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Monday 4 September 2006

David Hulme and Clive James


Lord have mercy; David Hulme has written a book. It has the riveting title: “Identity, Ideology and the Future of Jerusalem.”

Not a book about the Bible or church history, which you might expect, but a $65 (£40.00) 260 page tome on the contemporary Middle East.

Oh, well done David! How many people in his mini-sect will be able to afford a copy? And will anyone outside his forgettable fellowship even be bothered?

Yes, this is David Hulme the COG-AIC sect leader, reputedly one of the most secretive, exclusivist Church of God splinters. The David Hulme who was once something of a poster-boy for the Tkach reforms. The David Hulme who was dumped as founding president of the UCG.

The blurb doesn’t give much away: “Exploring the lives of fourteen key Palestinian and Jewish leaders, this fascinating study examines the roles of identity and ideology in the search for a resolution to the final-status issue of Jerusalem.”

I’m not sure why David thinks he’s qualified to pontificate on this issue. I’m not sure why the sect is promoting his book for him on their Vision website. Does David think this is “preaching the gospel”?

Palgrave Macmillan, an academic publisher, describes the book on their website: “Using the clinical method of (recalled personal history) to examine the crucial place that Jerusalem has occupied in the identity and ideology core of fourteen key Palestinian and Jewish/Israeli leaders in the more-than-100-year Arab-Zionist impasse, this fascinating study explores the roles of identity and ideology in preventing or promoting a resolution between Israel and the Palestinians on the final-status issue of Jerusalem.”

Sounds like a real page-turner. Too bad Dave didn’t use the clinical method in question to examine the shattered lives of people a little closer at hand, the followers of Herbert Armstrong. Now there's a subject where Dave has unchallenged expertise.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Hulme book is reviewed (if it is reviewed.) Will it live up to its PR, or just fade into obscurity, another expensive “think big”, ego-driven, tithe-funded white elephant?

Of course, we all hope Dave's book will sell quadzillions of copies. To that end a little blessing from Clive James is called for. Enjoy!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I'm not sure why David thinks he’s qualified to pontificate on this issue."

I think Davey likes to think of himself as a intellectual. Odd since he reigns over an Armstrongian cult which of course has as an essential dogma; 'Don't think'!

Douglas Becker said...

David Hulme isn't really qualified to write about the topic.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Hulme book is reviewed (if it is reviewed.) Will it live up to its PR, or just fade into obscurity, another expensive “think big”, ego-driven, tithe-funded white elephant?

Those of us who have had the experience of the Churches of God know better than to make any predictions, but white elephant might be a good bet as long as we don't append the prophecies with in Jesus' Name. It would be a speculation, not a prophecy.

This is yet another betrayal, if tithes are truly being used. The churches of God sprung from the rebellion of Herbert Armstrong against the Church of God, Seventh Day, in the 1930s, has shown us that none of the Churches of God from the smallest to the greatest can be trusted. The WCG betrayed the people because of the egocentricities of the founder, and every spit-off splinter since then has shown that it cannot be trusted because each one in turn has demonstrated its idolatry of man-made religion.

In the case of the WCG, the Tkach family showed its betrayal of the foundational doctrines, particularly the core of the Sabbath and the Holydays. David Hulme particularly participated in this charade in order to continue to pursue his muscial interests in Southern California and particularly those associated with the AICF.

When David Hulme discovered that playing ball and engaging in the participation with the new doctrines reversing everything that Herbert Armstrong established wasn't getting him anywhere, he jumped shipped for greener pastures in the UCG where he had a promising future to fulfill his destiny as President. Alas, United discovered his betrayal there when he all but bankrupted the church putting it in a position of being one month from financial demise.

When the jig was up, he again abandoned the venue to create a new one more propitious to his self-intersts.

This is just one story of betrayal among the hundreds available within the churches of God. This time the evidence is in the form of a book. A previous time it was in the production of an all but worthless video. Prior to that it was the betrayal of the trust that people gave to him to preserve the doctrines they cherished.

None of them can be trusted.

A corrupt tree brings forth corrupt fruit. When the seeds of the fruit of the tree are scattered to the winds, they grow up as a forest of splinters of other corrupt trees bearing corrupt fruit.

David Ben-Ariel said...

Have you read the book? I mention David Hulme within Princess Diana, a Dream, and King David's Dynasty (correct me if it's not the same DH). Mordakhai Joseph also wrote a book concerning the Middle East. More power to them. However, Stephen's Flurry's latest, while an excellent topic, is history. It fails to warn the world: Stephen Flurry and The Philadelphia Church of God

Anonymous said...

This is David Hulme's doctoral thesis.

Anonymous said...

I was raised in the WWCG and stopped going when I was 12. I have not been religous since. My parents currently attend the UCG. Can someone tell me about it and the story behind David Hulme? My email is jmarksjr729@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Perhaps we are missing the point. What does religion have to do with our relationship to God?
If nothing? Why do we contend over such matters? I googled "David Hulme" and I find people wringing their hands and calling him most "mysterious". Perhaps we should shed ourselves of strong opinions and not be so judgemental. For those with whom wew disagree, walk away or take it to them. For those who do not fear God or are non-believers, moving on might make you happier.

Anonymous said...

If you believe the bible and not mens teaching that came out of Rome in abt 300 AD, then you will believe like David Hulme does, I don't know about the book, how do you know it came from tithes. God said in His word, to preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God to the world, not to save the world which only Christ will do, seems like a lot of haters out there in the world. You don't have to buy the book. Charlie of Ky