Church of God News

Born as Dimitrios Arhondonis, he has been known as the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople since 1991

COGwriter

The following item in yesterday’s news was of interest:

Eastern Orthodox faithful celebrate Easter tomorrow

The Gazette, Montreal - April 26, 2008

Montreal’s Eastern Orthodox Christian community - Greeks, Ukrainians, Russians, Serbians, Armenians and Romanians - is observing Holy Week…

There are 11 major Orthodox churches in Montreal, serving about 100,000 people. The differences among them are ethnic or linguistic, not theological.

The spiritual focus today is one of quiet mourning, solemn meditation and strict fasting, recalling Jesus’s entombment.

Pascha, or Easter, will be celebrated after midnight tonight.

The two Christian communities - Orthodox and Western rite - observe Easter vigils on different dates because they follow different calendars.

Orthodox churches rely on lunar cycles to fix the date for Easter. The rest of the Christian world accepts the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=db21a78e-edc1-408d-bbd8-3ea9aa570086

And although the Orthodox are off by about a week (the last day of Unleavened Bread was yesterday and Passover was sunset after April 18th), they are closer to the date than the Catholics or Protestants (most of whom do not realize that what they call Easter was originally supposed to be Passover moved to a Sunday observance.

The Orthodox Church reports this brief explanation of a change to Sunday in one of its timelines:

193 A.D. - Council of Rome, presided over by Bishop Victor, condemns the celebration of Pascha on Nisan 14, and addresses a letter to Polycrates of Ephesus and the Churches in Asia.

193 A.D. - Council of Ephesus, presided over by Bishop Polycrates, and attended by several bishops throughout Asia, reject the authority of Victor of Rome, and keep the Asian paschal tradition (Markou, Stavros L. K. An Orthodox Christian Historical Timeline. Copyright © 2003 OrthodoxFaith.com).

Although It appears that the Orthodox Church officially began to accept Easter around 190 A.D. (as it, as a Sunday holiday, originated in Rome a few decades earlier, though the churches in Asia Minor did not accept the change from Passover on the 14th of Nisan), those in Asia Minor (where it claims apostolic succession) did not accept the Roman change. Yet, the Orthodox Church officially made the change, based not on the Bible, but on a church council/synod.

Most who call themselves Christians do not realize that Passover was celebrated by pretty much all those who professed Christ in the first and second centuries. And that the change to Easter Sunday was because of Roman pronouncements.

The change involved MORE than simply the date–the practices and meaning were also sadly changed from that the early true Christian church had as history records.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Living Church of God Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Melito’s Homily on the Passover This is one of the earliest Christian writings about the Passover. This also includes what Apollinaris wrote on the Passover as well.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible? Did you know that Catholic scholars really do not believe that several of the claimed “apostolic sees” of the Orthodox have apostolic succession–despite the fact that the current pontiff himself seems to wish to ignore this view? Is there actually a true church that has ties to any of the apostles that is not part of the Catholic or Orthodox churches? Read this article if you truly are interested in the truth on this matter!
Passover and the Early Church Did the early Christians observe Passover? What did Jesus and Paul teach? Why did Jesus die for our sins?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? What do scholars and the Bible reveal?

Patriarch Alexius II of Russia (also known as Alexy II)

The following news item was of interest:

Russia embraces its church, leaving western faiths in the cold

International Herald Tribune - April 24, 2008 …

There was a time after the fall of Communism when small Protestant congregations blossomed here in southwestern Russia, when a church was almost as easy to set up as a general store. Today, this industrial region has become emblematic of the suppression of religious freedom under President Vladimir Putin.

Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin’s surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. They have all but banned proselytizing by Protestants and discouraged Protestant worship through a variety of harassing measures, according to dozens of interviews with government officials and religious leaders across Russia.

This close alliance between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church has become a defining characteristic of Putin’s tenure, a mutually reinforcing choreography that is usually described here as working “in symphony.”

Putin makes frequent appearances with the church’s leader, Patriarch Aleksei II, on the Kremlin-controlled national television networks. Last week, Putin was shown prominently accepting an invitation from Aleksei II to attend services for Russian Orthodox Easter, which is this Sunday.

The relationship is grounded in part in a common nationalistic ideology dedicated to restoring Russia’s might after the disarray that followed the end of the Soviet Union. The church’s hostility toward Protestant groups, many of which are based in the United States, or have large followings there, is tinged with the same anti-Western sentiment often voiced by Putin and other senior officials.

The government’s antipathy also seems to stem in part from the Kremlin’s wariness toward independent organizations that are not allied with the government.

