Those boys in Edmond Oklahoma are having fun again. At first, I thought this was an April Fools joke, but alas, it's April 22. The boys sent out an email today from the greatest King on earth today (sorry, Bob Thiel, it's not YOU!) His Majesty the Royal Highness King Gerald Flurry, the right-hand man of God and possessor of the coronation stone that some creature he calls "christ" will come back to sit its holy derriere upon.
King Gerald wants you to know that you really NEED the second most holy book on earth today. Everyone knows about the Bible, but far too few know about Mystery of the Ages, the second most important book on earth followed closely by the third most important book, Malachi's Message.
Where would the Church of God be without all of these extra-biblical tomes that so many rely upon?
The King writes:
We give away a lot of free literature and educational material. The book we have given away more than any other is Mystery of the Ages. This is a masterful work by the late educator, philanthropist and unofficial ambassador for world peace Herbert W. Armstrong. Thousands of people have said that this book, when they have applied its teachings, has brought real meaning to their lives and given them true happiness!
Mystery of the Ages is a synopsis of the Bible. It allows you to understand God’s Word, which would otherwise be a mystery.
MOA along with The Incredible Human Potential has to be the most butt-numbing boring books ever written. They are right up there next to The Book of Mormon in readability and Christian understanding.
On the cover of the book, Mr. Armstrong wrote, "Did you ever ask yourself: ‘Who am I? What am I? Why am I?’ You are a mystery. The world about you is a mystery. Now, you can understand!"
With this life-changing book, the Bible is decoded before your eyes, if you want it to be!
If the Bible had been decoded with the MOA then there is no reason for 400+ splinter groups each preaching their own unique set of biblical "truths".
Look at society around you. Clearly the Bible is a mystery to most of humanity. It is the world’s bestseller that nobody knows. It is a mystery to science, to education, even to religion! God is not real to most people. But Mystery of the Ages will make God real to you. This book will make God come alive and understandable to you.
The Bible is still a mystery to the Church of God. Every single splinter group has its own interpretation of scripture which is always better than the others. 400+ different versions with no one willing to agree upon common points.
For this reason, Mr. Armstrong considered Mystery of the Ages the second-greatest book on Earth after the Bible.
It's not and never has been!
37 comments:
Are you really a "philanthropist" when you convince people to give you $200 million in a year, and you then give $100,000 in trinkets to foreign leaders you want to meet with?
Will it take a little child to speak the truth? "The Emperor has no razor!"
If MotA and TIHP are so vitally important, then why did so many generations of Christians have to do without them? Wouldn't Christ have given them to his disciples, or had them written into the Bible? If we needed more than the Bible, we'd have had it LONG before Pope Herbert showed up.
More like "Mystery of Crap!"
There should be a copy in every outhouse to replace the Sears Catslogue.
Has Gerald Flurry declared Mystery of the Ages "scripture" yet?
I recall a taped message from David Albert in the 1980s, predicting that HWA writings would "someday be Scripture."
We are so fortunate to live in an age where information is so readily available and accessible and free to so many.
It has been and continues to be the biggest threat to Armstrongisms many variants.
So much of the message they propagate can now be readily and easily rebuffed with ease and a little research.
More than that it is their very deeds, their behaviour, that stands as a testament against them, exposing them for who they really are and shining a light into areas they don’t wish to be made known to the public.
And most often by their victims.
Regardless of Flurry and his comments on MoA, he is only a mortal leader of a disappearing invisible church of diminishing returns and he is the pastor general of an invisible and disappearing organisation who are legends in their own eyes.
As are all the others.
And that includes you Bob Thiel.
If MOA is the second greatest book on earth, then a little verification and validation will not hurt. This splinter group has an interest in archaeology and seems to have money to fund research. This is their opportunity to validate the BI dogma that is contained in MOA for all the world to see. What a boon to "the Work" that would be. There should be an ancient layer in the Palestine where most of the people buried there are haplogroup R1b instead of the Jewish haplogroup J. This is the haplogroup of the Northwest Europeans. Using archaeogenetic techniques, someone like Eske Willerslev in Denmark could extract the DNA from ancient burials in this putative layer. The entire world would be surprised at this verification of BI because nobody has ever encountered such a layer or even expects such a layer to exist. Yet MOA claims, by asserting BI in Chapter 5 - The Mystery of Israel, that such a layer does exist.
Here is the simple, unassailable logic:
If BI is true, then a dense ancient layer of haplogroup R1b remains should be present in Palestine - especially in the area occupied by the Northern Tribes. If this layer does not exist, then BI is untrue and MOA is certainly not the second most important book ever written.
This is real world. This is science. This is based on how God set up the Creation. It uses the record God encoded in our DNA. This is not spooky magic, easily denied. Or conspiracy theory. The entire structure of Armstrongism stands or falls based on this validation. If this project is undertaken and you are and Armstrongist, stand back, the tree may fall in your direction.
