When it comes to a Church of God, nothing is ever simple. Simple basic doctrines that have been foundational to Christianity for millennia do not apply to COG's. The church has to create its own language and speak in coded words to the point no one really knows what any of them really think or believe.
When the mother church attempted to do the Systematic Theology Project (STP) it was the first time that the official COG teachings were gathered in one book. Even though all of the papers crossed Herbert Armstrong's desk and he gave final approval, the crap soon hit the fan when uber-conservative ministers complained that it was too liberal for them. Part of that problem is that they now had official teachings restricting their own interpretations and that was offensive. It was soon required that all ministers send in their copies to Pasadena to be shredded.
Thanks to all of that mess, no COG today has a definitive belief statement that combines the teachings and doctrines of the church in one single volume that ministers and lay members can refer to. Instead, various governing bodies in the COG's create their own documents filled with dualistic words, off-the-wall definitions, and oftentimes contradictory statements that do not match current teachings.
This brings me to the United Church of God's latest little blurb from the January 10 Council of Elders report.
They believe that their message is so powerful that they're presenting "truth" with love.
They are reinterpreting Ephesians, again, because it has to fit their definition of grace and law.
And, then there is the "metron of Christ". Most members and apparently most ministers have no idea what this even means. It is already apparent even their own council can't agree on things. I am sure the definition of "metron" will be something entirely different than what traditional Christianity believes. We know that this is most likely the case because the COG's think they are more educated and enlightened than regular "worldly" Christians.
Mr. Miller continued by presenting a digital version of the document to demonstrate what was changed in the “Truth in Love” section. At the conclusion of Mr. Miller’s presentation, Darris McNeely, Brian Shaw and Dan Dowd took turns discussing the changes and updates made to the remaining sections.
Mr. McNeely covered the updates and changes that were made to the “Ephesians Framework” section of the proposed 2023-2024 Strategic Plan.
Mr. Shaw then lead a discussion on the “Strategic Directives” section, explaining there was no change in content, just in font size and ease of reading.
Mr. Dowd then discussed the changes to the “Mapping the Way with the Metron of Christ” section. He discussed the reasons behind the major changes, the removing of the numbers from the graph, the simplifying of the font, and the added appendixes in the back for further explanation. He also explained why the term Metron is used to title this section and its use throughout the document.
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metron
noun
met·ron ˈme‧ˌträn
plural metra -trə
: the minimal unit of measure in classical Greek verse constituting in certain meters (as the iambic, trochaic, anapestic, and the lyric forms of dactylic) a syzygy of two feet, in others (as hexameters of epic verse) a dipody and where necessary for analysis in the case of spondaic series a single foot, and in compound meters (as the ionic and choriambic) a foot of four syllables.
Why, of course. Note the simplicity.......
I was thinking about this very thing yesterday. I would guess every little splinter and sliver would have varying degrees of differing views on any given biblical topic, but all would claim to be the most faithful to HWAs teaching on the subject.
But how are these men/groups any different from the much loathed and often maligned in cogdom, Pope and Catholic Church? Think about it. Each splinter has the "God only works through one man at a time" mandate (really? tell that to the 12 Apostles, Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego, et al) which sounds awfully Pope like to me. What that man says is considered inarguable and incontrovertible. Most of them consider their books and booklets "inspired". ALL the money goes to the top man and no questions can be raised as to how it is spent. No questions are allowed on doctrine, to the point of dismissal, or at least banishment to the COGs version of Siberia for a time. They have multitudes of counselors, yet ignore any opinions that do not agree with their own. Some have their own private airplane. They all make the rules and God help those who do not kiss their a**, uh, ring! So, how is this any different?
So, anybody want to take the other side of this and play devil's advocate, so to speak?
The STP project was totally not as described in this article. It was the work of subversives.
The old booklets and reprints and magazines basically defined the accepted doctrine. Many of them were written by the "apostle" Herbert himself. No STP was needed. Having some "official" document from one faction of the ministry wasn't necessary. And it wouldn't have stopped any infighting.
When I first saw the title I thought it said Metatron and I thought, "Oh, great, another bunch of Judaizers trying to subordinate Jesus to the Book of Enoch and various Talmudic tales.
