As we have pointed out on this blog many times, the Church of God has created some of the craziest and irrational men ever imaginable with all of them claiming God is on their side. These same vainglorious men believe they have the foresight to make sound logical decisions and prophetic predictions that are impossible to be wrong.
Gerald Flurry continues to make idiotic comments and predictions to keep his fledgling flock fearful of impending doom. In Flurry's virulent hatred of Joesph Tkach Jr., his seething hatred lets his demons dream up many wild and fantastical scenarios for the end times, an end-times that Flurry believes Joe Jr. will initiate.
With decades of alcoholism destroying his brain cells, that mentally unstable mind has made several predictions over the last year that Joe Tkach Jr will soon be meeting up with President Trump and initiate plans in getting the Philadelphia Church of God and its members kicked out of the United States. That is one of the reasons PCG is now looking to open a new office in Jerusalem, but that is a subject for another time.
Flurry, like many other COG leaders and ministers, look at President Trump as the ideal man to be in that position. They feel that the entire world is going to hell and that temporary conservative leadership extends the return of Jesus just long enough to allow them to do a final push in getting their gospels out. Many of them look at Trump as the proper man to be in charge because he is white. Many COG leaders despised President Obama with a passion. The idea that a black gentile was ruling over them was appaling. We know this because many of them said so and also because of how they reacted when Mayor Bradley was the first African American mayor of Los Angeles. They found that abominable.
This all makes Satan really angry and he is starting to work overtime in bringing about persecution to the church. From being banned on Youtube, having Twitter accounts shut down, to being told they cannot preach on certain subjects, Flurry and other COG self-appointed leaders are preparing for intense persecution.
Herbert Armstrong, using Rod Meredith and Gerald Waterhouse as his mouthpiece, created such absurd scenarios that kept COG members in a constant state of panic and impending doom. From being tossed into concentration camps by the invading German armies to parents eating their children due to famine. I even remember being told in sermons how church members would be put on rockets and shot into space where they would die because the Catholic church hated us so. Then there was the story on how we would be hated so much that the U.S. government would put up on old jet planes that had cracks in the wings and force us to flee to Petra in them, with the hope the planes would crash. Satan was and still is sorely pissed.
The Church of God's leadership has always needed scare tactics to keep the gullible sheep in line and ready to dole out money for their end-time pushes and final witnesses. Of course, to add to fuel to the fire it is vitally important to still blame Joe Tkach Jr for all of their miserable failures. After over two decades of one failed prophecy after another, they need their demon to place blame on to sidetrack members from seeing their bitter truth.
Joe Tkach Jr has not been in charge of the church for over a year now and has zero interest in the pathetic personality cult ministries languishing out there. He also certainly has no interest in coddling up with President Trump in getting COG members kicked out of the country. The lies that these stinking turds tell their members make them more pathetic day by day.
From Gerald Flurry to Bob Thiel to Dave Pack and to Ron Weinland, the idiocy and false prophecies these fools make know no boundaries. No government will strike them down, only their own stupidity will do that.
It is time members wake up from their induced stupors and open their eyes to these lairs and leave them and along with their jets, campuses, and worn-out curtains.
Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before! With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
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Saturday, February 15, 2020
The Things We Tell Ourselves To Stay
THE THINGS THAT WE TELL OURSELVES TO STAY
By
Lonnie Hendrix/Miller Jones
When I think about my own experience in the realm of Armstrongism, I am reminded of all of the things that I had to believe to maintain the illusion that I was in the right place. I think too about all of the folks who are still part of one of the many descendants of the old Worldwide Church of God. How do they justify their continued affiliation with a movement that has been so thoroughly discredited? How do they get around all of the evidence that Armstrongism has been/is an abject failure? I think about the many posts and comments that have appeared over the years at Ambassador Watch, Banned by HWA, The Painful Truth, Living Armstrongism, Dixon Cartwright’s The Journal (and a host of other sites and sources), and I wonder how anyone could still occupy a seat in any church affiliated with Armstrongism!
How is that possible? In thinking about this, it occurred to me that continued association with Herbert Armstrong’s religion requires one to engage in make-believe. Indeed, when I look back at my own experience, I realize that I engaged in a great deal of make-believe for the last several years of my association with Armstrongism. I wonder if any of the points that follow will resonate with folks who have shared this experience with me? Maybe you can think of others?
