I received earlier this week — or perhaps it was late last week — a rather large package from the PCG. (Now that I think about it, it must have been last week.) In it were three books: The Little Book, South Africa in Prophecy, and Mystery of the Ages. I’ve read the first two — The Little Book took about half an hour because it’s only twenty some pages.

It’s really amazing how badly Flurry writes. I wonder if folks had much training in how to write at AC other than the use of small caps and italics. He just changes the subject in the middle of a paragraph, introducing something out of nowhere, then does nothing with it. Here’s a perfect example, right from the first paragraph:

Lange’s Commentary states that Revelation 10 and 11 are one vision. A close study reveals that to be true. The entire vision revolves around the little book. . . . The little book is sweet as honey, but bitter in the belly. It has to do with prophecy. . . . There should be no break between chapters 10 and 11. Revelation 11:1-2 discusses a split in God’s own end-time Church (1).

Perhaps not the best example of what I was discussing — I don’t really care to scour the book looking for an example. All the same, this choppiness is indicative of the book as a whole.

The passage in question reads, “I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, ‘Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months'” (NIV). Forty-two months is three and a half years. WCG has been “trampling” for more than three and a half years, I would argue.

Flurry argues that Mystery of the Ages cannot be the little book because “it covers a much more comprehensive subject than the little book” (3). Of course Flurry provides now basis as to how much subject material this little book is supposed to contain, and so it doesn’t follow that Mystery isn’t the little book. He continues, “Mystery of the Ages does not contain seven thunderous messages like a lion’s roar” (3, 4)! However, there are seven chapters in the book, and the definition of “thunderous” is entirely subjective. A minor point, really.

As might be expected, Flurry continues with his anthropomorphic descriptions of God. Writing about the initial revelation of the little book, he says,

The messages of this little book was first revealed 1900 years ago! However, IT WAS NOT WRITTEN UNTIL 1989! . . . If Mr. Armstrong had understood Malachi’s Message, WHICH IS THE LITTLE BOOK, he would have warned us about this Judas-type betrayal. Then God would not know by our fruits who truly loves Him and who doesn’t! God wouldn’t know who would follow Him and who would follow a man (4).

This is a blatant refutation of God’s omnipotence, but he resorts to the same un-Biblical reasoning as proof: “God gives us free moral agency and has chosen not to know our fate individually” (5). This makes almost no sense, as I’ve said before. Humans can choose not to know something, that’s certain. I can choose not to know who won yesterday’s basketball tournament simply by not asking around — by not seeking the information. How could this be possible with God, who is present in all time? All the same, I know to some degree what I’m choosing not to know: I know the nature of the subject matter I’m choosing not to know. I guess the same argument could be made about God. All the same, there seems to be no Biblical support for this idea.

The most interesting thing is that Flurry never proves that Malachi’s Message is this little book — at least not in the way one would expect it. He states it (4), then it’s assumed to be truth: “As we said before, the LITTLE BOOK IS MALACHI’S MESSAGE. And God commands us to “eat it up” (8). Perhaps he waits until the final pages to prove that the little book is Malachi’s Message. “The prophecies reveal that there is always a disturbing connection between an end-time Elijah and the Laodiceans. Do you know of any book on earth that teaches such a message in detail? No other book even comes remotely close. It is clearly Malachi’s Message” (15). If that is supposed to constitute proof, I must say it’s really quite unconvincing. Unless, I’m sure, you’ve already been conditioned to accept anything Flurry says without question.

This idea that there’s only one such book is repeated several times. “There is only one book on this planet that I am aware of that has a chapter — or thunder — about an “End-Time Joshua” (16), he declares, failing to realize that his proof rests on an interpretation of the Bible that he hasn’t proved to many people’s satisfaction. On the next pages, we find, “The PCG has the only book on this earth which proves Mr. Armstrong was the end-time Zerubbabel.” A few lines later, “I know of only one book that reveals this man in a great falling away from God’s truth” (17). At the end, he says, “There is only one little book on planet earth that reveals this greatest catastrophe in the end time” (20)! Once again, I’m not sure how the fact that Flurry is the only one saying such a thing contributes to its validity. “Gary Scott is God!” I’m the only one on earth saying that, but it doesn’t follow that it’s true.

