God's favorite prophetic mouthpiece has a bold comment today on his blog. Prophet Thiel claims that the Catholic Church actually came to the Church of God (the Saturday keeping, kosher eating, holy day keeping, circumcised kind) to find out what books they were using for their Bible when Jerome was setting the canon.
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 one example, 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.
Prophet Thiel is reacting to Dixon Cartwright's articles about the Biblical canon in The Journal. Dave Havir has this quote in The Journal:
In his editorial, “Lo and Behold, an Elephant Is in Our Room,” Mr. Cartwright broached a subject that he says most conservative Christians almost never talk about even though it has profound implications for Christians’ view of the Bible and therefore their view of God and everything else.
“Yet where did our approved list of Bible books come from,” Mr. Cartwright asked, “and how do we know
that God inspired and even breathed them as holy writ?”
The elephant in the room is “right there beside us and we don’t notice that the books we virtually venerate
reside in our system of beliefs thanks to the imposed authority of a religious organization that Protestants and the Churches of God general reject.”
The organization Mr. Cartwright mentioned is the Catholic Church, although he says he isn’t being critical
of Catholics.
“I mentioned them because I think it’s ironic that Catholics, and their predecessors, decided on which books
should be considered Scripture even though they don’t believe in sola scriptura, the principle of relying solely on the Bible for doctrines.”
I never cease to be amazed at how Prophet Thiel thinks he is an authority on EVERYTHING! He knows for SURE that they Catholics came to get the canon of the Church of God when they were establishing their version of the Bible.
Most Armstrongites have NEVER researched into the Bible, how it was written, by whom, etc. They only know what Herbert Armstrong said, or Rod Meredith, or Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry says about it. If these men said it, so let it be done! "God is working through them so there is no need to ever read any books about Biblical authenticity."
One thing I did forget that the church taught, that was brought out be a reader in The Journal, was that the writings of Herbert Armstrong would eventually make it in the canon of the Bible.
- The WCG believed that Herbert W. Armstrong’s writings would become part of NT scripture when Christ returned. So the WCG did not believe in a closed canon.
5 comments:
I would like to point out an error in your comment: "(the Saturday keeping, kosher eating, holy day keeping, circumcised kind)" at the beginning of your story. I know that LCG and UCG and RCG are not "kosher eating" -- this is a Jewish custom where food is prepared in a special way, blessed by a rabbi, and meat and cheese kept separate, etc. To say that one who is observing the "clean/unclean" food laws is being "kosher" is a mischaracterization. Also, they do not require "circumcision" in the flesh, either. I understand you were being snarky in your delivery, but some readers may not know that and thus, come to the wrong conclusion about your statements. -- I would like to request you fix these factual errors. I'm just sayin'...
The acceptable answer is that the cog's ARE catholic. They accept the books the Catholics call scripture as the word of their God.
"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..."
"Strongly believe." Right. But why does he "strongly believe" this? Any good reason? Any defensible reason? Any reason that he could explain? Or is it just necessary for the workings of his larger worldview, that LCG is the one and only true church of God, and that Bob Thiel is a very special person.
"...Specifically, for one example, 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."
"Who seemed to be part of the COG." In other words, I don't know jack squat, but I need to believe this in order to support my other belief in how special I am.
He's certainly free to hold his own opinions, but he's publishing such tripe for what reason? Is he trying to get others to buy into his conjectures? And why would that be important?
Junk, passed off as knowledge.
The Living Church of God deserves everything they get as a result of Thiel's statements. The latest example, and one of the most blatant in recent memory, is when Thiel presumed to actually speak for the church in a front page story in The Journal. (http://www.thejournal.org/issues/issue147/jx013112.pdf)
He says no to the idea that LCG and UCG would merge, as if it's his place to say it. He says that if they were to merge, it would be only if UCG came under LCG's umbrella, as if it's his place to say it. He then goes on to say there are doctrinal differences that would prevent "those of us in LCG" from accepting a merger, as if it's his place to say it.
The story doesn't indicate whether LCG directed The Journal to Thiel for comment, but it seems likely that The Journal simply chose to contact him directly, and he couldn't help but fall all over himself to make such proclamations. That the LCG continues to allow Thiel to do so without clarification or correction implies that they're comfortable with his statements on their behalf.
Call him their "spokesperson without portfolio." They deserve whatever results his comments bring upon them.
"...he's publishing such tripe for what reason?"
I suppose to get others to believe he's special, and has special knowledge; plus, to bolster his own belief that he's special, and has special knowledge.
(Or, to use the vernacular, he wants to be "hot shit in the COGdom" by using these dubious methods.)
Problem is, the HWA-poop has warped his mind so he's only as "special" as the other riders in the LCG "short bus"
Maybe he could come up with deceptive credentials to try and make himself seem more educated than he actually is...
Wait! Oops, he already done did that.
Norm
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