Ron Weinland Publishes “The Rest of . . . The Mystery of the Ages”?

One of the last, if not the last, book written by the late Herbert W. Armstrong was titled The Mystery of the Ages. As part of a settlement of a copyright infringement lawsuit with the old WCG, Gerald Flurry’s PCG paid for the right to distribute it and other literature.

PCG ended up editing a few portions of the book. And at least one part was apparently perceived by some in PCG to be at odds with certain statements by PCG’s self-appointed prophet, Gerald Flurry (see PCG’s Changes to the Mystery of the Ages).

Well, now CGPFK’s self-appointed prophet and claimer as one of the two witness, Ronald Weinland, just published a book the he has titled “The Rest of . . . The Mystery of the Ages”. It has a September 2010 publishing date, though I am not sure if it became available before this week.

And while Ronald Weinland has titled the book “The Rest of . . . The Mystery of the Ages”, what it really contains are some of Ronald Weinland’s doctrines and doctrinal claims. Essentially, last month Ronald Weinland claimed to teach four additional “truths” to his followers.

Here are some statements from his latest book:

This publication is a companion to Feast of Tabernacles’ sermons given in 2010, which explain four new truths that God has given His Church. These truths are a magnification and a final refinement to a book written by Herbert W. Armstrong entitled, Mystery of the Ages…

These final four truths, revealed through God’s final end-time apostle, bring the total of additional truths added since the apostasy to 36. This is double what God gave during the Philadelphia era. (Weinland R. The Rest of … The Mystery of the Ages. Copyright © 2010 by the Church of God – PKG. Published September 2010, pp. 1, 2)

Part of the problem, however, is that Ronald Weinland does not actually believe certain of the truths that the old WCG had.

Anyway, Ron Weinland’s book has his latest four “truths” as follows:

TRUTH #1: There is an end to Satan’s existence. There is an end to Satan’s existence. His punishment is that of eternal death, never to have life again. (p. 16).

TRUTH #2: Angels were created and composed of spirit essence and given life by God (spirit life), yet they do not have self-sustaining life inherent in themselves. (p. 12)

TRUTH #3: God created both good and evil, but to understand “how” is to understand why God gave beings, both human and angelic, independent free choice, apart from Himself, as free moral agents. (p. 22)

TRUTH #4: Through the power of the holy spirit, Almighty God will “dwell” IN His Family into everlasting life, and they will always dwell IN Him. (p. 31)

The first two of those points have long had followers in COGs not affiliated with Ronald Weinland’s current group, and the last one is not inconsistent with what most COG’s hold to, though Ronald Weinland has his own spin (the third one is complicated–and I will simply state for now that I would have worded that differently than Ron Weinland has as I believe he is giving an inaccurate impression).

Ronald Weinland (a former WCG and then UCG minister) became a unitarian and renounced the long-held COG position that Jesus was God from the beginning.

Here is some of what his latest book teaches about that:

God reveals that in the beginning there was nothing else that existed except Himself as the Almighty Self-Existing One, with eternal life inherent in Himself. Other than the
fact that God states that He dwells in eternity, the farthest that we can go back to a beginning revelation about the existence of God is found in the Book of John.

It simply states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). This verse begins to reveal great and awesome things about God, yet most who read this do not begin to comprehend the magnitude of what God is revealing. Most of the Church of God that was scattered after the apostasy read things into this verse that are neither stated, nor implied.

Most individuals make an assumption concerning verse 14; this is a grave error and actually blasphemous in nature. It states, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).

This is a simple statement in reference to verse 1 of a revelation to mankind concerning the Word of God…

So when people read in John 1:1 that the “Word was with God,” they mistakenly assume that this is speaking of the Word in verse 14 that was made flesh—which is clearly speaking of Jesus Christ being the one made of flesh. Because of this assumption, people miss the far greater revelation that God is giving about Himself and His plan for mankind.

When it states that the “Word was with God” it is not stating that the Word was Jesus Christ who was “with” (along side) God. This word “with” in Greek does not mean “along side or together with, as to be with someone.” A simple short study of the word would reveal how it is used in other scripture. There is another word in the Greek language that does mean “to be with someone or along side someone,” but this is not such a word.(Weinland R. The Rest of … The Mystery of the Ages, p. 3)

Notice what the Bible teaches:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-4, 14)

So, this portion of “The Rest of … The Mystery of the Ages” differs from the Bible (as well as long held COG teachings). It is not simply an assumption, but a logically correct conclusion that by tying John 1:1 with vs. 14 that Jesus clearly is the one being taught about in John 1:1. Sadly, the followers of Ronald Weinland have long tended to follow his explanations, even when they contradict scripture.

Anyway, it has been close to two and one-half years since Ronald Weinland proclaimed that the USA would be nuked or he would stop preaching. And despite the fact that the current situation in the USA does not meet Jesus’ criteria that “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21), Ronald Weinland still contends that the Great Tribulation began on December 14, 2008.

Perhaps he wrote “The Rest of … The Mystery of the Ages” to somewhat distract his followers from the fact that Ronald Weinland is not one of God’s two witnesses and is not God’s prophet?

I have long felt that the following scripture applied partially to him:

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber (2 Peter 2:1-3).

Sadly, false prophets, false apostles, and other false teachers continue to arise and make it so people simply will blaspheme the way of truth that we in the Living Church of God teach. Unlike those of us in the Living Church of God who believe Jesus is God, Ronald Weinland being “unitarian” means that he truly does deny the truth about the Lord.

And while he still is getting by, perhaps I should add that Ron Weinland has had various health problems (most recently an appendectomy) and his church no longer has the internet reach that it had a couple of years or so ago. So, in my view, he is sadly partially fulfilling the the prophecy about false prophets. And he likely will drop further when his prophesied return date for Jesus (May 27, 2012, which is his so-called “50th truth”) does not happen (even presuming he changes his date again–see also When Will Ronald Weinland Change His Dates Again?).

Ronald Weinland should not be followed.

Some articles of related interest may include the following:

Concerns About Ronald Weinland’s Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God Ronald Weinland falsely claims to be one of the two witnesses God is raising up and that the end will come in 2008 (first April 17th, then June 2008, now December 14, 2008). Why does the Bible show that Ron Weinland is a false prophet? He also has at least one other view that suggests that he is not part of the Church of God.
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2010, 2011, or 2012? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?
Who Are The Two Witnesses? What is their job? What does the Bible reveal? What has the Church of God taught on this subject? Might even Roman Catholic prophecies give some clues here?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses and Ronald Weinland, claim it was, but was it?
2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect This is a link related to a book by Bob Thiel (COGwriter). This also has YouTube videos related to 2012. The book is for those truly interested in understanding how prophecies inter-relate and who want to see a real sequence of end time events. Unlike the false statements in Ronald Weinland’s books, events aligning with this one are actually coming to pass.