Why Do The COG's Continue To Smear Christians While Extolling Themselves As Perfect Versions Of 1st Century Christianity?

1st Century Christianity 

Has there ever been a more perfect Christian Church on earth than the present-day Churches of God who see themselves as exemplary examples of 1st Century Christianity? Truth be told, 1st-century Christians would be shocked and appalled at the examples of modern-day Church of God leaders leading their little flocks. None of them have any idea what it's like to practice original Christianity. Yet, they sure know how to blame and shame Christians outside their insular little circles of self-righteous piety.

A huge majority of 1st Century Christians worshiped in private due to the fear of being executed or tortured. Thousands died in the Colosseum. Others were martyred along roadsides, in their homes, hiding in the hills, and in many other places. Yet, through it all, they persisted. 

Armstrongism has no idea what 1st-century Christians did. Today, it is all a play Mickey Mouse world to them, with made-up visions of how things could have been in their little privileged minds. Not a single COG today has ever been persecuted, though we see martyrs like Bob Thiel claim otherwise. The only "persecution" they may receive is due to their own stupidity or self-important arrogance. It certainly is not for what they claim to believe.

LCG took an interesting news item and made it into a smear job of what they deem as "so-called" Christians 

Christianity in Europe Earlier than Previously Believed: In recent years, a silver amulet or phylactery was discovered in a grave in Germany (LiveScience, December 20, 2024). The grave dates to the middle of the third century AD—about 200 years after the death of Christ and about 100 years before Constantine converted to his own brand of paganized “Christianity.” Inside the amulet was a rolled scroll made of thin, silver foil, which was 3D-scanned to read the contents without damaging it. This revealed an inscription that clearly speaks of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, noting that “every knee bows” to Him. While historians know that it was dangerous to profess such biblical truths at that time in the Roman world, the authors of the article fail to recognize that what passes as modern Christianity was not codified until centuries after the original apostles lived—beginning with the efforts of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century AD—and that true biblical Christianity is very different! The Christianity apparently professed by the wearer of the phylactery predates the “Christianity” of Constantine, though little detail is revealed in the scroll. All this implies the presence of Christianity in the region much earlier than some previously believed. As the mayor of Frankfurt noted, “The history of Christianity in Frankfurt and far beyond will have to be turned back by around 50 to 100 years.” But why would a believer in Christ be found so far north and outside of the Roman Empire? 

 

The Bible records the travels of true Christians all over the Middle East and into Asia Minor and points north and west. In many cases, they followed migration routes set down in earlier centuries by Israelitish people making their way across Europe and toward the British Isles. The recently discovered amulet lends credence to the extent of these migrations. To learn more about where the descendants of the Israelite people are today, read or listen to The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. —Scott Winnail and Francine Prater