In the Spirit of the Pharisees,
by ACM
March 2017
He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
`This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' (Mar 7:6-7 NKJ)
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and
cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (Mat 23:23 NKJ)
Below is an ongoing project and survey documenting an exhaustive, open-ended list of arguably extra-biblical religious beliefs and practices held by various modern Church of God (COG) groups, sub-groups, and individuals. The groups are not named - this is only a list of the beliefs and practices in no particular order. The project illustrates that many, if not most, of these practices and teachings are equivalent to the commandments and traditions of men which the scribes and Pharisees held, and which Jesus condemned (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7). Likewise, there is not a detailed discussion herein of the various ancient Jewish sects among and other than the Pharisees (Sadducees, Essenes, etc.) but only a rather generalized description of “Pharisee” and “Pharisaical” for the sake of a basic comparison. While the Pharisees may not have held the specific beliefs listed (and they may have had a longer list, and been a less fragmented body of adherents) these modern COG extra-biblical doctrines and practices have been established and kept in the same or similar motivation (“spirit”) as the Pharisees. (list of actual Pharisaical rules: THE 39 MELACHOT
It is commonly accepted that a major problem with the scribes and Pharisees that warranted
condemnation from Jesus was the emphasis, deference and weight that they placed on their
own rules, as well as their emphasis on the physical aspects of real biblical instructions, to the neglect and exclusion of the spiritual, "weightier" aspects of the law (Matthew 23:23).
Furthermore, the scribes and Pharisees used their extra-biblical commandments of men and
emphasis on the physical aspects of the law to establish their own righteousness.
The focus of this project is to bring into the open widespread pietism, albeit denied by the
pietists, created because of the similar weight and importance placed on the modern
manifestations of COG-created rules, doctrines, beliefs and practices. An extension to the
project may be done later to show that the churches place inappropriate emphasis on the
physical aspects of real biblical instructions, however for this project only the extra-biblical
practices will be listed for the purpose of focusing attention on the fact that there are many
such practices prevalent, and held in high regard among the believers.
The known hurdle to the project is the argument, "I'm not being Pharisaical in the practice of
my religion," which this project is intending to expose as a misconception by showing that in
the modern Church of God, inappropriate emphasis is being placed on the items listed. If the believer’s righteousness and standing with God are believed to be compromised by the neglect of the items on this list, then we are forced to admit that these items are being used to establish the believer’s righteousness.
Not all of the items listed below are common to all of the various Church of God groups, and
there is no suggestion that all COG adherents hold to all of these beliefs. Nor is there an intent to depict believers as exhibiting the spirit of the Pharisees only if the believers practice the entire list. It is left to the reader to determine how large one’s own personal list, or that of his particular faction, needs to be before qualifying as Pharisaical. While the Pharisees were noted for their peculiar rules, their large quantity of rules also commonly receives notice, and indeed such a large number is an important factor (it wasn’t just the strange rules they had that were notable, but the fact that they had so many). Yet, would Jesus remove his condemnation if the scribes and Pharisees had a smaller quantity of rules, say, half or one quarter of what they really had? Or is it rather the spirit (intent), regardless of how many or few man-made rules they had, which was the root issue? The challenge is to lower our defensive fists and evaluate whether we are susceptible to the same intent of the Pharisees, even if we don’t possess as full and diverse a collection of extra-biblical religious beliefs ourselves.
Just as the Pharisees would claim that their damnable beliefs were extensions of God’s will,
modern-day Church of God adherents may claim that the below list contains beliefs and
practices that are biblically justified. Furthermore, the list is not intended to show doctrines
that are clearly biblical yet no longer required, relating to the aforesaid inappropriate emphasis on real biblical instructions. Nor does the list depict examples of “legalism” in the modern theological sense of law and statute keeping in general. For example, the list does not contain the practice of keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy in general, even though many COG critics would identify this as a legalistic practice by itself, regardless of the emphasis placed on it by the Sabbath keeper. However, the practice of not eating at restaurants on the Sabbath is appropriate for this list because it is a modern, extra-biblical rule, perhaps devised with a similar purpose that the Pharisees had in devising their rules on Sabbath keeping.
