Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

How the Bible Brought Me to Bacon


 

How the Bible Brought Me to Bacon

By The COG Catholic

Bacon is a special gift from God — one of the tasty ways by which he tells us, “I love you.”

I don't have a Bible verse for that, but I'm convinced.

In my case, bacon has been a healthful “diet food.” With its optimal fat-to-protein ratio, it played a role in my losing 40 pounds in three months. It was part of my dietary strategy — along with intermittent fasting — to reverse my type 2 diabetes. My hemoglobin A1C score plummeted from 8.5 to 5.2.


Of course, I didn't always believe bacon was a health food. I thought it was unfit for human consumption. In fact, I believed eating it was sinful — and not merely because it's “sinfully delicious.”

Bacon Bandits

Growing up in the Armstrongs' Worldwide Church of God, I was deprived of bacon and all other foods considered “unclean” according to the Levitical laws they observed.

But I didn’t feel deprived. I was content. I never coveted the pepperoni or sausage on my classmates’ school cafeteria pizzas, because as pork products they were “unclean” toppings. Why would I want to eat something God forbids?

It’s right there in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. The God who says, “I change not” (Malachi 3:6) clearly delineates between “the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:46).


By promoting this simplistic understanding, the Armstrongs and their associates acted as “bacon bandits.” In the name of God, they stole from our menu this perfect health food, along with shrimp (the fruit of the sea), crab, catfish, and any other edible flesh proscribed by the Law of Moses.

They taught that these dietary restrictions were health laws. God knows what’s good and what’s not good for us to eat. So, like a Toyota owner's manual, his Book tells us what fuel to use and what not to use for our body’s best performance.

Spriritual explanations

When I was older, however, I began hearing spiritual explanations, which sounded more rational. (I didn't think I knew anyone who chronically battled trichinosis due to rebelliously eating undercooked, parasitic pork flesh.)

It was said that these dietary laws were daily reminders that we are called out of this world, and that choosing to eat “clean” meats and choosing not to eat “unclean” meats served as a living metaphor for how we must choose between good and evil in our everyday life.

Just as we choose God in our thoughts, in our speech, and in what we watch, we also choose God in what we eat.

Then a few years after I began working at the home office of Garner Ted Armstrong’s Church of God International in Tyler, Texas, I was challenged by a couple friends on this issue of clean and unclean meats. One of them offered mostly secular arguments, which I rejected entirely, while the other posed deeper theological arguments.

Back to the Word

That challenge was a call to arms, so to speak. It was time to “sharpen my sword” and yet again “prove” to myself — and to my friends — what I thought I already knew: the Christian mandate to abstain from “unclean meats.”

So I blew a day’s worth of dust off my Bible and again reviewed the relevant passages. (I had not yet taken Catholicism seriously, and instead had a very Protestant “Bible only” mentality.)

This time, as I sought to contradict my friend's point of view, my new study was leading me in an unexpected direction. While I didn’t want to jump to premature conclusions, I felt I might have to revise my understanding.

I had already gotten past the Fundamentalist, bumper-sticker mentality of “The Bible says it — I believe it — that settles it.” Sure enough, the Bible has to be believed, but first it must be correctly understood, which is what I sincerely endeavored to do.

What I found

I don’t want to oversimplify the issue, but for brevity's sake I can say that one passage of Scripture encapsulates the core of what eventually changed my mind (and later practice). It's a passage that perfectly summarizes and explains the purpose of the clean and unclean distinctions with regard to food. And that is Leviticus 20:24-26:

But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You shall thereforeseparate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

It seemed clear from this verse alone that the primary reason God made these dietary laws was to reflect or illustrate that God had chosen the people of Israel out of all the other nations. It was “therefore” — because of that — that they were to distinguish between the clean and unclean. Just as God set apart Israel from the nations, so he set apart for them unclean animals.

