COGwriter This time of year, those faithful in the Churches of God will be following Paul’s admonition to examine themselves prior to the start of the Spring Holy Days (1 Corinthians 11:27-32). Others observe nothing or perhaps Lent and/or Easter. Passover is to be kept after sunset 31 March by baptized members in 2026. The […]
Category: Church History
“I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
No, Ignatius of Antioch did NOT replace the Christian Sabbath with Sunday
COGwriter Since Jesus and the Apostles kept the Sabbaths and the Holy Days, why do most who profess Christ not observe them? Many claim that Ignatius of Antioch had a writing that showed that the Sabbath was done away by the early second century. This misinformation is all over the internet. Actually, because the Living […]
Is there a church that has kept apostolic teachings and practices in the 21st century?
COGwriter Quite a few years ago, Christianity Today was promoting an article that stated: We are now in a period when it is not enough to know only about the Bible. The apologetics of the past is no longer adequate. Today’s questions involve not only how the Bible came to be, but even if there […]
Did Peter Waldo keep the Saturday Sabbath? Was he a Church of God leader?
Statue purported to be Peter Waldo (photo by Alexander Hoernigk) COGwriter Did any of the Waldensians keep the seventh-day Sabbath? Did all of them? What about Peter Waldo? Some have asserted that those who have called themselves some version of the term Waldensian always kept Sunday. Seventh-day Adventist scholar Gerard Damsteegt has stated: Although there […]
Papias: A Greco-Roman Catholic saint or a Church of God leader?
Hierapolis, Turkey (Photo by Joyce Thiel) COGwriter The Catholics of Rome consider February 22nd as the day to honor Papias of Hierapolis, whom they consider to be one of their saints. This is somewhat odd in that Papias held many Church of God, not Greco-Roman Catholic views. One of which, the current Catechism of the […]
Did original Christians keep the Sabbath or Sunday?
COGwriter Did faithful early Christians keep Saturday or Sunday? While there are various opinions about this, some of those opinions are not based upon biblical or historical fact. The Bible Sabbath Association, which is not a Church of God group (though it has members that are in the COGs, as well as members who are […]
Would early Christians have put a cross on their heads for ‘Ash Wednesday’?
Cross of Ashes (Wikipedia) COGwriter On February 18, 2026, many around the world will observe Ash Wednesday and start Lent. Lent is considered to be a time of self-imposed abstinence by millions. But they did not get these observances from the Bible. Nor did early Christians observe anything like Ash Wednesday. Time reported the following: […]
Mary’s heart and Valentine’s Day?
COGwriter February 14th is known to many as Valentine’s Day. The ‘heart’ is a common symbol related to Valentine’s Day, as is the pagan deity Cupid. Back in the 1800s, Alexander Hislop wrote: In the Church of Rome a new kind of devotion has of late been largely introduced, in which the beads play an […]
Joseph’s dreams per the Temple Institute; Loma’s dreams per Herbert W. Armstrong
Owen Jones’ 1869 portrayal of Joseph having a prophetic dream (Wikipedia) COGwriter In December 2023, the Temple Institute reported the following in its newsletter: “And Yosef remembered the dreams that he had dreamed” (Genesis 42:9) Tevet 3, 5784/December 15, 2023 Dreams! Every night we dream many dreams. Some we remember, some we don’t. Mostly, we […]
International Septuagint Day: But the Masoretic Text is what Christians should use–do not be taken in by ‘Septuagint myths’
COGwriter February 8th is observed as International Septuagint Day. Many, particularly Greco-Roman Catholics, consider that the Greek Septuagint Old Testament is superior to the Hebrew Masoretic text for the Old Testament. Plus, supporters of the Septuagint tend to accept books of the Bible that early Christians, current Church of God Christians, and Protestants do not […]