On August 6, 2026, Crackpot Bob of the improperly named "continuing" Church of God—that tiny, self-anointed remnant from the rebellious Armstrongist universe—published yet another article marking the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. One might expect a moment of sober historical reflection. Instead, we get the theological equivalent of a man jumping up and down on a street corner waving a “The End Is Nigh” sandwich board while secretly hoping the end hurries up so he can stop looking like a complete fraud.
Crackpot Bob does not merely note the tragedy. He practically salivates over the possibility that the same kind of devastation is finally, finally coming for the United States, Britain, and Canada. Why? Because according to the sacred cow of Armstrongism—British Israelism—those nations are the modern “lost tribes” of Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh, naturally), and therefore every Old Testament curse of desolation, captivity, and city-wasting must apply to them. Nuclear weapons are just the convenient modern delivery system for the prophecy that has been stubbornly refusing to show up for decades.
The argument is pure recycled Armstrongism. Leviticus 26:33 about cities becoming waste “wasn’t fully fulfilled anciently,” so it must be waiting for thermonuclear fireballs over London, New York, and Toronto. Herbert W. Armstrong’s 1948 and 1979 predictions of European “Beast” forces vaporizing Anglo cities overnight are lovingly quoted as if they hadn’t already expired more thoroughly than milk left in the sun for eighty years. Thiel even throws in Isaiah’s “land is burned up” language and Daniel 11:39, then plugs his own videos about German bombers and the “conquering” of the Five Eyes nations. The only thing missing is a pop-up ad for “Buy My Book Before the Fallout Hits.”
This entire performance rests on British Israelism—the thoroughly debunked doctrine that the British and Americans are the literal descendants of the ten “lost” tribes of Israel. Armstrong called it the “master key.” In reality it is the master excuse: a 19th-century piece of imperial fan-fiction that lets you take every curse aimed at ancient Israel and aim it like a heat-seeking missile at the English-speaking West. No evidence required. Genetics? Indo-European languages? Continuous European archaeological records? The fact that the tribes weren’t even fully “lost” in the Bible itself? All irrelevant when you have a good story and a desperate need to feel special. Without this teaching in the church it would have no reason to exist. None at all!
Armstrong predicted the nuclear fireworks for the 1930s, the 1940s, 1972, 1975… and then just kept moving the goalposts while the cities stubbornly refused to glow in the dark. After his death the main church finally admitted the whole prophetic house of cards had collapsed under the weight of more than a hundred failed predictions. But the splinter groups, bless their little residual hearts, simply declared themselves the true remnant and kept the same broken record spinning.
Enter Crackpot Bob, who left the Living Church of God in a fit of rebellion and malice, declaring himself the recipient of a “double portion” of the Spirit (via a conveniently worded prayer that no one witnessed), started collecting dreams like trading cards, and now runs the improperly named "continuing" Church of God as the sole group that supposedly understands just how thoroughly America and Britain are about to get glassed. There are long lists of his own missed or massively stretched predictions. Thiel’s defense is the classic prophetic soft-shoe: “I never actually set a date,” “partial fulfillments,” and “I correctly said the tribulation wouldn’t start in those years.” Impressive. Most of us can also correctly predict that the sun will rise tomorrow.
Why keep doing this? Because the destruction of the United States, England, and Canada is not just a prediction—it is a requirement. If the Anglo-nations are not obliterated on schedule, the entire British-Israel identity scheme, the exclusive Philadelphian remnant claim, and Thiel’s own prophetic résumé collapse into the same radioactive dust he keeps promising everyone else. So every August 6 he dusts off Hiroshima, reminds the faithful that the real fireworks are still coming, and hopes no one notices that the fuse has been lit for the better part of a century without ever reaching the powder.
His article is not analysis. It is liturgical fear-mongering: a yearly ritual in which the prophet gets to feel important by contemplating the fiery end of nations that have the temerity to keep existing. Hiroshima becomes not a warning about the horror of nuclear war, but a teaser trailer for the bigger, better, God-approved version that will finally prove Crackpot Bob right.
Eighty-one years after the first bomb fell, the cities still stand. The “lost tribes” remain as lost as ever—because they were never lost in the first place. And Crackpot Bob is still in his study, gesturing earnestly at the camera, waiting for the mushroom clouds that will validate a lifetime of prophetic over-promising. One can only assume the disappointment is becoming radioactive by now.
