The Remarkable Story of Bob Thiel's ThD

The story of Bob's acquisition of a Doctor of Theology degree was a major source of curiosity on AW back in 2009. Bob has since gone on to assert further remarkable personal claims. Perhaps we can gauge how seriously we can take these by Bob's ThD track record. Here's how it unfolded.


25 September: Bob's been busy

Not only in writing books but now articles for examiner.com. Here's the bio:

Dr. Bob Thiel has studied theology and prophecy for decades, and possesses a Ph.D. (UIU) and a Th.D. (TCU). He has also traveled extensively, and has visited sites of religious interest in Rome, Greece, Central Europe, Asia Minor, Cappadocia, Constantinople (Istanbul), Africa, Asia, North America, and Latin America.

Bob has a ThD from Texas Christian University? When did that happen? Bob doesn't mention it in his COGwriter bio.

1963 (Postscript)

Published in 1963, The Inside Story of the World Tomorrow Broadcast never again saw the light of day. No revisions, no reprints, no updates down the decades. That's probably understandable given the changes that quickly dated it. But Inside Story wasn't merely dignified by a slide into obscurity, it was officially withdrawn and the membership was commanded to throw away their copies. Don Billingsley certainly chucked his. On his COG-FF website he has posted a warning to the unwary.

It seems some people didn't get the memo.

It's a fate that, if Don has it right, was reserved for quite a number of other publications.

• Modern Dating (Garner Ted Armstrong, 1969). Really bad advice by a dude who certainly hadn't practiced what he preached.
• Divorce and Remarriage (1953). The justification for the unyielding doctrine that split families apart, but was later revoked.
• Marriage and Divorce. More of the same from 1973.
• The Plain Truth about Child Rearing (Garner Ted Armstrong, 1970 edition). A truly horrid approach to raising kids. (PDF here)
• The Real Jesus (Garner Ted Armstrong, 1972). Jesus recrafted to fit the WCG's paradigm. Later bloated out into Ted's first full length book and released just before he was booted out of his father's church for good. (PDF here)

Alas, these publications survived unto this very day. Herb may have imagined he had prophetic insight, but he didn't forsee the Internet. The embarrassingly inaccurate The Proof of the Bible (1958) was a special case as it was enormously popular. It was supposed to be killed off and all stock destroyed in 1972 but was allowed to quietly fade into oblivion instead. That story was covered in some detail in Ambassador Report. (It appears that this was yet another example of plagiarism with Herb basically rewriting a 1933 Seventh-day Adventist publication called Prophecy Speaks by Earle Albert Rowell. )

The reason these titles are still with us is the devotion of an enduring Armstrong remnant who believe they are still relevant, or perhaps they're just on a nostalgia trip. The reason many of us appreciate their efforts is a bit different, the documentation of a system that would rather not be remembered "warts and all".

Douglas Becker has thoughtfully transferred Inside Story into flipping book format, and it's already (fast work!) available. You either love or loathe this format and, in general, I'm decidedly on the 'loathe' side, but in this case, due to the smaller size of the pages, it works really well, giving the genuine booklet 'feel'. 

1963 (Part 3)

Moving right along...

Let's take a peek at the Herbaceous office back in 1963.

Nice.

"Now, at last, new executive offices have been completed for Mr. Armstrong and his son. They are very beautiful and modern - and afford a stunning view of the city of Pasadena with the Sierra Madre Mountains in the background... On the south end of the roof - just outside the main offices - is a terrace and sun-deck arrangement for sunning, visiting in the fresh air and table tennis. Many of you readers will be interested to learn that Mr. Armstrong is an avid athletic fan of many sports, but has found that table tennis - combined with much walking - suits his schedule and requirements to keep him in good physical condition for doing God's Work."

Herb was a ping-pong aficionado?

Even by today's standards, this was pretty swank. Not sure where the drinks cabinet was, but you can bet there was one. Rod assures us that Herb's office was bigger than Ted's, so all was right in the world.

Rod also assures us that the radio studio was where "Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Ted Armstrong spend many hours of labor in a grueling responsibility."

"First of all, let me say that there are many hours of preparation put into each broadcast! BUT - these hours are not necessarily put in just before or right at the time of making the broadcast. Rather, these are hours spent in earnest, personal prayer - fervent Bible study and meditation - the constant study of world news, and conditions, and alert thinking about how God's Word and the prophetic revelation of the Bible really affect and apply to the lives of us all in this twentieth century."

Translation: they winged it.

It's a great source for historical perspective. As the years went by the executive offices got bigger and the Bullgeschichte machine more outrageous, but the basic ingredients were all there in spades back in 1963.

You can download your own copy of Rod's "Inside Story" here.

Check 'em out

There have been some great posts recently on a number of ex-COG blogs. Here's a round-up of a just a few of those that are worth an extra plug.

