A Philadelphia Church of God insider sent Exit and Support Network comments from Wayne Turgeon's lastest sermon leading up to the COG version of Passover.
Turgeon exemplifies all that is wrong theologically with the PCG and demonstrates how poorly educated he is in theology. He is an AC graduate from Pasadena, a school not know for sound theological education, who is now fully embedded in the Philadelphia Church of God cult and married into the hierarchy of the leadership. It is no shock that Turgeon utters his blasphemies due to his bad theological training.
Items in blue are links to excellent articles on the ESN site.
He discounted Christ’s sinless life when he said Christ could die because His Father was God and Mary was his human mother and that he was “part God.” This was an heretical statement as Jesus was fully God and fully man. (Read: The Two Natures of Jesus) He said Christ came to earth with the “risk that He might fail.” HWA was known to say that Jesus “could have sinned.”
This has been standard COG fare from the begging when HWA determined that his Christ was too weak and that with enough coaxing that he could have been tempted to sin. This is not unique to PCG, but Bob Thiel, UCG, RCG, LCG all think this same thing.
He said Christ died only the members (in PCG) in spite of the Scripture that says Christ “died for all“; in spite of Jesus being the “Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world;” in spite of Jesus dying for sins “once for all“; in spite of how Jesus “put away sin.” (Read: The Sin Question)
Referring to the Passover he made the bold claim that (members in PCG) could be keeping the Passover “for all eternity” and he would be fine with that. This was another Turgeon myth since to observe the Passover is to say Jesus never came. (See our Q&A “How can I observe Passover if I’ve left the group?”
This too has been the standard teaching of the church that everyone would be keeping all the Jewish holy days in the Kingdom of God. If, as various COG leaders claim that the holy day's all point to the return of Christ and the kingdom, then why would people be still keeping that stuff with Jesus dwelling among them? There is no point in that happening. There is no point at all in keeping Passover for eternity. Just more bad theology.
He let them know they were “guilty for Christ’s death” and when they sin they “put Christ to death.” In spite of Christ saying it is finished. (Refer again to The Sin Question)
This too has been a regular church teaching through the last 8 decades. As COG members we were essentially told we were guilty of killing Chris over and over every year on the gym or masonic lodge stage. People would weep sitting there believing that they had killed him once again. The trouble was as soon as they left the gym or lodge, Jesus was left there too for another year, hardly ever spoken of again for another year. Ministers would take great glee in putting a microphone in front of the matzos as they broke them so that members could sit there in anguish and feel guilty.
More idiocy was telling the members that reading as much of PCG literature as they can (which he referred to as “righteousness”) will “replace sin.”
PCG believes that Mystery of the Ages is on par with the Bible and essential for salvation. <ost PCG members d not realize that Gerald FLurry thought Herbert made mistakes in the book and has rewritten those comments to fit the current understanding of the PCG. After all, God has revealed more stuff to Gerald than HWA ever received from God
He warned them that if Satan could fall like he did, then they have to be “on guard” because “no one is indispensable and can be removed at any time”–if they don’t remain faithful.
More scare tactics to keep the gullible compliant and submissive. Because they refuse to follow Jesu or acknowledge any of the things he did, this is their end result.
He showed his lack of wisdom when he said that after Adam and Eve sinned God the Father decided to send Jesus to earth to straighten the mess out. This is an absolute lie because it was God’s plan from the very beginning to die for our sins, not just at the time Adam and Eve sinned. Before He laid the foundation of the world Jesus knew man would sin and perish without his help. See: “Was it God’s plan from the beginning for Jesus to die for the sins of mankind?” [offsite article]
He revealed his true arrogance and hardness of heart when he admitted that he has a “knee jerk reaction when he is corrected” and that he will “never admit that he has done something inappropriately” and that praying for correction is “difficult for him.”
This is the same heretical crap that Rod Meredith said when he claimed he had never committed a major sin since he was baptized.
This holier-than-thou attitude has been Turgeon's problem since he was in Pasadena. His arrogance and narcissism made it impossible for anyone to correct or even teach him. He knew it all and acted like it. That's part of the reason he was never ordained till he left WCG and joined the Flurry cult. Now he is in England where his abusive tactics and heretical teachings will have new ground to take root in. More young people led down the path to hopelessness and mental anguish.