15 comments:
There was a time when I believed fervently that BI was scriptural, correct, and the ‘key’ to understanding the Bible as a whole. It made sense. I started to have doubts during the first gulf war. The sermons about the USA and Britain didn’t measure up and in some cases I believed the scriptures quoted were absolutely off target. But I held my tongue. The rest is history as they say. The net was a revolution and revelation. And it has exposed BI as the bunk it is. We have no excuses, the jury is in. The facts speak for themselves. BI is bunk. But that obviously is not enough for some still trapped within the Armstrong embrace. What is gratifying is that the audience for this BI nonsense is rapidly disappearing, and those who proclaim it will in due course disappear as well.
Historians have noted that although the Allies won World War II, that great war marks the deliniation point at which the USA achieved world domination, and the British Empire, although remaining as a player, faded from its period of dominance. A war was involved, but the two powers had been on the same side, allies fighting an incredibly evil enemy, a nation whose strongman leader had transformed it into national insanity.
If China continues to evolve in its domination, the battle need not involve bombs or guns. It could simply involve the transfer of economic power from a bankrupt and divided nation to a highly solvent one that by virtue of its greater financial power, and superior technology has assumed the top position. The evidence would seem to suggest that they have already arrived. Or, if they have not, the arrival is not far off. Final acknowledgment would be the recognition of the Chinese yuan as the world's reserve currency. If that happens, there will be many implications, although it's doubtful that China would destroy the greatest market for its many products. We in the USA would undergo a transformation from the big dog to a lesser dog, as did the UK. Bombs and pestilence not required.
Empires rise, live their days in the sun, and then fade. This is inevitable. They don't always fall by conquest. China has perhaps the longest documented history of any nation on the face of the earth. It has seen many rises and falls. Reality is that it is China who should be watched, not a revived Roman Empire, the component nations of which are already sputtering and out of gas.
BB
Witchdoctor Madness forever associated with CCOG and Bobby boy
Perhaps the British Israelites will be right for the wrong reasons. Below is a worse-case scenario to view coming events:
China had arguable the greatest housing bubble in history. Instead of dealing with it China has created a bubble in manufacturing - they are trying to export their way out of trouble. But eventually China will have to deal with their problems themselves as other nations will resist the destruction of their economies, that is, they are not going to pay the price for China’s huge economic and financial mistakes and failures.
Since Japan’s housing and stockmarket busts in the 1990s it has hobbled along where now government debt to GDP is the highest in the world and will soon experience a sovereign debt default which will cause turmoil in global bond markets.
Japan had an advantage in the aftermath of their bursting bubbles, that China doesn’t have today. Japan could export to the booming US and Chinese economies.
China peaked demographically around 2019-21 which is going to aggravate problems. Because of China’s one child policy there are some 30 million men who will not find a wife in China. This could be an advantage for war but on the other hand what family would want their only son killed in a war. Then there is the China paradox a chronic shortage of skilled technical labor against a background of high youth unemployment.
It is alleged that China spends more on internal security than it does on external defence; and for good reason the government is scared of their people.
When the Chinese economy hits the wall the government will be faced with an angry middle class who have big mortgages and lower home values, an angry populace who cant find work, joining the ranks of the around 20 percent of youths who are already unemployed.
Corruption in China is possibly at the levels when the Qing dynasty collapsed in 1911. China to experience tremendous times with the collapse of the Communist Party as it did post 1911? Anarchy, warlordism and provincial independence? It is suggested that China will break-up into at least two states.
It has been suggested that due to corruption, debt and demographics China will have a collapse like no other in history.
But Europe will give it a run for its money. Debt and third world immigration are existential threats to Europe. Sovereign debt crisis in England and France will likely be a trigger for economic collapse, or compound the early stages of the crisis and its breakup. With governments on life support and pensions funds having to have 70% in government bonds it doesn’t look good.
The only way Europe will survive, that its people and culture, is through religious revival.
One thing that doesn’t get mention much in the hegemonic rise of Britain and America is religious revival - back to back Bible campaigns, think of John Wesley in England. It is suggest that there was a rough correlation in that both England and America were at its greatness relative to the rest of the world when church attendance was at its peak. In the parallel between hegemonic cycles, what 1815 was for England 1945 was for America.
Religious revival will also result in the expulsion of Muslims from Europe. This will be the ‘third’ time. The first being the Reconquista with the Muslim Moors being expelled from Spain. Then the Muslim Ottomans were expelled from eastern Europe.
