COGwriter at site of “Church of the Apocalypse/Revelation” on Patmos in 2008 COGwriter Seven churches are mentioned in Revelation 1, with messages given to them in the next two chapters. As it turns out, my wife Joyce and I have been able to visit the area of each of those seven as well as 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).
Roman Catholics once referred to Protestantism as the ‘Tannebaum religion,’ yet it followed Protestants and adopted Christmas trees
COGwriter The Wall Street Journal ran an article before that contained the following: The Stranger in the House Christmas trees arrived in England and America only in the mid-19th century… The Tannenbaum (which simply means “fir tree”) came to be associated, apocryphally or not, with Martin Luther. Because of that, many Catholics in Germany once […]
Apostles Peter and Paul and Roman Catholic myths
Vatican City (photo by Joyce Thiel) COGwriter On November 18th, various Catholics of Rome celebrate the feast of the dedication of the Basilicas of Peter and Paul–both of which I have visited. The one known as St. Peter’s Basilica is in Vatican City and is claimed to have the remains of the Apostle Peter. Part […]
The ‘Third Council of Nicea’ is expected to increase unity and heal the Greco-Roman schism
Icon depicting the Emperor Constantine and the bishops of the First Council of Nicaea (325) holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 (Public domain and from Wikipedia) COGwriter In 325, the sun-worshiping Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. The Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholics consider that to have been the “first ecumenical council.” The Eastern Orthodox contend that […]
Yuletide, Christmas, and Mithraism?
COGwriter On December 25, people in many parts of the world celebrate a holiday. This holiday was celebrated before Jesus was born. And, depending on where it was observed, this season had some different names. Two that come to mind are the Saturnalia and Yuletide. The real reason for the season was to worship the […]
Did Jesus look quite different than many have portrayed Him?
The earliest surviving paintings claimed to be of Jesus, from a church at the ruined city of Dura-Europos on the Euphrates (dating from first half of the 3rd Century AD) COGwriter There are a lot of myths about Jesus, His birth, and His teachings. What about His appearance? A while back, the BBC addressed the […]
‘Against the Modern Judaizers’?
Ancient Fragment of Jude;s Epistle via Wikipedia COGwriter Last December, a reader sent me a copy of a post from Shane Schaetzel that he wanted me to respond to. I was hesitant at first, but after praying about it, decided to post about it. It is repeated here now as it is still relevant. Shane […]
John Chrysostom on Christmas and the biblical Holy Days
John Chrysostom (Istanbul, Turkey. May 2008) COGwriter The 4th century bishop John Chrysostom is a ‘saint and doctor’ of the the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Certain Protestants also consider him to be of great importance. He is considered to be so important, he is one of four persons depicted in holding up a […]
How did early Christians actually view the Godhead?
COGwriter How did the original Christian church understand the Godhead? Did you know that the early church was neither trinitarian nor unitarian? The early church was binitarian. And most people who profess Christianity are not even familiar with that term. Early Christians considered that the Father and the Son were God and that the Holy […]
Sabbath-keeper Stephen Mumford was NOT COG and the Continuing Church of God does NOT include him in our succession list
COGwriter A couple of anti-COG sites have pushed some of the following that came out many years ago: Bruce Renehan Chapter 9Sardis…Thou Livest, and Art DeadRhode Island 1671 The first Seventh Day Baptist Church in America was organized in December 1671 from members of a Baptist Church who had come to the conviction of the […]