In the face of so much evidence that Herbert Armstrong’s theology is a complete failure, we PRETEND that:
All of that history/evidence referenced above doesn’t exist AND/OR
Friendships (and the resulting fellowship) are more important than the cognitive dissonance which I experience when I attend services or discuss church teachings with others AND/OR
This collection of doctrines which we refer to as “THE TRUTH” didn’t originate with Herbert and are consequently not tainted by his many failures AND/OR
These doctrines have spiritual and intellectual appeal regardless of their origins (the late Ian Boyne liked this one) AND/OR
Herbert Armstrong’s obvious mistakes and sins don’t mean that God couldn’t/didn’t use him AND/OR
Herbert didn’t make any mistakes – that he was God’s vessel for revealing truth to mankind (Gerald Flurry is fond of this one) AND/OR
Other interpretations of Scripture are not plausible/possible/practical – that all of the scientists, historians and theologians who contradict Herbie’s teachings are wrong and/or deceived AND/OR
The motivations of all of those who are critical of Herbert and his doctrines are evil and/or inspired by Satan AND/OR
The only real problems with Armstrongism arose from Herbie’s notion about church governance AND/OR
All of the hurts and damage which were inflicted on current and past church members either didn’t really happen or doesn’t matter if it did
What do you think?
Friday, February 14, 2020
Dr Thiel on VALENTINES DAY: A Day of LUST or LOVE???
DO NOT SEND CARDS WITH HEARTS AND THE WORD "LOVE" ON THEM!
AVOID CHOCOLATES!
DO NOT ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN TO EXCHANGE CARDS EXPRESSING FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE!
"As most scholars will tell you, the modern practice of giving cards to ask/tell someone to “be my Valentine” seems to be a holdover from the ancient sexual lottery.
Christians who may be tempted to compromise need to ask themselves if the origins of Valentine’s Day are biblical or pagan
None who profess Christ should observe this February “holiday”–it simply is not a Christian holiday. It began as a sexual lottery and still has sexual ramifications, even in the 21st century. That is not what love really is all about."
AVOID:BECAUSE
NO AFFECTION WHATSOEVER!
NO KISSING/HUGGING/INTIMACY!!!!!
DO NOT TELL ANYONE, AND I MEAN ANYONE, I LOVE YOU. I APPRECIATE YOU! I ADORE YOU! or C'MERE...YOU LOOK HOT!
BUSINESS AS USUAL PLEASE!
KEEP YOU CHILDREN HOME FROM SCHOOL OR ASK THAT THEY BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE ROOM AND COLOR ANYTHING BUT HEARTS!
...AND NOTHING IN RED CRAYON!
MOVE ALONG...NOTHING TO SEE HERE
Valentine’s Day is observed by many in February. Currently we are seeing many store displays and tv & print ads for it.
In the past, the improperly named Christianity Today (CT) has sometimes seemed to try to justify its position on the holiday by talking about love. For example, its Valentine’s page has begun as follows:
February 141 John 4:7
Let us love one another, for love comes from God. (NIV)
The implication of the above was that the Apostle John somehow supports Valentine’s Day. The misuse of this scripture here is appalling.
But what is the love of God?
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. (1 John 5:2-4)
Valentine’s Day has more to do with lust than love–Valentine’s Day is not from the Father but from the world. Notice what the Apostle John wrote a couple of chapters earlier in the same book:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17, NKJV)
Valentine’s Day is a worldly holiday, essentially built upon lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It will pass away, it is not a true Christian holiday.
An article on Valentine’s Day from CT stated:
So why do people send “valentines” or “love-tokens” to one another on that day? The origin of that tradition is not thought to have any connection with the saint’s day. Rather it comes from an early European belief that the second week of February was when birds began to mate. The idea suggests that lovers should probably exchange notes and gifts on February 14 in conjunction with what nature practiced. It then concludes with “Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is observed as a special day for love and romance. This topic is one of the oldest, and probably most-discussed, issues in history! As Christians, we know that love originates from God and that God is love (1 John 4:16).
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Why Herbert W. Armstrong's Teachings Create So Many Atheists
Why Herbert W. Armstrong's Teachings Create So Many Atheists
Forgive me, readers, for being so presumptuous. I have assumed with my title that many people who leave the Church of God community become atheists. This may or may not be true. Thus, we really have two questions:
Question 1: Do a high proportion of those who leave the Church of God community become atheists?
