United Church of God is starting a series on the 10 commandments in their
United News. It starts off with the 1st commandment and also makes reference to the 2nd commandment. Like normal in Armstrongism, it is necessary to also lash out at Catholics and others because the church has always felt the need to claim they were worshipping idols.
The First Commandment is the most important commandment because it means that only God has the sovereign authority to establish commandments for every human being plus judge them by those commandments. Only God can define right versus wrong, good versus evil, virtue versus vice, and moral versus immoral.
Confusion of the First and Second Commandments
We in United Church of God know that Exodus 20:3 states the First Commandment and verses 4-6 state the Second Commandment (about not using images in religious worship). Sadly, many Christian and Jewish people are confused and regard verses 3 through 6 as only one commandment.
The different meanings of the two first Commandments will be explained fully in the next article but we can briefly illustrate them now. If someone worships any image (like a statue or painting), that is breaking the First Commandment. But if someone is worshipping the true God but is trying to visually picture God with images, that is breaking the Second Commandment.
It is always easy for the COG to smear others for supposedly worshipping statues and icons, all the while never seeing anything wrong with the blatant worship so many in the church have of Herbert Armstrong, Mystery of the Ages, and much more. HWA has been elevated to position right up there next to Jesus Christ with many in the church believing that when Jesus returns HWA will be standing right next to Jesus along with Moses.
Others have elevated the writings of Herbert Armstrong to the point of canonization, claiming that the Mystery of the Ages is divinely inspired and is necessary for salvation.
Gerald Flurry traipsed over the fields of Oregon to dig up a dirty old rock that the holy hands of Herbert Armstrong supposedly touched, bringing it back to Edmond and placing it on display for the admirers who would sit and pray next to it.
Dave Pack runs his entire organization according to the very things he claims to have been taught while sitting at the feet of Herbert Armstrong.
Every single Church of God splinter group exists because of the idolatry of their worship of Herbert Armstrong. From Bob Thiel to the bastardizer of the law James Malm, these sick pissants have placed everything about Herbert Armstrong on par with Jesus Christ. Rare is the moment when you hear any Church of God talk about Jesus, but oh how they love Herbert Armstrong.
So before any idolatrous Church of God incarnation starts smearing Catholics and others, they had better step back and look at the idolatry they commit daily with HWA. Take down his pictures from your hallways, dump his books in the garbage and publicly repent of your own idolatry first! Hypocrites!
