Frequently Asked Questions
To
make finding answers to basic questions easier, we've added this frequently
asked questions page. Look up your question and read our brief summary of the
answer. The answers provided will by necessity be brief overview summations. We
fully expect the reader to make use of the Categories page to find posts
on the subject which will provide far more detail.
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It is important that you understand;
Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author.
Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it
is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's
coattail into the Kingdom.
Acts 17:11
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Gospel
What is the Gospel?
“Gospel”
means “good news.” The following is the good news Paul preached. Paul recorded
for us what is believed to be the oldest creed in Christianity:
(I COR. 15: 1-5) 1 Moreover,
brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold
fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I
delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by
Cephas, then by the twelve.
This same theme of Jesus becoming a
man, dying, and being resurrected to glory is repeated elsewhere:
(PHP. 2: 5-9) 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name
(PHP. 2: 5-9) 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name
(ROM. 1: 3-4) 3 concerning His Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the
flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
(HEB. 12: 1-2) 1 Therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(I TIM. 3: 16) And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed
on in the world, Received up in glory.
(I PET. 3: 18, 21-22) 18 For Christ
also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to
God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, … 21 There
is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right
hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
If
one were to ask us at ABD how we would summarize the Gospel, we would say it is
thus:
“Jesus was a literal man as well as literally God. He
became a man, lived to fulfill the law and the prophets, died as a propitiation
for our sins, and was resurrected in fulfillment of scripture on the third day;
this was planned before the foundation of the world. His death destroyed the
Old Covenant and ratified the New Covenant. He now lives in Heaven as the
executor of the promises of God towards us, the undeserving beneficiaries. Man
was hopelessly condemned, but Jesus paid the ransom in full and finished the
work of salvation. By humble faith in Jesus Christ, a Christian receives
absolute forgiveness of sin as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and
with the Holy Spirit comes participation in the body of Christ, and with that
comes inheritance in the promise God made to Abraham. The proof of the Spirit's
involvement is fruitful Christian growth throughout our lifetime; we will never
come near to perfection in this flesh. Therefore, salvation is absolutely
guaranteed for the faithful by the life, death, and life of Jesus Christ our
Savior, and nothing besides. It is by promise, not by law. This is God's good
pleasure. Glory to God.”
Has the real Gospel been hidden, and a
false gospel preached by so-called Christianity?
No.
Were this to be true, the church would have died out and God’s promise in
Matthew 16: 18 would be broken. Since this is undeniable, a church history must
be invented to show there was a small remnant of faithful believers somewhere
who kept the “true gospel.” HWA’s version of this history is grossly distorted,
often deceitfully untrue, and completely unreliable. Instead, what has been
preached for nearly 2,000 years matches what Paul taught:
(ROM. 10: 9) 9 that if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised
Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Doesn’t the New Testament clearly say that
the Gospel is of the Kingdom of God?
Yes.
However, HWA taught “Kingdom of God” means the second coming of Christ and the
rule of God on Earth. The second coming is a portion of the Gospel, but not the
most important portion. More important is our redemption, salvation, and
glorification through the life, death, and life of Christ. The phrase “gospel
of the Kingdom of God” is mostly used in Matthew. But we also see “gospel of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (MARK. 1: 1), “gospel of the grace of God” (ACT.
20: 24), “gospel of God” (ROM. 1: 1; 15: 16; II COR. 11: 7; I THS. 2: 8-9; I
PET. 4: 17), “gospel of the blessed God” (I TIM. 1: 11), “gospel of His Son”
(ROM. 1: 9), “gospel of Christ” (ROM. 1: 16; 15: 19, 29; I COR. 9: 12, 18; II
COR. 9: 13; 10: 14; GAL. 1: 7; PHP. 1: 27; I THS. 3: 2; ), “gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ” (II THS. 1: 8), “gospel of the glory of Christ” (II COR. 4: 4), and
“gospel of peace” (ROM. 10: 15; EPH. 6: 15). Out of the 101 appearances of the
word “gospel”, the phrase “gospel of the Kingdom” only appears 4 times. None of
these include any indication that this phrase exclusively means the second
coming. This understanding is read into the text because this is what HWA
taught. For comparison, “gospel of Christ” appears over twice as often at 10
times. As a matter of fact, the oft-used phrase, “gospel of the coming Kingdom of God” appears nowhere
in the Bible.
But I was taught the Gospel isn’t about
Christ Himself but the things that Christ taught?
This
depends on what we think Christ taught. If Christ taught the law to people who
already had the law, then what good was that? But if Christ came to fulfill the
law and the prophets and prove that He sis the Christ, then He taught the
message of the cross. That truly is good news!
Now,
If the preceding information didn’t convince you, let’s explore a little
farther.
What greatly disturbed the leaders of the Jews in Acts 4: 1-2? "...That they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Why were the philosophers confounded in Acts 17: 18? “..Because he [Paul] preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.” In Acts 8, Philip preaches Christ. An Acts 9: 20 we see that the very first thing Paul ever preached was that Jesus is the Son of God. Paul was set apart to preach Jesus to the Gentiles (GAL. 1: 15-16). In Philippians 1, Paul was rejoicing that Christ was preached. Elsewhere, Paul calls the Gospel the “message of the cross” (I COR. 1: 17-18). Why would he do that if the Gospel was only about the future Kingdom or the law? He would not. It is not at the law that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, but at the name of Christ (PHP. 2: 10-11). When asked what brings salvation, Paul responds, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (ACT. 16: 31). Notice again, “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.” (ACT. 18: 8). Crispus obviously had the law. He needed only to believe in the Lord and he was saved and his household with him. The Gentile Corinthians believed and they were also saved. And again, in Acts 11: 13-17, Peter tells how Cornelius believed on the Lord and he was saved and his household with him. And not only Cornelius, but Peter relates that believing on the Lord is what brought the Holy Spirit to him and the other Jews to whom he was speaking as well.
What greatly disturbed the leaders of the Jews in Acts 4: 1-2? "...That they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Why were the philosophers confounded in Acts 17: 18? “..Because he [Paul] preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.” In Acts 8, Philip preaches Christ. An Acts 9: 20 we see that the very first thing Paul ever preached was that Jesus is the Son of God. Paul was set apart to preach Jesus to the Gentiles (GAL. 1: 15-16). In Philippians 1, Paul was rejoicing that Christ was preached. Elsewhere, Paul calls the Gospel the “message of the cross” (I COR. 1: 17-18). Why would he do that if the Gospel was only about the future Kingdom or the law? He would not. It is not at the law that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, but at the name of Christ (PHP. 2: 10-11). When asked what brings salvation, Paul responds, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (ACT. 16: 31). Notice again, “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.” (ACT. 18: 8). Crispus obviously had the law. He needed only to believe in the Lord and he was saved and his household with him. The Gentile Corinthians believed and they were also saved. And again, in Acts 11: 13-17, Peter tells how Cornelius believed on the Lord and he was saved and his household with him. And not only Cornelius, but Peter relates that believing on the Lord is what brought the Holy Spirit to him and the other Jews to whom he was speaking as well.
Covenants
What exactly is the Old Covenant?
The
Old Covenant is an agreement between God and the Israelites alone.
The
10 Commandments form the foundation of the Old Covenant.
(EXO. 34: 28) So he was there with the LORD
forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote
on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten
Commandments.
(DEU. 4: 13) So He declared to you His
covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments;
and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
(DEU. 5: 1-21) … 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3
The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who
are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 The LORD talked with you face to
face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between the LORD and
you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid
because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said… [lists the Ten Commandments].
(DEU. 9: 9) When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
(DEU. 9: 9) When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
(DEU. 9: 11) And it came to pass, at the
end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the
two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
(DEU. 9: 15) So I turned and came down from
the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the
two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
Built upon this foundation is a list of 603
(613 in total) laws covering all aspects of Jewish life.
Is the New Covenant a continuation of the
Old?
No.
The New Covenant is not like the Old.
(JER.
31: 31-32) 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—32 not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of
Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the
LORD.
(HEB. 8: 13) In that He says, “A new
covenant,” He has made the first
obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and
growing old is ready to vanish away.
Jesus did not give up eternity and
Godhood to come here as a man, suffer, die and on the third day experience
resurrection only to get rid of circumcision and animal sacrifice.
What are some of the differences between
the Covenants?
For one example, the
Old was death:
(II COR. 3: 7) But if
the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones...
(ROM. 4: 15) because
the law brings about wrath
(ROM. 7: 10) And the
commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
(GAL. 3: 10) For as
many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written,
“Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in
the book of the law, to do them.”
(II COR. 3: 6) ...for
the letter kills...
The New is life:
(II COR. 3: 6) ...not
of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life.
(II TIM. 1: 10) but
has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel
(I JOHN 2: 25) And
this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
(I JOHN 5: 11-13) 11
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the
name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that
you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Here is a far better
comparison for you: Old
Covenant vs New Covenant
Which is the better Covenant?
The New Covenant is
better!
(HEB. 7: 22) by so
much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
(HEB. 8: 6) But now
He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a
better covenant, which was established on better promises.