There is a very real possibility that the answer to this question is No. I don't have the data to answer it definitively. If someone has it, I'd like to see it. I've heard the idea being thrown around before so I think the answer might be Yes.
Personally, the moment I left the Church of God community was the moment I became an atheist. I believe that there was something in Armstrong's teachings that connected those two events, and I have the feeling that other people (consciously or unconsciously) feel the same thing. Thus, the next question:
Question 2: If so, why?
What follows is five reasons that Armstrongite teachings could prime the brain for atheism. Here is the overarching theme: the evidence and reasoning that Armstrong provided for his peculiar beliefs were such that once the believer started to doubt, they realized they were not just doubting Armstrongism, but the very existence of a deity itself.
An analogy, to make it more confusing: You are on the edge of a cliff. The solid ground, of course, is vanilla Christianity. With each argument and belief, Armstrong is leading you off that cliff on what you think is a solid bridge. Suddenly, the foundations of that bridge begin crumbling. You are no longer standing on solid, deistic ground--you are walking a plank that has just been sawn off. You fall--but not back onto the ground of traditional Christianity, but into the abyss. Atheism, humanism, skepticism, mysticism, whatever-you-want-ism, awaits. Armstrong, with his bad arguments, has inadvertently made a good argument for non-belief.
Now for the five reasons.
***
REASON 1: Biblical Inerrancy is Dogmatic, Extreme, and Flimsy
Biblical inerrancy is frequently criticized within the Christian community, and for very good, self-preserving reasons. If the Bible is meant to be right about everything, tough luck, because a quick Google search will tell you the mustard seed is not "the smallest of all seeds" and it grows to the size of a large shrub. Better, traditional Christianity tells you, that a parable is a parable, and not The Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. All the smart, Hellenized, early Church Fathers knew this, and believed the creation stories were not to be taken literally. Fundamentalism, and its huge emphasis on inerrancy, is a rather modern phenomenon, a reaction to the fact that humans were wrong about nearly everything before the scientific method was developed.
The problem with inerrancy and what can happen to people when they stop believing it is not unique to Armstrongism, so I won't dwell on it here. I'll just take the time to mention that the fall from inerrancy seems usually to be hard and fast. One doesn't notice a single discrepancy and give up the whole theory. One of the most effective ways to deal with cognitive dissonance (the experience of coming across facts/beliefs that run counter to one's worldview), as Leon Festinger first observed, is simply to ignore them. But sooner or later the sheer number of them builds up and ignoring them is no longer an option. When the change-of-mind comes, it's with an overwhelming number of discrepancies, not just our little mustard seed.
REASON 2: The Prophecies Were So Specific and Foundational to a Belief in God
Take, as a main example, The United States and Britain in Prophecy. Here, Armstrong tries to convince us the monarchy of ancient Israel never disappeared but was actually transferred into the British monarchy. In the middle of explaining that God had promised to keep the line of King David alive forever, Armstrong asks us:
"Can one wonder that men like Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll lost faith in the Bible? They saw these unconditional promises, but they could not see how they had been kept. Yet, if we have patience, we shall see!"
As a child, this passage was always very striking (and convincing) to me. Here's the syllogism Armstrong is trying to create:
1) Smart people, like Paine and Ingersoll,* saw that God promised something.
2) Those smart people saw the promise was not kept!
3) Thus, those smart people were justified in losing faith in God.
4) But God actually kept those promises.
5) Thus, we are even smarter than those smart people, who should have continued believing in the God Who Keeps Promises!
But this is a dangerous game that Armstrong was playing, especially when he made this Davidic prophecy such a central doctrine in the Church. Implicit in this extended syllogism is the idea that one should base their faith on whether God keeps this Davidic promise. Here's my formulation:
1) If God keeps promises, we should believe in Him, but if He doesn’t, we are justified, like Paine and Ingersoll, in losing faith.
2) God is not a God Who Keeps Promises, because British-Israelism and The United States and Britain in Prophecy is complete nonsense.
3) Thus, we are justified in losing faith in God.
Now, all of these syllogisms are specific to Armstrongism and have nothing to do with a traditional Christians' faith in God.
But you didn't get to decide not to get caught up in the emotional investment of these specific beliefs being true, and your faith being intertwined with Davidic promises that turned out to be bogus. You bought in to the Armstrong package deal and now the interest payments are due.
