Letter on the Vita Packatollah

Exit and Support Network has just published a letter about Dave Pack's Autobiography. It exposes the manufactured modesty of this publication.

Meredith's Double Speak

This is from Meredith's May 4, 2004 co-worker letter (emphasis mine):

Last year alone we mailed out, totally free of charge, more than 1.9 million magazine copies, booklets, letters, Bible Study Course lessons, reprint articles, videotapes and audiotapes. This Work has never asked the public for one dime, and we are not asking you now.

What a marvelous example of double speak.

HWA vs. Ellen White

In one post xHWA commented on the comparisons between HWA and Ellen G. White. Because of my readings on the Wednesday Crucifixion doctrine it occurred to me that EGW outdid HWA in gaining the trust of the denomination.

HWA tried to influence COG7 to adopt his eclectic beliefs but he got kicked out for it.

EGW on the other hand was able to rally the entire Seventh Day Adventist Church behind her.

Clearly she was far more successful in convincing people within her denomination than HWA was. EGW went into the Adventist movement and she came to gain leadership among most who accepted the Sabbath.

HWA had to go away and build up his own following.

More Musings on the Vita Packatollah

Unsurprisingly this book paints a very negative portrayal of Meredith. Because Pack originally joined his organization Pack desperately needs to discredit him and "prove" that God could not be working through him. If Pack really is an Apostle as he has claimed since 2005, then why did he affiliate himself Meredith when he left WCG? It is to get rid of this problem that Meredith is portrayed in a negative manner. Pack was never involved with PCG so they merit only the occasional disparaging comment.

In the first volume Meredith was portrayed as a failure and this is mentioned again in this volume. "Mr. Pack had a detailed personal history with this man that was negative in so many regards." (Chapter 38.)

Pack claims that Meredith's reassigning another man as the designated successor was a sign Meredith would not be faithful. This is just one way that Pack seeks to discredit Meredith.

Pack is also well known for refusing to answer Here is how Pack excuses himself from answering every concern that is raised. "“As I have written before, if I continue to have to answer each and every charge written about me from now until Christ returns, one person after one person after one person at a time, the Adversary will have effectively rendered me useless as a tool in God’s hands to serve His people." (Chapter 50.)

Pack's Apostolic Succession -- Part 2

Previously we saw how Pack links himself with HWA by using a personal moment with him in order to associate himself with "Elijah" himself. This is just one tale of association that has been spread by his sect, RCG. There are others elements to this narrative as well that are present in his Authorized Biography.

This association with HWA is also pursued in another way, namely by RCG's acquiring of relics. In this book they proudly display photos of one of HWA's electric typewriters, which we are told was used when he wrote Mystery of the Ages (Group 4 of photos in Volume 2, p. 10), and an Elijah glass made of Steuben crystal (Group 7 of photos in Volume 2, p. 9). I thought keeping relics was regarded as idolatrous? Also he mentions that his father attended school with a then unknown HWA. All of these details are used to allow Pack to be linked with HWA.

Furthermore a picture is shown with Pack preaching to a WCG tour group at Capernaum at hill which is suggested to be the "Mount" where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. (Group 5 of photos in Volume 1, p. 4, PDF p. 3) To be fair Pack is not the only one to do indulge in such associations with Jesus. I remember once Gerald Flurry made a TV broadcast at the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem.

And so Pack is able to surround himself with tithe followers and set up his own Armstrongite sect, convincing them that he basks in the glory of HWA.

The Packatolloah's Apostolic Succession

Dave Pack cannot claim that HWA appointed him his successor. Only Tkach can claim that. Therefore Pack has to find other ways to establish his legitimacy as the rightful successor to HWA.

One element of Pack's legitimizing narrative is for him to claim some sort of link with HWA himself. As part of this attempt of his to claim the mantle of leadership he has to find some link with HWA so he may bask in the halo of HWA, thus helping followers of HWA to associate the two men in their minds and accept Pack's leadership.

This is how he does it. This personal link with HWA is provided with this little story from the time of the Receivership in 1979. This story is used to legitimize Pack as HWA's successor.

The most important thought on Mr. Armstrong’s mind was the possibility that there were still liberal ministers in the Church. He knew they offered the most dangerous threat to God’s people.

The afternoon ended with a moment that Mr. Pack could never forget. As the elderly apostle rose shakily from his chair, he pointed his finger to Mr. Pack’s chest, and said, “Dave, you will never teach anything but the truth, will you? You will never teach these false doctrines, will you?”

“No, sir,” Mr. Pack promised. “I will not.” (Chapter 22.)

Immediately after this it is asserted that Pack had no idea of what would later happen. This introduces an element of modesty in how Pack is portrayed.