Well, I looked around and it seems as though metron is a term currently in vogue with Evangelical pastors talking about different people's "measures" of authority in the church. So it makes sense that a hierarchy-based church like UCG would be very interested in a Bible-based way of defining ministerial authority.
I used to study my Roget's Thesaurus many years ago, in order to develop a powerful vocabulary. Funny thing. I never encountered the word "metron". I'd heard of metronomes. I was also familiar with iambic pentameter from studying poetry, and the anapestic beat which when used by rock musicians was supposed to be bad for your heart. Of course the WCG latched on to that immediately as further "proof" that the African rhythms which were part of jazz and rock music were straight from the devil.
When we see such an uncommon word as "metron" used, it suggests that we're dealing with pseudointellectuals, who reach out and grab a word which they believe makes them sound more intelligent than they really are. If a doctor were to use arcane jargon, such as angina, or hematoma, it would be indicative of deep education. Some less educated people imitate that technique to establish themselves as being more expert than they actually are. Some UCG elder has just laid a snow job on his colleagues and apparently they are now prepping it for the membership at large.
How do we measure such events amongst the elders? Generally, we measure them by whether they put more butts in the seats, or whether they produce transformative spiritual enlightenment. ACOGs have not witnessed either of those in decades, regardless of anything their leaders have done. The leadership of the ACOGs appear to be a spent creative force, totally out of gas. Metrons are not going to get them where they need to go. Nice try, guys.
Well do I remember the "must play" HQ tape on which HWA expresses his lack of knowledge of the Systematic Theology Program. "STP? Isn't that something you put in your car?"
The Cogs do whatever differentiates themselves from non-cog Christians.
If a false prophet can keep simple complicated, one can keep the simple minded under control.
Heh, for a split second that's what I thought it was too.
I thought the Metrons were from Star Trek!
The Metrons were a powerful, enigmatic race. The Metrons were first encountered when, Captain James T. Kirk had ordered the USS Enterprise to pursue a Gorn vessel that had destroyed the observation outpost located on Cestus III.
STP??--
Didnt that stand for "Stop Teenaged Pregnancy"??
The COGs can't find the simplicity of Christ because they don't understand what Christ did for us. They generally see him from an Old Testament viewpoint: a Sacrifice and a Conquering King. They do not teach that He is our Rest and that He actually separates us from sin when we believe in Him.
One of the commenters on a different posting stated that while Jesus is a servant of God, it is Israel the Kingdom that will achieve what Israel the Church could not. As if Jesus is somehow insufficient and only perhaps a part.
They seem more committed to the observing of new moons and sabbaths than focusing on Christ Who is so luminous that there will be no need for the sun...which shows how diminished are new moons and the counting of days (which are based on the sun and its illumination of the moon).
To be consistent with their focus they should title their magazines "Sabbath" of "New Moons" or "Count Seven".
ANON526,
COGWA actually has a giant “7” as the cover page of their magazine.
I am convinced they think more about the sabbath than Jesus.
The STP was NEVER in one book. Get the facts straight.
Subversives NEVER wrote STP. Well established, approved church writers who also taught classes within AC contributed research. Again facts completely ignored.
And you perceive yourselves as the 'good guys'
11:34 wrote:
"The STP was NEVER in one book. Get the facts straight.
Yes, it was! It was in one notebook. I worked in the Auditorium the day they were passed out at the ministerial conference. We had hundreds of them on the tables in the lobby and as the ministers came out they were handed one. I was there. I handed it out.
Then, after Herbie crapped his pants and lied that he knew nothing about it, the STP was recalled by Church Administration. Soon hundreds of them started being turned in. Ed Haupt and I, under the direction of Jack Elliot, were the ones instructed to take all the notebooks and shred all the contents. We spent weeks in the Hall of Ad shredding notebooks and taking some kind of adhesive cleaner to wipe the words Systematic Theology Project off the notebook covers so the notebooks could be reused elsewhere since they had spent several thousand dollars on them.
No one here ever said subversives wrote the STP. They were all respected ministers (at least at that time) and instructors at the college.
Get your facts straight before you run off at the mouth again.
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