I didn’t want to flip-flop my position based on one verse alone, in case I read too much into it, but this same concept popped up everywhere else, including our go-to chapters of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14:

In Leviticus 11, after its listing of which animals are clean and unclean, we come to verse 45:

For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

In Deuteronomy 14, in the same context as these and other laws of distinction, we encounter verse 2:

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Peter's vision

I realized that this explicit Old Testament reason for the dietary laws fits perfectly with the account of Saint Peter’s vision in Acts 10.

Peter didn’t want to eat all the animals, reptiles, and birds he was told to eat, because he knew they were unclean. He objected, saying, “I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean,” but the voice from heaven replied, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times in the vision, underscoring its importance.

Now, COG preachers explain (sometimes bombastically) that the meaning of Peter's vision “has nothing to do with food! It has nothing to do with pig, shrimp, lobster — it has nothing to do with dogs and cats, or monkey brains!” (video below). They say his vision only relates to the legitimacy of Gentile believers.

But they don’t grasp the implications of this connection between the Levitical dietary laws and God's covenant people.

The obvious question...and answer

To me, there was no way around the logical question that demanded a logical answer:

If we believe

  • that God gave Israel the dietary laws of clean and unclean as a reminder that God separated them from all the nations to be his people,

  • that the Gentiles are “grafted in” to God’s people (Romans 11), and

  • that the apostle to the Gentiles wrote, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28),

then why on earth are we observing a dietary practice that symbolizes something that is no longer the case?

By insisting we abstain from “unclean” meats, we are acting out and illustrating a false reality — one in which the nation of Israel is still being called to be separate and spiritually distinct from the Gentiles.

The fact is that Jesus, for the past 2000 years, has been calling all peoples — Jew and Gentile — to be united in the one universal Church he continues to build.

It therefore makes no sense to continue observing these laws today. The religious symbol no longer matches the reality. As foretold to the patriarchs, the Church does not make a distinction between Jew and Gentile; rather, all are equally “in Christ.”

It's safe to say it was God himself who generously saw fit to add Gentile bacon to the Church's cheeseburger, making it an ever more glorious burger.

Ken's Pizza

It wasn't until I was completely convinced by the Christian understanding of clean and unclean laws that I told my friend one weekend, “Let's go out for a pizza.”

We went to Ken's Pizza on Broadway Avenue in Tyler. I was in my upper 20s, and for the first time ever I enjoyed multiple slices of pepperoni pizza.

Since I was still employed by a church that taught against eating unclean meats, I looked over my shoulder as I ate, but I saw no one I needed to worry about.

There was only one former fellow church employee a few tables over, but she was eating the same things I was.


Conclusion

I realize that in telling how I arrived at this point, I have not addressed the objections often raised by those who abstain from “unclean” animals (e.g., Isaiah's reference to mice, Noah's knowledge of clean and unclean animals, etc.), but that's not the point of this post. It's not a polemic. It's me sharing a slice of my story.

I do find it tragic and even humorous these days looking back on people's reactions when they learned I had left the religion of my youth. It was not uncommon to hear them ask with incredulity, “You mean, you eat pork now?” As if that is the surest sign of going off the rails into apostasy.

It's sobering to consider that there are Bible readers — good people (I was one of them!) — who think that Christianity is centered around worshiping on the correct day of the week, or is based on a particular fanciful prophetic scenario, or is fortified in the Faith by checking the label on a can of beans to make sure it doesn't contain pork — even checking a bag of marshmallows or a box of gelatin to make sure it doesn't contain “animal shortening,” lest it include any pork byproducts (yes, that is a thing).

Obedience to God in all things is necessary, but not misdirected obedience.

When I read the lives and writings of the holy Christian saints of old, their concern was not food and drink — that which comes into the mouth. Their concern was with what comes out of the mouth (cf. Matthew 15:11) — that is, what's in the heart.

Eating animals without cloven hooves or that don't chew the cud isn't what defiles us or makes us unclean. It's our own sinfulness.

In the words of Jesus,

What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man. (Mark 7:20-23)

Our job is to let God graciously cleanse our spiritual wounds (we all have them) and shape us perfectly into his image.