“I had not the faintest idea that I would some day have to keep, and demonstrate, this promise in the most profound way. I knew Mr. Armstrong was speaking from the crisis of the moment. I am sure that he also thought I would never have to keep my word in the way that I ultimately had to.”

This stands in contrast to how he portrays himself to RCG members as an Apostle and how he ordered members to hand over their assets to his organization.

This theme of HWA's "order to be faithful" story is recounted elsewhere in this work.

"Mr. Pack remembered the commitment that Mr. Armstrong had personally asked for while in his home in Tucson, Arizona, in the aftermath of the receivership in 1979. “Dave, you will never teach anything but the truth, will you? You will never teach these things—will you?” he asked. “If false leaders ever take control of the Church, I hope you won’t teach their false ideas.”" (Chapter 38)

I am not suggesting this story is not true I am simply showing how this story is used to legitimize Pack's leadership among his followers, and so to speak, discredit all other Armstrongite splinter groups and rivals to Pack.

Unlike Tkach Pack cannot claim any special mandate from HWA himself to "continue the work." He does not have Meredith's seniority and fame, or the largest group of Armstrongites following him so he needs to portray himself as legitimate. As part of this RCG has created a link of Pack with HWA. Pack uses this moment of private conversation with HWA as a substitute for HWA's authorizing him to continue spreading the message after he is gone.

More on this later.

Good News

I have just got an email from Tempest Sixt Car Hire.

They have assured me that the PCG magazines are being removed. PCG's publications will no longer be distributed via that particular avenue.

My thanks go to the company for choosing to act in such a decisive manner.

Well done people! We did it. My thanks go out to all those who have participated in this needed protest. Your effort is greatly appreciated. Be proud with what you have done.

Want to do Something about PCG?

[Update: Please see the above post. The company in question has decided to remove PCG's materials from their newsstands. This situation is no longer relevant.]

I have just read that PCG has arranged to have their recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, placed in newsstands in South Africa after coming to an agreement with Tempest Sixt Car Hire.

Outraged? Wish to do something about it?

Let us send them emails.

I fear that the persons behind this company may be unaware of the Philadelphia Church of God's true nature. So I sent them an email telling them what sort of organization PCG actually is.

I have a suggestion for you. I want you to tell this rental car company what sort of organization they have allowed to take up their newsstand space. Just cut and paste my example letter if you want, maybe add your own touches to it if you want, and send it at that address. You will have to fill in some details. I stuck in some pseudonyms myself, but I leave that to the discretion of the reader.

Please always be respectful and courteous if you should decide to send your own email to them.

HWA managed to get on so many radio stations because, if I recall correctly, he hid the cultic nature of his organization. "Oh it's just (mainly) a news thing," he essentially told them. Perhaps PCG has done the same here?

Well, let's tell Tempest Sixt Car Hire the truth about this organization. Let's do it in a wave of emails so they will not so easily ignore this message.

This will only take a few minutes. I encourage you to do this thing to make this company fully aware of what they have actually done.

The email you can send to them begins here:

To Tempest Sixt Car Hire

According to this page (http://www.pcog.org/article.php?articleid=89) it seems that the magazine The Philadelphia Trumpet will now be offered on your newsstands beginning in September.

I am concerned that you may be unaware of the true nature of this dangerous organization. This publication is produced by the Philadelphia Church of God (PCG), which has its world headquarters in Edmond, Oklahoma, USA.

This organization has been known to engage in destructive behavior and hence is widely known as a destructive, mind control cult.

• Members hold this superstition that using medicines is somehow an offense against God and members have been known to refuse to take medical treatment. Some have even died because of this doctrine of death, such as Australian member Garth MacDonald. (See: http://ambassadorwatch.blogspot.com/2006/09/death-cult.html)

• If any member should wish to leave they are shunned by all members. PCG members are required to have "no contact" with those who leave.

• Furthermore PCG members are forbidden from having contact with members of their parent organization the Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong, or any other organizations springing from WCG. Those who belong to such organizations are denounced as "Laodiceans" who are viewed as cursed by God and not worthy of any social contact.

• PCG members are also required to pay three tithes. They trick potential converts by offering their writings for free, thus creating a sense of obligation to them in the reader, which they use to suddenly spring this terrible burden upon them. This is a terrible financial burden which has caused many members to be impoverished and forced to go without in order to meet the demands of this cult.

• Furthermore their publication is designed to interpret the world events within an apocalyptic narrative. They teach that nuclear World War III will soon erupt and the world will be on the brink of nuclear annihilation. This fearful interpretation is used to scare people into clinging themselves onto PCG.

• Their leader, Gerald Flurry, is held to be "That Prophet."
  

