James Malm maligns Earnest Martin's character with his latest tirade this morning.
'Malm cannot stand anyone who sounds "intellectual." His first strike against Martin is that he used "professional language." Of course as we all know, in Armstrongism, professional language means Satan is involved. One can only acquire "professional languages" when one receives higher education and it is a well known fact that Satan runs all the universities and schools.
In other words, if you are not a follower of Armstrongism (or James Malm) you would not be able to discern the demonic influence because of all those fancy prissy words!Ernest Martin: In 1974 left the WCG and started the Foundation for Biblical Research in Pasadena where he remained as chairman until 1985. He wrote studies on subjects like the Sabbath, High Days and Tithing trying to destroy these doctrines by presenting large studies in apparently professional language, which if a person not grounded in sound doctrine read, would confuse him by the scholarly appearance and numbers of words.
Malm cannot handle the fact that Martin was way more highly educated than he is. Anyone with a higher education is a "crackpot."In 1985 Martin founded Associates for Scriptural Knowledge and became a member of various other societies.
Martin’s claims that the Temple was built over the Gihon Springs are untenable, because that area is on the lower side of a hill and not on top of a mount as the Temple is described in scripture. In fact, from ancient antiquity, tunnels were built from the Gihon Springs to the city to provide water for the Temple at the pools [Siloam] adjacent to the Temple.
He then accuses Martin of being a "pentecostal evangelical." Anyone who knew Martin or read his books would know that is a complete fabrication!Martin was a mainstream evangelical crackpot with delusions of being a scholar. Dr. Martin went on to start his own church, and then to repudiate the keeping of the Sabbath and Holy Days altogether.
Earnest Martin debunked many of the long held doctrines of Armstrongism early on. Some of what he easily proved wrong were:Ernest Martin was a Pentecostal evangelical who began the movement inside the WCG that ultimately led to the Tkach changes.
Martin left WCG, just before Ken Westby left in 1974.
Ernest Martin is famous for attacking the sound doctrine of scripture and for his ridiculous archaeological claims based on false premises; like deciding that a retaining wall was part of the Temple, and then claiming that the Temple was built on the steeply sloping lower side of another hill, instead of on the top of a Mount!
Imagine a retaining wall in your own backyard, and thinking that retaining wall was a part of your house!
In short Martin’s studies have an appearance of scholarship, without the scholarship; being error, hidden in many scholarly appearing words designed to confuse and impress the reader to accept his false teachings and turn away from the word of God.
It is time for all to turn off the 'ongoing ex-WCG soap operas' and find out what the Bible really says about all of the truly important doctrinal issues:
18 comments:
James Malm is deliberately and willfully ignorant. No other explanation for this type of pronouncement is possible. I assume that he considers Alexander Hislop to be a reliable historian as well.
BB
Oops. an accident has happened. My anecdote was intended for the racism discussion in the Flurry translation post.
BB
HA!...yea it's funny they can be racist.
I'm glad you had this accident!
Jesus was born on September 11, 3 B.C.E.
I knew it.
Jesus was a Virgo!
This is why all the talk about being perfect.
Virgo's are perfectionists!
I can hear the critics now.
New Living Translation...
Suddenly, Festus shouted, "Malm, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!" Acts 26:24
Old Ex- I figured out how to move it to the proper place.
Glad you liked it!
BB
Actually, EXPCG, the reason why, IMHO, Festus says that Paul has been made crazy by too much learning, is that his conversion story includes a celestial Jesus who, instead of saying something original, apes Dionysus' from Euripides tragedy The Bacchae in which King Pentheus of Thebes does not believe that Dionysus is a god, prompting the god to visit in disguise, witness to his extended family, ultimately punishing them all. During Dionysus' interaction with Pentheus, Dionysus while in disguise says to him:
"Better to yield him prayer and sacrifice than kick against the pricks, since Dionysus Is God, and you but mortal." (Prick could also be rendered "prod," "goad," or "spur".)
The idiom is not original to Euripides, however, and is predated by a century in Aeschylus' Agamemnon as well as in several known works that were written in later centuries, so it may have been a Greek idiom, but it always refers to a mortal rebelling against the prodding of the gods. Paul, setting his conversion story into a Hellenistic conversion formula, yet seemingly expects Agrippa and Festus to take his story as a literal and truthful account of an actual experience. Thus, Festus cries out, "Paul, you are beside yourself; much learning [of Greek literature] has made you mad." He accuses Paul of not being able to differentiate between the things he has read and the things he has experienced, thus having taken leave of his senses.
And yes, it appears too much study has caused Malm also to take leave of his senses.
This is a common Armstrongist trope, that the educational system has been co-opted by the devil, and that to drink from that wellspring is to poison oneself with false learning. However, if one were to get that education and then parlay it into business success, INSTEAD of academic success in biblical scholarship, then that same person would be given great respect. It seems a little schizophrenic until one realizes that business success often brings in a lot more money (which translates into more tithe money) than does academic success, while academic success in biblical scholarship primarily sets one up as a competing authority who is in a position to confound the supposed latter-day revelation of Jesus to HWA/Hoeh, or whichever egotist is now claiming to be a COG apostle or prophet. And we all know that there can only be one man at a time whose mouth acts a wellspring of Jesus' living water and true knowledge, right? All the different COG leaders may argue about which one of them it currently is, but they all agree that a secular humanist education, secular humanist archaeology, etc., couldn't possibly have anything worthwhile to say about biblical scholarship, now could it? Only Armstrongist scholarship... No one else should be believed. Jesus is not with them. He's ONLY with us. So anyone who has achieved worldly success in biblical scholarship must be caricatured as a "crackpot" to discredit him from being an authority capable of confounding Armstrongism's shoddy scholarship.