The same goes for the belief that Germany is Assyria, or that Herbert W. Armstrong was the "end-time Elijah." You may not have entered the game thinking your faith in God was contingent on these specific beliefs/prophecies being true. But someone down the line, they may have gotten mixed up, with a similar sort of syllogism I've described above.
* I feel the need to defend Paine and Ingersoll here from the gross distortion of their beliefs which Armstrong paints. Anyone who reads even a few pages of Paine or Ingersoll would know that their unbelief had nothing to do with this Davidic promise. There were dozens of other reasons.
REASON 3: Armstrong's God Just Could Not Have Used Evolution
Early in The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, the author tells us of the dual questions he studied when converting (essentially) to a branch of 7th-Day Adventism: they were 1) Divine Creation vs Evolution and 2) Saturday vs Sunday worship. I always saw these as the equivalent of: 1) Does God exist and 2) What type of God is He?
First we decide (1) God exists (because evolution is false), and then we decide (2) that everyone else (traditional Christianity) has been worshiping Him wrong.
You might not see it in those terms, but I'm sure some people did. The way Armstrong talked about evolution let you know that there was a serious dichotomy happening. Either God made you, or you were made by chance--and that's just not the way that God operates. In syllogistic form:
1) Either God created you or evolution created you.
2) Evolution is Definitely Not True.
3) Thus, God created you.
4) (Also) Thus, God exists.
This is similar to what happened above with inerrancy. Black and white thinking. It must seem strange to the 40-or-so-percent of Americans that still don't believe in evolution, that most educated Anglicans believed in evolution within a few decades of Darwin's publication in 1859. Their syllogism runs a little differently:
1) God could exist and evolution could be true.
...
...
x) Thus, God exists and evolution is true.
So, what happens when you buy into the first syllogism and you read a biology textbook? Line 2 becomes "Evolution is Definitely True" and suddenly God ceases to exist.
Now, I've been giving the impression ("black and white thinking", "buy into") that Armstrong's syllogism was wrong, or simplistic. Obviously, I'm trying to convince you of something entirely different with this article, not discuss the Evolution vs God debate. But even after trying to distance myself from everything related to Armstrongism, Armstrong's syllogism is still a more convincing format than the second. Whether this is because I'd been primed for years by Armstrongite logic or whether it really is the case that the two cannot co-exist, you'll have to decide for yourself. To me, if God had really used evolution as the human design implementation, I'd have to believe that for at least 3 billion years, God had been running an Earth-wide cage-fighting competition between all species--each generation weeding out the weak species and replacing them with fitter, more agile ones capable of killing, eating, outwitting, or (in the merciful cases) co-existing with, the other species. With this kind of competition, you could fit the half-decade-long Holocaust in as a commercial break in between the real slaughters.
Again, if you grew up with Armstrong's Evolution vs God dichotomy, once you escaped the Church of God community and went out into the real world with a curiosity about nature, you might just find yourself an atheist.
REASON 4: Mainstream Christianity Was Criticized with Atheistic Arguments
During one conversation where the older men in the congregation were talking about How Obviously Right Our Religion Was, I heard the following argument:
"The One True Religion cannot be one of the large religious denominations. Those religions, like Catholicism or Islam, believe that they have The Truth but they condemn everyone who does not believe them to eternal Hell! This means all the rest of the people who were born in the wrong region (the Middle East if Christianity is correct/Europe if Islam is correct) are condemned because of geography. Surely the One True God wouldn't be so unfair. Thus, our religion is right."
What strikes me about this argument is that it's actually pretty good ... right up until the end conclusion. And, it's a typical argument used by ... atheists!
If you inspect a number of the arguments the Church of God community used against traditional Christianity, you'll find many atheists use them as well:
- Catholics started Crusades against unbelievers, created Inquisitions against heretics, and were in general just Very Bad throughout history.
- Protestants can't agree on anything, even though they read the same Bible, because they obviously aren't guided by God.
- The Trinity is nonsense, born of an intellectual devotion/constriction to the ancient Greek philosophers.
- Christians don't actually follow what the Bible says, they just make up their own rules as they go.
Of course, there were plenty of arguments Armstrong used which atheists wouldn't dare try: "The Catholic Church is the Beast of Revelation," etc. But if you were the type to notice the glaring deficiencies with mainstream religion, you might already be half-way to unbelief. Perhaps this is the secret to why Armstrong, with his death and the fall of his movement, produced so many atheists.
