Gerald Flurry is constantly seeking to find ways to be relevant in the world like he believes Herbert Armstrong was. He built his own mini-me campus and auditorium near Edmond Oklahoma. He stole hundreds of HWA's works and republished them, got sued, lost the case, and then paid $3,000,000.00 for the rights to publish them. Then proceeded to rework them to edit out anything HWA might have said to make Flurry look like a self-appointed idiot, He started the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation in order to imitate Herbert's Ambassador International Cultural Foundation so he could share the same abbreviations (AICF). Abbreviations are important in COG land, it makes them closer to HWA than they really are.
Flurry also has his students from the cult college participate in archeological digs in Israel just like HWA did. While HWA worked with Benjamin Mazare, PCG has worked with Eilat Mazar, the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar. When she has made a lot of discoveries, she is not held in the highest esteem for her interpretations. She fits right in with the distorted interpretations of Gerald Flurry.
Mazar was a biblical maximalist and, according to herself, "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything."[22]
However, Israel Finkelstein and other archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have flagged concern that, with reference to her 2006 dating of the "Solomonic city wall" in the area to the south of the Temple Mount known as the "Ophel", "the biblical text dominates this field operation, not archaeology. Had it not been for Mazar's literal reading of the biblical text, she never would have dated the remains to the 10th century BCE with such confidence.[23] Nevertheless, scholars now agree with Mazar's dating of this structure.[24][25][26]
Mazar was cautioned by epigrapher Ryan Byrne following the 2008 confusion over the inscription on the Shelomit seal, that "in the mad dash to report biblical artifacts to the public or connect discoveries with the most obscure persons or events reported in the Bible, there is sometimes a tendency to compromise the analytical caution that objects of such value so dearly deserve."[27]
Flurry had an office in Jerusalem several years ago until he got the brainy idea to buy the Bicket Wood campus of the old Ambassador College so that he can be closer to Hill Tara in Ireland where he believes he and his cult will soon dig up the mound and recover the Ark of the Covenant that Jeremiah brought to Ireland when he supposedly visited it centries ago. When the campus sale fell through he bought Edstone outside of Bricket Wood and closed down the Jerusalem office due to finances.
Now that the end is just a few months away Flurry needs to spend millions on a new foundation and office to be built in Jerusalem.
In order to impress the faithful followers of Flurry, they announced this on the 32 anniversary of the founding of the PCG by Flurry.
Brad McDonald wrote the following the other day in a mailing to the faithful:
It was around five or six years ago now that Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry first mentioned his plan to start an archaeology institute. I remember the mix of emotion I experienced listening to the idea—the excitement and anticipation pickled in gravity and trepidation.
The idea was logical. We have practiced archaeology in Jerusalem, mainly in support of Dr. Eilat Mazar and Hebrew University, since 2006. We’ve helped Dr. Mazar uncover some truly astonishing biblical artifacts, including King David’s palace and the clay seal of Judah’s King Hezekiah. Our predecessor, the late Herbert W. Armstrong, worked alongside Prof. Benjamin Mazar, Eilat’s grandfather, for almost 20 years. After 50 years of participating in (and even sponsoring) archaeological digs, starting an archaeology institute was the next logical step.
Still, founding an institute would mark a major development. It would require an office in Jerusalem, qualified staff and researchers and a substantial research library. It would mean in-depth research, working alongside scholars and scientists, and then publishing. It would be a pretty audacious enterprise!
How did we get on?
This past weekend (January 16-17)—exactly 36 years after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong and less than one year after the death of Dr. Eilat Mazar—we finalized and launched the website of the Armstrong-Mazar Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AMIBA).
We have an archaeology institute!
This is what Flurry has on the main page of the Armstrong-Mazar Institute of Biblical Archeology and how they intend to educate Israel and the world:
Welcome to the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AIBA). AIBA’s mission is to showcase Israel’s biblical archaeology and to make it available to the largest audience possible, most especially to the people of Israel.
AIBA is a non-profit academic and educational institution headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel.
