins of Christmas, that Nimrod was a great ruler shortly after the Great Flood, that he was so evil he married his own mother, Semiramis, (that was quite a shocker) that she invented Christmas to spread the idea that Nimrod became a spirit being after his death.

Of course this is just a typical demonization tactic HWA continuously used to produce a sense of isolation in potential recruits to make them reliant on him. He once even condemned church hierarchy as coming from Babylon, a doctrine he would come to wholeheartedly accept. He also appears to have plagiarized this condemnation of Christmas from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

He gave no indication in that booklet that he was merely imitating Alexander Hislop and his anti-Catholic polemic The Two Babylons. I first heard of this book while reading an LCG article condemning Easter and calling for the observance of Passover. Gradually I came to realize that this book had an influence upon this religion. Later I read The Two Babylons on the Internet hoping to understand this matter further. While reading it I was a bit disappointed that he did not describe Semiramis as Nimrod's mother as prominently as did HWA.

After I read that from The Plain Truth about Christmas I was left wondering if LCG continued to accept these beliefs about the role of Nimrod in history. Gradually I came to see that they did indeed hold onto such beliefs with various mentions of Nimrod in some articles. Furthermore in Lesson 7 of their Bible Study Course they mentioned Nimrod and Semiramis in their role as creators of the post-Flood world more explicitly. I cannot recall if it mentioned Semiramis as Nimrod's mother. LCG preaches this doctrine to this day.

I also learned that this book was printed in the 1850s. Therefore I was a bit confused and disappointed with their fact checking skills when I saw LCG publish a misprint portraying this book as having been made in the 1940s. "Back in the 1940s, noted author Alexander Hislop wrote his landmark book, The Two Babylons." (Roderick C. Meredith, The Two Babylons, Tomorrow's World, May-June, 2004.) Now there have been honest errors before, such as when John Ogwyn's booklet, The Beast of Revelation described the Roman Emperor Aurelian as ruling from 270-282 when in fact he ruled 270-275. But still I always thought that this was quite a misprint. 1940s instead of 1850s. However I think it was republished by some firm at that time. You can look it up the on web at the link above and see that the misprint is still posted on LCG's website.

Hislop seems to have described Semiramis at various times in his book as Nimrod's wife, mother and daughter according to xHWA's blog, The Babylon Connection, as may be seen here.

"Hislop in various pages of his book referred to Semiramis as being Nimrod’s wife, and again his daughter, and again his mother, and again that Nimrod had two mothers, and again nine mothers. And this is history?"

So it would seem that the portrayal of Semiramis as being both Nimrod's mother and wife was simply a crude attempt by the Armstrongites in the 1950s to reconcile Hislop's confused portrayal of Nimrod and Semiramis into an agreed narrative.

It must be said that after reading xHWA's blog it is very difficult to take Hislop seriously. And even if Hislop's theory was true why should we go to LCG to learn "the truth?" Hislop was a "pagan" and "apostate" Protestant who was used by the Armstrongites to give them the appearance of having great knowledge from those remote days. Why rely on such people who have to use a discredited anti-Catholic polemic just to appear to have all the answers?

Was WCG's Transformation a Unique Occurrence?

When I learned that WCG had rejected HWA's teachings for "this world's" "pagan" and apostate Christianity I thought this was proof that Satan hated HWA's truths more than any other religion. Therefore this must be the truth. It never occurred to me that maybe something similar occurred elsewhere.

It has been said that the transformation of the Worldwide Church of God from Armstrongism to mainstream Evangelicalism was a unique event unprecedented in religion.

That is not true.

While appreciating that the transformation was an increditably traumatic experience for everyone involved and so it will always be remembered as an important part of their lives nevertheless the truth must be stated that this was not a unique occurrence. Remarkable it was. But there was other occasions.

Observe what happened to the Nation of Islam.

It was started up around 1930 in Detroit by Wallace Fard Muhammad. In 1934 he left Detroit and was succeeded by Elijah Muhammad who would lead the organization until his death in 1975.

