Rod Meredith is now telling his Living Church of God members what they can read and not read. More importantly though is the fact that LCG members are NOT to think about the books they read nor discuss them with other church members WITHOUT a minister present. Dumb sheep are certainly the most complacent.
From a reader:
As part of the Gestapo-like LCG purity purge, Meredith has now started telling his members what they can and can not read.
In the last few months several members have been suspended while others have been disfellowshipped over a little thing called the Book of Enoch. According to sources, no one in LCG had ever heard of the Book of Enoch until it was listed as recommended reading in a Living University course. Once people started reading it, they began discussing it. People in the Living Church of God are not allowed to have open discussions among themselves according to Meredith because they aren't strong-minded enough to discern right from wrong without the spiritual guidance of one of his ministers present. Hence the rule against private Bible studies (what kind of church tells it's members NOT to get together to study the Bible?). So instead of educating, counseling, or doing anything else that might have been Christian and adult-like behavior, Meredith labels these horrible book-readers as causing "church division" (his favorite label for people he can't actually come up with a good reason to kick out) and accuses them of spreading heresy. In true Meredith form, the punishments for this book reading crime have not been the same across the board. If your parents are ministers or if you own your own business and send in big offerings, your sins are forgiven. If not, you're squashed like a bug.
Maybe at the next LCG campout members can all bring books to throw on the fire like the Nazi's did. How fun!
16 comments:
"what kind of church tells it's members NOT to get together to study the Bible?"
A medieval one.
Never even heard of the Book of Enoch? It's only considered to be inspired by, oh, every orthodox sect of christianity. In the Coptic/Ethiopian orthodoxies, it's even considered canonical. It's only the Protestants who don't go for the apocryphal texts. It just shows how truly medieval Armstrongism really is, that members are so uneducated they've never even heard of the Book of Enoch, meanwhile boasting that they're the only ones who have christianity all figured out. They're too ignorant to have even thought everything through, let alone figured it all out. But this is how dogma works, I guess, bypassing all rational cognition, settling all possible questions, even those you're too ignorant to even have thought of.
"People in the Living Church of God are not allowed to have open discussions among themselves according to Meredith because they aren't strong-minded enough to discern right from wrong without the spiritual guidance of one of his ministers present."
Yep, just like in medieval times.
"So instead of educating, counseling, or doing anything else that might have been Christian and adult-like behavior, Meredith labels these horrible book-readers as causing 'church division'...and accuses them of spreading heresy."
A heretical church accusing it's members of spreading heresy because they're daring to explore orthodox ideas? Oh the irony!
What's next for LCG? Passion plays for it's members who are functionally illiterate of the religion they've spent their entire lives supposedly in devotion to? Oh, that would probably be too much "Jesus." How about, "The Passion of Herbert W. Armstrong"? Anyone for some new wine in old wineskins? Okay, but first pass out the barf bags.
Alternatively, if you were to substitute "fascist" in place of "medieval" that would be another totally workable analysis of the admittedly "Gestapo" Armstrongism. Pick your poison.
Unbelievable! I guess that leaves all of the other apocryphal and pseudoepigraphic books on the "Do not Read" list as well.
Two things. As I read some of the Gnostic Gospels, and the Deuterocanonicals, I became aware of the sources for a few of the quirky minor things which HWA taught, without, of course, giving proper credit for them. The Epistle of Barnabas was particularly revealing.
Secondly, during his heyday in the 1980s, Dr. Gene Scott regularly taught from what he openly called the "apocryphal" book (actually books) of Enoch. There were some insights provided by that book, but it certainly nothing life-changing. I found that it did broaden my horizons somewhat, and whet my normally inquisitiveness.
Normally, when a guru forbids certain reading materials, unless those materials are of prurient or blasphemous nature, it it probably stuff that he thinks might make you question him, and possibly leave the fold. That makes it vitally important to actually go ahead and investigate further. That's why they are so strict about the internet. If it were up to them, we'd be entering a new dark ages!
Know what the scariest words are that an ACOG parent could hear a son or daughter say? "Mom, Dad! I want to be a geneticist!"
BB
CLARIFICATION: Before LCG sycophants start posting "NUH UH" on here in regards to the "private Bible study" attestation, what the writer is referring to is the old assertion by HWA regarding "when you meet of your own accord without a minister", not an individual's doing. Somehow it was ok for individuals to "study" the Bible with a healthy dose of HWA literature/radio/TV leading them to the prooftexts, but not for groups of unrelated members to do the same.