Also, Malm doesn't seem to know the difference between "evangelical" and "pentecostal". Evangelical is mostly a word meaning "Protestant" but emphasizing what they are, Christians who believe in the gospel, as opposed to what they are not, namely Catholics. Pentecostals are a distinct revivalist branch; they are the charismatics who believe in ecstatic displays of "spiritual gifts," snake handling, and the like. So, it is okay to say that pentecostals are evangelical, but incorrect to say that mainline evangelicals are pentecostal. Malm seems to think that the terms are interchangeable.
Mind if I make a point already made by us, over and over?
Mr. Malm, if you are the true and only current rep for our Lord Jesus Christ, what's your current project for feeding and comforting the poor? And how does attacking a dead person (who, for you, is an easy target just because, the horror!, he disagrees with you), advance any such project which would go further than any rant, like this one, to showing you might even represent Jesus at all?
Malm's view is the same as HWA's and then GTA's when the topic of accreditation came up and HWA rejected it. When you have no credentials you find all sorts of ways to demonize those that do and defend your short falls with "the wisdom of man is foolishness with God" and "My ways are not your ways" kind of baloney. I remember the applause when one of them said something to the effect that "we aren't letting anyone tell us how to run or what to teach in God's Church." Too bad they didn't.
If Malm had credentials, genuine ones, he'd be praising and honoring Dr. Martin and all those that also had credentials, because he did too...which of course he doesn't.
It's more real to lack good credentials and either get them yourself or honor those that have done the hard work, know how think critically no matter their conclusions and are willing to say "Based on what I can see and this new information, I was wrong..."
Malm is a fake theologian, as are Pack, Flurry and now Thiel, who confuses his ability to read with his ability to think critically and accept that what he thinks he knows is probably a bit off center and less than true.
I have no genuine theological credentials and it has always grieved me. I actually, when young, thought I did. lol. Who knew... But I devour the works of those that do and don't get my views from my personal opinions I make up to keep some splinter going to my benefit.
Of course, credentials don't always steer one down the path of reasonable beliefs either but you have a better chance of getting closer to the way things actually are and not just as one wishes things to be for personal comfort.
Next time: Paloeontologist and world expert in Neanderthals in Ice Age Europe. :)
My recollection of Ernest Martin was that he was held in high esteem by Mr. Armstrong and by the Church in general until around 1973. The rebellion happened in 1974 when the WCG had its first major split losing Ken Westby, Paul Zapf, Carl Fowler, Tom Williams, Walter Sharp and about 30 other ministers and about 3,000 members.
Ken Westby was our pastor here in Washington, D.C. I recall how hurt we all were that Mr. Westby had "fallen away". Falling away and being marked and dis-fellowship in the WCG meant no contact whatsoever. We attended both Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, Md churches. One evening soon after "the Rebellion", my family went out to dinner at a local restaurant where we ran into Carl Fowler who was Pastor of the Annapolis Church (he wasn't Pastor rank though - we all know how important rank was in the Church). Instead of greeting Mr. Fowler and his family as brethren with joy and happiness as we would have only a few months prior, we sat at a table not far from them and only nodded our heads to them as acknowledgement of their presence but had no contact with them whatsoever. They nodded their heads back in return. They knew we weren't to have contact with them and they respected that rule. They didn't come over to our table to explain why they left the Church and try to convince us to leave and join with them. In our eyes, the Fowlers had "fallen away" and left the Truth.
I think people like Mr. Martin and Ken Westby were the early "thinkers" in the WCG. Obviously, they weren't "the dumb sheep". The Rebellion of 1974 had more to do with the immorality of Garner Ted Armstrong than it did with the STP and doctrinal issues. The failure of the Great Tribulation not starting in January, 1972 long preached by the Church factored in as well.
Richard
Yes it is interesting to note that Jesus was indeed born under the Sun sign of Virgo, and was of course born to a virgin. I believe that this was indeed intended from God.
It is also interesting to note that the sun sign for December 25th, XMAS, would be Capricorn , appropriate enough that this is a GOAT, a common satanic symbol.
I was there. Dr. Martin was a thinking man I kbnew from the time he was an undergrad, but he didn't know everything. He was certainly superior to any of the top guns in Worldwide. I was associated with his foundation for quite a while until I came to realize that the whole thing was one great delusion and opted out of relition entirely.
Oh, Connie! Isn't the Bible and crazy mixed up christianity stupid enough without astrology being dragged into this?
News Flash: this comment may be censored for speaking unpopular truths.
Blogger Connie Schmidt said...
Yes it is interesting to note that Jesus was indeed born under the Sun sign of Virgo, and was of course born to a virgin. I believe that this was indeed intended from God.
It is also interesting to note that the sun sign for December 25th, XMAS, would be Capricorn , appropriate enough that this is a GOAT, a common satanic symbol.
May 21, 2014 at 12:44 PM
HA, now your talking my language I love it!
Lake of Fire Church of God said:
One evening soon after "the Rebellion", my family went out to dinner at a local restaurant...
One day after Sabbath services around this time several of us, including a girl who had just returned from Bricket Wood at the end of spring semester, went out to a restaurant in Richmond where we encountered a group from Tom William's church. There was a girl in the other group who had been a long-time close friend of the girl in our group. The two girls squealed with joy upon seeing each other, hugged each other for a minute, then separated as my group was seated in a different part of the restaurant.
This was one of the sadder experiences in my life. What a waste.
Bloggers 'old EXPCG hag' and 'Connie Schmidt' said they find common ground in astrology...
Is that something accurate that's of Satan, or something that's accurate and from God?
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