Here in Stary Oskol, 300 miles south of Moscow, the police evicted a Seventh-day Adventist congregation from its meeting hall, forcing it to hold services in a ramshackle home next to a construction site. Evangelical Baptists were barred from renting a theater for a Christian music festival, and were not even allowed to hand out toys at an orphanage. A Lutheran minister said he moved away for a few years because he feared for his life. He has returned, but keeps a low profile.

On local television last month, the city’s chief Russian Orthodox priest, who is a confidant of the region’s most powerful politicians, gave a sermon that was repeated every few hours. His theme: Protestant heretics.

“We deplore those who are led astray — those Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, evangelicals, Pentecostals and many others who cut Christ’s robes like bandits, who are like the soldiers who crucified Christ, who ripped apart Christ’s holy coat,” declared the priest, the Rev. Aleksei Zorin…

The Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and Putin has often spoken against discrimination. “In modern Russia, tolerance and tolerance for other beliefs are the foundation for civil peace, and an important factor for social progress,” he said at a meeting of religious leaders in 2006.

Putin has also denounced anti-Semitism. While many Jews have emigrated over the past two decades, the Jewish community — now a few hundred thousand people — is experiencing something of a rebirth here.

Anti-Semitism has not disappeared. But in some regions it seems to have been supplanted by anti-Protestantism and, to a lesser extent, anti-Catholicism.

Mikhail Odintsov, a senior aide in the office of Russia’s human rights commissioner, who was nominated by Putin, said most of the complaints his office received about religion involved Protestants.

Odintsov listed the issues: “Registration, reregistration, problems with property illegally taken away, problems with construction of church buildings, problems with renovations, problems with ministers coming from abroad, problems with law enforcement, usually with the police. Problems, problems, problems and more problems.”

“In Russia,” he said, “there isn’t any significant, influential political force, party or any form of organization that upholds and protects the principle of freedom of religion.”

This absence looms especially large at the regional level. At the request of a Russian Orthodox bishop, prosecutors in the western region of Smolensk shut down a Methodist church last month, supposedly for running a tiny Sunday school without an educational license. The church’s defenders noted that many churches and other religious groups in Russia ran religious schools without licenses and had never been prosecuted.

The FSB has been waging a battle across Russia against Jehovah’s Witnesses. In Nizhny Novgorod, in the nation’s center, the local Jehovah’s Witnesses have had to cancel religious events at least a dozen times in the last few months after the FSB threatened owners of meetings halls, the church’s members said.

In February, some officials in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest, proposed creating a commission to combat what it called “totalitarian sects.” The governor of the Tula region, near Moscow, charged that American military intelligence was using Protestant “sects” to infiltrate Russia.

Officials do not say precisely which groups they are referring to, but Protestant ministers say the epithet is so widespread that most Russians assume the speakers mean all Protestants.

The term has clearly seeped into the public’s consciousness.

“As a Russian Orthodox believer, I am against the sects,” said Valeriya Gubareva, a retired teacher, who was asked about Protestants as she was leaving a Russian Orthodox church here. “Our Russian Orthodox religion is inviolable, and it should not be shaken.”

Like other parishioners interviewed, Gubareva said she supported freedom of religion.

A New Identity

While church attendance in Russia is very low, polls show that Russians are embracing Russian Orthodoxy as part of their identity. In one recent poll, 71 percent of respondents described themselves as Russian Orthodox, up from 59 percent in 2003…

“Naturally, it will be perceived as propaganda directed at our population,” Kotenyov said. ” ‘What kind of propaganda are you preaching?’ ” they would ask. ‘An American faith?’ “

“This is how they think: If you are a Russian person, it means that you have to be Russian Orthodox.” http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/24/europe/24church.php

Few people in the West seem to know much about the “Orthodox” religion or any differences the Russian Orthodox have with the Greek Orthodox or the Living Church of God.

And actually, just the dress of Patriarch Alexius II should should show those interested in biblical Christianity  that Living Church of God leaders are more faithful to the Bible than  Orthodox patriarchs are.

Three articles of related interest may include:

Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Living Church of God Both groups claim to represent the original Christian faith. Do you know much about them? Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Russia: Its Origins and Prophesied Future Where do the Russians come from? What is prophesied for Russia? What will it do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end?
What Were the Early Duties and Dress of Elders/Pastors? Were the duties of the clergy primarily pastoral or sacramental? Did they dress with special liturgical vestments? Can “bishops” be disqualified as ministers of Christ based on their head coverings?

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH

COGwriter

In the May-June issue of Together: Worldwide Church of God News, WCG reported:

New name for WCG online education

We are pleased to make two announcements. Our online graduate program will now be known as Grace Communion Seminary; secondly, we are opening enrollment to WCG members who have bachelor degrees.