He says in no uncertain terms that,

Malachi’s Message was revealed to me in 1989. GOD REVEALED IT! . . . Malachi’s Message is a new vision from God. It’s a NEW REVELATION — not something somebody already knew!

This new revelation is God’s way of saying that we must give the little book a special importance and the majesty it deserves. Only then can we properly respond to the great Work of God — much of which revolves around the little book (20, 21).

That’s some big claims he’s making for his own work. Of course, it came from God, so he’s really making the claims for God. (It makes me wonder once again, how many times has he read Malachi’s Message? Since it was revealed through him from God, I would think he’d read it many times — at least once a week or so!) He even seems to promote his own writing to a position above the Bible or even Armstrong’s writings: “Malachi’s Message is the centerpiece of God’s work” (22). An organization that says its Christian, yet has a book other than the Bible as its “centerpiece.” A strange situation indeed.

I also got South Africa in Prophecy, specifically because I wanted to see if there was much racism in the book. Not only is it a racist book, but it is also a work of a colonial apologist. Surprisingly, it’s not by Flurry, but instead, Ron Frasier — who wrote the piece on Australia in The Philadelphia Trumpet some time ago.

The thesis seems to be that God gave South Africa to the whites because of his promises to Abraham, and that in turn, the whites are giving it to their traditional enemies. It’s a little unclear who these traditional enemies are, though. One might assume that it’s simply the blacks — those who are “not called” — but there are several references to the ties of the ANC to communism (9, 15), playing on the fears of a Red South Africa. Considering the fact that Armstrong theology has always maintained that the real threat is not from the communist Soviet Union but from a revived Holy Roman Empire led by the Pope and German, this seems a strange change of tactic for the PCG.

Of course there is plenty of the racism I was looking for. (I seem to indict myself by saying that I was looking for it. “If you’re looking for something in a text, you’ll find it,” I’ve said to myself many times. Am I doing the same thing?) Fraser begins this racial diatribe from the beginning, with a startling statement:

A well-orchestrated campaign of disinformation, propaganda, and scurrilous slander has been waged against the South African nation by the combined forces of government officials (both within and without South Africa), the liberal press, leftist church authorities, and the United Nations. The catch phrase of all this as been apartheid — the policy of separate development pursued by the South African government since 1948. What escapes most commentators’ attention is the reality that the whole world has been hoodwinked by this disinformation campaign (4).

I read that and almost fell out of my chair. “He’s an apartheid apologist!” I muttered to myself in disbelief. “Separate development,” he calls it. In Plessy v Ferguson it was called “separate but equal.” In both cases, it resulted in a complete denial of basic human rights to a substantial (often majority) segment of the population based on race.

Fraser minces no words when he talks about race. Here’s a sample of various quotes which can be labeled “racist”:

“God lavished national blessings upon South Africa because a particular race was living within her borders” (23).

“Under British rule, South Africa reaped the blessings of God passed on from Abraham to Ephriam, promises inherited because of their race” (24).

“God showered His blessings on the nations of Israel by allowing the British, Dutch and French to conquer South Africa” (28).

“Land has special meaning for blacks” (36). (As if it doesn’t for whites.)

“It has to do with race, not grace” (52), quoting HWA (The United States and Britain in Prophecy, 1980 edition, 29).

It becomes quite clear that this is a book geared toward racism, but the extent of this ideology is not obvious until the end of the book: “One of the greatest unthruths thus perpetuated in society is that race has no bearing on the achievement levels of various ethnic groups that abound in the melting pot of the earth’s teeming billions of mankind” (52). While Fraser would undoubtedly argue that this is simply because God has blessed the descendants of Abraham, it smacks of the theories in The Bell Curve.

Not only is he a racist, but a colonial apologist: “Colonies formerly governed by a few sterling characters schooled in the administration of a global empire . . .” (49). When I read that to Chhavi, she said, “I have one thing to say to Mr. Fraser: ‘Fuck you.'” I share the sentiment.

One last quote from this most intriguing book: Fraser says that “As Mr. Flurry has written . . . the Russian mind seems to have a particular proclivity to creating, publishing and accepting lies” (17)! Of course, Flurry has lived in Russian long enough to become well-versed in the culture and language and has based this statement on careful sociological and psychological research. He’s not just saying this because the leader of the WCG is of Russian extraction . . .