It appears that the Book of Enoch is quoted in
Jude 1:14-15King James Version (KJV)
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Did not Hitler and the Catholic Church ban certain books and burn them?
Our hope is that there are some that know about this and decide that they have had enough
Now available from AMACOG.com...
A thrilling book that you will not be able to put down...
MERDEITH'S FAHRENHEIT 451
The internationally acclaimed Fahrenheit 451 is recast as a 2015 novel involving an obscure cult headed by Rod Meredith. It is a masterwork of dilemma, duplicity and set in a bleak, dystopian Living church of God future.
Guy Montag is a local Living Church of God elder. In his world, where Rod Meredith rules and where church members reading non approved literature are on the brink of extinction, Elders start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the non church approved printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.
Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her Living church “family.” But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a religion where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of self appointed ministers.
When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding the forbidden by the LCG books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the Elder has to run for his spiritual life.
ORDER NOW! Only $23.95 HARDBACK!
Sure, book-burning's probably been around pretty much since the advent of books in general. Even Paul gets to brag about his converts who burned their "books of sorcery", as I recall. Aside from the Reich and the Church, the burning of books continues up the present day, and no, its not confined to "Third World countries". Hell, people have even held bonfires for Harry Potter books. :)
What an abomination this is that LCG's leaders are tearing friendships apart because they don't like what LCG's lay members are saying about the Book of Enoch.
I'm surprised no one in LCG had heard of that. I heard about it even before I got sucked into Armstrongism.
No one seems to be interested in the fact that Roderick Meredith is a FALSE PROPHET!
And as for causing divisions, Roderick Meredith caused division in his own Global Church of God, let alone causing extreme divisions within so many of the sects of the Cult of Herbert Armstrong Mafia, not to mention divisions in his own congregations.
This needs to be addressed before Meredith can even presume to tell anyone what they can or cannot read.
Actually, I hereby ban all Roderick Meredith writings, especially anything having to do with British Israelism, prophecy and church government.
In the end, he is a liar and if there is a Kingdom of God, if he doesn't change he simply won't be in it, be killed off forever and that will be that.
Enoch speaks of his visions. One of which is the sons of God, among whom was satan, were kicked out of heaven for breeding with human women. Sons of God in the same language is used in Job as well.
HWA taught this could not happen. He said angels in heaven do not marry which is true,but these angels left heaven. The account is very plain in Genesis and points to just such couplings. Every culture on earth also has a story about this as well.
In Daniel there is another reference to this happening again when something mixes with the seed of men in the end times.
Interesting but scary stuff.
What's strange is that the Living University professor who recommended the book is still a professor in good standing. This more than anything else should confirm that something isn't right in Meredithland.
The free flow of information and opinions is the life blood of personal freedom and a free society.
"We must all think alike, Montag."
Fahrenheit 451
Why not like The Book of Mormon, too? It's another gospel and about 13 million people can testify as to how edifying it is!
It's certainly a model of success.
Even Mormon books in modern times are ABOUT ACHIEVING success, like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens.
They have sold over 25 million copies.
What's next? The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Toddlers?
Heck, even Alanon had "Alatot", aimed at toddlers.
So much 'edification', and so little reality.
But should crazy stuff like these examples be banned?
Of course not.
Let people in the free market of ideas continue to evaluate them in an open and free way.
If people would quit trying to think they found reasons they believe the angels/demons had sex with human women by thinking certain scriptures imply this and that the Mormon-like writings of the Book of Enoch which some intelligent people realize that the Book of Mormon is another false book, uninspired by the true God of the universe and was written in the 1800's in King James 1600's style to DECEIVE.
Question: If angels/demons have sex organs, why are they NOT breeding with each other? Try to prove/disprove this instead of trying to make the scripture perverted.
Yea, everyone get mad at me!
Isn't all the stuff about immortals breeding with humans always the immortal/angel male breeding with the human female? I have never read anything about the other way round. Isn't that in Genesis, that the sons of God (angels?) found human women attractive and their offspring were giants of old. Wasn't that what the flood was supposed to be about? getting rid of all these mixed alien/human beings. Noah was pure in all his generations right?
I remember Herbie and co. said it was mixing of the races that caused god to destroy mankind, but that is silly. The sons of Noah seemed to produce children of different races, and there are plenty of interracial marriages in the Bible. And what about the lifespan of humans/part immortals who lived to 900 years. After the flood it was only 70 years. Not saying all this happened, just it is kind of weird.
Post a Comment