Is Rod Meredith The Most Uniquely Qualified Man To Write About The Protestant Reformation?

Gerald Weston and the Living Church of God have been heavily promoting the "new" earth shattering series of articles that Rod Meredith is "working" on regarding the "truth" about the Protestant Reformation.  The Living Church of God, as well as Rod Meredith, feel that he is the most qualified human ever to comment upon the Protestant Reformation.

This is coming from a man who has had no theological training outside of the Church of God information stream.  He has had zero historical education, by qualified and well versed professors, on the Protestant Reformation movement.   Most of his knowledge is garnered from anti-Catholic sources that are just as biased as Herman Hoeh's and Dean Blackwell's treatises on church history and the Reformation that the old Worldwide Church of God claimed to be historically accurate.

The latest issue of the Tomorrow's World contains the article:  The Plain Truth About the Protestant Reformation.  Ah yes, the "Plain Truth,"  how veeeeery original.  Why is it that none of the men in any of the splinter groups can ever come up with something original?

The byline for the article states this:

“Roderick C. Meredith, the Editor in Chief of the Tomorrow’s World Magazine and Presiding Evangelist of the Living Church of God, is uniquely qualified to write this series. His ministry spans almost 65 years, from the earliest years of Herbert W. Armstrong’s worldwide work to today’s multi-media continuation of that Work of reaching the world with the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God. 

Dr. Meredith has long been an expert concerning the history and significance of the Protestant Reformation, and this series collects his research on this highly misunderstood subject. 

The article starts out with this:

The Protestant movement today is on trial. The Protestant Reformation has spawned a veritable Babylon of hundreds of different denominations.

Seriously?  He has the gall to start out like this when he is part of a movement that has spawned hundreds and hundreds of harlot daughters of the mother church!  The Church of God is the most fractured single church movement in modern history.  Lecturing others about a "movement" being "on trial" is pretty hypocritical from a man who has helped spawn church divisions.

This entire article is nothing new for Rod Meredith.  It is not like he has been focused upon studying the Protestant Reformation over the last few years, and particularly now that he is on his death bed.  What Meredith has done is republish his 1961 thesis that was a requirement of the unaccredited Ambassador College "graduate" program.  This is a paper that never defended in front of real theologically and historically trained professors.

Church of God News has this to say about Meredith's series:

Roderick Meredith has not collected “his research on this highly misunderstood subject” during “his ministry (spanning) almost 65 years.” 

He wrote The Plain Truth about the Protestant Reformation 61 years ago, when he was a student at Ambassador College. His thesis was written in ‘Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in Theology’.
The first article in this “ brand-new series” comprises chapters1-3 of this thesis. It is almost word for word, with some slight (or should that be ‘sleight’?)amendments by the editors, e.g. “thesis” is changed to “series”; “the following chapters” to “this series of articles”; and “the present work” to “this series”.

Why does the Living Church of God need to deliberately deceive their members by pretending that this is an all new series that Rod Meredith's been working on?

Dave Pack Salivating for Christ...

Sniff sniff...wink wink

"Now, here’s some bad news that I wanted to announce, but in a way, it can be good news (Well , I mean it is GREAT NEWS! really )when we understand such things from God’s perspective. You’ve heard the name, Mr. Meredith, Roderick Meredith, many times. He performed my marriage and baptized my first wife, and of course, was a dear friend for a full 30 years. I was Uncle Dave to his children and he was Uncle Rod to my children. (Actually I was Uncle Dave to every Evanglists family in my mind)

Mr. Meredith has, apparently, terminal cancer, and it was announced on Thursday in a way that was inconclusive. And then yesterday, an additional announcement came out stating that it definitely is cancer and he is…And I salute him for this, (Now die please and soon I have people to snag) and he’s 86 years and well, almost 87. In June, he’ll be 87, and so he’s lived a rich life. (No pun intended) He’s not going to do anything about it. (As if he could)  He said, “No heroic efforts. They may or may not be able to extend my life, but would they even extend the quality of my life?” So he’s basically home now and I will maybe at some later time talk a little bit more about this.