REASON 5: Armstrong Was Right About the Pagan Influence in Christianity
I've found, after leaving the Church of God community, that the only thing Armstrong seemed to be right about was paganism's influence on Christianity. Yeah, he was wrong about Nimrod. Like, really, really wrong. But Jesus not being born on December 25? Christmas being the December Solstice celebrations? Easter bunnies and eggs not being Christian? Local communities just absorbing Christian customs and applying them to their existing gods?
Yes, all these things are true, and they remain weird facts that you have to process upon leaving the community and deciding whether or not you want to remain religious. I have Christian friends who tell me that it all doesn't matter, "as long as it brings attention to Jesus," but the argument doesn't ring true. Many Christians really believe the birth narratives and pastors will preach them as if they were true. For all the negatives of Armstrongism, you aren't going to leave without taking with you some skepticism of the traditional Christian stories. That stays with you.
***
So ends my five reasons. There are probably more. If you think you know one, please leave a comment.
Please note I am also very uninterested in hearing about why these are not good arguments for atheism. I am not here to debate the issue of whether these are true--only whether Armstrong taught them, and people later used them (consciously or unconsciously) as arguments for their own non-belief.
submitted by Kieren Underwood
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Crackpot Cox: Billions Will Die Over Next 12 Months
The Chinese claim it was not reported to higher authorities until the end of the first week in January 2020. Over the period it was allowed to mutate and develop. By the third week of January it had developed into a contagious virus, whilst it was, as yet, asymptomatic for up to two weeks.
It appears to have been developed through snakes and bats and was then developed to transfer from human to human. The capacity of the Chinese to eat any unclean thing and in the most unsanitary conditions proved the ideal place for its release for maximum effect.
The reality is that nowhere on earth are the Food Laws (No. 015) so disregarded and the plagues that eventuate from there is the stuff of legend.
The failure of the Chinese themselves to understand the dangers of these items and their inability to quarantine themselves for the safety of others is a tragedy that merely waits for the right vector. Under the Sixth Commandment (No. 259) there is a responsibility to keep alive and they do not discharge this responsibility or indeed any of the Ten Commandments (Law of God (L1)).
Aside from weaponising viruses for the prophesied War of the Fifth Trumpet, the world is looking for the excuse to launch the War of the Sixth Trumpet and this sequence is outlined in the paper Wars of the End Part I: Wars of Amalek (No. 141C).
The aim is to create the New World Order (NWO) which will be allowed to rule the world but only for 42 months as we see from Wars of the End Part II: 1260 Days of the Witnesses (No. 141D).Remember this sequence.
Over the next twelve months we will see it develop. Billions will commence to die and you must maintain your health and quarantine and maintain clean water and clean foods under God’s Law.
We are about to see the beginning of the Wars of the End.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
Wade Cox Cult Using Football To Entice New Followers: Bob Thiel Is Not Happy!
CCG INDUCTIONS. KISII, HOMABAY AND RONGO.Given the fact that Cox has crowed for years that half of the African continent are already members of his cult, I am surprised that there is anyone left for him to appeal to. Like Bob Thiel's African followers, they are looking for handouts. Now that Cox has turned them down, we will see if Bob Thiel acquires them. They do know how to play COG leaders for all they are worth!
KISII INDUCTIONS.
I arrived well and i met the church. We assembled in Kenyoro Primary school where they meet for worship. The coordinator Samuel onsomu gave me a brief of their stators and i gave the stand of the church. So then in two months we are to go back and see them. He said that they are using football as a net to reach more youths and bring them to the word of God. This was their tool to get them out of drugs and substance and alcohol among other things. He and his members were impressed of the CCG doctrines which he said will get time to write to the CG. The members also said the Sabbath should include the school children and teachers where the head teacher was present. I saw it as a good base and a stable venue for the church. They asked for Bibles and other learning materials.
Wade Cox: Current locust plague in Africa a result of Africans not tithing to him
Where would the Church of God be without its raving lunatics making stupid prophecies and utterances?
People seem to think that they can ignore the Laws of God and that God is going to do nothing about it. Sorry, God is about to destroy a large section of mankind now for its disobedience and reorganise it under the Host. One of the aspects in which God will intervene is the utter blasphemy with which His laws are disregarded by the indolent nations that seek to misuse God’s people and also those that do disobey God’s Laws. We are about to see God inflict massive plagues on the earth in addition to the viruses we see coming out of China and spread by simple incompetence and disobedience. Remember also that the numbers of the dead and sick are grossly understated. Also they will be used for population control purposes.
