SECTION IV
Back to The Rise of False Prophets
The PCG holds the copyright to much of Mr. Armstrong’s literature. This does not mean that they believe what he taught. How far have their errors taken them? What are these errors? Here is a partial list—a mere snapshot—of their false teachings. It is incomplete because PCG’s errors are multiplying faster than anyone can record them.
As mentioned, the Philadelphia Church of God professes to hold to every doctrine—every point—that Mr. Armstrong taught. This is far from true, and has always been the case when false leaders, especially false prophets, come among God’s people. Because such men have taken to themselves a high office that Christ never “gave” (Eph. 4:11), they have a generally greater problem. They see themselves as the “chosen vessel” of special “oracles” sent directly by God to His people. But this would be no problem if everyone understood that no one should listen to them. Sadly, they do not, and many do listen.
As you have now learned, false prophets invariably profess to bring “new revelations” directly from God, with their messages usually centered around convoluted prophecy that is very difficult to understand. Again, sadly, no matter how bizarre, strange and outrageous the ideas may be, those caught in the false prophet’s orbit cannot see his inventions for what they are. This process can carry people deep into ideas that are so ridiculous—so absurd!—so PLAIN WRONG!—that they can ingest scores of these teachings before they realize what has overtaken them.
Such is PCG’s snare!
The following list of 80 doctrinal errors in PCG is part of an article titled “Endless False Doctrines,” which constitutes a section of our book Surviving “Perilous Times”.” There, these false doctrines are numbered 91 through 171. Because they are part of the problem associated with false prophets, and because the reader should now be prepared to see them for what they are, we have included them here. We have generally left the language and references that were originally used to demonstrate that they were originally part of a larger list, and one in which we were not identifying the names of particular organizations.
(91) One leader considers his book to be the “little book” of Revelation 10 ALL, and that it fulfills Revelation 3:20—Christ knocking on Laodiceans’ doors. [Many prophetic ideas that follow (through #171) depict a doctrinal tragedy—a prophetic “holocaust”—of epic proportions, playing out in one group. I list many changes taught there, partly because all need to be warned of how far from God’s Way thousands can wander—in the name of “new revelation,” “new truth” or “growth in understanding”—once they cease holding fast to exactly what God taught through Mr. Armstrong. I hope I have properly represented these complicated, nearly impossible-to-understand teachings.]
(92) Revealed prophecy: “The [group name] has kept all the revealed knowledge God gave to Mr. Armstrong. All of the Laodicean groups have rejected at least part of the revelation. Therefore God has given them no new revelation since Mr. Armstrong died! But the [group name] has been flooded with new revelation. We are the only group that is eating from the tree of life...” (quote from leader)
(93) The Seven Thunders (Rev. 10:3) are the seven chapters of (leader’s) book.
(94) Malachi is (leader’s) message to the Laodiceans and Philadelphians.
(95) “The little book and our message is to measure the Church to prove that they are Laodiceans...” (Ibid.)
(96) “Through [leader’s book] God has opened up shocking new truths concerning His end-time Church from the books of Daniel, Amos, Micah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Revelation...Many of the prophecies...previously believed to apply to worldly religions, actually describe events...within the Laodicean era...” (Ibid.)
(97) Backing and supporting this message...(of leader, through his book) is one’s ticket to the Place of Safety (p. 146 of his book).
(98) Revelation 11:1-2: Everyone that has God’s Spirit and is not a member of this group—is “outside” God’s temple—is in the “outer court” of the temple. Only the people of this one group are considered to be “inside” the “inner court” of God’s temple.
(99) “Where is God’s temple today? It is the [group name]! Where is God’s temple treasure today? It is within the [group name]!” (Ibid.)
(100) Incredibly, all those who have God’s Spirit within the many groups constituting Laodicea, including immediate family members, are disfellowshipped and cannot be contacted by those in the “inner court.” [This is actually derived from a horribly butchered rendering of what Mr. Armstrong instructed the Church in the 1970s.]
(101) The reward, “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne” (Rev. 3:21) is not for Laodiceans, but rather Philadelphians. Laodiceans enter the kingdom, but are not in God’s Temple or at headquarters with Philadelphians.
(102) “The [group name] is our ‘nail in his holy place’ in this end time...We are reviving God’s only Work. No other group on this planet is doing God’s Work...” and “The [group name] typifies Ezra’s work in this end time. Ezra 3:3...the altar, or the work of the [group name] ministry, is established on the right foundation...” (Ibid.)
