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 […]
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).
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 […]
Early Christians would not watch intentionally violent sports; Philadelphian Christians do not watch the Super Bowl
COGwriter This coming Sunday is known as “Super Bowl Sunday” in the USA. Most years, the American football (which is not the same as the sport called soccer in the USA) contest known as the Superbowl is the most watched television program in the USA. Around 100,000,000 are expected to intentionally (as opposed to perhaps […]
Black History Month and Some African Church History
Celebration of Black History Month COGwriter February was designated as Black History Month back in 1969 and observed since 1970 by various Americans. Its origins are even earlier: February marks the launch of Black History Month, a time to recognize the central role and revolutionary work of black people in America. Historian Carter G. Woodson […]
Isaac Newton and some Church of God related peoples consider that the cross was ‘the mark of the beast’
Labarum Cross COGwriter Many people have pointed to various aspects of modern technology as being related to the ‘mark of the beast’ of Revelation. And while the final Beast power will utilize technology, could something as familiar as some type of a cross be a mark of the beast? Several years ago, I saw a […]