The name Grace Communion Seminary (GCS) has been adopted as an appropriate description of the theological content and level of our online graduate program. Ambassador College, a California Corporation, will now be doing business as Grace Communion Seminary…

“Assimilating New People” seminar…

Randy Bloom (a member of the CAD Ministry Development Team)… conducted this workshop for Abundant Grace Fellowship in Ft. Myers, FL…

The truth is that WCG is using the term “grace” a lot these days.  However, notice what the NIV teaches about some who did that:

They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality (Jude 4, NIV).

And truly, that is what happened to WCG.  Those there simply do not understand grace.  WCG now teaches license to sin, but they like to use the term grace as a cover.

They really need to study what the Bible really teaches.

Several articles of related interest may include:

What Did Jesus Teach About the Ten Commandments? This article quotes what Jesus actually said about them (His words are in red).
Were the Ten Commandments Nailed to the Cross? Some have said so. This article provides some biblical quotes to answer this important question.
What Did Paul Actually Teach About the Ten Commandments? Many say Paul taught against the ten commandments. Is this true? This article quotes Paul with his words in green.
Are the Ten Commandment Still in Effect? This article quotes the ten commandments and combines some of the previous articles into one article about the ten commandments. The commandments are shown at Mount Sinai, before Mount Sinai, in the teachings of Jesus, after the crucifixion, and in the teachings of Paul. It addresses the most common “traditions of men” regarding them as well.
Were the Pharisees Condemned for Keeping the Law or Reasoning Around it? Many believe that the Pharisees were condemned for keeping the law, but what does your Bible say? If they were not condemned for that, what were they condemned for?
The Ten Commandments Reflect Love, Breaking them is Evil Some feel that the ten commandments are a burden. Is that what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John taught?
Was the Commandment to Love the Only Command? Some have stated that John’s writings teach this, but is that what the Bible really says?

The Ten Commandments and the Early Church Did Jesus and the Early Church keep the ten commandments? What order were they in? Here are quotes from the Bible and early writings.

Did Early Christians Eat Unleavened Bread Each Year?

COGwriter

Should Christians keep the days of unleavened bread?

Strangely, most who profess Christ have no idea that the days of unleavened bread for 2008 began yesterday–and runs until Saturday evening this week.  Nor do the think they should keep them.

Of course, Jesus, His Disciples, Paul, and early Christians kept them.

And even though the Apostle Paul instructed Christians to keep them,  most read over what the Bible clearly states on this.

While most professing Christians are aware that I Corinthians 5:7 teaches that “indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us”, they do not seem to literally observe the verse that follows. “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (I Corinthians 5:8). Actually, most professing Christians do not seem to be aware that they are supposed to keep any biblical feast. There are many reasons, though, to so do.

Perhaps before going further, I should quote and comment the entire verse of 1 Corinthians 5:7:

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

Notice clearly that the Corinthians must have been observing the Days of Unleavened Bread because the Apostle Paul stated “you truly are unleavened”. The problem that the Corinthians had was that they were not unleavened spiritually. That is why Paul continued and told them to also spiritually be unleavened “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”. This is what the Bible shows that the Apostle Paul was teaching. Do you believe it?

Furthermore, in Romans 3:25 it states, “in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed”. Does this mean we are to continue is sin? Of course not! A few verses later Paul wrote, “On the contrary, we establish the law” (Rom 3:31). So while most understand that the Passover pictures a remembrance of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice (I Cor 11:24-26), many seem to not understand that we are not to continue in sin.

Why?

Maybe one of the reasons is that they do not observe the Days of Unleavened Bread.

The Worldwide Church of God officially used to teach and keep the Days of Unleavened Bread. But no longer. In the February 1999 issue of its official publication The Worldwide News (WWN), it contained the following information in an article written by Don Mear,

“We knew that Jesus commanded us to “eat his flesh and drink his blood” by taking the bread and wine of communion. And we understood that in doing so we were partaking of the Lamb of God. We did it annually because we saw the Lamb of God as being the Passover lamb, and we knew that the Passover was an annual observance. But Jesus is more than just the Passover lamb…The author of Hebrews pointed out that we Christians “have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.” His implication is that just as they had their altar to eat from, we have our own altar to eat from. And by extension, as freely as they ate from theirs, we may eat from ours. This points us to the conclusion that Christians, who under the new covenant, are a nation of priests (1 Pet. 2:9), may eat of the sacrificial Lamb of God just as freely and frequently as did those priests of the old covenant. We are not restricted to eating the Lamb of God only once a year, any more than they were. Jesus is always our sin offering; he is always our guilt offering; he is always our peace and thank offering…Thank God our Father for the communion he gives us with himself in his beloved Son!”