AIBA seeks to share and promote Israel’s biblical archaeology via multiple platforms, including: 1) this website, which publishes articles, scientific reports and videos on Israel’s biblical archaeology; 2) Let the Stones Speak, a full-color, 32-page bimonthly print magazine; and 3) private tours of the Ophel and the City of David, as well as public seminars and archaeological exhibits.
AIBA also sponsors and participates in archaeological excavations in Jerusalem, primarily in the City of David and on the Ophel. (To learn more about past projects, or to follow our ongoing projects, see Excavations & Projects.)
AIBA has deep roots in Israel and in the field of biblical archaeology. The institute collaborates and works in partnership with many of Israel’s esteemed academic institutions, including Hebrew University, the City of David Foundation, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Israel Exploration Society. AIBA is named after Herbert W. Armstrong and Dr. Eilat Mazar, two personalities with a long and rich history with both Israel and biblical archaeology.
Herbert Armstrong was a prominent 20th-century Bible scholar, minister and humanitarian. He was also a keen supporter of biblical archaeology and the Jewish state. From 1968 to 1986, Mr. Armstrong supported multiple archaeological excavations in Israel, most notably the “Big Dig,” a massive excavation on the Temple Mount led by Hebrew University professor Benjamin Mazar. (Our Excavations & Projects page has more information on this.)
Dr. Eilat Mazar, granddaughter of Prof. Benjamin Mazar, was one of Israel’s greatest biblical archaeologists. Eilat was responsible for making some of biblical archaeology’s most sensational discoveries, including King David’s palace, King Solomon’s royal complex, Nehemiah’s wall and the seals of King Hezekiah and Isaiah (among other finds). Dr. Mazar was a brilliant scientist who not only deeply valued the scientific method but recognized the crucial role the Bible plays in the study of Jerusalem’s ancient history.
Since 2006, AIBA has proudly sponsored and worked alongside Dr. Mazar in her excavations in the City of David and on the Ophel. We endeavor to preserve Dr. Mazar’s archaeological legacy and keep it alive by approaching biblical archaeology with the same dedication to scientific and academic integrity, and the same passion, urgency and love. (You can learn more about the work and legacy of Dr. Eilat Mazar here.)
AIBA’s overarching mission can be divided into five specific objectives:
To promote the Bible as a credible and essential historical resource in the practice of archaeology in Israel
To feature and continue the archaeological work of Dr. Eilat Mazar and her grandfather, Prof. Benjamin Mazar
To analyze and explain archaeological excavations and discoveries past and present in the context of the Bible
To challenge the unwarranted and unsupported criticisms leveled against the use of the Bible in archaeology in Israel
To encourage archaeologists to consider and employ the Bible in the practice of archaeology
23 comments:
Fortunately Israelis are attuned to this type of nonsense. Are generally well educated and technology savvy. They have had their fare share of experience with evangelism from the church and have almost a second sense when it comes to recognition of charlatans. And they have information. A quiet word in their ear will spread the word far and wide about this appalling abusive group that masquerades as a church.
Sadly, we won't realize the full importance of this until decades after Flurry passes, and Nck's grandkids explain it all to us.
AIBA is too far removed from spreading the gospel, no matter the definition. Herbs old WCG had funds to spare for such diversions, but not some small splinter.
No doubt members will, like lemons, be squeezed for more funds.
If I were Gerry I'd leave archeology to the experts!
'Fu-Manchu's Imitation-Auditorium is a cheap-pile-of-shit compared to Pervbert's gilded showpiece
"Herbert Armstrong was a prominent 20th-century Bible scholar, minister and humanitarian." That line blew me away. "Prominent scholar" was one thing that HWA was NOT. Prominent plagiarizer was more like it. "Humanitarian"? Really? If humanitarian means one who extorts money to aggrandize himself, then he was a humanitarian.
The "five specific objectives" leave me feeling that they express a naivete that will be troublesome for this institute. The idea that, armed with Biblical literalism, you can sort through some habitation layers and find nice affirmations of the OT record is not going to work. The ill-conceived idea that artifacts are just lying there waiting to be unearthed and to be placed in evidence supporting the OT's veracity is boundlessly optimistic. On the other hand, they may find some interesting stuff, but the findings will not be a watershed in Biblical archaeology.
