50 Truths - Part 3

I've done enough in my two previous posts in this series, 50 Truths - Part 1, and 50 Truths - Part 2, to show the overall list of 50 items is spurious; now I wish to go through some of the individual "truths".

#3 First Tithe To God

I will have you know that all things belong to God (PSA. 50: 10-12).  To say the first tithe was God's is correct (LEV. 27: 30); inasmuch as it existed, and all that exists belongs to God.  But there is no special command that says "Give the first tithe to God; He gives it to His ministers." This argument has gone absolutely uninvestigated for decades.  Who does the tithe go to by law? The Levites (NUM. 18: 21), and the Levites alone!  It was a heave offering, given to the Levites, because they were not allowed to inherit nor own property (NUM. 18: 24).  Do these "ministers" own anything?  Why, YES!  Are these "ministers" Levites?  NO!  Then they violate very the law of God which they claim to teach.  Now, where in the New Testament does God give tithes to the ministers? Nowhere. Every possible example of the New Covenant shows giving is voluntary and motivated by the Spirit. In Hebrews 7, Paul shows the greatness of Christ in that even Levi tithed to Him; however the entire priesthood of Aaron & Levi is gone, thus there was a change in the law (HEB. 7: 12).  Paul never says we must tithe because Abraham tithed.  That is a deliberate misreading; Abraham never tithed regularly, he gave one time a tenth of war spoils. Paul was showing the greatness of Christ and His ability to replace the Levites, not continue them.

#4 The Government of God

If the claim is that government of God was restored at the "Philadelphia era", then this claim is false since the government preferred by Herbert Armstrong matched that of the Roman Catholic Church - one man, top-down, heirarchy.  He taught your very salvation depended on your faith in it.  He even claimed it was the one thing the Catholics got right. Meanwhile, he called them the "Great Whore".  Would you be surprised to learn that in the late 1930's, Herbert Armstrong excoriated this very type of government which he himself later adopted, because it came from the Catholics, and that your very salvation depended upon not participating in it?  Read his article entitled "Did Christ Reorganize the Church" from the February 1939 Good News magazine.  Keep in mind as you read that how, in 1933, only 6 years previous, HWA was one of the very 70 against which he teaches.

I forgot to mention... Ellen G. White also practiced that top-down, heirarchical government, before the official formation of the SDA church, which was supposedly introduced to HWA for the first time in 1,800 years.  That unofficially makes this a "Sardis Era" "truth".

#17 The Identity of Modern Israel

Not only is this "truth" not true (see my posts for more info), it was not restored to HWA - he plagierized it from J. H. Allen for crying out loud! The idea is called Brittish-Israelism or Anglo-Israelism, and it's hundreds of years old.

#18 Prophecy Can Be Understood Only If You Know Who Are The Modern Nations of Israel

To quote Herbert Armstrong, "POPPYCOCK!"  Prophecy can only be an effective tool for fear control, and profit, if false prophets can make absurd claims like this.

#19 The Annual Festivals

If the annual festivals were only revealed to Herbert Armstrong, then who are the Jews?  Why doesn't HWA's version of the Holy Days resemble the Jews' in almost any way?  For example, Tabernacles - when did HWA build a booth, and why didn't he?  HWA wasn't in any way the first to teach the holy days to Christians.  Like I said in an earlier post, the Old Covenant holy days were debated since the 1800's. That's well before HWA was called! If they were only revealed at this late date, then they aren't all that necessary, are they?  What I'll let you in on is that from the start the annual holy days were debated, and they were rejected because Christ has fulfilled them!

#20 The Authority of the Sacred Calendar Preserved by the Jews

Time and again HWA depends on the Jews for authority in one area, then completely disagrees with them in others.  Once again I will direct you towards the Feast of Tabernacles as an example of that.  If the aothority of the Jews was so sure in the calendar, why are debates over the calendar arguably the most divisive issue in the xCOGs today?  Tell me, did you notice Shavuot (Pentecost) was on Monday, June 9th this year (2008)?  Odd, eh?

#21 Second and Third Tithe

And again, HWA, who in one place holds the Jews up as keeping the oracles of God, here disagrees with the Jews.  The Jews never kept the second and third tithe in the way HWA taught them.  Some debate there even was a second and third tithe.  But let's look more closely at how the third tithe was supposed to be used (DEU. 26: 12-13).  Yet how was it used in the WCG?  It went to the ministers.