We are now about to see massive plagues come upon the earth. The major plagues about to come upon us are the locust plagues over East and Central Africa from Ethiopia and Somalia into the Sudan and Kenya and on to Southern Africa. So also will we see the plagues from Turkey, into the Middle East and Iran and on north into Afghanistan and Pakistan. They will spread to adjacent lands. These plagues are coming as a direct punishment from God due to the failure to keep His Laws. The end of God’s Word to us all in the OT says what is to happen and then the details are repeated in the Book of Revelation. We are about to be brought to our knees in repentance and a New Millennial Age is about to come upon us.
Some of us, especially in Africa, ask for funds yet many do not tithe. Your crops are consumed by floods and drought, by army worms and plague locusts, because you do not tithe, and yet you still ask for more from those who do tithe. There will be no funds given to those who do not tithe. They will be punished by God until they repent. So also will the nations be faced with great earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions and we will explain this further in Global Warming Part III: Historical Cycles Examined (No. 218C) to be issued shortly.Cox is still playing the same dirty scratched record that Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Gerald Weston, and others are still spinning on their turntables. Round and round it goes as it is stuck in the same groove about the desire to see humanity blotted off the earth for disobeying the creature these guys call god. Always angry and pissed off, that created creature is just itching to fry people in order to prove our COG prophets right.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Gerald Weston: Is His God Ever Happy About Anything?
As usual, the god of the Living Church of God continues to be pissed off about everything. It can't see the good in any LCG member's lives or the countries they live in. All of the fake Christians in those countries can never understand that all of the calamities are their fault and rarely natural events.
Sadly, it is not only Weston's god that is eternally pissed off, but it is the same god that most ACOG's trot out as the thing that is always ready to kill 2/3rds of humanity. For a group of people that place so much emphasis upon a millennial kingdom to come, they sure cannot ever find anything to rejoice about.
Please remember in your prayers our brethren in disaster areas. I’m sure all of you are noticing the fires in Australia. We do not want to claim every earthquake, volcano, flood, and fire is a sign of the end time, but this fire season is remarkable and it is interesting to note that there seems to be no recognition of a connection between moral decisions the country has taken and what is now the worst bushfire season in known history. More than a billion animals have perished, along with human lives and property lost. Moral restraint is missing when God is rejected, and some fires apparently have been deliberately set by individuals lacking a moral compass. One must wonder how long God is going to put up with similar moral decay found in other Israelite countries. His patience with us must be wearing thin.—Gerald Weston
Closer to the Truth: Dr Robert Kuhn
Dr. Robert Kuhn
Early career
Kuhn first came to prominence in 1972 when "Why the Vast Difference between Animal Brain and Human Mind?" appeared in The Plain Truth magazine published by Ambassador College, an institution of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). The WCG's Systematic Theology Project[6] was coordinated by Kuhn, but later banned by WCG Founder Herbert W. Armstrong. Kuhn severed his connection to the WCG and its affiliates (1978), including the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation (classical music concerts, featuring musicians including Vladimir Horowitz and Luciano Pavarotti), which Kuhn had created and managed.
Closer to Truth is a television series on public television originally created, produced and hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn. The original series aired in 2000 for two seasons, followed by a second series aired in 2003 for a single season. The third series of the program, Closer to Truth: Cosmos.
Consciousness. God, launched in 2008, with 19 full seasons to date. Closer to Truth airs on over 200 PBS and public television stations and has had over 200,000 station broadcasts.
The show is centered on on-camera conversations with leading scientists, philosophers, theologians, and scholars, covering a diverse range of topics or questions, from the cause, size and nature of the universe (or multiverse), to the mystery of consciousness and the notion of free will, to the existence and essence of God, to the mystery of existence (i.e., why there is anything at all).
The Closer to Truth website features extensive conversations in addition to those that have been broadcast on TV (approximately 4,000 videos)] It is the world's largest archive of video interviews with leading experts in the philosophy of cosmology and physics, consciousness, and the philosophy of religion.
Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the creator, executive producer, writer and presenter of the series.[10] Peter Getzels is the co-creator, producer and director.
“Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss Nature leads or you shall learn nothing.” ― Thomas Henry Huxley