(HEB. 12: 24) to
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that
speaks better things than that of Abel.
Are we still under the Old Covenant?
This
is not possible. When Jesus died, the Old Covenant was nullified. Gone. Removed
completely. The Old Covenant was never meant to last, as the New Covenant was
planned from before creation. The Old and its shadowy symbols merely pointed us
to a form of righteousness until the substance arrived, and that substance is
Christ (COL. 2: 16-17). It is clear that this refers to His first coming.
When did the Old Covenant begin?
The
Old Covenant began at Sinai when Moses received the law from God and all Israel
agreed to keep the law (EXO. 24: 3-8). It was then sealed in the blood of
animals.
When did the Old Covenant end?
The
Old Covenant ended when Christ died. Covenants are no longer binding after the
death of the main party. Paul uses the example of a husband and wife (ROM. 7:
1-4). The New Covenant was sealed in Jesus’ blood.
It
appears that there was a period of time after the death of Christ where the Old
Covenant was “winding down” so to speak. Most people consider the destruction
of the Temple in Jerusalem to be the marker of the final end of the Old
Covenant period.
Was the Old Covenant binding upon all mankind?
Due
to the nature of covenants, this is not possible; only Israel was offered the
Old Covenant and only Israel accepted the Old Covenant. There was a stipulation
that the covenant also included the descendants of Israel (DEU. 29: 14). Israel did not “represent mankind”
as the Gentiles were “without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise”
(EPH. 2: 11-13). If they were represented, let alone fully included, they would
not have been strangers. The Jews were separate, set apart, a special people,
peculiar. Mixing between Jew and Gentile was strictly forbidden.
Because
of this, many have invented elaborate scenarios to paint us all as physical
descendants of Israel, and thus get us into the Covenant through a “back door”
so to speak. This is called British-Israelism, or Anglo-Israelism, and it is
absolutely false. There are also some who twist Paul’s words from places like
Galatians 3: 7, claiming that all Christians are “Spiritual Israel” (a phrase
not found in the Bible), and therefore the Old Covenant pertains to us. But
this is also false. If all Christians are “Spiritual Israel” then this is only
under the New Covenant; it cannot be retroactive and rip us from the New that
made us in order to deposit us again in the Old that excluded us. This thinking
defeats itself.
The
Old Covenant having been replaced in its entirety at the death of Christ, these
things cannot be changed now. A major tenet of the New Covenant is the
acceptance of the Gentiles.
Law
Since God does not change, doesn’t that
mean the law does not change?
No.
God is not the law, and the law is not God. It is God’s eternal nature of love and
faithfulness that does not change. Hebrews clearly states the law has changed. God
Himself can also change. We can see this in that the Logos changed from
timeless Godhood and took on temporal manhood, changed from inherent possession
of all things to having no place to rest His head, changed from mortal living
man to dead man, changed from dead man to eternally living glorified-man, and
changed from poverty to inheritor of all things. God can change; His nature
does not change – therefore we are not destroyed.
Didn’t Jesus say, “not one jot or tittle
will pass from the law until all are fulfilled”?
He
did say that. And then He fulfilled all things. The very verses referenced,
Matthew 5: 17-18, tell us that Jesus came to fulfill; and He did not fail. If
not, then literally until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle can
pass from the law, and all 613 Torah laws are completely in force – including
animal sacrifice. In fact, it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away
than for the law to be changed, because what is required to fulfill all is the
death of God. Good thing God is not afraid to take the hard road, or none of us
would be saved. Hebrews 7: 12 says the law was changed. It has to be changed or
Jesus, who was of Judah and not Levi, is not our High Priest. We cannot both
say “the law cannot be changed” and “the law has been changed” at the same
time. Please note the many times Jesus changes the law in this selfsame
chapter. Herbert Armstrong taught that Jesus “magnified” the law; made it
harder. Well, that’s a change. If the law cannot be changed one whit, then
neither is it “magnified.”
It
should not be overlooked that most often the people who make this claim are
referring to the weekly Sabbath being removed. These ones see Jesus revealing
the spirit of the law and even the Commandments in Matthew 5 and elsewhere, but
they demand the Sabbath must never be likewise magnified. ABD does not believe
the Sabbath is gone, per se, but magnified in the New Covenant to a perpetual
rest for the soul in Christ rather than the Old Covenant weekly rest for the
rear. Please refer to the Sabbath section for more detail.
Does the New Covenant have no law?
The
New Covenant has law, and its faithful members are not antinomian rebels. The
law is faith and love. John describes the laws for us.
(I
JON. 3: 23) And this is His commandment: that we
should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He
gave us commandment.
These
are what the New Testament is referring to when we see the word “commandments.”
Many people think it refers back to the Old Covenant, but that is incorrect. These
things are provided by the Holy Spirit in us. They do not come by our own
effort. Our job as Christians is merely to tend these things and make them
grow.
For
all of the talk about keeping law, if you aren’t practicing faith and love -
and this is in no way restricted only towards the people in your church, but
love to all mankind - then you are in reality the lawless one in the equation
(I JON. 4: 7-8).
Doesn’t the New Testament say we must keep
the law to be righteous?
No.
Righteousness is not of the law (GAL. 2: 21). Both the Old and New Testaments
make it clear that only a perfect keeping of the Old law, without interruption
in perfection, will be regarded by God. The Old Covenant law, as good as it
was, was given to emphasize that no man can do this. All have fallen short. Not
only that, but along comes Jesus in Matthew 5 and opens our eyes to the fact
that the law as written is only the beginning of the righteousness of God. Even
if we kept the letter of the law, which we cannot do, we would still be of no
profit to God (LUK. 17: 10). Thus righteousness is by faith only. It is God’s
righteousness, not ours, that is counted to us through faith in Jesus (ROM. 3:
21-22). Christ in us. It is completely undeserved.
Jesus kept the law, shouldn’t we do what
Jesus did?
Jesus
is our example, but this must be kept in context. Jesus was a Jew born under
the Old Covenant law during the time of the Old Covenant. He kept Hanukah, but
HWA never added that as an observance. According to this argument, we are
beholden to do so. Jesus kept all of the Jewish traditions, but that isn’t
demanded either. This argument is just another search for a loophole to extend
the Old Covenant in opposition to the New. The fact is that there are many
things Jesus did as an example for us, but that doesn’t mean we must copy
everything exactly. No one who makes this claim feels they must be scourged and
crucified. Jesus, a Jew, lived a perfect life and fulfilled the Old Covenant,
then He died, and His death ended the Old Covenant. We are no longer bound to
that way of life. Finally, Jesus is the only human being who ever kept the law
perfectly, thus satisfying the demands of the law. None of us can do this, so
in the true understanding of the law, which is perfection uninterrupted, none
of us can follow Christ in law-keeping. The very attempt itself is futile.
The law tells us how God wants us to live,
doesn’t it?
In
the Old Covenant, yes; in the New Covenant, no. In the New Covenant, God’s
Spirit in us teaches us how to live, produces the fruit, and guides us to
maturity in Christ. None of the things in the following list comes from the
law:
Justification (GAL. 2: 16)
Righteousness (GAL. 2: 21)
The Spirit (GAL. 3: 2)
Perfection (GAL. 3: 3; HEB. 7: 19)
Miracles (GAL. 3: 5)
Inheritance (GAL. 3: 18)
Life (GAL. 3: 21)
Grace (GAL. 5: 4)
Righteousness (GAL. 2: 21)
The Spirit (GAL. 3: 2)
Perfection (GAL. 3: 3; HEB. 7: 19)
Miracles (GAL. 3: 5)
Inheritance (GAL. 3: 18)
Life (GAL. 3: 21)
Grace (GAL. 5: 4)
Faith (GAL. 3: 12)
Since this is the case, which of
these things are you seeking to get from the law?
If
all of this is true, what was the purpose of the law?
(GAL. 3: 19-25) 19
What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions,
till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed
through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not mediate
for one only, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God?
Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life,
truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has
confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be
given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard
by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer
under a tutor.
A tutor isn’t a
schoolmaster, as the KJV translates it, and as we might understand it. The word
“tutor” in verse 24 comes from “pedagogos”. In the society of Paul’s day, wealthy
families would assign a slave or servant to rear their very young sons. The
idea is not that the pedagogos was the schoolmaster, but a sort of nanny who
oversaw the child. The pedagogos would accompany the child to school, but was
not the school teacher. Once the child was mature, the pedagogos was no longer
needed.
(ROM. 5: 20-21) 20
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But
where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in
death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
And it worked! We are
all sinners. Romans 3: 23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God." But why would a loving God design a system to bring us all
under sin?
(ROM. 3: 25-26) ..to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over
the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time
His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has
faith in Jesus.
And that brings
everything into focus if we know that everything is for God's glory (ROM. 11:
36).
Is it true that only Herbert W Armstrong
taught the whole law?
No.