#22 There Has Been An Apostacy That Is Unprecedented In The Church of God

On one hand, this is true.  The "Church of God" really only dates back to around 1884.  However, since I know RW and HWA see the "Church of God" as a series of physical organizations dating from 33AD, I'll just play with that for a second.  Now, let's think for one minute - why are there eras if each and every one of them didn't "fall away"?  Well, that kinda destroys this whole claim, doesn't it?  "This was the biggest of all," he would say.  No it isn't.  Read the history.

#23 The Man of Sin is Joseph Tkatch, Sr.

Impossible.  Don't just read II Thessalonians 2: 4.  The man of sin is destroyed by Christ at His coming (II THS. 2: 8).  Joseph Tkatch, Sr. is deceaced, God rest his soul, and Christ isn't here yet.

#25 The Abomination of Desolation is what Joseph Tkatch Did in the Church

I don't know which of these "truths" to call "the biggest load of crap I've ever heard" because the next one only seems to out do the previous.  If Joseph Tkatch, Sr. initiated the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of in Daniel, that makes him the King of the North (DAN. 11: 31).  Why didn't those who were in Judea flee (MATT. 24: 15-22)?  I mean, it clearly says in Matthew 24: 22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened."  Joseph Tkatch, Sr. passed away in 1995!  That was over a decade ago!!!

#32 Exekiel 5 Has Been Fulfilled In The Church

I used to believe this.  I used to accept that you can take an Old Testament prophecy about Israel and just substitute "United States" or "Church of God" at will.  No longer.

#36 No One Goes To Heaven, Not Even The 144,000

First I'll be anally retentive by quoting Acts 1: 9 "9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight."  Then I'll be a little more specific by referring you to Revelation 14: 1-3, and again by referring you to Revelation 15.

#40 Matthew 24: 14 Was Completely Fulfilled By Herbert Armstrong

Read the last part of Matthew 24: 14 "and then the end will come."  HWA died in 1986!  Is God a liar?  It would appear, according to RW, He is.  I disagree.

I am actually getting tired of going through this list.  Please excuse me if I discontinue updating my list at this point.  Everything after #40 becomes so distasteful to me, I feel I can hardly continue on in a right frame of mind.  I will leave my list here as is.  Perhaps I will revise it at a later date.

Hopefully this list, and the first two parts of this thread, have been helpful.

50 Truths - Part 2

In the previous post in this series, 50 Truths - Part 1, I went through Herbert Armstrong's first three "truths", as listed by Ronald Weinland in his own version entitled "50 Truths of God". This time, I would like to go through more of Ron Weinland's list. Let's see how they hold up, shall we?

Here are 21 beliefs of the "Sardis Era" church (not quite as short a list as the Weinlands would have us believe):

1. The Bible was held to be the only inspired writing.

2. The Holy Spirit is that which abides in the believer and not a third person.

3. Christ was in the tomb exactly three days and three nights, rising at the end of the Sabbath.

4. The apostolic organization and government must be followed today.

5. The "Church of God" is the inspired Bible name for God's people.

6. Prayer and anointing will save the sick.

7. Laying on of hands (at baptism) is to be practiced.

8. Lord's Supper is to be observed annually at the beginning of the 14th of Nisan.

9. The Sabbath is to be observed from even to even.

10. Payment of tithes on increase is obligatory.

11. Participation in carnal warfare is condemned.

12. The Law of clean and unclean meats is to be observed in this age.

13. Habitual use of narcotics and habit-forming drugs, alcohol and tobacco is condemned.

14. Under this gospel age the judgment is upon the house of God.

15. The return of Christ will be literal, personal and visible, is imminent, and He will sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem, ruling the world with the righteous saints on the earth.

16. Righteous saints will be resurrected at His second coming.

17. There will be a final regathering of the dispersed nation of fleshly Israel.

18. The dead are unconscious.

19. The wicked dead are resurrected to final judgment, with no probation but will be eternally destroyed.

20. The Third Angel's Message is a present day message.

21. The seven last plagues are literal and fall at the end of the gospel age.

This list was compiled by A. N. Dugger in Dugger's report in the 1936 Census on the Salem group's doctrinal beliefs, which I got from chapter 11 of a history on the Seventh Day Church of God on giveshare.org. 