(103) And yet, this leader declares that the primary purpose of the Church—its “work”—is now to “expose Satan and his evil.” [In a similar butchering of the Church’s most fundamental commission, this has replaced preaching or announcing the kingdom of God to the world and warning the nations of modern Israel.]
(104) The great multitude of Revelation 7:9, 13-14 consists of previously unconverted people who repented as a result of the Tribulation and came out of it, having survived it without suffering.
(105) The phrase “the sacrifice...taken away” (Dan. 8:11; 12:11) is interpreted: sacrifice means the church, andtaken away means taken to the Place of Safety.
(106) “Pestilence” (Matthew 24 ALL and other places) means racial unrest and riots. Leader also falsely predicted that the O.J. Simpson trial would produce a guilty verdict and bring race riots.
(107) Jews have been notorious troublemakers throughout history everywhere they went, bringing misfortunes like the Holocaust on themselves.
(108) “Prophesy again” in Revelation 10:11 means “after the Church rebelled, God commanded His very elect to ‘prophesy again’ (Rev. 10:11)” to the Church (Ibid.).
(109) The “very elect” of Matthew 24:24 cannot be deceived.
(110) 19-year time cycles were merely Mr. Armstrong’s passing interest. Dismiss them.
(111) Virtually all O.T. prophets’ messages are to Philadelphia about Laodicea.
(112) Daniel 12:1—“The people taken to a place of safety are found written in the book of remembrance (Mal. 3:16)...” (Ibid.)
(113) Malachi 1:2-3 shows Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) are coded words: Esau is WCG Laodiceans who lose salvation. Jacob is all other Laodiceans.
(114) Malachi 2:4-6 is a prophecy of Mr. Armstrong.
(115) Malachi 2:14-16 is a prophecy about Laodicean ministers’ treachery to “the wife of your youth.” The “wife” is the Church God built through Mr. Armstrong.
(116) Malachi 3:8-9 refers to Laodiceans robbing “the whole world” by not supporting (group name) in delivering God’s message. The phrase “smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:6) only refers to a curse on the Laodiceans, not the earth.
(117) The “end-time Joshua” of Zechariah 3:1-9 and the “man of sin” of II Thessalonians 2:3 both refer to the WCG leader—first the father, then, when he died, his son. [Imagine one who is supposedly a true prophet of God having become so confused about the identity of the MAN OF SIN—the final false prophet—at the end of the age.]
(118) Daniel 8 ALL refers to the same WCG leader who “will be an end-time Antiochus. His goal will be to crush the faith of spiritual Israel—God’s Church” (Ibid.).
(119) There are two abominations of desolation. The first is Antiochus Epiphanes. The second is WCG leadership. “There is also an end-time abomination of desolation, as prophesied here inDaniel 8 ALL and Matthew 24 ALL and Luke 21 ALL...You know that there is an abomination of desolation going on even now! Daniel 8 ALL is discussing transgression, truth being cast to the ground—a satanic host practicing and prospering at destroying the daily sacrifice—all from within the sanctuary, God’s own Church, inside the Church, a man is acting like God, magnifying himself even to the prince of the host, casting truth to the ground” (Ibid.).
(120) The 2,300 days (evenings and mornings) or 1,150 days (Dan. 8:12-14) is the daily sacrifice taken away on January 16, 1986 for 1,150 days until (leader’s book) was written, on March 11, 1989. Then God began to “cleanse the sanctuary.” Several quotes follow: “Using January 16, 1986, as our beginning point makes Saturday, March 11, 1989, the end of the 1,150 days. As most of our readers know, I was fired from the Worldwide Church of God on December 7, 1989, for upholding what Mr. Armstrong taught. That was nearly nine months after the 1,150 days ended...And I had been working on the manuscript for nearly nine months! Though I do not remember the exact date God began revealing [book name] to me, it is safe to say that it was on or around March 11, 1989, God began to cleanse the sanctuary. True, it began with just me...Verse 12 says an army was given to Satan ‘against the daily.’ By him the ‘daily’ was taken away...Today the temple is the Church—so, again, the ‘daily’ in prophecy refers to the sacrifice, or Work, of the Church.” The daily sacrifice taken away, of Daniel 12:11, will be when the work of the (group name) will end. “The continual is not a physical sacrifice—it is a mind-stirring vision! This DAILY refers to a spiritual Work of God DURING ALL OF MAN’S HISTORY...” (quotes from leader). [This is a phenomenal mangling of an end-time prophecy—Daniel 12:11-12—that all true Christians should watch for.]