Although the preceding quote suggests otherwise, the fact is that priests only ate the Passover once per year.

If the Days of Unleavened Bread were always kept in conjunction with Passover (which they always are in the Bible), then the sort of logic in the WWN article would be shown to be false. If every time one consumed the symbols representing body and blood of Jesus, they also had to keep seven days of Unleavened Bread and this was done weekly, then those so doing would never consume regular bread!

Now for those that argue that keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread is just a physical thing, there are two points to consider: the point of purging leaven out is to have sin out of our life (which is spiritual) and consuming the “Lamb of God” is also physical (with spiritual implications). Doing one without the other reminds me of certain Asiatic religions which feel that spinning a prayer wheel is equivalent to spending hours in prayer. Those followers probably at least think about some deity before they spin the wheel, but is that how God really wants to be worshiped? Does He approve of other “traditions of men” over His word?

Now it is true that leaven is not always shown to be bad. Jesus even stated, “the kingdom of God…is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures till it was all leavened” (Luke 13:20-21). This parable seems to illustrate that, even though the leaven was at first hidden, in the future all will know the true religion. Which is consistent with Habakkuk 2:14, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea”.

Thus, leaven may be a symbol of false religion now, but true religion in the future.

Some may wonder if early Christians kept the Days of Unleavened Bread. Well, as shown before, Paul taught that they should. But what about others?

Notice what the Catholic writer Eusebius recorded that Polycrates of Ephesus, around 195 A.D. wrote the following to the Roman Bishop Victor who, as the previous writing showed, wanted all who professed Christ to change Passover from the 14th of Nisan to Sunday:

We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ‘ We ought to obey God rather than man’ (Eusebius. Church History, Book V, Chapter 24. Translated by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. Excerpted from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series Two, Volume 1. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. American Edition, 1890. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Notice that Polycrates said that he and the other early church leaders (like the Apostles Philip and John, and their successors like Polycarp, Thraseas, Eumenia, Sagaris, Papirius, Melito) would not deviate from the Bible, and that they knew the Bible taught them to keep the Passover on the correct date, and not on a Sunday. Also notice that they always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. Polycrates also reminded the Roman bishop that true followers of Christ “obey God rather than men”.

Adventist researcher Daniel Liechty reported Sabbath-keepers in Transylvania in the 1500s and later kept the biblical Holy Days (such as the Feast of Trumpets called Day of Remembrance below) (and those are days his church does not observe):

The Sabbatarians viewed themselves as converted Gentiles.. They held to the biblical holidays. Passover they celebrated with unleavened bread…The first and last seventh day of Passover were full holidays…There is no mention of circumcision, so it is unlikely that they practiced circumcision (Liechty D. Sabbatarianism in the Sixteenth Century. Andrews University Press, Berrien Springs (MI), 1993, pp. 61-62).

Notice that in the 1600s, those who kept the days of unleavened bread were persecuted for their beliefs:

And finally, the tragic “Accord of Deés” or Complanatio Deesiana in July 1638 definitely disjoined Sabbatarians from Unitarians. Unitarians were ordered to worship Jesus, baptize in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and to allow their publications censured–a coerced “complanatio.” The “Judaizers” and those who rejected and cursed Jesus, however, were excluded even from the new amnesty. Sabbatarians were easy target of the new discriminatory law: they observed the Sabbath, therefore they farmed on Sundays, abstained from eating pork and blood, celebrated the Passover with unleavened bread, and refused baptism of their children–the very sign of their expected conversion” (Gellérd, Judit. Spiritual Jews of Szekler Jerusalem A Four-Centuries History of Transylvanian Szekler (Székely) Sabbatarianism. In Literature of Memory VI: Hope and Despair STH TS 870, Fall 2000 Professor Elie Wiesel. http://www.unitarius.hu/cffr/papers/sabbat.htm–12/14/02).

Note that the “Judaizers” are separate from “those who rejected and cursed Jesus”. In this region, there were both true Christians (the “Judaizers” who celebrated the Passover with unleavened bread, etc.) and those who rejected Christ as Messiah (hence the Judaizers were not actually unitarian).

The New Testament shows that Christians continued to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread. Historians recorded that later Christians also kept the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Since most who profess Christ do not seem to consider that the early true Christian Church was much more “Jewish” than Greco-Roman, they tend to accept Greco-Roman holidays instead of the biblical ones that God gave to the Jews, that Jesus Himself kept, and that His early followers most definitely kept.

By keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread, Christians picture that they have heard the word of God, accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, try to put the word of God into practice, and have symbolically put false religion and sin out of their lives. By keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread, Christians show that they are willing to obey God over the traditions of men.