It irks me that someone has the unmitigated temerity to presume to place their writing next to God's message.
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Regarding the comment made by Anonymous 7:20
Did it ever occur to you that splinter groups can write up comments like this to destroy the credibility of this blog? They have a vested interest in making us all seem shallow.
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EVERYONE who TRULY BELIEVED, LOVED and ENJOYED the WONDERFUL and AMAZING TRUTH TAUGHT by MR. ARMSTRONG KNEW that the WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD was GOD'S ONE TRUE CHURCH and that it CAN be TRACED THROUGH nearly 2,000 years of history. I wonder why NO ONE HERE has the good sense to ask themselves: "WHERE IS THE ONE TRUE CHURCH THAT JESUS CHRIST BUILT?"
The people on this blog are going to regret their deeds here when mocking God's chosen ministers!
Anon 9:32:00 PM PDT
You have to do better than that.
Present your proofs, your sources and real evidence that can be verified, and that will stand up to the spotlight of critical inquiry to back your rather large claim that the wwcog can trace it’s roots back 2000 years to the original 1st century church.
A little research just of the contributions to this blog by people who have taken the time to research and critique their sources will
point you in the right direction. That aside can you answer the question you asked, ‘WHERE IS THE ONE TRUE CHURCH THAT JESUS CHRIST BUILT?’
If you can what is the evidence?
For the record I did truely believe in what the wwcog taught and did indeed believe that HWA was God’s apostle and BI was absolutely legitimate.
But like Paul I count all things lost that I may come to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The ‘things’ that are lost were of no value such as BI which is utterly incompatible with the gospel of salvation and only too easily discredited.
8.48 PM
"making us all seem shallow?"
Hardly, since the ACOGs policy is to keep their members shallow by only feeding the spiritual milk. No spiritual meat is tolerated. This is because shallow members are easier to control than knowledgeable members.
I still notice that some of the information in the comments section of this blog is appearing in ACOGs articles. That doesn't sound like we are the shallow ones.
NEWS FLASH---
Flurry , Pack and Thiel to merge operations!
It will now be known collectively as FLACK SPIEL !
Anon 9:32 and 11:06
I agree we should never mock god’s chosen ministers. And all that wonderful amazing truth that HWA and these splinter guys have spewed out, turns out to be farting in the wind. I wasted too many years in WCG. Glad I finally walked away 25 years ago. I don’t need MOA, it went in the trash along with all all the other booklets I had saved.
Jim
I remember trying to read MOA back in the 80's and I was ALL IN with Worldwide back then and I finally put it down and never finished because it was basically unreadable. Flurry builds up HWA as his messiah because he wants that same power and prestige himself. He cares NOTHING about the average tithe paying churchgoers. Just shut, obey Gerald and send in the $$$.
Addendum to my comment at 8:43
Although I strongly disagree with Ernest L. Martin on many points of doctrine, sometimes he does hit the target at the center. This supports my assertion that now research can and should be done that will demonstrate whether BI is true or not. And this eclipses other archaeological projects for Armstrongism. Martin wrote:
"It is appropriate to mention a major problem in utilizing archaeology and it is one that is well recognized by reputable archaeologists. This is especially a difficulty with certain people who have strong religious or historical convictions. It is this: If they have the money and are presented with the opportunity to excavate in the Holy Land and their only interest is to find some artifact which can prove a point in their belief, they are not approaching the use of archaeology correctly. Why is this the case? It is because their attitude is set towards one goal. They cannot help but look on all other discoveries at the excavation with lesser esteem. The fact is, the very thing they may be searching for could be of minor importance in the overall understanding of history, prophecy, or doctrine, while the other items they discover could also prove highly significant in the long run."
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So if MOA and other HWA tomes are second to scripture, and were written in Modern English, why were they updated?
Isn't there racist writings in the mystery of the ages.
"making us all seem shallow".
That could be one reaction, people thinking we are shallow. However, there is a wide variety to the comments posted here. Some are serious and have an intellectual tone, while others are somewhat earthy, comical, or satirical. Negative public opinion comes in many forms, and is often influential in causing people to modify their thinking processes or behavior. I certainly hope we don't fall into the trap of walking around on egg shells in deference to a handful of cult zombies. They need to be shaken up, if anything. It's not as if we have a shortage of them, or of trolls pretending to be them (IN ALL CAPS!!!)
So if MOA and other HWA tomes are second to scripture, and were written in Modern English, why were they updated?
Although they disagree about the exact timing and about particulars of the original sources, virtually all credible scholars agree that the Torah was updated several times, not reaching its final form until sometime after the Israelites returned from captivity in Babylon.
Why shouldn't MOA and MM also go through a similar process?