Banned (Gary Leonard)
Always perceptive, Gary has called out Bob Thiel on his newly implied status as a latter-day Amos. Bob, you'll remember, is given to occasional delusions of relevance. The story of his dubious ThD degree, his elevation to accidental prophet thanks to misrepresentation of some flowery words by Gaylyn Bonjour (who was only trying to anoint him for a "minor health issue"), and now his apparent elevation to Amos' mantle.

Silenced

The anonymous Silenced writer has a pithy piece on Dave Pack. His estimate of Dave's membership: "RCG is still only about 200 members in Wadsworth and at most 800 or so scattered across the country in their living rooms." That sounds about right. In an Akron Beacon Journal article back in 2012 (also found on the Silenced site) the church claimed "more than 370 congregations in more than 50 countries". That seems highly unlikely, to say the least.

Living Armstrongism
An interesting reflection on the power of nostalgia in keeping people in line, specifically referencing PCG, but obviously with wider application.

The good old days? Those were good old days?

What to do till Kingdom Come?

Bob's been a busy prophet, producing the latest issue of his Bible News Prophecy mag. Included in this issue.

• Palestine & Gaza in Thielian Prophecy (by Bob)
• Did early Christians keep the Spring holy days? (by Bob)
• What to do till "Kingdom Come"? (lifted from a 1975 Good News)
• Dressing for church (by Bob)
• A quiz on the magic millennium (by Bob, adapted from the old Bible Correspondence Course)

The cover shows Bob's New Zealand following. Based in Auckland, these folk (apart from being mainly female) are predominantly made up of Pasifika members rather than Pakeha (Caucasian), which is interesting given Bob's position on BI. They seem to be frequently featured, which leads one to wonder whether this is the largest gathering of Thielians (I count nine here, excluding Bob and Joyce) the latter-day prophet can readily produce to front for a camera.

What to do till "kingdom come"? Clearly, read Bob's stuff. There's no end to that either.

The PDF is available for download.

1963 (Part 2)

Rod Meredith's references to Garner Ted Armstrong in Inside Story are intriguing.

"Later, God struck down Mr. Armstrong's two sons, Richard David and Garner Ted, and brought them to repentance and conversion. This is more significant than it may seem, because for many years it looked as if they might never be converted - but only continue to regard this as "Dad's religion."

Naughty boys.

"Garner Ted Armstrong surrendered to God and was changed by Him so completely that it amazed those of us here that had known him."

A somewhat back-handed compliment, and not entirely truthful (see chapter 6 of Marion McNair's book or the feature articles in the 1977 magazine edition of Ambassador Report). Ted was way off the rails, but now Rod generously deigns to give him the seal of approval. The passage smacks of a pat on the head by someone who regards himself as Ted's superior. The truth seems to be that while GTA was increasingly the voice of The World Tomorrow, had his by-line appear regularly in church publications with the nice office and the title of executive vice president, he was largely frozen out of the decision-making process, a situation that lasted from 1958 through till 1971. Rod - with the smaller office and less exalted title - was the more influential of the two by far.

Whatever else you can say about Rod, he was always ambitious. It's not hard to imagine that he was flummoxed at being pushed aside in the line of authority - on paper at least - by the upstart sons. Could there be some kind of subtext in Rod's encomium to Ted? Consider Rod's choice of words when describing GTA's office. "The decor of the room exhibits definitely masculine tones" (caption no. 2) and "Certain decorative features of his office reflect a definite masculine personality." (p.26, emphasis in original).

What is that all about? Nobody else is so described in the booklet.

"Mr. Ted Armstrong - as many of you may know - has an unusually wide range of interests and abilities in various sports and outdoor activities. When time permits, he is an excellent hunter, fisherman, and plays a fair amount of basketball, handball, golf and other sports." (p.27)

Which is all true. But no mention of Ted's skill in painting or his undoubted musical talent. Rod seems to be stressing Ted's macho nature, the masculine sportsman. It's almost as though Rod is trying to be reassuring. What's going on here? Given his predilections as a casonova, this hardly seems the buildup he needs.

To be continued.

1963 (Part 1)

I'm old enough to remember 1963, sort of. I was still in single digits back then and had never heard of Herbert Armstrong. It turns out that an out-of-town uncle was a PT subscriber at the time. He must have been one of the first in New Zealand. But of that I was blissfully ignorant, more interested in comics than much of anything else.

In 1963 the church put together a booklet for PT subscribers. You could call it a brag book. It was largely written by Rod Meredith and rejoiced in the title The Inside Story of the World Tomorrow Broadcast. It wasn't much of an "inside story" but it was pretty effective as PR by early nineteen sixties standards. I knew about the publication, but it had long since been withdrawn by the time I became interested. Reading it now is a bit like stepping into a time machine and peering back beyond the crises that exploded in the 1970s and defined my own experience. 1963 predates both the recently demolished Hall of Administration and the Ambassador Auditorium, the "peaceable kingdom" church seal had only just been adopted, Loma was in the land of the living and the Pasadena campus was still a comparatively small operation.