In conclusion, as is says in I Corinthians 5:8, “Therefore let us keep the feast”.

Two articles of related interest may include:

Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread? Do they have any use or meaning now? What is leaven?  What is leaven a symbol of? This article supplies some biblical answers.
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH 

WCG Was NOT Transformed BY Truth, but FROM Truth

COGwriter 

In the April/May 2008 edition of WCG’s Christian Odyssey, Paul Kroll wrote:

renaeus has been called the most important Christian theologian between the apostles and the third century. He was a Greek born in Roman Proconsular Asia, today southwestern Turkey, probably between A.D. 130-140…

His widely-circulated theological work in five books was titled On the Detection and Refutation of the Knowledge Falsely So Called. Written about 175-185, it exposed the heresies of various Gnostic sects, especially the most sophisticated group, the Valentinians…

Trinitarian theology

Irenaeus testified to the church’s Trinitarian understanding of God’s nature long before the councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) produced their traditional confessional creed. “Indeed in his various statements of faith there appear all the essentials of the Creed of Nicaea except its technical terms.”

Irenaeus explained that the church “received from the apostles and their disciples the faith in one God the Father Almighty…and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, incarnate for our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit.” He also insisted that God’s word witnesses to the Son of God in the Incarnation being fully God as well as true man. “All the prophets and apostles and the Spirit itself” testify to this, he said…

Irenaeus’ legacy is his struggle to preserve and pass on the revelation of God that had been given to the apostles whom Christ chose. It’s no wonder both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches consider him among the special “saints” of the church and Catholics celebrate a memorial festival day in his honor each June 28th. 

It is astounding that WCG, the Catholics, the Orthodox, and the Protestants try to rely on Irenaeus for much, but especially this.

Irenaeus was a BINITARIAN, not a trinitarian, writer. 

Furthermore, it was heretic Valentinus (who WCG acknowledges that Irenaeus wrote against) who was perhaps the first one to attempt to claim that Christians should accept the trinity.

Notice what was what it is recorded by a one-time Catholic bishop named Marcellus of Ancyra on the nature of God around the middle of the fourth century,

Now with the heresy of the Ariomaniacs, which has corrupted the Church of God…These then teach three hypostases, just as Valentinus the heresiarch first invented in the book entitled by him ‘On the Three Natures’.  For he was the first to invent three hypostases and three persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he is discovered to have filched this from Hermes and Plato (Source: Logan A. Marcellus of Ancyra (Pseudo-Anthimus), ‘On the Holy Church’: Text, Translation and Commentary. Verses 8-9.  Journal of Theological Studies, NS, Volume 51, Pt. 1, April 2000, p.95 ).

The fact is that Valentinus was probably the first trinitarian to feign Christianity. 

Near the end of the second century (Circa 180), Irenaeus wrote this in his famous paper against heresies:

…there is none other called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, and the Son, and those who possess the adoption (Irenaeus. Adversus haereses, Book IV, Preface, Verse 4. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Notice that he does not say that the Holy Spirit is also called God. Also notice that Irenaeus states that only the Father, the Son, and those who possess the adoption (Christians) are God (hence his writings support the idea of deification as LCG teaches it–see Deification: Did the Early Church Teach That Christians Would Become God?). This is a binitarian, not a trinitarian view.  Hence, he clearly was NOT TRINITARIAN.

At least one trinitarian scholar has acknowledged:

The language of the New Testament permits the Holy Spirit to be understood as an impersonal force or influence more readily than it does the Son…The attempt to develop an understanding of the Holy Spirit consistent with the trinitarian passages…came to fruition at Constantinople in 381…those who saw the Holy Spirit as a Person, were often heretical, for example, the Montanists (Brown HOJ. Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody (MA), 1988, p. 140).

The fact is that the early church held to a binitarian, not trinitarian, view of the Godhead.

But to actually claim that Irenaeus was trinitarian when he wrote against the first one who claimed that Christians should be trinitarian, is bizarre.

But that is what happens when a group is transformed from the truth of the Bible to traditions of men.

Several articles of related interest may include:

Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the BeginningIs binitarianism the correct position? What about unitarianism or trinitarianism?
Is The Father God? What is the view of the Bible? What was the view of the early church?
Jesus is God, But Was Made Man Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what?
Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings Are traditions on equal par with scripture? Many believe that is what Peter, John, and Paul taught. But did they?
Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity? Or did they have a different view?
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?
Valentinus: The Gnostic Trinitarian Heretic He apparently was the first Christ-professing heretic to come up with the idea of three hypostases.