Many of the beliefs that are appropriate for listing in this project are not officially or historically documented in COG literature, but are cultural practices that have come to bear the weight of established, pious tradition. Some of the practices are widespread traditions, and others are observed by fringe individuals peppered throughout the factions. Thus, research to find more items to add to the list involves learning about individuals’ experiences in the churches. You are invited to send items you deem applicable to . All correspondence will be strictly confidential except for content you wish to have added to the project, and at the author’s discretion. The list will be updated periodically, probably irregularly.
The list (in process):
• Refusal to obey the instructions of the ministry is equivalent to rebellion against God.
• Refusal to believe new teachings of the ministry is equivalent to lacking faith in God.
• Disrespecting the ministry is equivalent to disrespecting God.
• The ministry is not to be second-guessed.
• The ministry is tasked with helping the lay members become submissive to the ministry.
• You must address the minister, elder, deacon as "Mr…".
• The pattern of governance that Moses established should be used in the Church today.
• You must avoid contact with all individuals who have left the faith.
• You must proclaim that Herbert W. Armstrong was an apostle of God.
• The ministry has the authority to forbid you from marrying, or having a romantic
relationship with a particular individual.
• Interracial dating and marriage is forbidden.
• A wife’s infidelity is more egregious than a husband’s.
• You must disown your son, daughter or any other household member if he/she is not in
the faith, even if it means expelling the individual from your home, regardless of age.
• You must be baptized in order to attend Passover.
• The Church must only preach the Gospel to the physical descendants of Israel.
• A tithe of the tithe is to be paid to the Church.
• Your faith is measured by how much you materially contribute to Church.
• Your governmental position in the Kingdom of God will be determined by how much you
materially contribute to the Church in this life.
• Wearing makeup is sinful.
• The name of the organization must have "Church of God" in order to be the true Church.
• True Christians do not serve on juries.
• True Christians do not vote in civil elections.
• Members are required to wear their best dress clothes to services.
• You should bend forward during the prayers at services (bending further indicates
greater devotion).
• Only Dwight Armstrong hymns are to be sung at services. Some members refuse to sing
the non-Dwight hymns.
• Mushrooms should not be eaten because they are unclean life forms.
• Self-defense is sinful and indicates a lack of faith.
• Reading fictional literature will make a Christian susceptible to demon possession.
• Hypnotherapy will make a Christian susceptible to demon possession.
• Most mental and emotional illness is the result of demonic possession.
• Mental therapy and psychiatric counseling should be avoided. The minister will provide
all the counseling you need.
• Medical practitioners in general should be avoided. The minister will be the conduit of
miraculous healing instead.
• Sometimes illness is the result of sin, but you don't know when this is true.
• When a competing faction or enemy has problems, it is because God cursed them, but
when your faction has problems it is because Satan is attacking you.
• In the Kingdom of God Jesus Christ will serve you food as a waiter.
• Christians will become individual gods after they are resurrected and other humans will
worship them.
• Satan causes the hostile nature of wild animals, except God can increase this hostility in
order to curse large populations of humanity.
• Begging God during prayer increases the likelihood of the prayer being answered.
• Preaching to the public is not done with the intent to convert, but to witness against
those perishing, toward the end of saving from condemnation the one preaching.
• You must not preach spiritual salvation to the public.
• You should not overuse the terms “Jesus,” “grace,” “salvation,” “saved,” “beloved,”
“Lord,” “O, Lord,” “dear Lord,” “praise,” “praise God,” “praise Jesus,” “praise the Lord,”
“thank the Lord,” “mercy,” “born again,” “sweet,” or “precious,” to name a few. These
terms are generally Protestant and embarrassing to say.
• You must not add fuel to your vehicle on a Sabbath.
• You must not eat in a restaurant on a Sabbath.
• You must not travel beyond a certain distance on a Sabbath.
• Only classical music is Sabbath-appropriate music.
Open Categories
• Category: Things the ministry has authority to decide for you
• Category: Things that insult God
• Category: Modern ways to break the Sabbath
• Category: What activities are Sabbath-appropriate/inappropriate?
• Category: Ways to invite demonic possession
• Category: Physical things or symbols that defile you
• Category: Ways to be rebellious against the ministry
• Category: Things that justify disfellowshiping (excommunication)
• Category: Avoiding paganism and things that have ever been associated with paganism
• Category: Evidence of British-Israelism