At no time did HWA teach even most of
the law. For example, DEU. 16 and EXO. 34 plainly show there were three Holy
Days where travel is required: Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and
Tabernacles. HWA taught travel once per year. Burned offerings were to be given
to God at these three Feasts. HWA, even though he taught all burned offerings
were removed in the New Covenant, changed the burned offerings to money
offerings and changed the three times a year to seven times a year. The travel
was to the one place where the Lord placed His name (meaning, the Tabernacle of
God.) HWA taught travel was to assigned Feast sites around the world which He
determined. At the Feast of Tabernacles, aka Feast of Booths, booths are to be
made of sticks. HWA never taught booths should be made, instead he taught
people to stay in hotels. The law says there must be no cooking on the Sabbath.
HWA taught it is OK to have pot-lucks on the Sabbath. The law says even
servants must rest on the Sabbath. HWA taught it is OK to go out to eat and
cause someone else to serve you on the Sabbath. These few examples should sufficiently
illustrate that even though HWA said that he taught the law, he never did, and
his followers although they say they keep the law, never have. Let alone the
fact that no one keeps the law with uninterrupted perfection as is demanded by
the law.
Didn’t Jesus save us only from the penalty
of the law?
No.
This not only misunderstands the nature of covenants, but it makes no sense in
practical application. If Christ removed the penalty of the law, then there is
no penalty in the law. If there is no penalty in the law, then there is no
consequence for breaking the law. If there is no consequence for breaking the
law, then there is no reason for following the law – you get the same result
whether you do or don’t. And this is where the thinking falls apart. We have to
ask ourselves two questions: 1) If there is no penalty in the law, why follow
it? 2) If we follow the law, what do we get? None of the things in the
following list comes from the law:
Justification (GAL. 2: 16)
Righteousness (GAL. 2: 21)
The Spirit (GAL. 3: 2)
Perfection (GAL. 3: 3; HEB. 7: 19)
Miracles (GAL. 3: 5)
Inheritance (GAL. 3: 18)
Life (GAL. 3: 21)
Grace (GAL. 5: 4)
Righteousness (GAL. 2: 21)
The Spirit (GAL. 3: 2)
Perfection (GAL. 3: 3; HEB. 7: 19)
Miracles (GAL. 3: 5)
Inheritance (GAL. 3: 18)
Life (GAL. 3: 21)
Grace (GAL. 5: 4)
Faith (GAL. 3: 12)
So,
not only do we get no penalty for breaking it, we get no benefit for keeping
it. Of what value is it, then? But more importantly, because removing the
penalty of the law removes the teeth of the law, HWA had to somehow put the
teeth back into the law. Therefore he abuses the poor KJV translation of I John
3: 4 to show how “sin is the transgression of the law”, and thus he un-does
what He claims Christ died to do. The ramification of this thinking is that if
sin is a violation of the law, then righteousness is of the law, and if
righteousness is of the law, then Christ died in vain (GAL. 2: 21). Ergo, this
thinking invalidates Christ’s sacrifice.
How can you claim that Jesus did away with
His Father’s laws?
This
question refers to MATT. 5: 17-20, and is another attempt to reason away the
New Covenant. HWA often caricaturized mainstream Christianity as teaching that
Jesus was “a smart-alec young man who came to do away with His Father’s law.” Yet
it fails to explain the multiple, manifold changes in the law after Jesus’
death. The idea in this argument is to pit Jesus against the Father and split
the Godhead against itself. Is this not among the highest blasphemy possible? However,
it fails to account for the fact that it was God the Father who tore in two the
veil to the Holy of Holies. That act can be seen in no other way than the way
to the Throne was open, and all laws preventing all mankind from approaching
that Throne are abolished. Ergo, the Father Himself had a part in the removal
of the Old laws. Note how when a law needs to be disposed of, it becomes
“Moses’ law” but when a law needs to be emphasized suddenly it is “the Father’s
law” or “God’s law”. So, in all fairness, shall we not ask a similar thing to
those who pose this question? When have you built a booth at Tabernacles or when
have you traveled to the place where the Lord places His name for Passover and
Pentecost as you say you do at Tabernacles? So by what authority do you do away with the laws you say are
still binding upon you?
Doesn’t Romans 3: 31 say we uphold the law?
It
does say that, but we need context, context, context. Look at the surrounding
verses and chapters. It is the acme of irresponsibility to take one sliver out
of the whole and attempt to twist it to justify law-keeping. Two verses prior,
Paul says this, “Therefore we conclude that a man
is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” So where is the
demand for law here? It is missing.
So,
what is Paul attempting to say? Until Christ came, the law was our method to
know righteousness. Paul calls it "the righteous requirements of the
law." But now that Christ has come, we no longer need the law. Our
righteousness comes by faith, not by law; by the in-dwelling of the Holy
Spirit, not our effort. But even though the letter of the law is gone,
righteousness remains. So, in all reality, we uphold the purpose of the law.
The letter of the law was removed, but we still have righteousness. Paul wants to make a distinction here so that people don't get the hair-brained idea that we can throw righteousness out with the law. And people do get that crazy notion!
Or we can look at this through the eyes of love rather than faith. Love fulfills the law. If we love, we fulfill the whole point of the law. So, even though we no longer need a law that says "Thou shalt not kill" or "Thou shalt not steal" none of us will be killing or stealing if we are busy loving. So love fulfills the law.
God is love. The two great commands, as Jesus pointed out, are love to God and love to fellow man. The Ten Commandments are divisions of those 2. So what God did was raise our eyes higher, towards Him, and above those 10 lower sub-divisions. God is the source. If we have Him, we have all the rest. His presence makes holy. So, in all reality, love also upholds the purpose of the law because love is the purpose of the law.
The letter of the law was removed, but we still have righteousness. Paul wants to make a distinction here so that people don't get the hair-brained idea that we can throw righteousness out with the law. And people do get that crazy notion!
Or we can look at this through the eyes of love rather than faith. Love fulfills the law. If we love, we fulfill the whole point of the law. So, even though we no longer need a law that says "Thou shalt not kill" or "Thou shalt not steal" none of us will be killing or stealing if we are busy loving. So love fulfills the law.
God is love. The two great commands, as Jesus pointed out, are love to God and love to fellow man. The Ten Commandments are divisions of those 2. So what God did was raise our eyes higher, towards Him, and above those 10 lower sub-divisions. God is the source. If we have Him, we have all the rest. His presence makes holy. So, in all reality, love also upholds the purpose of the law because love is the purpose of the law.
10
Commandments
Are the 10 Commandments part of the Old
Covenant?
They
are the very foundation of it! The two cannot be separated easily.
(EXO. 34: 28) So he was there with the LORD
forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote
on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten
Commandments.
(DEU. 4: 13) So He declared to you His
covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments;
and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
(DEU. 9: 9) When I went up into the
mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of
the covenant which
the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty
nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
(DEU. 9: 11) And it came to pass, at the
end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the
two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
(DEU. 9: 15) So I turned and came down from
the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the
two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
Have the 10 Commandments been “brought
forward” into the New Covenant?
No.
This is the same error of Darwinian Evolution: Just because certain points
appear similar does not mean they have a common origin, it just means they have
a common creator. The entire Old Covenant was destroyed, and a New Covenant has
come in. The 10 Commandments are ten divisions of the two great commandments
which come from the one eternal principle of love. If some things in the 10
Commandments appear to have come forward, for example the prohibitions against
adultery or murder, that is because God is love and love is eternal, not
because the 10 Commandments are eternal. We do not commit adultery or theft or
murder because they violate love, not because they violate the 10 Commandments.
Do the 10 Commandments include Holy Days
and the tithe and meats laws?
No.
They do not. All of those things are separate from the 10 Commandments. If one
says the 10 Commandments are binding today, that does not include those other
points of Old Covenant law. This is why many other excuses must be found to
expand beyond the 10 Commandments, and that is why there is so much confusion
and mixing of the two Covenants. It would appear that starting with a
legalistic view of the 10 Commandments almost always leads to more and more
piling on of Old Covenant law.
God created the seventh day of creation and
hallowed it, isn’t that the weekly Sabbath?
No.
The two are linked, but not the same. God chose the seventh day to be the
weekly Sabbath because it was on the seventh day that He rested (EXO. 20: 11;
31: 17). But that only speaks to the timing (the “when”). Because God rested on
the seventh day of creation, He chose the seventh day of the week to be the
weekly Sabbath rest. The reason He chose to create a Sabbath day at all was as
a remembrance of the Exodus (DEU. 5: 15). That is the reason (the “why”). Because
God took Israel out of Egypt, therefore He commanded a weekly Sabbath for
Israel.
Now,
we must not forget to observe the nature of the rest that began on 7th
day of creation. That rest was perpetual. Adam had communion with God. Adam
lived in paradise. He had no real labor. He had no sin. What did he rest from,
then? The rest was spiritual. No one knows how long this rest lasted, but no
way was it merely one day. When Adam and Eve sinned, it all ended. This
perpetual spiritual rest is precisely like what we have in the New Covenant in
Jesus Christ. That means the Sabbath day rest is not in fact the same as
the creation rest (HEB. 4: 4-8). It is merely a shadow of the creation rest – a
shadow that points to Christ (COL. 2: 16-17; MAT. 11: 25-30).
Aren’t the 10 Commandments the eternal
principles of God?
No.