(121) Ezekiel 9:1-11 is about the spiritual slaughter of God’s Church by an angel: “...The worst slaughter physically is in the Tribulation. But the spiritual slaughter begins in God’s sanctuary—His Church” (Ibid.).
(122) The 144,000 are the Laodiceans that will die in the Great Tribulation.
(123) (Leader’s name) says Isaiah 3:16 refers to the Laodicean Churches. [Mr. Armstrong understood it refers to the women of modern Israel.]
(124) Related to this, this leader believes and teaches that the WCG—now a completely spiritually-dead Protestant/Evangelical church with virtually no truth—is still Laodicean, and in the category of the splinters.
(125) Isaiah 22:15-19 is a prophecy of the end-time WCG leader who succeeded “Eliakim”—a code name for Mr. Armstrong.
(126) Isaiah 28:9-14 and 40:9 are prophecies about Laodiceans and national Israel to whom (group leader) “...must deliver the good news to God’s own Laodicean Church and to all Israel.” He continues, “These verses are directed primarily to God’s own people.”
(127) Isaiah 58:1—“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet...” refers to (group name) warning the Laodiceans.
(128) Isaiah 66:3—“Today, that means God’s Laodicean Church is eating unclean spiritual food and going their own way...” (Ibid.)
(129) “The Holy Roman Empire...is the abomination of desolation” (Ibid.).
(130) Matthew 24:15-18—The flight referred to here is “spiritual” since God’s people will have already been taken to the Place of Safety.
(131) Matthew 24:40 refers to “two...leaders in God’s Church.” Matthew 24:41 refers to “two separate Churches, but both of [whom] are God’s Churches” (Ibid.).
(132) Isaiah 1:7 refers to “your cities are burned with fire—caused by the blacks’ rioting like the L.A. riots in May 1992...There is deep racial division and hatred in America” and the Ezekiel 5:12 reference to “A third part of you shall die with pestilence...can be defined as a plague of violence or burning or of violence and rioting” (Ibid.).
(133) Jeremiah 1:7-8, 11-15 refers to (group’s) message and task in end time.
(134) Jeremiah 3:6-12: “...this means spiritual Israel, the Church.”
(135) Jeremiah 11:9-21, 13:1-10 is God’s end-time Church turning from God.
(136) Jeremiah 15:6, 9 is explained as “...this is referring to a woman—God’s Church—and the seven eras...” (Ibid.)
(137) Jeremiah 2:21-28, 17:1-18, 18:11-18 and 24:1-10 are prophecies on God’s end-time Church.
(138) Jeremiah 44:10-19 is God’s end-time Church rejecting His government.
(139) Lamentations 1 ALL, Lamentations 2 ALL, Lamentations 3 ALL, Lamentations 4 ALL, Lamentations 5 ALL refers to “...the Laodicean Church era punished by God in the Great Tribulation...” (Ibid.)
(140) In Ezekiel 11:4, “Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man...” refers to the fact that “God commands the [group] to ‘prophesy against’ this Laodicean heresy!..” and 13:11 refers to “a stormy wind...This has to be the work of God’s [group] Church today!” (Ibid.)
(141) Ezekiel 16:8-18 is a prophecy of ancient Israel, but is more a prophecy of the Laodicean Church. “This is referring mainly to an end-time wife who rebels and must go into captivity” (Ibid.).
(142) Ezekiel 33:33 is “A final warning message immediately before the holocaust! That message is delivered by the [group] after HWA’s death” (Ibid. 1992).
(143) Ezekiel 44:15-16 is explained as “This is a prophecy of what the [group name] is doing today in the midst of great disloyalty to God” (Ibid.).
(144) II Kings 21:1-3, 9, 16 is explained as “God likens his example to what happened in His end-time Church...This is a shocking prophecy!” (Ibid.)
(145) Ezra 9:8 is a prophecy of a Philadelphian remnant.
(146) Jude 14 means ten thousand Philadelphians will be in the Place of Safety. [This illustrates the same utter butchery of prophetic understanding we have seen in his previous statements. Jude 14 is a plain statement from Enoch that ALL of the saints who return with Christ total “ten thousands”(plural). Read it.]
(147) Hosea 1:1-3 is explained as “Hosea is discussing God’s own Church...in this end-time!” and 1:4-9 is a prophecy of the end-time Church. “...They were God’s people in the Philadelphia era...” (Ibid.)