"Although they disagree about the exact timing and about particulars of the original sources, virtually all credible scholars agree that the Torah was updated several times, not reaching its final form until sometime after the Israelites returned from captivity in Babylon.
Why shouldn't MOA and MM also go through a similar process?"
Well, the Torah is part of Jewish history and they wisely have debated and discussed the words in the book for centuries.
Mystery of the Ages, however, is nothing more than crap theology. Totally useless to anyone. No number of revisions or discussions will ever redeem the book.
Not at all. If the PCG are God’s chosen ministers, what does it tell you about God? After 20 years in that cult, it’s safe to say that there was nothing godly about those ministers!
Yes, but by the time MOA had been written, it was the post-segregation and civil rights era, where the WCG mucketymucks at least tried to tone it down a little. They didnt do a very good job, but it was typical dodgeball.
I didn't exist for the first 13 billion years of the Universe's existence. That lack of consciousness didn't bother me at all. If, out of so many billions of human beings He has created, God considers Gerald Flurry and Herbert Armstrong the top men of all eternity, I will happily jump into the Lake of Fire and return to lack of consciousness.
EGGzactly right, 2:43. Consciousness is sooo overrated. Everyone is so demanding and always trying to tell you what you have to do. Can't wait to return to a more blissfull state.
Didn't Paul tell Timothy that all scripture is inspired and is all you need for every good work? Doesn't the Bible say do not add to or take away from the Word? For as much as HWA liked to bash the Roman Catholic Church, he followed many of its practices. HWA was the infallible "Pope", the WCG and RRC were the ONLY true church. Both added to the Word either with sacred traditions or their own writings.
6.37 AM
I recently read an article that claimed that the majority of mainstream protestantism is Marxist. Todays Catholic popes' public anouncements have been blatantly Marxist. HWA taught defacto Marxism with his tyrannical ministers and his give way, which implies ownership by need. By contrast, the Bibles "a workman is worthy of his wages" means that ownership is determined by production. I read decades ago in one of the ACOGs monthly publication that according to a study, contemporary Christianity is just following the politics of the day. What happened to following Christ?
I had a look at Gerald Flurrys' "Revealing the two witnesses" on his website. At least he didn't claim himself or his son as the two witnesses, though of course they'll come from his church.
I disagree with you, 10:18. Mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism predated Marx and Engels, and hence predated the label "Marxism".
So, you are taking a later label which has become a pejorative because of its association with Godless countries with murderous leaders, such as Russia, and you are applying that pejorative to God-based churches which extol the equality of value in human life, and who actually do teach that a workman is worthy of his hire, and social justice for all.
Interestingly, neither pure capitalism, nor pure communism are actually viable systems. Capitalism has always mixed in a little bit of socialism in its effort to care for those unable to take care of themselves. Unharvested corners for the gleaners, alms, tithes, and jubilee year were all modifiers of the original financial system which God gave the Israelites. Communism requires venture capitalism from the oligarchs in order to keep it viable.
I suspect that you are just another guy who thinks he's found a clever way to trash a thing which others recognize as being basically good by hanging a negative label on it. Sorry, gotta call bullshit on you!
Where'd you see that? I'd like to read that.
They'll come OUT of their church, that is, not part of it anymore.
3.22 PM
I wish today's churches did *extol the equality of value of human life, and who actually do teach that a workman is worthy of his hire.."
But they do not. Instead they use sophistry and guile to teach the exact opposite. Do you think that HWA and his ministers were ignorant that teaching that the end is always "three to five short years away" would result in innocent members being harmed? They knew that this would result in many members being thrown under the bus, just like with 1975. There's no equality of human life in this. HWA saturated his church with his give way, while hiding that relationships are two way. There is no "a workman is worthy of his hire" in this. Why do you think that rights and their mention are taboo in the ACOGs while they are common in secular society? If you watch the televangelists, you will find the same thing.
Christ's condemnation of the religious leaders of his day is equally applicable throughout human history, including today.
I found the article I think they are speaking of. Written by one Alexandra Marshall. It's basically an "Everything I Dont Like Is Marxism" piece - the author never actually explains how any of it is linked to Marx, just makes vague allusions to collectivism (which predates Marx of course). Sometimes people learn a new word and cant stop using it. Maybe I'm reading the wrong piece though.
“Why Do You Need The So-Called Second Greatest Book On Earth?”
Can I have an original copy of Mystery of the Ages that has NOT been edited and changed by Gerald Flurry?
So which version of MOA is the 'second most important book'?
The original as published by HWA, or the version edited and altered by the PCG which which subtly removes some very significant statement's by HWA about prophets and offices?
1:08, you can get a PDF copy of it here:
http://www.herbertwarmstrong.org/Books%20&%20Booklets/Mystery%20of%20the%20Ages%20(1985).pdf
I was in that church for 12 years and I can guarantee you, that the PCG ministry are nothing but modern day Hellenists.
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