God is timeless, and in the Spirit realm there is no marriage or gender. How then
can the Commandments regarding weekly worship and adultery be eternal? They
could neither predate creation, nor continue beyond it. Love is the eternal
principle of God.
Isn’t the Kingdom going to go to those who
keep God’s Commandments?
This
question implies “commandments” means the 10 Commandments and it relies heavily
on a technique known as proof-texting (taking a small chunk of text out of
context in order to build a new, false context around it and use as evidence
for an improper conclusion.) We must take all of the evidence together – in
context!
Understand
that when the English-language Bible says “commands” or “commandments” (or
something similar) it is an assumption to read “10 Commandments” into that.
There is another set of commands given in the New Covenant (I JON. 3: 23; 4:21).
The former commandments were annulled (HEB. 7: 18). A new commandment is given,
yet it is not “new”, it is the very oldest command (I JON. 2: 7-8). Paul tells
us in I Corinthians 14: 37 that the things he writes are God’s commandments for
us, now – not the things Moses wrote. Again in I Thessalonians 4: 2 he mentions
the commands Jesus gave through the Apostles – not Moses. Jesus says it is love
if we keep what He commands – not Moses - and then He gives us His command that
we love one another (JON. 13: 34; 15: 12). Paul states that all else is summed
up in one word, “love” (ROM. 13: 9); from a pure heart, a good conscience, and
sincere faith (I TIM. 1: 5). John, throughout his first and second epistle,
clearly and plainly tells us love is the commandment, and the commandment is
love. Love fulfills all of the law
(ROM. 13: 8, 10; JAS. 2: 8).
Try
to recognize the times when you assume that “commandments” means “10
Commandments”, and resist it.
Didn’t Jesus tell the rich man that keeping
the 10 Commandments was required?
As
we’ve already shown, the 10 Commandments are the foundation of the abolished
Old Covenant. Given that Jesus lived and operated under the Old Covenant, He
one time spoke of most of the 10
Commandments to a Jewish man. When asked specifically which ones, Jesus answers
specifically which ones (the 4th was omitted). We see in Matthew 19: 16-20 a
rich Jewish man who is told to keep most of the Commandments in order to enter
into life. However, when the rich man states that he has been doing that all of
his life, Jesus reveals how it is nowhere near sufficient to grant him entry
into the Kingdom. It can only be concluded that this was Jesus’ point all
along, and the student was not the rich man but His disciples. Proof of this is
the unqualified statement Jesus makes next:
(MAT.
19: 25-26) 25 When His
disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be
saved?” 26 But Jesus
looked at them and said to them, “With
men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Jesus
tells us unequivocally that it is impossible
for following the 10 Commandments to bring us anything from God. Yet people
turn right around and say “Oh yes it can!” Does Jesus not know better than
they? Jesus wanted the rich man to trust Him. The rich man would not. Trust is
what is needed. This is evidenced when the exact same question was put to Paul
and Silas by the Phillipian jailer:
(ACT. 16: 30-31) 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
(ACT. 16: 30-31) 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
You
must trust Jesus to be saved!
Nowhere
will you ever see anyone being saved over law-keeping, nowhere will you find
Christians commanded to keep the 10 Commandments, and nowhere in the New
Testament will you see all of the 10 Commandments listed together – the 4th
Commandment is always omitted.
Why
is it that the one which is always omitted is the one that is stressed the
most?
Won’t we be the least in the Kingdom if we
teach against the 10 Commandments?
This
question is misleading. It misunderstands the differences between the Old and
New covenants and relies on proof-texting. Paul said in Romans 13: 8 & 10
and Galatians 5: 14 that love is the fulfillment of the law. This is echoed in
James 2: 8 and I John 4: 21. We certainly do not recommend anyone view the 10
Commandments as being gone without understanding what replaced them. Higher
than the 10 Commandments are the two great commandments of loving worship to
God and love to fellow man (MAT. 22: 35-40). Higher still is the one principle
of love (I JON. 4: 7-8). Jesus takes our eyes from the lowly, shadowy letter
and points us to the fullness and substance of the Most High God. God is love. Love
fulfills the law. Therefore, if we love, we fulfill the whole law. Even though
the 10 Commandments of the Old Covenant are gone, the moral requirements of the
law are upheld rather than destroyed. The Holy Spirit in us provides this
fruit. This is what Christ means in Matthew 5: 17-20. To misuse these three
verses to undo the entire New Covenant is a gross distortion of scripture.
Sabbath
Did Constantine change Saturday to Sunday?
No.
That is false. History proves Sunday, called the Lord’s Day, was the day for
what we would call “church services” during the times of the Apostles. This was
not a “Sabbath”, as Sabbath entails rest. The early Christians understood that
the Sabbath day was given to the Jews (and due to their hard hearts) thus it
was not necessary for those upon whom God’s grace had come. The Lord’s Day was
seen as the eighth day, a new day, and not merely the first day. Constantine
set aside a day of the week for rest from business (farmers were exempt). It
was not set aside for worship services. This takes away from Christ as our
Sabbath, it does not make Sunday a new Sabbath.
Didn’t the early Christians begin observing
Sunday to avoid persecution by the Romans under Emperor Hadrian?
No.
That is a patently ridiculous statement to make about a group of people who had
suffered persecution from 67 A.D. to 321 A.D. The noble way Christians faced
persecution helped spread the gospel as few other things could. Hadrian (emperor
117 – 138 A.D.) mainly persecuted the Jews. The Romans were fully capable of
distinguishing between the two. The earliest documents show the Christians were
keeping the Lord’s Day long before Hadrian. So this theory is based on a false
premise.
What day is the “Christian Sabbath”?
This
question is misleading, much like asking “How many animals did Moses bring onto
the Ark?” It is designed to confuse a person into thinking the “Christian Sabbath”
is a day of the week. The “Christian Sabbath” is spiritual rest in Christ – a
perpetual spiritual rest, not physical rest in a week day. There is no
“Christian weekly Sabbath.” Some people (usually those whose traditions trace
back to a Puritan origin) choose to treat Sunday as a Sabbath, but that is
their own tradition. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, not the Sabbath Day.
What exactly is the “Lord’s Day”?
From
the first century A.D., the term “Lord’s Day” has referred to Sunday. “Lord’s
Day” in the Greek is “kyriake hemera.” It was soon
shortened to just “kyriake.” It is not to be confused with the phrase
“Day of the Lord,” which is a completely separate Greek phrase “hemera tou kyriou.” They are never interchanged.
The
Lord’s Day is a symbolic eighth day of the week, which also remains the first of
all days. It is a day of worship and remembrance of Jesus Christ, not a day of
Sabbath rest.
Albert Barnes’ Notes
on the Bible
has this to say:
“The term was used
generally by the early Christians to denote the first day of the week. It
occurs twice in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians (about 101 a.d.), who
calls the Lord’s day ‘the queen and prince of all days.’ Chrysostom (on Ps.
119) says, ‘It was called the Lord’s day because the Lord rose from the dead on
that day.’ Later fathers make a marked distinction between the ‘Sabbath’ and
the ‘Lord’s day’; meaning by the former the Jewish ‘Sabbath,’ or the seventh
day of the week, and by the latter the first day of the week, kept holy by
Christians.”
Was the Sabbath magnified?
From
a certain point of view, yes. Some say the law was not magnified but replaced
entirely with brand new law based on love. The Sabbath, being ceremonial, is not
renewed but is replaced by Christ. Others say the law was magnified to its
proper fullness. If one sees the law as being magnified, as HWA taught, then
one cannot then exempt the weekly Sabbath. Either all the law was magnified or
none was. And if it was, then we must find what became of the weekly Sabbath.
Certainly, it was not left unchanged. The Sabbath was merely a shadow, and that
shadow points to Christ (COL. 2: 16-17). Therefore a perpetual spiritual rest
in Christ is the magnification of the Sabbath.
If I stop observing the Sabbath, may I also
commit adultery?
You
most certainly may not. This is a false dilemma. The choice between keeping all
of the Ten Commandments or living a life of debauchery is not proper; there is
another option. If the Sabbath is perpetual in Christ, then it is not gone per
se but rather it is put in its proper context – as the rest of the Commandments
were. Besides that, adultery, theft, murder, covetousness, and idolatry are
clearly condemned in the New Testament after the resurrection of Christ as they
are a violation of the Royal Law of love.
If “the Sabbath was made for man,” doesn’t
that mean it is for all men?
No.
This is an improper leap of logic stemming from taking Mark 2: 27 out of
context. If Jesus said the Sabbath was for all men, the Pharisees would have
stoned Him. All involved understood the Sabbath was for the Jews only. The
Pharisees were condemning Jesus and His disciples for picking grain and eating,
because they had raised the importance of the law to a height God never
intended. In response, Jesus was putting the Sabbath into its proper context. A
key to this comes from the parallel account in Matthew 12: 7 “But if you had known what this means, ‘I
desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” The
life of men is more important than the regulations in the law – even the 4th
Commandment. If He said the Sabbath was binding on all mankind that would have
been agreeing with the Pharisees point that He was violating the law, and thus
He would have indicted Himself. Think about it. If the Pharisees were accusing
Jesus, and His defense was “The Sabbath is binding on all mankind,” what sense
would that make? I refuse to believe that Jesus would employ the “They’re doing
it too!” defense.