The problem is this. There are some really big issues in Biblical archaeology for literalists (This designation includes almost all fundamentalists and atheists. Atheists always choose to be literalists, but it is not a problem for them but an advantage in debate.) A few:
1. There is no evidence of a global flood.
2. Nobody knows where Mt. Sinai is.
3. Nobody knows where the Israelites could have crossed the Red Sea that squares with the Biblical account.
4. There is no evidence of the destruction of Canaanite cities that matches the dates for Joshua.
I would imagine that the typical splinterist sitting in Sabbath services does not know that the above issues are without plausible resolution at this time. I would bet that most of them presume they can find Mt. Sinai on a map in Jamieson-Fausset-Brown. I used to be that way. And finding a reference on a clay tablet to "Hezekiah" in a habitation layer in or near Jerusalem contributes only very, very little to the resolution of this larger picture of lacking evidence.
We do already have enough evidence to understand the dimensions of the problem. The issue is not in finding artifacts that support the literal interpretation of the OT. It is in recognizing that a different approach to Biblical interpretation is required. And a recognition that the OT has been under human curation for millennia and bears the evidence of it. Like Dr. Peter Enns said, "God let his children tell the story." I believe that in the OT spiritual principle has been conserved but material detail and univocality has suffered. And this is the archaeological context in which this institute must be prepared to function.
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On a recent plane trip , the movie "Citizen Kane" was one of the movies offered. I haven't watched it in about 25 years, so I thought I would watch it again with my more mature, older perspective.
The movie was really about Wm. Randolph Hearst, and his egomania, and sociopathy. Kane was the fictional recreation.
I was struck by the similarities of both HWA and Kane/Hearst, and the imitators like Pack/Flurry. Huge building projects, the use of media, the sex hangups, the loss of family, friends, colleagues after they had all been harvested and used up. The building of a concert hall and of course the central headquarters , called Xanadu in the movie, or Hearst Castle in real life.
Opulent, extravagant, and gaudy, they never satisfied in the end, and they died alone , suspicious, and empty.
Will guys like Flurry or Pack, die uttering the words ROSEBUD??
Michael Rood may have already spoiled it all for Flurry. Rood was not around during HWA's era. The Israelis would be very aware of his pseudo-archaeology and Bible tours.
Will they put shovels aside and instead use Irish dancers to shake loose the layers of sediments and artifacts below?
Will guys like Flurry or Pack, die uttering the words ROSEBUD??
In Flurry's case we may hear BUD, but probably combined with LIGHT instead of ROSE.
7:27, Very well said. š
If Gerald Flurry can get his stooges to dig up a stone in the USA and declare it to be the new throne stone that replaces the throne stone in the UK, then imagine the lies that Gerald will be able to make up if his stooges dig up a stone in Jerusalem.
Would Flurry like to explain why Hezekiah's bulla features ankhs and a winged sun? PAAAAAGANISM!
Gerald Flurry also claims that he'll be the new king of England during the tribulation.
We know you don't have any faith to believe. Many are called but few are chosen.
No, he claims to be the king of England now! Go figure.
Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 11:16:00 PM PST
hahahaha
Are you summoning me from the pits.....?
Go hither go out from us I send thee into the desert by the power distributed to me.......hahaha
st nck
According to him, he is currently the King! All powerful, with the ability to bind and lose, can open and close doors. Rules with all power on earth.
AMIBA - are either free-living in damp environments or they are parasites.
Yup, that's the PCG ministry, right there.
Wait a minute! If Gerald Flurry is a king, and Bob Thiel is a queen, what is Dave Pack?
Bible in archaeology? Didn't that happen in the 1940s at Nag Hammadi and Qumran? Are Flurry and the Israelis digging for more Bibles or ancient scrolls?
“ Wait a minute! If Gerald Flurry is a king, and Bob Thiel is a queen, what is Dave Pack?”
The Court Jester
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