In Spain the Muslims were either forced to convert to Christianity or forcibly expelled from the country.
While the first was called the Reconquista the third is being termed Reimmigation. Could what the Jews in Germany were to the 1930s the Muslims in Europe will be for the future?
Could a religious revival in Western and Orthodoxy Christianity leading to an alliance between Europe and Russia and then allied with South American, with its own religious revival and fervour, be a threat to the US, who can’t even defeat Iran? The Battle of Gaugamela is a lesson for all great powers.
I remember Herb in one of his articles telling a German leader that it was American industrial might that defeated the Nazi war machine in WW2, and so American industry will be the first target in WW3. Then and there, I felt he was instructing Germany how to defeat America in the next war. I believe many WCG members, and especially its ministers, secretly crave the English speaking countries destroyed because they are basically rights based rather than permission based societies. Tyranny is all these people know and love.
12:19, There's many YouTube videos on China's "left over women." It's the label they themselves use. They're in the 30's, often well educated, but rejected by men as being too old. There's about 30 million of them. This is even though there's 30 million more men than women in the country. Millions of these single men have given up on marriage because they are poor. So sad.
You raise some interesting issues, 12:19. There are always likelihoods, and there are possibilities. The most massive problem on the horizon for the USA is the outragious national debt. Both parties have given priority to funding their own agendas rather than dealing with the national debt. Republicans who used to be noteworthy as fiscally conservative have become just as bad stewards of the economy as the stereotypical tax and spend Democrats. There is going to be a radical reaction to President Trump's edicts and policies if and when Democrats regain power. We will probably see the same Trumpian authoritarian methods applied as the new Democratic Socialist wing of the party gains more and more power. The Dems will not be delivering the relief voters might expect.
Global climate change has not abated as a result of the current power structure ignoring it! A new sport has emerged , and I can't believe I'm saying this, but, hey everybody surf's up in the Arctic Circle!!! Frankie, Annette, and the Beach Blanket gang would be righteously freaking out over this! It would be enough to make Eric von Zipper shed his black leather jacket and take up surfing with the gang. Temperatures there were up in the 90s this past week. As a kind of halfway joke amongst me, myself, and I, I Duck-Duck Goed "Arctic Circle Surfing" yesterday while shooting up the morning news, and several websites actually came up! It is a thing! Also, not only is the Colorado River drying up! So is the Danube. Tourists are being treated to the emergence and exposure of numerous Nazi warships which were scuttled in the Danube towards the end of WWII as the water level of the "Beautiiful Blue Danube" sinks to ever lower levels. Not good!
We haven't even addressed disease enthusiast Bobby Kennedy Jr's disease reintroduction policies, but that is also a thing. We see around us various exploitative nations who could profiteer from the problems of the USA. Russians, Muslim block nations, budding but still reluctant frenemies in Europe, and the Chinese are amongst them. Of all those groups, the Chinese are currently the strongest, and are actually exerting global control in ways the others are incapable. But alas! I am not a prophet schooled in the sacred restored truths of Armstrongism, with one eye on my secret HWA Decoder Ring! I'm just one guy looking at the contemporary realities, most of which the failed HWA prophecy mold does not even begin to describe. My opinions are for your entertainment only! Bottom line is nobody really knows where these things are going, or what strange turns events will take. And there isn't any group to which you can join and vigorously participate in order to obtain protection. You may want to quit your German language studies and instead study Mandarin Chinese, though. Just sayin'
BB
Some fascinating comments here. Population projections for the next hundred years make interesting viewing also. Plenty of info available online.
US population to increase by around 10% till 2050, with some predictions of growth to 550 million by 2100. China to drop to 750mil by 2100. China is facing very serious population issues, after decades of one child only policies. Besides major housing/affordably and building problems. Large increase in the Catholic population in the US, driven by migration from South America. Germany to decline by 7% in 2050. Britain to increase by 8-9%. I agree with BB, biggest danger facing the US is the debt bomb. I listened to a British demographics expert saying the UK had experienced more immigration in the last 50 years than in its past 2000 year history. And this was not sustainable for the future cohesion of Britain. However you look at it, BI is simple folly and untenable, scripturally inaccurate, and those who preach it are barking up the wrong tree.
World War 2 was won by British brains, American muscle, and Russian blood.