Meredith was, of course, just a young man, and Herb was at the height of his powers. The good and the great at "HQ" included such luminaries as Benjamin Rea, C. Paul Meredith (Rod's uncle), Raymond Cole, Jack Elliot, Charles Dorothy, Jon Hill, Al Portune, James Gott (husband of Beverly, Herb's daughter), Charles Hunting and Wayne Cole. Raised, praised and subsequently erased from institutional memory. The elder Meredith was always referred to as "Dr.", which looked impressive as a PT by-line, but in fact, his qualification was (I'm sure someone will correct me if I misremember) as a veterinarian.

Somebody decided that this booklet would be lavishly illustrated with photographs. Black and white of course, after all, this is 1963. There's "the majestic Italian Gardens", Ambassador Hall, the "elegant faculty dining room" and suchlike. Even a shot of some rather pokey "prayer booths". But what really caught my eye were the offices of Herb and Ted.

To be continued.

The Philadelphia Ruminator

In thumbing through the various COG magazines on offer it's easy to overlook some of the minor entries. Publishing a bi-monthly magazine is still seen as one of the received traditions in the Churches of God. The Plain Truth may have morphed into an empty Albrecht echo chamber, but the work of publishing the Gospel must go on, verily.

The Philadelphia Remnant is another of the lesser-known contenders. Produced by Don Billingsley, famous in COG history as the driver of the vehicle which killed passenger Richard David Armstrong, the 42-page January-March issue oozes with references to Herb, the late lamented all-wise one.

The feature article has been disinterred from a 1957 Good News, Why America is Cursed! by (who else?) the high and herbal one himself. Don's long editorial notes the thirtieth anniversary of Herb's death and announces that he was the Third Elijah (the other two were John the Baptist and, fairly obviously, Elijah himself). Lots of pictures of the End Time Elijah too.

There's an article about Lake Erie and how we'll all have clean water in the world tomorrow, and another about school violence (illustrated with a black kid holding a gun, hewing to the stereotypes).

Don's rag doesn't advertise its circulation, but we're probably on very safe grounds assuming it doesn't have one as there doesn't seem to actually be a hard copy option. Oh well, no matter, a virtual magazine apparently still ticks all the boxes; and Don is in good company here (notably COGWA's Discern.)

The PDF is available to download.

Melvin Rhodes in Trump mode

Melvin Rhodes is the United Church of God resident expert on world affairs. A couple of excerpts from his most recent blog post, which you can read for yourself here.

Well, I'm grizzled enough to be classified as 'old' but sure as hades know no such thing. I for one am delighted to rub shoulders on a daily basis with people from very different backgrounds. What does he mean by "mixed race"? Is Mel still fettered by the nonsense taught by Herb Armstrong about interracial marriage? Mixed religions? What does that even mean when we're dealing with a guy who believes Roman Catholicism is the great false church and Protestants are her whoring daughters.

The mellifluous Mel continues.

Dear, sweet lord, is this guy serious?

If you want a reason why UCG isn't connecting in its efforts to reach the public, here you have one. They are simply incapable of moving beyond a version of Tea Party rhetoric - based, one expects, in the exceptionalist fantasies they regard as "prophecy". Multiculturalism is bad, liberals and leftists are to blame, the current pope's emphasis on compassion and mercy is somehow less Christian, in the Rhodesian world-view, than the lunacy that unleashed the crusades.

For a long time, I've maintained that UCG is a more benign form of COGism. I suppose that's still true, but it still has venom in its bite.

Mel would, I imagine, get along famously with Mark Armstrong.

French connections

Gary Leonard on the Banned blog has breaking news of upheavals in the French-speaking LCG. Gary quotes an announcement from leader-in-waiting Gerry Weston.

Mr. Roland Lecocq, our minister in Switzerland, and his family have made the decision to move to another Church of God fellowship. We are saddened by their decision, but wish them well. They have served the Church faithfully for many years and we appreciate that service. Since he served as Secretary and Treasurer for the French association, he is continuing with those duties until they can be transferred to another individual in the next few weeks and he is being most helpful and faithful in the transition. Please show the upmost respect and love toward the Lecocqs as each of us must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

These comments from Gary's source in LCG.

LCG suffered a major loss a few weeks ago when a popular European minister, Mr. Roland Lecocq, decided to resign from serving LCG and aligned himself with COGWA. Although Mr. Lecocq has been careful not to sway any of the LCG brethren to blindly follow in his decision to leave LCG, it is anticipated that a large majority of the brethren in the areas he served will go with him to COGWA. There are also concerns that LCG will not be able to continue with their planned Feast site in Carry-le-Rouet, France as a direct result of Lecocq's departure. 

This news hasn't been aired among LCG's membership outside the affected areas (or wasn't until Gary blew the cover off). One wonders whether the recent chat between COGWA and LCG leaders was a factor in some way (or an agenda item). Nothing yet from COGWA itself. The peripatetic Joel Meeker is listed as COGWA's man on the ground in Switzerland (along with Belgium and France).

Lecocq was ordained an elder in LCG in 2008.

Read the full account over at Banned by HWA.