I think the fact that he is leaving the scene is much more significant than meets the eye—maybe much, much more than meets the eye. I would love to think, of course, (Uh huh) that he is a saint and I will see him again.(But I can't do that or I'd have to acknowledge there can be other sincere Christians outside of ME) It’s interesting, about a week ago I thought about writing him a letter, (I doubt it,  but maybe share what you would have said?)  maybe it was last weekend, and then of all things, on Thursday, we got these announcements. 

...But, I will say, he is the last of those seven original evangelists. He represents the end of an era. I certainly am not in any sense…I would think I don’t need to say this…I’m not, in any sense, happy about this,  (Of course you are),except (told ya!) in the sense that I can explain later on, something that you will appreciate understanding. It means he’s not part of the events to come, ( Neither will you be Dave) and I hope you can readily add two and two there and get four. (Doubt that too. RCG members are too brain dead already to add anything correctly anymore).  He does not need to go through the fire. There’s no…I mean, he’s had multiple strokes, and so how you see these men who are taken away is very important." (They are taken away by old age if lucky)

But in the splinters…Only God knows how individuals are seen in His eyes… (Oh lots more people than just God do too) But in the splinters, he is a titan and when he is gone, a church of 10,000-plus, many thousands of whom I know…are going to be thrown into turmoil. (Yay!!!!) Because virtually all the other senior ministers who were there have already died. And so I don’t know how that will go, I hear a lot of rumors, but we’ll talk more about it, maybe down the road. I just wanted you to know that. (Thanks!  Somehow we knew you would!)

As a brother in Christ, (umm...brother in Christ?  Really?  Then LCG types can stay put and be fine) then we can be praying for him (that's nice Dave)—but be praying for all the other brethren who are going to be thrown into terrible uncertainty when a man who was ordained an evangelist in 1953, I think, February’ 53 in Britain, is gone. (Come unto me, I mean us...pulllleaaaaase!) And since…And he even said in his comments he knows God could heal him, but he reportedly said, “I’m realistic. At my age, I doubt that’s going to happen.” So if he’s not doing anything to try to reverse it and makes that comment, then you can imagine how it will end. So, I’ll leave you with those thoughts. (Thanks but I got it figured out already)

David C Pack

Screed* 64

* "A long speech or piece of writing, typically one regarded as tedious"

Dave Pack: The Church has always been full of wizards and spell-casters

Dave has been really frustrated that thousands of COG members still have not jumped ship to join his superfantabulous Church of God.  He has racked his brain for years trying to figure out why no one seems to care.  Apparently the light came on in his empty head.  His god has deliberately kept people out and is only letting in a hand selected few.  These hand selected few are vital to run the new world government that Dave and his "jesus" are setting up in their First Dominion.  Just let your mind wander a few minutes and realize that some of those batshit crazy RCG members will be in charge of the First Dominion.  They will be the rulers of cities and planets.  The teachers.  Heaven help humanity!

I could not understand why, when we had everything that they professed that they wanted back. Here it is, all back again. The wonderment of the golden age of Philadelphia is all back. Where were they? Why weren’t they coming? Why didn’t we hear the sound of their feet like thunder entering our halls all over the world? But we didn’t…just trickle, trickle, trickle…here one, there one…here three, there two, there five…one, one, one…five, five, two, two. That’s the way it’s been for, now, many years.

But now we understand. I repeat…now we understand they weren’t going to come unless Christ handpicked them, because he deemed them important to the establishing of His government, because there was enough there to work with. And brethren, don’t let that puff you up, but there’s no other reason why we’re here—and be very, very thankful, because there, but for the grace of God, go we, in terms of what those in all the other places are going to have to endure.

I knew He wanted to keep many out. I never understood, until recently, how it was that He kept them out, and He tells us through Paul, in II Timothy, in these two perilous times, that wizards would arise—eventually weighty wolves, not sparing the flock. And it would get worse and worse. Not evil men will arise and get worse and worse, and wizards will come after that, meaning just three of them, but there’d been a long series of them. But they are goēs…they’re always goēs, wizards—spell-casters.