I had just found out about the huge Russian sacrifice during World War II while binge-watching "The Americans", a TV series based on a husband-wife spy team, the major characters having spent years living and training in a Russian potempkin village which was a perfect replica of an American town. Their handler, played by the wonderful actress Margo Martindale, had taught the couple's daughter some of the Russian history not taught in American public schools. Part of this was the phenomenal number of Russian casualties.
I could not even begin to fathom this until learning of the incredible troop losses Russia has suffered at the hands of Ukraine. Apparently, it is a cultural thing.
A common figure given by historians is that the Soviet losses during WW2 were about 27 million dead. Several million more died due to Stalin's policies. Because of national pride, official losses aren't trust worthy. In Russia, there's a law against publically discussing these numbers. Not forgetting, American losses during WW2 were about 400,000. The Soviet Union did most of the fighting and dying during WW2. That it's America that "won the war" is highly debatable.
You raise an interesting issue, 3:57, when you bring up UK immigration. Both the USA and the UK have been melting pots throughout their histories, the US moreso than Great Britain. As I understand it much of the earlier diversity in England came from the citizens of her colonies, one of which was India.
One of my objections to HWA's application of British Israelism to prophecy is that the US and the UK were never pure Manassite, or Ephraimite. Putting this into first century Israelite terminology, they were always Samaritanized nations. The most ludicrous aspect of this is that statistically speaking, German dna is currently the most prevalent dna amongst US citizens. That's right! In the parlance of HWA, that is Assyrian, the very people who, according to HWA, are supposed to rise up and punish us for supposedly forgetting our birthright heritage, and the laws which we have turned our backs upon. A nice Assyrian family who changed their last name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor in the early twentieth century currently sits on the British throne. Of course, genetic studies were very primitive at the time HWA concocted his hook, so he had no way of knowing this, and his various theories are very simplistic, and anomalous. . While sesrching for the so called lost ten tribes, it never occurred to him that they were lost not because we can't find them today, but because they were assimilated! More Samaritanization! How does one punish a diminishing percentage of dna as opposed to an actual physical descendant?
Others have attempted to insert us into Bible prophecy from different positions. Evangelicals teach that the USA was founded as a Christian nation, and that we have lost our way. Although this is also somewhat of a leap, I believe they make a stronger spiritual point than did HWA, who relied upon bogus physical genetics. Due to the predominance of the Christian religions throughout our history, and the fading of these and their values over the past several decades, it is more difficult to contest the point the Evangelicals make.
Ponder this. From long wave economic theory we learn that in free economies (capitalist), there have historically been four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Winter marks the final stage of a 50 year cycle. Astute Biblical scholars will immediately think of Jubilee. It is the final stage in which debt is expunged so that the new cycle can begin, fresh. Influential economists have learned how to mainpulate this cycle to postpone "Winter" aka, a depression. Their manipulation has indeed forestalled depression, but has also brought with it many structural imbalances, one of which is the mushrooming debt which has not been expunged from the system as it would have been had the cycle been allowed to complete itself without manipulation. Usually, this "winter" has coincided with the ushering in of new technologies. AI can accomplish many things, but is there any possibility that it can be used to expunge debt? To know the answer to this question, all we need do is remember the ways in which people reacted to Dr. Fauci. Imagine financial constrictions and mandates being imposed in lieu of public health-based ones!
BB
That's why, historically, we have called it a victory for the Allies! When Germany was carved up aongst the Allies, Russia, as one of the allies, got East Germany.
Also, for better understanding, you need to look at Hitler's stated purposes. He made no secret of the fact that he indulged in a multi-front war deliberately to fight Russia and communism
Like everyone else, Russians are a combo of desirable and undesirable traits. As someone who loves airplanes, I do have pictures of the Russian Tupolev TU-95 Turbo Prop bomber in my gallery. Check it out! It has four reciprocating propeller engines.
Thanks BB @10:05:45 PDT. I am not American, but I find the demographic makeup of the USA interesting. Germans certainly dominated the early ethnic makeup of the nation, and today. Watched recently on History channel, two documentaries on the early Celts and where they originated from. Nothing Semitic here to be seen. Fascinating to see where they came from, and how they expanded into Europe and the British isles. They say fact is often stranger than fiction. Quite so. But the fiction, proclaimed as fact from BI proponents is stranger still, lol. Cheers.
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