(148) Hosea 3:1-5 means “God’s end-time Church committed adultery and whoredoms” (Ibid.).
(149) Hosea 5:9 means “not only a prophecy of Britain’s downfall, it is a prophecy that God’s Work would continue...Today these servants are in the [group]” (Ibid.).
(150) Joel 1:8 means “God is addressing His Church spiritually...” and 1:9-16 is a prophecy about the Laodicean Church.
(151) Joel 2:23-26 means “...God is still addressing His Church...a remnant of which will not be cut off...[group] receives God’s spiritual rain...” (Ibid.) and Joel 2:28 “refers only to all of the Laodiceans in the Tribulation before the Day of the Lord” and Joel 2:29 means “...these people begin to serve God in the Great Tribulation...” (Ibid.)
(152) Amos 1:1 is explained as “...discussing God’s spiritual family...The book of Amos is mainly focusing on God’s Church!” (Ibid.)
(153) “‘Prophesy not’ of Amos 2:11-12, refers to the WCG’s leadership and God’s own people...of the end time...ministers God raised up and they are divided” (Ibid.).
(154) Amos 3:1 is “primarily discussing God’s spiritual family” (Ibid.).
(155) Amos 3:3 means “The controversy over a watering down of God’s truth causes a Church split and Amos 3:7-8 “But God continues to reveal to the [group]...which was given God’s ‘secret’” (Ibid.).
(156) Amos 7:8 means “This [group] Work is God’s final warning to the Laodicean Church...” (Ibid.)
(157) Micah 1:13-16; Micah 2:1-8 is a prophecy of God’s end-time Church—Laodicea and Philadelphia—and 1:15 refers to Philadelphia at the Place of Safety.
(158) In Micah 2:12-13, “the breaker” and “their king” is the group leader. This is linked to John 1:21, to prove this leader is “That Prophet.”
(159) Micah 3:1-3 means that apostate Church members have been “spiritually...skinned and had the flesh ripped from their bones” (Ibid.).
(160) Micah 3:9 means Laodicean leaders “pervert all equity” but 4:8 refers to (leader’s name).
(161) Micah 6:1 explains that (group) is to fight and contend with Laodiceans for God’s truth.
(162) Micah 6:16 is a prophecy of WCG leaders and apostasy: “Has there been a father and a son team today that has destroyed spiritual Israel by bringing into God’s own Church the worship of Baal...?” (Ibid.)
(163) In Micah 7:4, the “watchman” is (leader).
(164) Habakkuk 1:5 is explained as “a prophecy about [group]...” (Ibid.)
(165) Habakkuk 2:2 refers to “The message [that] is going out through [leader’s book]” (Ibid.).
(166) Habakkuk 2:18-19 refers to “the WCG has become a teacher of lies” (Ibid.).
(167) Zephaniah 1:4 “refers to God’s Church. Zephaniah 1:4 is all too descriptive of what has happened in the WCG and all but one of its branches today” (Ibid.).
(168) Zephaniah 1:8 refers to Laodiceans wearing “strange apparel” and Zephaniah 1:9 is a reference to “..all those that leap on [over] the threshold” which is “...what is taking place within the Laodicean Church today” (Ibid.).
(169)Haggai 1:7-11 prophesies of Laodicean leaders. Haggai 1:12 references, “The [group] does represent the obedient remnant in this end time” (Ibid.).
(170) Haggai 2:4-7 speaks of (group). “At times, it can appear that the [group’s] commission is overwhelming. But God tells us to be strong...and work” (Ibid.).
(171) Haggai 2:8-9 speaks of (group). “...WE must look at these verses spiritually. All the silver and gold...is a mere pittance compared to the riches God is building in our lives,” and Haggai 2:11, “Haggai shows us that the Laodicean ministers have a law or government problem...Haggai 2:15-17 is God addressing the Laodicean Church” (Ibid.).
If you are or have been in the Philadelphia Church of God, take time to examine other doctrines being imported into that organization. Really scrutinize and analyze what you are seeing—what has been or is being presented to you as “new revelations.” Be sure that you grasp the big picture of what is happening.
In light of what you have seen in previous sections, the reader is left to ponder the confusion, deception, error and outright ignorance of the PCG leadership—of even basic prophecy—reflected in the mere SAMPLING that is this list!
Also, this list of errors will benefit more than just those who are in, or who were in, PCG. It is important to recognize that the nature of this list becomes its own statement for everyone outside this organization as well, regarding the allure and subtlety of the spreading leaven of false prophecy.
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