Although they claimed to be Muslims the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad taught many doctrines that contradicted orthodox Islam. Elijah Muhammad taught that Fard Muhammad was God, that God is a Black man, that Whites are products of a scientific experiment by a prehistoric "scientist" named Yacub and other such teachings.

Upon his death in 1975 Elijah Muhammad was succeeded by his seventh son Warith Deen Mohammed (1933-2008). Under his leadership the Nation of Islam came to abandon many of their distinctive doctrines and embraced orthodox Sunni Islam.

His transformation of the Nation of Islam was described by Joseph P. Gudel and Larry Duckworth in their article Hate Begotten of Hate (1986) under the heading, "Wallace Deen Muhammad":

[Warith Deen Mohammed] immediately began to root out some of the main tenets of the old Nation of Islam. He denounced the belief that Fard was an incarnation of God, a teaching which is anathema to orthodox Muslims (see Part One of this series, "Islam's Worldwide Revival," Forward, Fall 1985). Likewise, "doctrines defining God as black and dismissing whites as devils" were changed "with the explanation that the former ideas were necessary transitional beliefs because of the brain-washing the blacks underwent as slaves." [Footnote: "Islam and the American Blacks," The Link, Sept./Oct. 1979, 6.] Indeed, whites were now permitted to join their group. Since 1975 the movement has been accepted by orthodox Muslims as legitimately Islamic and one within the fold of Islam. [Footnote: ibid.]

Like WCG the original Nation of Islam organization changed its name and is now named the American Society of Muslims.

However in the same way that WCG's transformation produced splinter groups determined to continue following the old ways the same thing happened with the Nation of Islam. Several splinter groups emerged. By far the most prominent is Louis Farrakhan's sect which has now taken the name of Nation of Islam for themselves. Similar to how some COG splinter groups cite HWA continuously, even reprint his articles and books, Farrakhan's Nation of Islam also reprint Elijah Muhammad's writings.

From Gudel and Duckworth again under the heading "Ideology" in the "Louis Abdul Farrakhan" section:

The ideology of the Nation of Islam under Farrakhan is almost indistinguishable from what it was under Elijah Muhammad. Their monthly paper, _The Final Call,_ reprints numerous articles of Elijah's writings and speeches. They also reprint Elijah's Muslim program ("What the Muslims Want" and "What the Muslims Believe") on the back page of each issue of the paper.

So we see that WCG's "apostasy" was not a unique occurrence at all. It does not prove that Satan hates it any more than he hates the Nation of Islam, a religion that cannot be considered Christian. Therefore the Armstrongites have no right to view this as somehow confirming their legitimacy. Indeed whenever any mass exodus from WCG occurred some Armstrongites would always label it the Great Falling Away as xHWA exposed in his blog Great Falling Away?

Therefore the occurance of WCG's transformation was not a unique occurence.

Another PCG Alteration of HWA's Writings

It has been previously reported that PCG, once they bought the copyrights of 19 of HWA's works that PCG made changes with Mystery of the Ages and The Proof of the Bible.

Now another change has been noted. At Gerald Flurry's Wikipedia article a change made in Who or What is the Prophetic Beast? has been reported. This change may be seen in Part 2, under the heading 'TWO Martyrdoms'.

This is how the paragraph in question was written in the original version. Note the bolding:

This coming great martyrdom is THE GREAT TRIBULATION (Matthew 24:9, 21-22). This tribulation is not the wrath of God -- the last plagues. It is the wrath of Satan (Rev. 12:12), inflicted at the behest of HIS apostate church by the coming "United States of EUROPE" and against the true people of GOD! It is a persecution -- a torturing -- a martyring of the saints of God -- the very elect who cannot be deceived (Matt. 24:24). Except those days of Great Tribulation be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But, for THE SAKE OF GOD'S PERSECUTED SAINTS those days shall be shortened.

This is the same section in PCG's version:

This coming great martyrdom is THE GREAT TRIBULATION (Matt. 24:9, 21-22). This tribulation is not the wrath of God—the last plagues. It is the wrath of Satan (Rev. 12:12), inflicted at the behest of HIS apostate church by the coming “United States of EUROPE” and against the people of GOD! It is a persecution—a torturing—a martyring of the saints of God who have become lukewarm and lost God’s protection. Except those days of Great Tribulation be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But, for THE SAKE OF GOD'S PERSECUTED SAINTS, those days shall be shortened.