Protestant Reformer Martin Luther 

COGwriter 

This morning, WCG sent out an email linking to the following written by its Joseph Tkach (bolding his):

The Apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the church in Rome nearly 2000 years ago. The letter is only a few pages long, less than 10,000 words, but its impact has been profound. At least three times in the history of the Christian Church this epistle has produced an upheaval that forever changed the church for the better.

One was in the early 1500s when an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther was trying to ease his conscience through living what he called a “life without reproach.” Yet in spite of obeying all the rituals and prescribed ordinances of his priestly order, Luther still felt alienated from God.

Then, as a university lecturer on the book of Romans, Luther found himself drawn to Paul’s declaration in Romans 1:17:

 “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (NIV).

The truth of this powerful passage finally struck Luther for what it was. He wrote:

“There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God…namely the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith…Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.”

I think you know what happened next. Luther could not keep quiet about his rediscovery of the pure and simple gospel. The Protestant Reformation was a result.

As typical of many Protestants, Martin Luther’s writings are normally “sanitized” when quoted lest people really understand what Martin Luther really stood for.

The truth is that Martin Luther CHANGED a slightly later verse in Romans to justify a rallying cry he invented for the Protestant Reformation. 

Martin Luther, in his German translation of the Bible, specifically added the word “allein” (English ‘alone’) to Romans 3:28-a word that is not in the original Greek. Notice what a Protestant scholar has admitted:

…Martin Luther would once again emphasize…that we are “justified by faith alone”, apart from the works of the Law” (Rom. 3:28), adding the German word allein (”alone”) in his translation of the Greek text. There is certainly a trace of Marcion in Luther’s move (Brown HOJ. Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody (MA), 1988, pp. 64-65).

Furthermore, Martin Luther himself reportedly said,

You tell me what a great fuss the Papists are making because the word alone in not in the text of Paul…say right out to him: ‘Dr. Martin Luther will have it so,’…I will have it so, and I order it to be so, and my will is reason enough. I know very well that the word ‘alone’ is not in the Latin or the Greek text (Stoddard J. Rebuilding a Lost Faith. 1922, pp. 101-102; see also Luther M. Amic. Discussion, 1, 127).

This passage strongly suggests that Martin Luther viewed his opinions, and not the actual Bible as the primary authority–a concept which this author will name prima Luther. By “papists” he is condemning Roman Catholics, but is needs to be understood that Protestant scholars (like HOJ Brown) also realize that Martin Luther changed that scripture.

So how could WCG’s J. Tkach actually write, “The truth of this powerful passage finally struck Luther for what it was“?

The truth of that passage was NEVER understood by Martin Luther because Martin Luther CHANGED THE BIBLE so he could promote lawlessness and justify his killings and hatreds.

Notice the following written by a Protestant theologian:

Alan Dershowitz opined, “’It is shocking that Luther’s ignoble name is still honored rather than forever cursed by mainstream Protestant churches.’”[1]  This sad state of affairs led the late Reformation historian Heiko Oberman to lament that many would have us choose between “two Luthers” – one, the “bold Reformer, the liberating theologian, the powerfully eloquent German”; the other, an “anti-Semite” who “wrote mainly about Jews,” and “preached hatred.”[2]  Such a choice is, of course, unnecessary.

Sadly, the history of Christianity has indeed been riddled by varying degrees of antisemitism, leading to oppression, marginalization, and – as in the Crusades and the Holocaust – even murder of Jews.[3]  While Luther certainly did not invent antisemitism, one cannot discuss the question of Christian antisemitism without reference to him.  He wrote at least five treatises on the subject of “the Jews” [4].  One in particular has fueled the greatest discussion of the reformer’s attitude toward Jews…

If Protestant Christians are to sincerely proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all peoples, including Jews, such an enterprise must be entered into with full knowledge of the horrendous mistakes – indeed sins - of Christian forebears, including Luther’s (Probst C. Martin Luther and “The Jews” A Reprisal. The Theologian, UK (undated)  viewed 04/04/08 http://www.theologian.org.uk/churchhistory/lutherandthejews.html

The truth is worse than even portrayed above.   Martin Luther was NOT a true Christian, nor sadly are his Protestant followers.

Notice that Martin Luther advised his followers,

…to burn down Jewish schools and synagogues, and to throw pitch and sulphur into the flames; to destroy their homes; to confiscate their ready money in gold and silver; to take from them their sacred books, even the whole Bible; and if that did not help matters, to hunt them of the country like mad dogs (Luther’s Works, vol. Xx, pp. 2230-2632 as quoted in Stoddard JL. Rebuilding a Lost Faith, 1922, p.99).