Now, Ron Weinland lists only 3 "truths" revealed during the previous "church era" to HWA. This is now shown as being patently false. Mr. Weinland also attributes the next 18 truths in his list to HWA. This is also now shown as being patently false.

Let me summarize those 18 "truths" RW says are granted to HWA: X the government of God is top-down, gospel of the Kingdom of God, God is reproducing Himself,  X God is a family not a trinity, X man does not have an immortal soul, X the church is the "firstfruits" of the first resurrection, X Kingdom of God yet to come, God personally chooses the firstfruits, X 2nd resurrection to judgment, X literal Millennium, [these next 2 seem kinda duplicate to me] Holy Spirit only begets us, begotten not born again, [these next 2 again seem like duplicates] Brittish-Israelism, Brittish-Israelism necessary to understand prophecy, Old Covenant holy days mandatory, Jewish authority of the Hebrew calendar, second and third tithes.

I have placed a large red X in front of the "truth" that RW attributes to HWA, but is in fact one of the things believed by the so-called "Sardis era" before the time the so-called "Philadelphia era" had begun. I count 7 things. That's 7 out of 18 things, greater than one third, that Ron Weinland doesn't know about his own history! What I haven't mentioned is that A. N. Dugger's list also overlaps a few of RW's next 21 points which he claims were revealed after HWA's demise. Nor have I mentioned that the Old Covenant holy days were debated since the 1800's, and were being kept by some long before Herbert Armstrong came on the scene (I leave it unchecked since it wasn't the official position of the COG7). Also, I'm going easy here. RW has enough people working to show him a false prophet; they don't need my help. When you, if you have anything at all to do with Armstrongism, read that first list, I know that you recognize much more than 7 things which you believed. It's like I said, Armstrong was not the first in 1,800 years to teach anything.

If Ron Weinland doesn't know these things, then in what way is such a list presumed valid?

In my next post [which you can find here] I would like to go into much more detail about a few of the "truths" in Ron Weinland's list.

50 Truths - part 1

I was recently meandering about aimlessly across our good friend, the Internet, when I happened upon a serious list.  Usually I enjoy lists. Cracked.com's top 10 lists are generally entertaining.  This particular list, however was more disturbing than anything else. The list I refer to is Ronald Weinland's "50 Truths of God". This is quite a few more than Herbert Armstrong's "18 truths".

Now, there was a day when I would have probably eaten something like this up - put it on a plate and sopped it up with a biscuit. However, since my recent change of opinion I find myself in great disagreement with the list.

I intend to take up some post time in order to address some of the particularly outstanding "truths".

*ahem*

Under the section header "Truths Remaining At the End of Sardis", there are three "truths" listed: the seventh day Sabbath, the name of God's church, and First Tithe to God.

About the seventh day Sabbath: it is true that the Sabbath of the Bible is the seventh day of the week, aka Saturday.

According to The Painful Truth's article about Sunday, only the Babylonians and Jews were known to keep time according to weeks, especially 7-day weeks. The Greeks and Romans did not. The only day of the week which the Jews named as opposed to numbered was the seventh day; the Sabbath. Therefore, it is historically accurate to say that the Sabbath of the Bible is the seventh day.

Buuuuuuttttt.... this first "truth" claims the seventh day Sabbath remained in the "Sardis Era". That claim needs to be verified. (In order to understand what a Sardis Era is, read the letters to the 7 churches found in Revelation 2 & 3. According to G. G. Rupert, and later Herbert Armstrong, those churches are symbolic for periods of time, called "eras". According to Herbert Armstrong, the Church of God (Seventh Day) is the dead Sardis Era, and his own Worldwide Church of God was the Philadelphia Era. Ron Weinland, as with most xCOG splinters, believe they are Philadelphia carry-overs into the Laodicean era.)

Any simple history check will lead you to understand that the seventh day Sabbath sprang up from virtually nowhere in England around 1650. Protestant reformation was all the rage back then. A group of Baptists (including William Saller, Peter Chamberlain, Francis Bampfield, Edward and Joseph Stennett) decided to keep the Sabbath. They had a great deal of influence on one Steven Mumford, who then came to America and preached the sabbath among the Baptists in New England with whom he fellowshipped.  Mumford was no great thing in the church, he was just a guy who came to America and preached the Sabbath. In 1671, after the first church split of a Sabbatarian group in America, the Seventh Day Baptist Church was born.