If Jesus is the “Lord of the Sabbath,”
doesn’t that mean it remains?
Please refer to the previous question about “Sabbath
was made for man.” Jesus was in no way attempting to bind the Sabbath on
Gentiles who were strangers to the Covenant. That is completely out of context
here. He was correcting the Pharisees who had a grossly elevated view of the
Sabbath, and with this statement He displays His authority to do so. The
Pharisees were in Moses’ seat, but He was Lord. His authority trumps theirs. In
fact, being Lord, and therefore the source of the law, He is above the law. He
freely chose to submit Himself to the law in order to fulfill the law so that
He could redeem us from the law (GAL. 4: 4-5).
Hebrews says, “there remains a rest for the
people of God,” isn’t that the weekly Sabbath?
Context,
context, context. Proper exegesis is of utmost importance. Hebrews 3 & 4
clearly indicate when that rest is, and that is “today”(HEB. 3: 7, 15; 4: 7),
not the seventh day. To make a stark contrast, Hebrews 4: 6 plainly indicates
that those to whom the weekly Sabbath was given did not enter into this
rest. Ergo, the weekly Sabbath, which they observed, cannot be the rest spoken
of.
Shouldn’t we go to church on Saturday?
The
Jews do go to synagogue on Saturday, this is true, but the 4th
Commandment and its related laws do not deal with when to assemble in worship,
it only deals with physical rest. The oldest writings all agree that Gentile
Christians mainly assembled on Sunday for worship. But they also assembled on
many other days and times – including Saturdays. Frankly, it doesn’t really
matter to your salvation when you go to church. Do what your faith in Jesus
leads you to do, and be the best you can be according to what you currently
understand.
What does “keeping the Sabbath” entail?
The
word “Sabbath” comes from a root word meaning “to cease.” The Sabbath
regulations mainly entailed cessation of work. There is no command to “go to
church” on the Sabbath. Rest mainly included no farming (except for what was
mandatory to keep animals from suffering), no business, and no cooking. Priests
and guards were exempt to perform their regular duties.
Have I fallen from grace if I observe a
Saturday Sabbath?
Not
necessarily. There were many Jewish converts that kept a Saturday Sabbath, and
they were not condemned. However, the danger comes in if one is set on a
pedestal above other Christians because of Sabbath observance, or if one treats
the Sabbath as mandatory for all and thus faith is taken from Christ and placed
back in the law and our own efforts. The law is now an idol. Grace is about
what God does, not what we do. Here is a good litmus test: if you are beating
yourself or others up with the law, then you have crossed the line.
How did Herbert W Armstrong first come to
believe in the Sabbath?
According
to several accounts including HWA’s autobiography - in the fall of 1926 HWA’s
wife, Loma, was convinced of the Sabbath by a neighbor of HWA’s parents, Mrs.
Ora Runcorn, who was a member of the COG7. HWA studied to prove his wife wrong,
and wound up convincing himself.
Hasn’t the Sabbath been kept since the time
of the Apostles?
Yes
and no. There were two groups of converts in the earliest days of the New
Covenant: the Jews and the Gentiles. It is clear that the Jews were allowed to
continue following their Old Covenant traditions, at least while the Temple in
Jerusalem stood. There was a problem, however, when the Jewish converts began
demanding that the Gentile converts must also keep the law in order to be
saved. The first Council at Jerusalem came together to answer the question of
whether or not Gentiles had to follow the Jews’ Old Covenant traditions in
order to be Christian. The clear and decisive conclusion was NO. There have
been two schools of thought ever since. Despite this, there was still a
contingent of Jewish converts who hounded Paul and annoyed him no end (GAL. 5:
12). It was this very controversy that caused Paul to write the Epistle to the
Galatians, where he calls them foolish for turning back to the law (GAL. 3: 1,
3).
Even
so, the Jews are not destroyed in spite of the law
because the Lord changes not (MAL. 3: 6). The Gentiles are saved apart from the
law because law cannot nullify the promise (GAL. 3: 17-19), as the promise is
not of the law (ROM. 4: 13-16).
In
summary, yes the Sabbath was being kept – by the Jews; and no, the Sabbath was
not being kept – by the Gentiles.
I would be neglectful if I failed to mention that many cities in the early Gentile church regularly fasted and assembled on Saturday (as well as Sunday). They did not avoid Saturday worship the way modern Sabbatarians avoid Sunday worship. But none of them felt Sabbath-keeping was mandatory. You will come across many Sabbatarians who see examples of early churches gathering or fasting on Saturday and they will hold that up as an example of Sabbatarianism, but this is improper.
I would be neglectful if I failed to mention that many cities in the early Gentile church regularly fasted and assembled on Saturday (as well as Sunday). They did not avoid Saturday worship the way modern Sabbatarians avoid Sunday worship. But none of them felt Sabbath-keeping was mandatory. You will come across many Sabbatarians who see examples of early churches gathering or fasting on Saturday and they will hold that up as an example of Sabbatarianism, but this is improper.
How did the modern Sabbatarian movement get
started?
We
at ABD theorize that the modern Sabbatarian movement is an unfortunate
consequence of the Protestant Reformation. Common people had been prevented by
the Catholic Church from reading the Bible. Bible’s were only in Latin by law,
and most Priests could barely even read them. Once the Protestant Reformation
gained momentum the Bible was secretly printed in common languages. This often resulted
in the execution of the translators. People were now reading their Bibles on
their own for the first time. A small fraction of those people were trained or
experienced. Couple the Biblical illiteracy with a desire to distance
themselves from all things Catholic and many strange theories result. One such
teaching was that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath. Springing from the false
notion that there is still a Sabbath Day for Christians is the idea that
Saturday must be this Christian Sabbath.
It
appears that a small group of Baptists from England reached this conclusion
around 1650. The names involved included William Saller, Peter Chaimberlain,
Francis Bampfield, and Edward and Joseph Stennett. These men were Baptists, or
in other words they were reformers of Protestantism. It was this group that
influenced Steven Mumford to travel to America and preach the seventh-day
Sabbath to the Baptists in Connecticut. In 1671, after the first church split
(ROM. 16: 17-18), the
Seventh Day Baptist Church was born. This is what we conclude is the birth of
the modern Sabbatarian movement.
Can the Worldwide Church of God be traced
to the Seventh Day Adventist Church?
Yes.
And then some. They can all be traced back to the Seventh Day Baptists … a
wholly Protestant organization in every respect but an observance of a Saturday
Sabbath. According to record, it was one member of the Seventh Day Baptist
congregation in Verona, New York, by the name of Rachel Oakes
Preston that introduced the Sabbath doctrine to Adventism. She moved her family
to Washington, New Hampshire where she met a group of William Miller’s
Adventists. It was between March 1843 and the autumn of 1844, immediately after
the “Great Disappointment” that Rachel’s Sabbatarian influence bore its fruit. John
and Ellen G. White accepted the Sabbath in 1946. After years of disagreements
with Ellen White’s prophecies, Gilbert Cranmer officially split from the
Adventists in 1860 and proceeded to form what became the Church of God (Seventh
Day). It was this group which first awarded Herbert W Armstrong his ministerial
credentials in 1931. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Tithes
Has Tithing been “brought forward” into the
New Covenant?
No.
The entire Old Covenant and the Levitical Priesthood were removed along with
the tithe system that supported them. The New Testament gives no command to
tithe. If it were commanded, Paul would have been in violation of that command
by working for a living. Not only has it not been “brought forward,” but 10% is
too small for a Christian who is expected to be a living sacrifice.
What income may be tithed upon?
The
Old Testament is precise in showing that only these following three things may
be tithed upon: produce of the field, orchard, and flock.
Who is legally qualified to receive tithes?
Only
the Levites and the very poor could receive of the tithes. The Levites were
then commanded to give 10% of what they received to the Aaronic Priests (who
were also of the Tribe of Levi.)
Even
if one were to attempt to reason out a larger point of this, that a non-descript
“priesthood” receives the tithes, we see in the New Covenant there is but one
Priest, so how can we tithe? So this line of reasoning falls apart. Some would
conclude (without Biblical support) that we would tithe to the church
leadership, but Ministers are not “priests.” I can’t find the office of
“Minister” in the Bible anyway. Deacon, yes. Elder, yes. But not Minister. So,
again, this line of reasoning falls apart. Symbolically speaking, the entire
body are priests (I PET. 2: 9). So we are forced to allow the Bible to
interpret itself, which brings us again to the first statement – only the
Levites could receive tithes.
The ministry are the modern Levites, are
they not?
No.
This position is entirely unbiblical. This is only taught in Armstrongism to
validate the ministry’s taking of tithes contrary to the law. Look at the
slippery slope of this thinking: If there is a Levitical Priesthood, then there
is no Priesthood of Melchizedek, and then Hebrews is wrong, Jesus is not our
High Priest, the law is not changed, we are beholden to all 613 laws of the
Torah, and we are not saved. But most interesting of all, the ministry would
then be beholden to wear the priestly garb commanded of the Levites, and to
live as Levites in every other respect. They are unwilling to do this. Thus, we
hear, “The law! The law! Just not that
law.”