As others have asked before so it must be asked again: What other changes to HWA's writings have PCG made?

Correct Date Madness

The June 1961 Good News contained an article by Herman Hoeh entitled "The TRUE Reason WHY the Jews Rejected Christ," pp. 7-8, 14-15. This article argues that the real reason many Jews rejected Christ was that they were observing Passover and Pentecost on the wrong dates and therefore many Jews were blinded to the correct meanings of those festivals.

According to Hoeh Passover is to be observed at the beginning of Nisan 14 but the Pharisees were observing it twenty hours too late. Also Pentecost is to be observed fifty days after the Sabbath in the Passover/Days of Unleavened Bread thus it has no fixed date but many Jews were observing it on a fixed date. Furthermore he asserts that the followers of Jesus were observing the correct days and that is why they followed Christ.

So we are supposed to believe that some Jews were blinded about Christ's true nature because they were observing the festivals on the wrong days.

Now this article was written in 1961. At the time HWA and his followers observed Pentecost on a Monday. Herman Hoeh wrote in the 1959 booklet A True History of the True Church, under the heading 'The Apostolic Age' the following: "JESUS FOUNDED HIS CHURCH BY SENDING THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 31 A.D. -- a date ABSOLUTELY established by the exact and INSPIRED mathematical and astronomical computations of God's Sacred Calendar."

Of course in 1974 HWA changed Pentecost to Sunday. Some left WCG over this issue. So based on what is written in this article HWA and his followers were just as blind as the Jews Hoeh criticized. HWA and his followers are blind to God's will as they began the Philadelphia era because of observing Pentecost at the wrong time.

This is a contradiction. For this article to make sense then HWA was blind about Pentecost when he ushered in what he insisted was the Philadelphia era. HWA was just as blind as the Jews Hoeh criticized.

A New TV Set Has Come

LCG has now unveiled their new TV set onto the the television audience with the telecast A New World is Coming, aired May 14.

It begins with an announcement that, "The following is a presentation of Tomorrow's World." Before they were more honest in the opening announcement. Originally the announcer said, "The following is a presentation of the Living Church of God."

They have changed the show's intro. The very first intro they had back in 2000 had no images. There was no indication of the heavy emphasis on fear inducing (false) prophecy LCG has. Before I thought it was pretty soft. Thought it did have one picture of a mountain of skulls. How reassuring. But now the new intro is more fearful with pictures of bombs exploding, a tornado storm, and a body outline of a murder.

The graphics for texts, offers and such are very flash, too bad it cannot make the old Armstrongite message of fear any better. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:27)"

The content is very familiar and need little imagination. The world's an utter mess. Nukes, degradation. Fear mongering. We need worldwide government. World leaders cited to support this assertion to make viewers more scared. Only Jesus' return can do this. Quotes Gibbon to possess veneer of scholarship and support belief in the millennial rule of Christ. All will be well in Tomorrow's World. The saints will rule, not be in Heaven. Presents some of the necessary events that must occur before the return. Biblical personages will return as a government under Christ to rule the world from Jerusalem. You need to act on the truth. Offers a booklet.

He says "We'll give you precious information and insights that's available nowhere else. (26:46)" As has been said before he has absolutely no right to say that. That statement is not true as many other Armstrongite splinter groups also teach the same things LCG teaches. I honestly cannot understand how he can say that.

Too bad the unknowing viewer will have no idea of 1975 or the many false fear inducing prophecies Armstrongism has published in vain.

Scattered Mormons

We all know how hopelessly divided Armstrongism is. It has been shattered into hundreds of contending sects. Ambassador Watch has recently shown that Anglicanism is also similarly divided.

The same thing has happened with Mormonism. Here is a list of the hundred or so splinter groups within Mormonism, a religion often cited as an influence on Armstrongism. This is due to its similar belief that believers are able to become God beings. Armstrongism or Anglicanism are not unique in any sense with such splintering.