Exo-Vaticana - My Review

I have been a fan of Tom Horn for a few years now. When he brought Cris Putnam on board with the previously released Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope Is Here, I thought Cris might bring a little more skepticism to the content, as well as more fluid prose to the writing. As it turns out, I was correct.

I hadn't read the aforementioned "Petras Romanus", simply because I had done enough research on it myself to satisfy me. I thought Malachy's prophecy too narrow to be expounded in 500 pages.

Not so with "Exo-Vaticana". The scope of this book is broad. And although Exo-Vaticana is a book of considerable size, I am sure it could have been twice as thick if Horn and Putnam hadn't tempered themselves.

I noticed that the addition of Putnam has really brought Horn into focus. If you have read some of Horn's other writings, like Apollyon Rising 2012: The Lost Symbol Found and the Final Mystery of the Great Seal Revealed, you have noticed that Horn throws facts, figures, and correlations out there in a more or less machine gun fashion (The incomparable, and late, David Flynn also used that BANG BANG BANG writing style of slinging facts and figures).

The writing is more refined now, and presented more objectively. Everything is presented as a "could be" scenario, instead of presenting it in the affirmative. Also, Putnam has reined in Horn's zeal. Horn, who seems to have a natural predisposition for the supernatural, sometimes let's his zeal want to confirm what hasn't been confirmed yet. Not too often, I concede, but I have seen it. Of course, Horn isn't nearly as bad as Steve Quayle, who seemingly wants to slap a "Thus saith the Lord" bumper sticker on everything that gives him a goose-pimple. Horn still knows that the end-game is still just speculation at this point.

I guess that is an over-complicated and roundabout way of saying I think Horn and Putnam are a great team. They seem to keep each other in check. It has been my experience that in friendships, Christian brotherhood, and in accountability, the best pairings are those pairings where one party wants to take the knowledge and epiphanies and run to proclaim it to the world, while the other party, being the more introverted, skeptical, and intellectually cautious, says, "Wait just a minute, let's stop and think this through first." That seems to be Horn and Putnam's relationship. Putnam has brought scholarly respectability to Horn's material, and Horn has given Putnam a medium and platform in which to reach the world. "Iron sharpening iron" is the image that comes to mind when I consider Horn and Putnam's investigative partnership (and friendship).

As to the content, I will not spoil it if you want to read it. But I will say that, like most of Horn's writings (as well as writings in this vein by other esoteric authors like L. A. Marzulli, Rob Skiba, Dr. Chuck Missler and Dr. Michael Heiser), the subject matter is nostril deep in the metaphysical, and as such, probably cannot be properly digested by your average, "Old Rugged Cross" singing, Psalm 23 reciting, bread and milk, modern Christian. I am not saying that only smart people can read it properly (my own IQ is only a mere 80 or so). I am just saying that most of the Church is on intellectual lockdown, and such material is anathema to them. I believe that most Christians will experience "Cognitive Dissonance" if they read this book. That is, they will experience the discomfort that comes when one's beliefs are cast in the sharp relief of an opposing, yet highly compelling, light.

What Tom and Cris have given us are views that are rarely presented in America's churches. And, since the esoteric nature of subject matter leaves little room (or reason) to continue to grasp existing traditions, predispositions, and preconceptions about the mechanism in which eschatology could potentially manifest, most Christian will reject this book as either, at best, extraneous complexity to what is already a complex subject, or at worst, the deliberate demonizing of the Roman Catholic Church. I reject both notions, on the grounds that the researched material is vetted through the Roman Catholic Church itself, and that if the coming great deception (2 Thess. 2:11 & Matt. 24:24) is to be successful in creating the mass conformance Scripture claims it will accomplish, it MUST be something metaphysical. And yet it must be, as Cris has so aptly said, "clothed in the respectability of science."