=====

The COG Catholic currently blogs at https://write.as/thecogcatholic.









48 comments:

  1. Please Google the following article (along with dozens of similar articles): The Dark Side of Pork: 10 Reasons to Ditch Bacon and Ham. It's interesting that medical science has now caught up with the reasons God prohibited the eating of such animal products thousands of years ago. By the way, beef bacon is excellent, and from the right source, MUCH leaner than pork bacon.

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    1. 12:01
      Yeah I happily enjoy my turkey pastrami (or bacon) in place of pork bacon. Tastes great and no carcinogenic nitrates in it too!

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    2. My mother used to get beef bacon from the kosher grocery in our neighborhood and cook it on a grill plate to drain off more grease (remember, this was the early 80s when all forms of animal-based oil and grease were getting a bad rap). I still do it that way sometimes to this day - not a huge fan of bacon in general, but it's nice once in a while.

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  2. The longer we live, the more time there is to grow as a Christian. So staying healthy by shunning rubbish food, impacts one's spiritual life and hence the position we will be given in the kingdom. It's prudent to avoid questionable foods.

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  3. I'm all for eating bacon, but I'm disguted at the idea of watching a GCI video.

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  4. Where does the BIBLE actually say that God prohibits bacon for HEALTH reasons? Not eating pork was like keeping the Sabbath instead of Sunday. It won't make you any healthier, but it sets you apart from the gentiles. That is what the Bible says.

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  5. Beef bacon is leaner than pork bacon is it? Well according to science, fatty meat (natural meat) is better for you than lean meat (meat modified by selective breeding).

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  6. Almost all FLU comes from birds through swine, and then to humans.

    Obviously, if you are around swine, domesticating them and farming them, then human contact is inevitable. Flu gets transferred. Perhaps the whole pork thing is to keep people away from swine and to stop getting the flu. Nothing against Pigs, they serve a purpose in the ecology, but being food is not one of them.

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  7. Once the old covenant blinders were off and the silliness of Armstrongism, it was easy to see how the dietary laws that were specific to Israel were not in effect for Christians.

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  8. After the flood, God gave all animals as food.
    Law of Moses declared eating some foods only made one ceremonialy unclean.
    Jesus declared all foods as clean. Mark 7:19
    God created all food to be eaten with thanksgiving. 1 Tim 4:3
    Your strength does not come from rules about food. HEB 13:9
    We are not made more righteous by ceremonial food laws. Rom 4, Gal2,3

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  9. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
    We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.”
    ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭8‬-‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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  10. Every Bible verse that challenges or voids Mr. Armstrong, or those that have followed in his system, is scoffed at, directly contradicted, or explained away as not saying what it means. I used to wonder what twisting scriptures looked like… until I realized that when you read the Bible without being under the influence of any man, the Bible is straightforward. I encourage anyone still following this system to read every quoted verse during services in context. And see if you are being misled. If your pastor says, “this is a tricky scripture,” remember, there aren’t any tricky passages just deceptive men who are trying to take you captive. If you have received the Holy Spirit, lean on God dwelling in you. God will guide you and lead you into all truth.

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  11. Anon (12:41): You can catch just the CGI soundbyte quoted by clicking on the hyperlinked words in blue -- just above the full video that was embeded

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  12. Theres an Impossible version of andouille out there that actually goes well in a proper jambalaya. Tip for you guys :)

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  13. Herbert W. Armstrong made all of us English-speaking gentiles, and other western Europeans into Israelites, thus firming up his contention that all the laws given to the Israelites were still binding on us. I believe that this is probably why the ACOG leaders and members do not warm up to modern dna science. If they were to embrace the dna, their slavish Old Covenant law-keeping, and their national sense of identity and understanding of prophecy would be out the window. Those are the key things which differentiate Armstrongites from normal, regular Christians.

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  14. Our Catholic brother writes:

    "why on earth are we observing a dietary practice that symbolizes something that is no longer the case?"

    Actually I think you are the only one making the claim. I have a different understanding of Leviticus 20!