Accordingly, it must and dare not be considered a trifling matter but a most serious one to seek counsel against this and to save our souls from the Jews, that is, from the devil and from eternal death. My advice, as I said earlier, is: First, that their synagogues be burned down, and that all who are able toss in sulphur and pitch (Martin Luther (1483-1546): On the Jews and Their Lies, 1543 as quoted from Luther’s Works, Volume 47: The Christian in Society IV, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971). pp 268­, 293). 

The fact is that Martin Luther, while correctly pointing out some of the flaws of the Roman Catholic Church, simply was not a real Christian.  Real Christians do not advocate racial hatred, nor do they kill (see also Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare?).

And people like WCG’s J. Tkach should know better than to promote Martin Luther.

Articles of related interest may include:

Sola Scriptura or Prima Luther? What Did Martin Luther Really Believe About the Bible? Though he is known for his public sola Scriptura teaching, did Martin Luther’s writings about the Bible suggest he felt that prima Luther was his ultimate authority? Statements from him changing and/or discounting 18 books of the Bible are included. Do you really want to know the truth?
Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
The Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert W. Armstrong This article clearly shows some of the doctrinal differences between in the two. At this time of doctrinal variety and a tendency by many to accept certain aspects of Protestantism, the article should help clarify why the Living Church of God is NOT Protestant. Do you really know what the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther taught and should you follow his doctrinal example?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH 

COGwriter

In his latest “Speaking of Life” announcement, WCG’s J. Tkach teaches:

When God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt, he gave them the worship practice of sacrificing lambs. Before the first Passover, they were instructed to

“take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs” (Exodus 12:7 NIV).

The blood became a sign for Israel to remember that the death angel passed over their houses and did not invoke a death penalty of the firstborn in each house…

In the New Testament the theme about lambs and sin continues. The apostle John records that when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward the Jordan River, he said,

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NIV). Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, and when he died and rose for all human sin…

Jesus is not only the Creator and Judge of all things, he is also the sacrificial Lamb who takes the sins of the world upon himself and forgives them all. He is what the law always pointed to, but could never accomplish in itself. He is both the Creator and the Redeemer of his Universe. I encourage you to live in the redemption he has given us!

It is true that Jesus is the Lamb of God.  However, it is also true that Jesus set an example for us and observed the Christian Passover–He also told His followers to do this (Luke 22:15-19).

Sadly, J. Tkach and the Worldwide Church of God, although they quote some aspects of the Bible, in order to accept traditions of men, they have been transformed from the biblical truths to the point that they endorse Easter, a fertility holiday named after a pagan goddess.

Of course, you do not have to.  You can avoid pagan holidays and observe the biblical ones, such as Passover.  The holidays based upon the traditions of men simply do not properly explain God’s plan of salvation.

But the biblical holy days do.  Will you obey God or the traditions of men?

Several articles of related interest may include:

Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.
Passover and the Early Church Did the early Christians observe Passover? What did Jesus and Paul teach? Why did Jesus die for our sins?
Melito’s Homily on the Passover This is one of the earliest Christian writings about the Passover. This also includes what Apollinaris wrote on the Passover as well.
Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread? Do they have any use or meaning now? This article supplies some biblical answers.
Is Lent a Christian Holiday? When did it originate? What about Ash Wednesday? If you observe them, do you know why?
What Happened in the Crucifixion Week? How long are three days and three nights? Did Jesus die on “Good Friday”? Was the resurrection on Sunday? Do you really know? Who determined the date of Easter?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? What do scholars and the Bible reveal?

Wheat: How Long Will There Be Enough of It?

COGwriter

Last night, the following news item came out:

The Growing Food Cost Crisis

Sharp price hikes are hurting the poor and sparking violence

US News & World Report - March 7, 2008

The troubles erupted early last year. First, there were the tortilla riots in Mexico City: 75,000 angry demonstrators, mostly poor, taking to the streets to protest the surging price of a food staple. Then in Italy, merchants from Milan began clamoring about the cost of pasta. By year’s end, protests had broken out in at least a dozen countries: in India over onions, in Indonesia over soybeans, and, last month, in the small African country of Burkina Faso, where hundreds of looters burned government buildings to protest soaring grain prices.

The United States, like most western countries, has been spared from riots, but the sharp hikes in food prices that have triggered violence abroad are also being felt here. According to the Department of Agriculture, grocery prices are rising at rates not seen since 1990. On the wholesale market, the country’s biggest commodity crops—corn, wheat, and soybeans—are selling at record highs; wheat prices are up nearly 50 percent since the first of the year.

To Americans, the combination of high food prices and social unrest is bound to stir up edgy memories of the early 1970s, when food prices were being pushed up by high energy costs and decreased supplies. The current wave of food troubles, analysts say, is the most significant since then—and arguably more troublesome. “The crisis of 1973 and 1974 was a blip; it went away after a year or two,” says Joachim von Braun, the director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute. “This one is actually quite different and much more serious.” Already, in fact, there are signs that higher prices have caused political instability in a number of countries important to U.S. security interests.

