Journal Out: Canon Controversies & Women Pastors?

The latest issue (print date February 29, 2012) of The Journal just arrived here electronically.

The two main topics of this issue were related to the role of women as possible pastors etc. and arguments about the biblical canon. It also had various ads promoting unitarianism, conspiracy theories, etc.

And while those type of ads are not new, overall, this was one of the most disappointing issues ever of The Journal.

Typically, I quote, link, and comment about certain parts of The Journal, but today I will not quote it nor link to it.

As as far as the role of women, I believe that the Bible is clear that they are not to be church pastors. But, I do believe that women can be more involved with various aspects of evangelism, etc. than some in the COGs tend to believe. For details, please see the article Women and the New Testament Church.

As far as the canon of scripture goes, I absolutely reject the notion that we in the COGs got the Bible from the Church of Rome which is what parts of this issue and the previous issue of The Journal suggest. In the current issue, there is no discussion of the roles of Peter, John, Polycarp, or Melito in the development of the canon, which in my view, demonstrates lack of biblical respect and knowledge of early church history.

For years I have studied into this subject extensively and strongly believe that the Bible and secular history support the view that the Catholics and the Protestants got their books of the Bible from the Church of God. Specifically, for two examples, Melito listed the books of the OT in the late second century and when the Catholic saint Jerome was putting his Latin Vulgate version together, he went to Palestine/Judea and met with non-Catholics who seemed to be part of the COG to confirm what was valid. And even though the Roman and Orthodox Catholics accept additional books in the Old Testament that Melito as well as we in the COGs reject (as do the Protestants) and that Jerome included in his Latin Vulgate Bible, even Jerome realized that the so-called deutero-canonical books were not inspired like the 66 books that we in the COGs accept. For details about the canon, I urge those interested to read the articles The Old Testament Canon and The New Testament Canon – From the Bible Itself.

And of course, I do not support unitarianism and do not believe that a purported COG publication should have ads promoting it in nearly every issue.

Those interested in learning more about some of the issues raised may find some of the following articles to be of interest:

Women and the New Testament Church Were women important in the New Testament Church? Which women and how were they involved?
The Cherished Christian Woman: Duty and destiny This is an article by LCG’s Wyatt Ciesielka on women and their potential.
Veils and Other Coverings Do women need to wear veils or similar coverings while praying or attending church services? Here are some scriptures on that subject.
Priscilla and Aquila An early Christian married couple from Rome who moved to Asia Minor.
The Old Testament Canon This article shows from Catholic accepted writings, that the Old Testament used by non-Roman Catholics and non-Orthodox churches is the correct version.
The New Testament Canon – From the Bible Itself This article, shows from the Bible and supporting sources, why the early Church knew which books were part of the Bible and which ones were not.
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?
Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning Is binitarianism the correct position? What about unitarianism or trinitarianism?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?
Binitarianism: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning This is a shorter article than the Binitarian View article, but has a little more information on binitarianism.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG/GCI members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.
The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now basically the Living Church of God.
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. These are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.