Prophet Thiel: "True" Christians will NOT Be Watching the Super Bowl

Prophet Thiel is on his yearly rant about the evils of American style football. To Prophet Thiel it is another satanic conspiracy to deceive the elect.

With all the truly many evils in the world, that Thiel and the Living Church of God NEVER talk about, he speaks out against football. You never see Prophet Thiel or the LCG doing anything for the homeless and the marginalized.  They hold themselves aloof by saying, "It is not our problem in this age. God is going to correct it soon, and the world will be in true happiness and peace."  They never seem to realize that with the coming of Christ and his many miracles he was already bringing the Kingdom to earth.  While not in it's entirety, it was through small bits and pieces that restore peoples lives.

Anyway, I digress.  Back to the most Holy of the COG Prophets.

Prophet Thiel was incensed by a CNN news program that discussed the injuries received by football players.  Then the Prophet makes an astounding jump to ancient Rome.  Because most American football cames are played in coliseums, the Prophet links to the various activities carried on in Rome's coliseums.

The Prophet writes:

In the time of ancient Rome, violent sports were also popular.
Were they viewed by many of those that professed Christ?
It does not appear so.

The Prophet then has to admit that there is NO information out there that TRUE Church of God members did not watch coliseum sports.  However, he quickly makes this leap of faith:

While we do not seem to have many direct references from those in the Church of God, we do have some written records of those who were at least somewhat familiar with the teachings of Jesus and the practices of the earliest Christians.

Remember folks, there are no TRUE Christians outside the Church of God so these people must have heard SOME of the TRUTH but rejected the rest of it.

The Prophet then quotes an early Christian whom Prophet Thiel thinks was a TRUE Church of God member:

Here is something from Theophilus of Antioch (who probably was part of the Church of God)...

Consider, therefore, whether those who teach such things can possibly live indifferently, and be commingled in unlawful intercourse, or, most impious of all, eat human flesh, especially when we are forbidden so much as to witness shows of gladiators, lest we become partakers and abettors of murders. But neither may we see the other spectacles, lest our eyes and ears be defiled,

So, true Christians did not believe that they were to watch the violent sports so popular in the second century.

Athenagoras, a professing Christian apologist, wrote around 170 A.D.:

What man of sound mind, therefore, will affirm, while such is our character, that we are murderers?…
Who does not reckon among the things of greatest interest the contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those which are given by you? But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles

Obviously Christians would not go and watch others being tortured and killed in the coliseums.  But you can be guaranteed that they also went along to other festivals where none violent things happened.  Just like hundreds of LCGers will be gathered around television screens to watch the Super Bowl!  Those ancient Christians would have  went to some of these events just to give the impression that they were "normal" Roman citizens.  Kind of like LCGers that have birthday parties in restaurants, go out dancing in dance clubs, play football, and eat in restaurants for a quite Friday night dinner. They have the need to feel "normal" too.

 Prophet Thiel goes on to state that ancient TRUE Christians and even fake Catholic ones had sense to see that violent sports were evil.  But then the Prophet goes on to quote the world's foremost authority on violence in sports:

So, those who professed Christ in the second and third century generally did not feel that viewing or participating in violent sports was appropriate.

In more recent times, the late Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:

Hostility toward the other is sin…Boxing at Ambassador College is definitely banned. God did not create the human brain and head to be pummeled and knocked senseless by an antagonist.

Football (American football) is a violent body-contact sport. It is often played with an attitude of hostility and is dangerous and is fraught with physical injury. (Plain Truth, July-August 1984)

I think the funny thing about this quote is that while HWA said this, the College and Church members were active participants in all the Rose Bowl games and activities.  They raised money for each group by selling pork hot dogs, beer, film, programs, souvenirs. They ushered and took tickets. The College was an active participant in the New Years parade and provided space and use of facilities for parking, band rehearsals, television broadcasts and much more.

The Prophet ends with this:

“Love does no harm to a neighbor” (Romans 13:9), yet what do violent sports like American football and boxing do?  Are those who participate neighbors for Christians?  Should people be encouraged to participate in violent activities which are proven to cause harm?

Which causes more harm.  A game of football, or teaching aberrant doctrines that deceive people spiritually?

I think the Prophet needs to lay off the naturopathic and herbal drugs he has been peddling off to his patients and take a dose of reality.

It just amazes me that the Living Church of God promotes this guy as a theologian in their midst.  All he has done over the last several years is make LCG look like complete fools at times.