    Most of what you have written is not new but the same o protestant and catholic song and dance. Which is fine.

    Everyone is free to believe and do as they please. Take the vax, eat pork, drink camp Lejeune water, take fentanyl, I mean after all it really doesn't matter what goes IN right?

    BTW, you can lose 40 pounds eating candy bars and potato chips if you know how to do it! Just saying.

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  15. I was morbidly obese, then I went on the "Snake Diet" and lost a hundred pounds in two months. The diet consists of fasting and when you refeed you eat only bacon, maybe wrapped in some iceberg lettuce is ok, and drinking salt water for electrolytes. I also added cottage cheese mixed with flaxseed oil too. Now, I hate bacon and returned to a normal diet and I kept all the fat off. I would call that a miracle but I know better now.

    "Stop eating Fatty" Cole Robinson

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  16. COG Catholic,

    Thank you for another cogent treatise which underscores that Armstrongist theology is NOT consistent with the Christianity described in Scripture. Herbert and his followers, however, have blinders on where Torah is concerned. They simply cannot see that Torah was intended for the children of Israel living in the Promised Land - that it was NEVER intended by God to apply to all peoples everywhere. You are also absolutely correct about the health aspect - that is something that Armstrong and his followers added (it's NOT part of the rationale offered in Scripture). Unfortunately, Armstrongists are all about distinguishing themselves from more traditional Christians - they are ceremonially clean, and everyone else is unclean!

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  17. Anon (5:06): Congratulations on losing your 100 lbs and keeping it off.

    My weight loss and health transformation was in 2018. I think I listened to every one of Cole's videos at that time to stay motivated (I don't like much of his content these days). I still take my salts when I fast, thanks to him.

    "Get that fat in ya," and "Stop flippin eating, fatty!"

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  18. I am disgusted at the thought of even just listening to a GCI video, sermon, speech, sound byte, or anything.

    I have had enough of them for several lifetimes.

    Changes, what changes?

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    1. Its a CGI video guys, not GCI. Though I dont find CGI any more palatable than GCI.

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    2. that is, if you can endure Bill Watson's car salesman accent

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  19. OK, so you ate poison and lost weight. I'm sure the same thing has happened to others. ( I hear this song playing in the background, I did it myyyyy wayyyyyy)

    And by the way, your argument doesn't hold water with anyone with a grain of understanding.

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  20. Understanding I Timothy 4:1-6

    In I Timothy 4:1-6, Paul wrote: “1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. 6 If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.”

    Paul, speaking about the last days, mentions those who will depart from the faith and follow the teachings of demons. These ‘hypocritical liars’ will teach men to abstain from marriage and “from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.” Some people have tried to apply these verses to the dietary laws in Leviticus 11 on clean and unclean animals. This interpretation runs into some problems. First of all, Paul says that this false teaching comes from demons. Did a demon speak the dietary laws in Leviticus 11? Absolutely not! The Bible says that the LORD spoke them. This eliminates the possibility that this hypocritical teaching refers to the dietary laws! The teaching Paul refers to came from demons, not God. What foods did God create to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth? Interestingly enough, Paul uses the Greek word broma in verse 3. It is translated as ‘certain foods’. This is a direct reference to the clean animals of Leviticus 11, which are called food for God’s people. Thus, this false teaching prohibits people from eating clean animals. The truth Paul refers to in verse 3 is the truth of God’s word and His Law. In Paul’s time, no New Testament existed. The only text that believers had to call truth is the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. Jesus said that the Word is Truth (John 17:17). There is no other truth for Paul to reference and there are no other foods other than broma that God created to be eaten (brosis is another Greek word that means the same thing).