Most evangelicals will likely jettison such material, and choose to believe the paucity fed to them by their church. Of course, that is the disinformation that Christianity no longer has a stake in the metaphysical world. Until you are educated about the nature of the metaphysical, you are susceptible to embracing any exhibition of power that is sourced in the metaphysical, be it Godly, or unGodly. We need to educate ourselves in discerning the difference. After all, the deceiver is scheduled to appear with supernatural acts (2 Thess. 2:9). If he carries a look of benevolence, are you sure you will be able to distinguish him from Christ? Jesus said that His sheep know his voice (John 10:3-5 & 27). This deceiver, perhaps the Anti-Christ himself, will wield the sword of the metaphysical in one hand, and the warhammer of politics in the other. I am concerned for those who refuse to educate themselves, and elect rather to rely on a more "visceral" perception (or "feelings") to keep them during this time, should they enter this time in their lifetime.

Do you think the devil unable to speak with a voice so similar to Christ's... so tender... so benevolent... so deceptive? The forbidden fruit in the garden had every appearance of being delicious and healthy (Genesis 3:6). It is doubtful that a sweeter fruit has ever touched human lips than the forbidden fruit of Eden. But at what cost?

Paul chastised the Ephesians for not having "learned Christ" (Eph. 4:20). Have you "learned Christ"? Will you be able to distinguish His voice from other voices if things manifest in a way even slightly similar to the way this book suggests? Or are you content to carry an unstudied flop-eared Bible to Church a few times a week, listen to a diluted sermon, while your spiritual and intellectual acumen erodes? As C. S. Lewis said, "God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers".

Apologies for the rant. I am very cynical about the Church these days, and sometimes that cynicism comes to the surface in the most bellicose ways.

It is really a shame that the Church (as a whole) has largely neglected the metaphysical. There are those of us who recognize the deficiency, and purposefully look for means to compensate for the Church's neglect of these areas. Horn, and authors in this "niche" provides the cure for us. (I affectionately call it the "Nephilim Niche", since its proverbial habitues seem to be highly invested in a more literal translation of Genesis 6 than the more traditional fundamentalist "Sethite" view. Mention the Sethite view to these guys, and they'll likely start casting demons out of you.)

At bottom, I highly recommend the book. I am neither condoning or condemning the proposed viability of the book's subject matter. I am saying that the evidence Horn and Putnam provides is difficult to refute.

The book reads differently in different areas. At some points, it seems to retain Horn's original style of popping off researched facts and correlations like a automatic rifle. At other points, you feel like you've dived into a scholarly dissertation. In other places, it seems like you are reading history. And, in some places, you even feel like you are reading a written sermon.

I will say that this book, like "Petras Romanus" before it, seems to be simply a book to make us cognizant of the diabolical forces at work. Technically, if true, the events that may occur isn't something that can be avoided. Not like a political book that might say, "If you elect so-and-so, this is what will happen, so let's work hard to ensure so-and-so isn't elected."

As Christians, all we can do is pray about it, build up our spiritual constitution, and make our peace-calling and election sure during the times ahead of us. I am not sure how much, if any, we should work to resist such evil from coming to fruition. For it is when this evil comes to fruition that the "Blessed Hope (Titus 2:13)" is supposed to manifest.

Scripture says to WATCH, and this book is a great way to gauge the spiritual and metaphysical climate of our society. By reading this book, I think one is essentially "watching". At least, you are learning what types of things to watch for.

Here is a 3-hour interview on the Hagmann & Hagmann show with Tom Horn, Cris Putnam, and Steve Quayle that was done on February 14, 2013. Keep in mind, this was after Pope Benedict's retirement announcement and before Pope Francis' election. Apologies in advance for Quayle's self-promoting and cavalier demeanor and zeal.

More links...

PID Radio - 02/14/13 - Next Up, Peter the Roman
Prophecy in the News - 04/04/13 - Gary Stearman, Tom Horn, and Cris Putnam
Prophecy in the News - 04/16/13 - Gary Stearman, Tom Horn, and Cris Putnam - Part 2