Isn’t it a Christian’s duty to support the
ministry through tithing?
No.
This is precisely what HWA said was the entire duty of a Christian, but early
writings make it clear that it was the policy of the earliest Christians not to
give money in support of the ministry because of the corrupting influence.
Preachers who demanded money were declared to be false, unless that money was
for the poor. Money could be contributed to a fund for the poor. Preaching was
“paid for” in the form of food, shelter, clothing and other basic necessities.
Meats
Did Noah follow meats laws?
Noah
was aware of clean and unclean animals, but this is obviously for the purpose
of sacrifice and not food. The very first thing Noah did after leaving the Ark
was to sacrifice of the clean animals (GEN. 8: 20). God specifically gave Noah
all things to eat immediately after this (GEN. 9: 1-3). The phrase “moving
thing” also translated “creeping thing” specifically includes reptiles.
Have meats laws been “brought forward” into
the New Covenant?
No.
The cleanliness was only ceremonial. The root meaning of meats laws was a
separation of Jew (clean) and Gentile (unclean). This is evident in that after
the sheet vision, where Peter saw unclean animals, Peter concluded the Gentiles
were represented (ACT. 10: 28). Peter’s sheet vision made it clear there was no
longer such a distinction between Jew and Gentile. Jesus made it clear that
nothing from the outside can defile us (MAR. 7: 15). Paul is exactingly
specific that nothing is unclean of itself (ROM. 14: 14).
Peter said he never ate anything unclean,
wasn’t that years after the resurrection?
Peter
was of a Jewish background at a time before it was made clear that Gentiles
were called to participate in the New Covenant. All preaching at that time was
to Jews only (ACT. 11: 19). It had to be this way since the gospel was to the
Jews first, then to the Gentiles. Paul continued this pattern in his preaching
by going to the Jews first, then when he was rejected he went to the Gentiles. The
thinking behind this argument is, “if Peter didn’t know that he could eat all
things 4 to 10 years after Jesus’ resurrection, then meats laws must still be
in effect.” This thinking is wrong. If that were the case, Gentiles are not
called to participate in the New Covenant, because 4 to 10 years after Jesus’
resurrection the gospel had gone only to the Jews because the Apostles didn’t
know the Gentiles were cleansed.
How can the sheet vision clean meats when
it was about cleansing the Gentiles?
The
clean or unclean status of the meats was only ever a ceremonial thing. Nothing
in the entire Bible indicates otherwise. Never is clean or unclean associated
with health. HWA began his ministry teaching this very thing. That being the
case, now that the object which the meats symbolized has been cleansed, what
possible purpose can there be for the symbol of uncleanness to remain? Why keep
a shadow when the fullness has come? It is a baseless argument from human
reasoning that it should remain. If we must keep these things, then the
ramifications include that we must also keep the unbreakable separation between
Jew and Gentile, since this is what the meats truly represented. And what is
implied by that is that a part of Christ’s Body is unclean. God forbid!
Does Isaiah condemn people who eat pork?
Isaiah
66 is a prophecy referring to idolatry given in Old Covenant terms to Old
Covenant readers. All prophetic interpretation is speculation. It cannot undo
the clear teachings of the New Covenant. The thinking behind this argument is,
“if we see something in prophecy, then it is valid today.” This thinking is
wrong. Ezekiel states that in the future temple there will be Levites, animal
sacrifices, and various other things we know are not valid in this time. The
better course of action would be to re-think the speculation and determine why
it doesn’t match with the New Covenant.
By avoiding pork and seafood, am I keeping
the meats laws?
Meats
laws entail much more than avoiding the meats listed as unclean. Fat was also
prohibited (LEV. 3: 17; 7: 23). Eating with Gentiles was prohibited (ACT. 10:
28; 11: 3). Anything the unclean substances touched became unclean, so
cook-surfaces that have touched unclean foods are unclean, and all food cooked
on an unclean cook-surface is also unclean, as are the storage bins. There is a
whole lot more to meats laws than simply avoiding certain meats. And as James
indicates, if you’re not following it all then you’re not following any of it
(JAS. 2: 10).
Holy
Days
Is it a sin to observe a Holy Day at the
wrong time?
According
to the Old Covenant law, yes. So, if one feels obliged to keep the Old Covenant
law, one had better get the timing right. Unfortunately, without the
timekeeping of the Jews, with whom HWA disagrees more often then he agrees, the
process breaks down into a series of “calendar controversies” – and there are
few things so absolutely guaranteed to cause division and conflict as calendar
controversies.
Did Herbert W Armstrong have the correct
timing of Holy Days?
No.
For 40 years HWA (supposedly an Apostle taught directly by God) taught that Pentecost
falls on Monday. According to this reasoning, everyone who lived and died observing
the wrong date/time were terrible sinners awaiting condemnation. RedFox of
Living Armstrongism, in the post “What
Was WCG Before 1970 Like?” adds this:
“Around 1948-9 a
controversy erupted in RCG. It has been described as traumatic. Anyone who
disagreed with HWA's Monday Pentecost was cast out of the church, only to learn
25 years later that they were right.”
In
Armstrongism, to be cast out of the church means eternal death. One cannot
overstate the gravity of convicting people of an offense worthy of eternal
death… only to completely about face 25 years later. In 1974, Pentecost was
changed to Sunday. Incidentally, this change in dating caused a huge split in
the church and prompted Raymond Cole to establish the Church of God the
Eternal. To this day they observe Pentecost on Monday, citing as authority
HWA’s claims that God revealed the truth to him at the beginning. Both cannot
be right.
Timing
issues appear in other areas as well. The Church of the Great God calculates
Pentecost differently in years when the First Day of Unleavened Bread falls on
a weekly Sabbath. And there has been an ongoing argument for decades among
various Armstrongists about whether Passover should be observed on the night of
the 14th or the night of the 15th of the Hebrew month of
Nissan.
All
of these conflicting ideas (and these aren’t the only ones) cannot possibly be
right, thus proving conclusively that the Armstrongist interpretation of timing
is neither plain nor inspired.
Legalism
What is legalism?
There
are at least three pieces to legalism. Mainly, legalism is requiring adherence
to some set of law as a condition for obtaining or retaining salvation. You can
call this, “works-based salvation.” Armstrongists are often told they must
“qualify” for entry into God’s Kingdom. Even though a person practicing
legalism would say, “the law is not required for salvation,” the idea is that
God will revoke salvation if the law is not kept. First, this is a gross
misunderstanding of God’s grace in the New Covenant. Second, this takes away
from Christ’s finished work, and causes people to earn their own way, putting
emphasis on man and not Christ.
Legalism
also has a second component of condemnation. Anyone who is not earning their
salvational upkeep is condemned as a non-Christian, a pagan, a deceiver, an
agent of Satan, or some other wicked thing. The combination of failure to keep
the legalist standards, and the judgment & condemnation towards others,
almost invariably leads a legalist to false pride and frustrated failure. These
are the fruits of legalism.
The
third component of legalism is self-worship.
C. J. Mahaney, in his book "Cross Centered Life" on pages
112-113, quotes Mr. Thomas Schreiner's book, "The Law and Its Fulfillment:
A Pauline theology of Law". Here is the quote: "legalism has its
origin in self-worship. If people are justified through their obedience to the
law, then they merit praise, honor, and glory. Legalism, in other words, means
glory goes to people rather than God."
If certain things predated Sinai, are they
still in force on us today?
Not
necessarily. Animal sacrifice and circumcision both predated Sinai. Neither are
binding on us today.
If certain things are found in prophecy,
are they still in force on us today?
Not
necessarily. Animal sacrifice, a temple in Jerusalem, and the Levitical
Priesthood are all found in Ezekiel’s prophecy. None of these are binding on us
today.
Doesn’t God demand our obedience?
This
question is misleading. The question approaches the New Covenant from an Old
Covenant perspective. This can be conclusively proved when we look at precisely
what thing we are supposedly commanded to obey – the list is always from the
Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant we were nothing more than servants at our
Master’s house; in the New Covenant we are sons at our Father’s house. The
perspective is completely different. It is impossible to blend the Covenants. Do
fathers still command obedience? Yes. But what a poor comparison it is indeed
to base our relation with our Heavenly Father upon that of our earthly fathers.
God is superior without comparison. Our obedience to God is from God.
(PHP. 2: 13) for it is God who works
in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
All things are from God, through God,
and to God.
(ROM. 11: 36) For of Him and through
Him and to Him are all
things, to whom be glory
forever. Amen.
God is not looking for an attitude of
obedience to somehow originate from and in us. If there is anything in us at
all, it is because God put it there.
Is keeping the
Sabbath or Holy Days always legalistic?
No. There is freedom in Christ.
Observing a day of rest, be it Saturday or Sunday, is neither here nor there.
Observing Holy Days or Holidays is neither here nor there. Whatever is in a
person’s faith is between them and God. Let all things be done with
thanksgiving! Something becomes legalistic if it is done in a certain attitude,
which we’ve already described above in “what is legalism”.