    Paul then says that everything we eat should be consecrated (or made holy) by two things: the word of God and prayer. In the word of God, pigs, shellfish, and other unclean animals were never set apart for humans to eat. From the beginning, unclean animals were made for certain purposes, but never for human consumption! Prayer will not make a pig chew the cud or a shrimp grow fins and scales because God did not make those animals that way. These false teachers will teach people to abstain from the clean animals that God’s word clearly says are permissible to eat and to abstain from marriage. The word ‘and’ in verse 3 is critical in understanding these verses. Only one church, the Catholic Church, teaches that certain people (their priests) should not marry and that believers should not eat any meat on Friday (other than fish). I know many Catholic people who are very good moral people. They did not start these teachings. I am simply pointing out that these two teachings are not Biblical. God never said to abstain from meat on Fridays in the Bible, and the Bible does not prohibit marriage for ministers. If you do not know God’s truth that some animals were made to eat and cannot be forbidden by man, then you will be deceived by this teaching. In verse 6, Paul commends Timothy for exposing this false doctrine. He also points out that we will be good ministers of Christ Jesus if we teach others that God made some animals to eat. We will be upholding a truth of the faith.

    https://kellymcdonaldjr.com/2015/06/18/understanding-i-timothy-41-6/

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    1. "First of all, Paul says that this false teaching comes from demons. Did a demon speak the dietary laws in Leviticus 11? Absolutely not!"

      From where did the teaching of "Unless ye be circumcised according to the law of Moses, thou cannot be saved" originate?

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  21. Ever had grass fed bacon? The grease is even different. Most excellent breakfast food.
    Congrats to the author in losing weight and getting fit. Remember, building muscle and a low BMI is what keeps the body disease free. Always workout at least 3 times a week.

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  22. (shrug) HWA encountered virulently "anti-pork" (his term, not mine) ministers in COG7. According to him, he felt at the time that "unless a man broke the Tenth Commandment by lusting after it", eating pork was a question of a "physical food law", not the "spiritual" law. He seemed to downgrade it in that sense. I realize that is not how it was often portrayed in the organization later on.

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    1. wow what a clever revolving door of spin they had back then

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  23. The dietary laws outlined in Leviticus 11 are still relevant for Christians today. Here are a few reasons why:

    1.Health and hygiene: The food laws were given to the Israelites for their well-being and to maintain their physical health. Many of the prohibited animals were known carriers of diseases or parasites. By adhering to these dietary restrictions, believers can promote a healthier lifestyle.

    2.Holiness and separation: God's commandments are meant to set His people apart from the rest of the world. By obeying the food laws, Christians demonstrate their commitment to living a holy and separated life. As stated in Leviticus 11:44-45, "For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy."

    When Peter quotes the phrase "Be holy, for I am holy" in 1 Peter 1:16, he is referencing Leviticus 11:44-45. This command is given in the context of God instructing the Israelites to observe the dietary laws and other regulations that set them apart from the other nations.

    In 1 Peter, Peter is writing to encourage and exhort the believers who are scattered throughout various regions. He emphasizes the importance of living a holy and separated life, reflecting God's character and values. By quoting the command to be holy as God is holy, Peter is reminding the readers of their calling to holiness and their identity as God's chosen people.

    The concept of holiness in the Bible implies being set apart or consecrated for God's purposes. It involves living in accordance with God's moral and ethical standards. Peter is urging believers to align their lives with God's holy nature and to pursue a lifestyle that reflects His character.

    This call to holiness is not limited to dietary regulations or external behaviors but extends to all aspects of life. It includes our thoughts, attitudes, actions, relationships, and how we treat others. Peter is emphasizing the importance of living in a way that reflects our identity as children of God and witnesses to the world.

    By quoting this passage, Peter is reinforcing the timeless principle of holiness that is applicable to both the Old and New Testament believers. It is a call for Christians to strive for moral purity, righteousness, and a life that is distinct from the patterns of the world.

    3.Spiritual symbolism: The dietary laws also have spiritual symbolism. For example, the distinction between clean and unclean animals represents the separation between what is pure and impure in God's sight. This principle extends beyond just physical food to our spiritual and moral choices as well.

    4.Jesus affirmed the law: Some argue that Jesus nullified the dietary laws, but this is not accurate. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Jesus' fulfillment of the law does not mean its abolition but rather its embodiment and perfect fulfillment.