• They do not believe in the Trinity, instead they say God is a family of beings into which believers can be born into.

If you wish to see more information about this organization you might wish to investigate the following sites:

Ambassador Report on PCG
http://gavinru.tripod.com/flurry2.htm

Exit and Support Network
http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/mike_ep/mike.htm

The Plain Truth about Malachi's Message and That Prophet (written by a former member)
http://www.pcog.info

Ambassador Watch
http://ambassadorwatch.blogspot.com/

Because of these facts I have put this to your attention. This is the organization which has been allowed to send its publications in your newsstands.

I have brought these facts to your attention in order for you to be aware of the true nature of this organization. You deserve to know what sort of organization PCG is.

Thank you for your attention

---End of email---

The proceeding is pretty much what I wrote to them. However the first paragraph was altered in order to make it less personal. Before it said, "I was reading this page (http://www.pcog.org/article.php?articleid=89) and learned that the magazine The Philadelphia Trumpet will now be offered on your newsstands beginning in September." That is the only change.

Let us ensure that this company will not remain ignorant of the disturbing nature of PCG. I am not planning a boycott or anything, I simply want this company to be fully aware of what this organization is.

Thoughts on the Packatollah's New Authorized Biography

As mentioned before, Volume 2 of The Authorized Biography of David Pack has come out. It's even longer than the first volume.

Let us see what this man, who has called himself an Apostle and ordered his followers to give up their assets to him, has to say.

I read its account of Dave Pack's last days as a WCG minister. According to him Herman Hoeh once referred to the Tkachite reformers as the "Synagogue of Satan." Pack complains that many people who promised to go with him out of WCG got cold feet and decided to stay. "The renowned “doctor” [apparently Herman Hoeh, who is not explicitly named] completely agreed that if Mr. Armstrong had still been alive, the current Pastor General would have been disfellowshipped from the Church. “The synagogue of Satan is in charge out here,” he said, alluding to Revelation 3:9." (Chapter 37.)

It has a section on Pack's infamous "Clarion Call" in which he demanded members hand over their assets over to him. This may be seen in Chapter 59.

In one of the photos in the seventh section there is a photo of Dave Pack and his present wife, the former Vernia Anstey, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Restored Church of God. A photo is shown of a big cake. It is remarkable how similar this occasion is to a birthday. I thought birthdays were forbidden. Of course this is not a birthday, it is an "anniversary," they would tell us. Birthdays are anniversaries.

Here is how Pack excuses himself from answering every concern that is raised. "“As I have written before, if I continue to have to answer each and every charge written about me from now until Christ returns, one person after one person after one person at a time, the Adversary will have effectively rendered me useless as a tool in God’s hands to serve His people." (Chapter 50)

Also if you look at some of the pictures you see the men at church wearing suits all the time. I remember reading every now and then how everyone dressed in a very formal manner while at church. Now as explained before I never got to the stage in which I got to attend church. But I think I now know what they are talking about. Every man dressed up in suits. This is a disturbing reflection of HWA's over emphasis on outward appearances rather than what is on the inside of a human being.

Ultimately this book must be judged as simply part of an attempt to deceive people into adopting Pack's version of the Armstrongite heresy. Pack invites the unsuspectingto place their trust in Herbert W. Armstrong, a man who made numerous false prophecies, predicted Christ's return in 1975 and by 2005, and he taught many things which are not true. This maybe a useful resource in coming to grips with what HWA really tried to inculcate into us.

May the Lord save those that RCG are trying to deceive.

Internet and Information Control

Here's a very thought provoking article about the Internet's effect on cults which wish to control members' access to information: The Truth vs. the truth by Stephen Cox.

It mainly focuses on Jehovah's Witnesses. Did you know Jehovah's Witnesses are allowed blood transfusions in Bulgaria?

It even mentions WCG's transformation briefly in one paragraph near the end.

Only one modern American institution has ever admitted that it was fundamentally in error — the Worldwide Church of God, an Adventist church that, influenced by the Witnesses, once referred to its members as "in the Truth," and to everyone else as out of it. During the 1990s, the WCG leadership surveyed its distinctive teachings and announced that they could not be squared with the Bible. The reward for its courage was the loss of 50–60% of its membership. This is an example that the Watchtower Society will be very reluctant to follow.

I don't often hear WCG described as "an Adventist church" but he is completely justified in calling it such.

It is a very intriguing article.

Those who might be offended at the positive portrayal of WCG might be interested in seeing this blog from anti-cult activist Rick Ross, Do cults collapse when leaders die and/or they give up the exclusive claims that define them? Unlike many others who have been quite welcoming of WCG's entering the fold of the majority, this gives a brief critical examination of the new WCG.