The main differences between the price hikes of the ’70s and those of today are the severity and persistence of their causes. In the 1970s, the increases resulted largely from short-term forces—the Arab oil embargo, which jacked up transportation costs, and regional droughts. In the quarter century that followed, global food prices tumbled dramatically; from 1974 to the early 2000s, real food prices, on average, fell 75 percent.

Soaring demand. By contrast, the current causes are more varied and stubborn—and, in many cases, growing. Overseas, an expanding middle class is fueling unprecedented demand. In China and India, hundreds of millions of people, earning larger incomes, are buying not only more food but more expensive food, such as grain-guzzling beef. By some estimates, developing countries, come 2016, will consume 25 percent more poultry and 50 percent more pork than they do today…

For Americans, the prognosis is somewhat murky. The USDA says it expects food prices to rise at abnormal rates for at least the next few years. It’s a disconcerting trend, but largely tolerable…

For now, however, the situation is grim. Relief programs, including USAID and the U.N. World Food Program, are predicting huge budget shortfalls because of soaring crop prices. usaid, predicting a $200 million gap this year, is considering making deep cuts to some of its emergency programs, such as those in Iraq and Sudan. Meanwhile, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as in Latin America and West Africa, millions are growing dissatisfied with their governments. “There is a reason why politicians for hundreds of years have been emphasizing a chicken in every pot,” said UNWFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “Food is the most basic requirement of society. When prices go up, the pressures come quicker.” http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/03/07/the-growing-food-cost-crisis.html

Jesus Himself warned:

And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows (Mark 13:8).

Elsewhere, the Bible warns of escalating food prices:

“A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:6).

In the past month or so, the Living Church of God has been warning of food shortages and rising food prices (please see News of the Living Church of God page). We may, as I have written before, be in the time that Jesus referred to as the “beginning of sorrows”.

Those interested in more details of events that precede the Great Tribulation may wish to read the article Who is the King of the North?

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH 

COGwriter

This morning I received an email from WCG that had links to two articles written by its leader, Joseph Tkach.  Here are some excerpts from both of them:

In Agoura Hills, about 180 elders, ministry leaders, and members gathered to learn how our connection with Christ translates into more meaningful ministry in our communities…

I gave the keynote address on Friday evening, titled “The Mystery of Godliness: Connected in Christ.”
In this presentation, I explain the key elements of a Trinitarian, Christ-centered theology…

Even though he is God, he is also human, one of us. 

Sadly, despite having some type of theological training, Joesph Tkach simply does not wish to teach the truth about the Godhead.  Jesus emptied Himself of His divinity while on earth, the Bible does not teach about a trinitarian God, and the early Christian Church was clearly binitarian.

Several articles of related interest would include:

Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning Is binitarianism the correct position? What about unitarianism or trinitarianism?
Is The Father God? What is the view of the Bible? What was the view of the early church?
Jesus is God, But Was Made Man Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what?
Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity? Or did they have a different view?
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?

On 2/23/08, the Pasadena Star News posted the following:

PASADENA - With a crucial part of the Ambassador West development in receivership after its owners defaulted on a $44 million loan, completion of one of the city’s largest, most prestigious housing projects has been thrown into doubt…

Councilman Steve Madison, whose district includes Ambassador West, said residents would have to be “a little bit patient” while a new builder is being sought at “a really bad time for real estate development.”

Neighbors have expressed concern to him, he said, but he has advised them to apply a “reality check” on the progress on the west campus.

“When I was elected nine years ago Ambassador Auditorium was on the chopping block,” he said. “And (Legacy Partners) were asking for 2,000 units” on the combined 46-acre east and west campus.

Worldwide Church of God, which put the 49-acre campus on the market in 1999, later sold it in three pieces: Maranatha School and Harvest Rock Church - owner of Ambassador Auditorium - moved on to the west campus in 2004; that same year Sares Regis bought the 12-acre east campus for a mixed retail and residential development, now underway.

Fred Zepeda, president of the West Pasadena Residents Association - which fiercely opposed both earlier plans for the property - said the neighborhood had been stunned by Ambassador West’s recent problems.

“We’re anxious to find out what’s going on,” Zepeda said. “I don’t think anyone knows what’s going to happen - everyone’s still staring at each other.”  

It is somewhat ironic that the developer is in receivership as the State improperly placed the old Worldwide Church of God into receivership in the late 1970s.  Another group (Legacy, not to be confused with Legacy Institute) trying to develop the properties also had other problems