    5. The apostolic example: The early Christian Church, including the apostles, continued to observe the dietary laws. In Acts 10, Peter's vision was not about declaring all animals clean to eat, but rather about teaching him not to view Gentiles as unclean. Peter himself later confirmed this in Acts 10:28, saying, "God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean."

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  24. Didn't HWA eat unclean foods regularly in his trips around the world?

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    1. Probably, 8:50, applying 1 Corinthians 10:27.

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    2. Greg Albrecht or someone said an assistant fed HWA some Oreo cookies nightly back when they had a few atoms of lard in them

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  25. One thing that HWA would tout, that seems to have died out now, was the idea that there was "physical sin" and "spiritual sin". I never heard a good explanation on this, or how it functioned.

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    1. HWA had too much time on his hands...he eventually overexaggerated & went on tangents & out on a limb after initially working well with Loma's sabbath challenge early on

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  26. Never thought a posting "like bacon" would be seen here. It's beyond a box of rocks. It's sickening, now and more so eventually.

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  27. What a bunch of Baloney, which I also don’t eat. Your Creator was giving good directions of what not to eat for your health. Plus the turkey bacon is just fine.

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  28. Hey Bigfoot: I thought Darren addressed the points you raised with more biblical clarity than you did; perhaps you'd be willing to go back to the article and re-consider what he wrote on each point. For example, your first point covered health and hygiene - but you didn't cite anything saying God stated that the clean and unclean meats had anything to do with physical health. Since you are roughing it in the forest, you may benefit from knowing that all animals are carriers of diseases or parasites; watch out for the veggies too.

    Your fourth point is standard COG-odd thinking that we try to get Armstrongites to expound on; perhaps you will help us understand this thinking better by explaining it to us. If the dietary laws are in effect, how do you dismiss all the other laws you refuse to keep?

    Jeff Reed has given a few examples of how the COGs treat laws that they refuse to keep. For example, to deal with commanded FOT decorating, when four trees are commanded, you can decorate with one and say you've fulfilled the spirit of the law. However, I'm having difficulties gaining traction with that logic with my COG associates - if I offer them four types of unclean meat, they won't just reject one and partake of the other three, and claim they've fulfilled the spirit of the law.

    In your 5th point, you wrote, “The early Christian Church, including the apostles, continued to observe the dietary laws” – yet you did not cite any relevant scriptures to prove that. So, I will cite this one:
    Galatians 2:14
    When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

    In wisdom of COG theology, please explain how this group of Christians, represented by Cephas, was living like Gentiles?

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  29. “How the Bible Brought Me to Bacon” By The COG Catholic

    The Bible did NOT bring you to bacon.

    That was Satan's ham-eating, Sunday-keeping, Roman Catholic Church and its Protestant daughter churches that brought you to bacon.

    Watch now as they also try to bring you to eating MEALWORMS and BUGS to “save the planet.”

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    1. Is that why John the Baptist ate locusts and honey?

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  30. Anonymous Friday, September 22, 2023 at 9:12:00 AM PDT,

    LOL! "That ham-eating whore!" and "Could it be S-A-T-A-N!"

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  31. The thing is, an observant Jew would most likely have wanted to vomit at the very thought of eating swine or sea scavengers.

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  32. Yeah, enjoy your bacon.

    https://www.eatthis.com/is-bacon-bad-for-you/

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  33. Yeah, enjoy your chicken...

    https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/nutrition-information/chicken

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  34. Yeah, enjoy your red meat...

    https://www.eatthis.com/why-is-red-meat-bad-for-you/

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  35. Yeah, enjoy your vegetables...

    https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition-pictures/health-reasons-not-to-eat-your-vegetables.aspx

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  36. Yeah, enjoy your wine...

    https://www.news-medical.net/health/Why-Wine-is-Damaging-Our-Body-More-Than-We-Thought.aspx

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  37. Yeah, enjoy your beer...

    https://www.medicinenet.com/why_beer_is_bad_for_you/article.htm

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