British-Israelism
What is British-Israelism?
British-Israelism,
aka. Anglo-Israelism, is the erroneous belief that the Caucasian nations are
the modern descendants of what are called the “lost 10 tribes of Israel.” These
“lost 10 tribes” are supposedly the 10 northern tribes of Israel who were
carried away into captivity by Assyria and then lost to history. They
supposedly worked their way north through the Caucasus mountains and into
Europe. Great Britain along with Canada, South Africa, and Australia are
supposedly the major part of Ephraim, the United States is supposedly the major
part of Menasseh, and various Northern European nations (minus Germany) consist
of the remaining 8 tribes (eg. France is supposedly Reuben, Denmark is
supposedly Dan, etc). This theory was started several hundred years ago
(supposedly first by one John Saddler in 1649) in an effort to glorify Great
Britain as the people of God, and the British Royal Family as the direct
descendents of King David. There is no mystery to where this theory came from
and why it was first conjured up.
A
fundamentalist spin-off from this theory is the “Identity Movement.”
Armstrongism is not part of the Identity Movement.
Are the English-speaking nations “modern
Israel”?
No.
As difficult as this may be to many, there is no real evidence whatsoever that
the English-speaking nations are the modern descendants of the “lost 10 tribes
of Israel.” Even though there are many people who have “studied” this… historically,
genetically, linguistically – this theory is a bust.
Did Herbert W Armstrong really plagiarize
J. H. Allen’s book?
All
available evidence points to yes, he did. He changed a few areas to fit his own
personal interpretations, and put things in his own words, but for the most
part HWA’s book “The United States and the British Commonwealth In Prophecy”, is
an obvious plagiarizing of J. H. Allen’s “Judah’s Scepter and Joseph’s
Birthright.” According to record, Allen’s book was first published in 1902,
whereas HWA didn’t even learn of British-Israelism until 1927.
Did HWA claim British Israelism was
critical to understanding prophecy?
Yes.
Earlier versions of “The
United States and the British Commonwealth In Prophecy” began with this
statement, “THE prophecies of the Bible
have been grievously misunderstood. And no wonder! For the vital KEY, needed to
unlock the doors to understanding, had become lost. That KEY is a definite
knowledge of the true identity of the American and British peoples in Bible
prophecy.”
HWA
has made similar claims about other issues as well, including the necessity of
an understanding regarding “The Times of the Gentiles.” HWA describes this as,
“a prophetic time allotted by God to the
Gentile nations, of 2520 years.” In the Plain Truth magazine Jan.
1938, p. 1, HWA said, "An understanding of
the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ is vital and fundamental. It is the frame-work of
the whole structure of Bible prophecy. It is a KEY to unlock the doors to
understanding…” In the Plain Truth
Magazine June/July 1934 edition, pp.4-5, HWA claimed these times ended
in 1936 and would usher in the return of Christ in 1936 (p. 3). Herman Hoeh
came 19 years later and, in the Plain Truth magazine June 1953, p.13, claimed
these times ended in 1982 and would usher in the return of Christ between 1972
and 1975.
It
is evident there was little real understanding of any issue HWA claimed was
vital to understanding prophecy.
If we aren’t modern Israel, what becomes of
the prophecies in Genesis regarding Joseph?
These
prophecies are not for the time period of the second coming of Christ, but for
the time of the first coming. The symbols do not represent modern nations, but
rather the Old and New Covenant peoples. This symbolic procession appears many
times in Genesis. Cain represents the older, faithless Old Covenant; Abel
represents the younger, faithful New Covenant. Abel is granted God’s grace. Ishmael
represents the servant-son Old Covenant; Isaac represents the promised-son New
Covenant. Isaac is symbolically tied with Jesus. Esau represents the Old Covenant;
Jacob represents the New Covenant. Jacob receives the inheritance even though
he doesn’t deserve it. Israel bears 12 sons which are the Old Covenant; Joseph
represents the faithful remnant brought into the New Covenant. Joseph will save
his brothers. Notice the conflict between each of these sets of siblings; this
represents the initial conflict between the Old and New Covenant peoples.
Joseph bears two sons: Manasseh is the first-born and is called to be a single
nation - this is the Jews; Ephraim the younger and is called to be a company of
nations – this is the Gentiles. Regarding Israel’s blessing of Ephraim before
Manasseh, it is God’s intention that the Jews will be blessed above the
Gentiles; our Savior came from the Jews, as did all of the Apostles, and the
Gospel is to the Jews first.
HerbertW
Armstrong (HWA)
Are those nasty things we’ve read about HWA
true?
Most
of them are. But we don’t like to talk about that here.
Did HWA ever work for the COG7 Church?
Yes.
According
to John Kiesz,
HWA was once a paid and credentialed minister of the Stanberry, Missouri branch
of the General Conference of the Church of God – Seventh Day (COG7). He was
selected to be a member of “The Seventy,” which was a second-tier of church
government. And he was eventually fired.
Did HWA restore “18 truths” to the church?
According
to A.
N. Dugger’s report in the 1936 Census on the Salem group's doctrinal beliefs, most of the
“truths” attributed to HWA were already accepted by the COG7. These beliefs
must predate HWA, who began the Radio Church of God in 1934.
HWA is not a part of my faith, why should I
care about him?
HWA
was the founder of the Radio Church of God, which changed its name to the
Worldwide Church of God. He was its “founder,
Pastor General, and spiritual and temporal leader.” If you are in a
splinter group that split off of the Worldwide Church of God, then almost
everything you believe depends on the perceived authority of HWA. It was HWA
that ordained the people who teach his doctrines. Without him, the entire
structure falls apart. HWA is a large part of your faith whether you recognize
that or not.
What does the “W” in Herbert W Armstrong
stand for?
Nothing.
It stands for absolutely nothing. He has no middle name. He added it because it
was fashionable. ABD doesn’t see this as being important. It’s merely a
curiosity.
Didn’t HWA specifically say he was not a
prophet?
This
is correct. He did this in the Tomorrow’s
World publication in February 1972, after a cataclysmic series of prophetic
failures stretching back to 1953 (and these were built on prophetic failures
going back to 1934.) But what a man says is of little value compared to what a
man does. He prophesied regularly, brazenly, and did so “on authority of God
Almighty” ("1975 In Prophecy", p. 31.)
It was his bread and butter. Making semantics issues between whether or not he
“prophesied” or “predicted” is moot. Saying he is not a prophet is akin to
robbing a bank and saying you’re not a thief.
Did HWA ever predict the future and claim
it was by God’s authority?
Often.
He made bold claims such as "absolutely
SURE!", "TRUE MESSAGE FROM GOD", “you can read what God says to me”, and
on the "on authority of God Almighty” (eg. "1975 In Prophecy", pp. 20 & 24 & 31.),
and those things failed to come to pass. Deuteronomy 18: 20-22 absolutely
applies in this case.
Has HWA ever predicted the return of
Christ?
Several
times. The most blatant examples were a claim that Christ would return in 1936,
a claim that Christ would return in 1975, and a claim towards the end of his
life that Christ would return by 2005.
Has HWA ever prophesied anything that
failed to come true?
Almost
everything he said would come to pass has not done so. There are over 209 failed prophetic
utterances
recorded. To his credit, he did accurately predict that the nations of Europe
would try to unite. Unfortunately, the conditions HWA claimed would surround
and cause and result from this unity are all incorrect. He also predicted that
the U.S.S.R. would never attack the United States. But, again, the conditions
HWA claimed would surround and cause this are all incorrect.
How did HWA begin his journey to greatness?
HWA’s
wife, Loma, converted to Sabbatarianism after contact with a member of the
COG7. HWA studied to prove her wrong, but He also became convinced. Somehow,
HWA got the notion that he was being specially called by God for greatness. Shortly
thereafter, during a very rough period in his life, an old woman came to his
door offering to give him some wood to cook with if he would help her stack wood
at her house. HWA took this as a sign from God that his beliefs about himself were
confirmed.
Did HWA claim to be the “end-time Elijah”?
Yes.
It is said that Herman Hoeh started this, and it eventually caught on. By the
end of his life, HWA took on a large number of titles and offices.
Several
of the ministers that trained under HWA perpetuate these claims to this day.
Some claim special titles for themselves. Gerald Flurry claims to be Elisha,
the “inkhorn”, the “voice in the wilderness”, and many other things. Ron
Weinland claims to be the spokesman of the Two Witnesses of Revelation,
Zerubbabel, the real and final Elijah, an Apostle, and a prophet. Dave Pack
claims to be an Apostle, and the one who will train the Two Witnesses of
Revelation. Rod Merideth claims that these other leaders are influenced by
Satan and “skilled at attacking,” and that they
are an “accuser” and a “divider” [most of these comments were
specifically aimed
at Dave Pack],
while anyone who leaves his church to join another is “confused” and “turned
aside.” Wade Cox refers to himself as “head of the Church of God in the Last
Days.” What a cloud of confusion!
History
of the Worldwide Church of God
Is the WCG really descended from the
Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church?