**Now, I want you to keep in mind something; something important. These Seventh Day Baptists were not any different from any other Baptist church, except they had a belief in the legality of the 10 Commandments. That's it. (I make it sound small, but I admit the implications are larger than they immediately appear.)

Also, notice how they do not have the marker, the indicator of a true church, the name "Church of God". Remember, according to Armstrongism, God's church bears his name.

Skip a few years ahead to 1831 when William Miller (a Baptist) started down the road to being a false prophet. He started the Advent movement by proclaiming the return of Jesus in 1843. He had a few years to gather a following. One Seventh Day Baptist, Rachel Oaks, introduced the idea of the seventh day Sabbath to the group, and that spread. After Miller's Great Disappointment, the addition of some other characters such as Ellen G. White, and a church split, the Seventh Day Adventists were born.

**Once again, notice the church does NOT bear the name "Church of God". Thus, the Worldwide Church of God claimed the SDA churh was never God's church. No matter how you want to spin it, the group that became the SDA church was undeniably the direct ancestor of the WCG.

Notice the cherry-picking of facts. According to Armstrongism, the SDA church is NOT God's church because they don't bear the name "Church of God" (and because they don't keep the holy days). This is despite the fact that one of HWA's greatest influences, G. G. Rupert, was an SDA minister for many years (or perhaps because of it). However, on the other hand, the Seventh Day Baptists ARE God's church, despite the fact that they are farther from Armstrongism than the SDA church?

Meanwhile, a man affiliated with the Adventist group (that later became the SDA church), one Mr. Gilbert Cranmer, was not impressed with Ellen G. White. He refused to accept her as a prophetess, and left in 1858 to form his own organization. His preaching was fruitful from the 1860's to the 1880's when the Church of Christ was formed, and immediately changed its name to Church of God, and shortly thereafter Church of God (Seventh Day).

Eventually there was a church split. A. N. Dugger, a man greatly influential on Herbert Armstrong, formed his own church. Herbert Armstrong went with him. In time, they got back together with the original organization and formed the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day). This almost immediately led to three more splits.

Here is a nice history to fill in some gaps should you find yourself interested. (Take it with a grain of salt.)

Now, what does this history have to do with anything?

1) According to WCG's own criteria, the Seventh Day Baptists and the Seventh Day Adventists could not be the Sardis Era, since they were not named "Church of God". However, that is the very claim Armstrong makes - it is the second "truth". Otherwise, this would mean the "Sardis Era" started in 1884 when Gilbert Cranmer formed the "Church of God". Either way, this is clearly cherry-picking the criteria.

2) These groups did not start with a great deal of "truths" then die away from them, as the pejorative "dead era" would imply. At the first they were Seventh Day Baptists, who were Baptists being Baptists yet keeping the seventh day Sabbath. Also, William Miller did not at first keep the Sabbath, but it was introduced later. Only when we get into the 20th century will you see any buildup of so-called "truths". The COG7 was growing in "truths" while HWA was claiming they were dieing from them. At any rate, the details of the first "truth" claim "God's people have always obeyed the seventh day Sabbath." That simply isn't historically true!

As for the tithes; yes it is true the Adventists and COG7 teach tithing. They do not, however, demand tithes.  Most especially 3 tithes, 7 holy day offerings, tithe of a tithe, and free-will offerings as often as you can afford them like the WCG demanded. People are free to tithe or not; it's more of a guideline. The COG7 has no set rules to which people must adhere. Yet this doesn't even address the claim that tithes are unscriptural for the New Testament Church.

According to the law, only Levites were allowed to accept a tithe and tithes were of the garden, field, and flock only - cash income was not tithable. Unless a genuine pedigreed Levite wearing the legally commanded garb of a Levite and performing the legally commanded rituals of a Levite can be found, no one can tithe according to the law. That is Bible law! That priesthood in its entirety was replaced by the Living Christ anyhow, so even if one is located, I still will not be sending tithes to him. To do otherwise, in my view, is to deny the very High Priesthood and sovereignty of Christ Himself. I could go on and on about the tithe. Some day I might.

I conclude this third "truth" to be a tradition only and not a "truth" at all.

This effectively wipes out all three of the first "truths". In the next installment [which you can find here], I will move on to the "Truths Revealed During the Philadelphia Era".