Yes.
It is well documented that HWA was a credentialed minister of the COG7 church,
whose founder is Gilbert Cranmer. Gilbert Cranmer was a member of the Adventist
group led by Ellen G. White. Gilbert Cranmer permanently broke from the SDA
church at the very meeting where they decided upon the name “Seventh Day Adventist.”
His reason was that he could no longer follow after Ellen G. White’s false
visions. Ellen G. White’s Adventist group that eventually became the SDA church
was founded by William Miller. In 1840 he decided that he had calculated the
return of Christ. His predictions failed so he recalculated. In the fall of
1843 his predictions failed a second time. This event became known as “The
Great Disappointment.” The Adventist movement was founded by a failed prophet,
and has ever since been led by a stream of failed prophets.
Is the Worldwide Church of God under
Herbert W Armstrong the Philadelphia Era of God’s True Church?
No.
There is absolutely no reason to believe this to be the case. HWA claimed an
unbroken line of “true believers” existed from the Apostles. This was a belief
copied from A. N. Dugger and C. O. Dodd of the COG7. Herbert Armstrong and
Herman Hoeh, the official WCG historian, wrote a book titled “The True History
of the True Church.” Much of the information in the book was plagiarized from Dugger
and Dodd’s book “A History of the True Religion Traced From 33 A.D. to Date.”
Most of the people these books claim as Sabbatarian ancestors of their church
were actually practicing Catholics who were only trying to reform the excesses
of the Catholic Church. HWA’s book is so grossly in error, so blatantly
deceitful, that the conclusion here at ABD is that it could not possibly have
been so without forethought and intent.
Holidays
Is Easter a pagan holiday?
No.
Easter is most definitely not derived from a pagan holiday; Easter is derived
from Passover. Eusebius, clearly and without equivocation, shows us that the
celebration - which in most non-Germanic languages is called “Pascha” (or some
form of Pascha), which derives from the Hebrew word “Pesach” - is one and the
same celebration with the Last Supper, which is Passover. HWA taught that there
was a dispute in the early years about whether to keep Passover or whether to
adopt a pagan holiday. This is patently false! Eusebius says there was a:
“diversity of judgment in regard to the time for celebrating one and the
same feast”.
-Eusebius,
Life
of Constantine, book III, Chapter V, in section “Of the Disagreement
Respecting the Celebration of Easter”.
The
argument was over timing, not paganism, but all parties involved were observing
Pascha. It is unfortunate that certain Germanic languages and English have
changed the name of the festival, and certain people have latched onto that
name in order to build a false case against it. Regarding the Spring Equinox, the
date was decided to be fixed on the first Sunday after the full moon on or following
the Spring Equinox. This had nothing to do with paganism or equinox festivals.
Jesus was crucified in the spring, and the early Christians wanted the festival
to fall in the spring on a reliable date.
Regarding
the bunnies and eggs, these were incorporated sometime around 1,000 A.D. They
do not in any way indicate that Easter is pagan. Leave them out if it suits
you.
Why isn’t Easter on the same day as
Passover?
There
was an ongoing conflict in the early church over whether to follow after Jewish
tradition of calculating Passover on the 14th day of the Hebrew
month of Nissan, or just fixing a Sunday date. Many Christians, especially in
the west, found it very difficult to follow Jewish timing, which was reckoned
by the Jewish leadership from Jerusalem, was based on the lunar cycle, and because
of intercalations could fall on any day within a wide range of dates. Christians
were used to a weekly remembrance of this event on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and
those in the west wanted Pascha to fall on a Sunday in spring. The western
church wanted to break away from reliance on “those
who were in error, and strangers to gospel grace,” as Eusebius referred
to the Jews. Finally, Constantine the Great ordered the matter to be settled at
the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., for the unity of the church and society. The
date was fixed to be the first Sunday after the full moon on or following the
Spring Equinox. Why was that chosen? Because Passover is always on a full moon
after the Spring Equinox.
Isn’t it a sin to have Passover at the
wrong time?
According
to the Old Covenant, and barring emergency circumstances, yes, but we are not
in the Old Covenant. That Seder meal of Passover observed the passing over of
the Angel of Death. This Lord’s Supper of Easter observes the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. The Jews eat the Seder on the 15th after sundown. Jesus ate on
the 14th after sundown.
But
there is a problem here. We must ask ourselves if HWA taught the correct timing
of Passover. If not, then this issue becomes quite important for Armstrongists
to get correct. What do we see? The Jews will eat the Seder meal one night
later than the Armstrongists.
For
example, in 2010, the Armstrongists will take the bread and wine when they
believe Passover begins, after nightfall on Sunday, March 28th. On
the other hand, the Jews will eat
the Passover meal
when they believe Passover
begins
on Monday, March 29th.
HWA
said that we can be certain that Saturday is the weekly Sabbath because the
Jews have kept it for us. When it comes to annual Sabbaths, on the other hand,
HWA says the Jews don’t know their own celebrations. Well, which is it?
Were certain pagan elements blended into
Easter?
Perhaps.
The bunnies and eggs at first appear to originate from Germanic pagan fertility
symbols. There is good reason to doubt this, though. Eggs were banned during
Lent and Easter would be the first time they were allowed again, so perhaps
that is where colored eggs come from. I can find no other culture that colors
eggs as part of a pagan ritual. None the less, they are not fertility symbols in
Christianity, and they are not in any way integral to the celebration of Christ’s
resurrection. Omit them if you like and it makes no difference to the day.
Why was the name of Pascha changed to
Easter?
We
can only speculate, but the reasoning appears to have something to do with the
fact that the Easter celebration technically lasts from Easter to Pentacost – a
time called the “Paschal Month.” And the old High German name for April was “Eosturmonath.” Thus it would
appear that the timing bears on the name rather than a goddess. That the
goddess even exists is highly unlikely. We owe this idea to a monk named Bede. The
English picked up the name and the rest is history.
Here is an excerpt from Bede about
the naming:
“Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal
month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre,
in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that
Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured
name of the old observance.”
Here
is more information about the various naming of Easter:
“The Greek term for Easter, pascha, has
nothing in common with the verb paschein, "to suffer," although by
the later symbolic writers it was connected with it; it is the Aramaic form of
the Hebrew pesach (transitus, passover). The Greeks called Easter the pascha
anastasimon; Good Friday the pascha staurosimon. The respective terms used by
the Latins are Pascha resurrectionis and Pascha crucifixionis. In the Roman and
Monastic Breviaries the feast bears the title Dominica Resurrectionis; in the
Mozarabic Breviary, In Lætatione Diei Pasch Resurrectionis; in the Ambrosian
Breviary, In Die Sancto Paschæ. The Romance languages haveadopted the
Hebrew-Greek term: Latin, Pascha; Italian, Pasqua; Spanish, Pascua; French,
Pâques. Also some Celtic and Teutonic nations use it:Scottish, Pask; Dutch,
Paschen; The correct word in Dutch is actually Pasen Danish, Paaske; Swedish,
Pask; even in the German provinces of the Lower Rhine the people call the feast
Paisken not Ostern.”
Does the word “Easter” derive from the name
“Ishtar”?
Historical
research points to ‘most likely not’. Easter is an English word after all, and
it is most likely taken from the Old English word “Eastre.” In all of our
studies, we cannot find the term Eastre in use before 900 A.D. All scholars are
not agreed about the etymology, but the most likely origin is the Germanic word
“Eostremonath”, the ancient High German name for the month of April. The first
appearance of this word is found in the writings of a monk named Bede in his
work Temporum Ratione which he wrote
in the early 700’s AD. Etymologically, Eostre appears to come from the word for
east. Some people argue that Eostre is the name of a Germanic fertility goddess
(aka Ostara) and if we go back far enough she derives from Ishtar. However,
there is far more speculation than fact in this claim. But this idea comes from
Jacob Grimm (of Grimm’s Fairy Tales) and even he admits it is entirely
speculative.
It
is important to note that the name of this remembrance of Christ’s resurrection
is only changed in certain Germanic languages and English. To paint that as the
universal name for the celebration is deceptive. The ancient name of the
festival is Pascha, which comes from the Hebrew Pesach, which is Passover.
Greek and all Latin languages use some form of Pascha as the name.
Constantine
the Great
Did Constantine change Saturday to Sunday?
No.
The earliest documents show the Lord’s Day was being observed during the time
of the Apostles. Constantine issued a declaration in 321 A.D. that commanded a
day of rest in the city, but not in the farming communities. This was not a
re-institution or alteration of the Sabbath day, but it did have the effect of
taking away from our true Sabbath in Christ.
Constantine was a pagan, if we observe
Sunday, will we be pagan too?
No.
The earliest documents show the Lord’s Day was being observed during the time
of the Apostles. The Apostle John mentions that Revelation from Christ was
given to him to record on the Lord’s Day. The specific Greek wording bears out
that John was referring to Sunday, and not the prophetic “Day of the Lord.”
Unless you are willing to call the Apostle John a pagan, and by extension throw
out the book of Revelation, then this claim is not to worry yourself over.
Last updated: 2/6/2012 at 12:00 AM
