Trouble Brewing In The Restored WCG

 

Why is it that every single splinter group leader has to claim that their "new" copycat version of the original Worldwide Church of God they have dreamed up is by and through the authority of Jesus Christ working in them? Despite JC supposedly working in and through them, every single article, booklet, website story, Facebook page, etc. is all about THEM. None of them can stop flapping their mouths about how great they are and how much work they do, how great their websites are, how great their videos are, etc., instead of focusing solely on Christ and his salvational work.

Every new alliteration of the mother church has had the chance to start over, do it right, and do it well. Sadly that has never happened as none of them can get rid of their narcissistic egos long enough to let Jesus get a word in.

We now are witnessing the implosion of yet another restored church and the very public breakup of a family.

This time it is the newly restored Worldwide Church of God and the Kitchen family.

A Voice Cries Out- Herbert W Armstrong

The original wwcg-archives.com has been preserved.

I worked with my father, to raise up several YouTube Channels:

Some of those Youtube Channels raised up THROUGH ME, Samuel W Kitchen, and it was Jesus Christ through me, is the following list: "The Real Elijah TV", "Herbert W Armstrong TV Archives", "A Voice Cries Out- Herbert W Armstrong" and the "Worldwide Church of God Archives".

I brought my brother Timothy on board as an "Administrator" for those channels to assist me, but I lost control over my emails, and could no longer gain access to those YouTube Channels! So I went to my brother and asked him to add my new email address, so I could regain control. He told me NO. He also removed me from many Facebook pages, and blocked me.

And now, I see, as many of you have also seen, all the videos I worked on and uploaded, all the videos my dad worked on with me, are now gone. They've either been made private, or deleted.

Now my family used the domain "wwcg-archives.com" and so all the videos, and old publications and Facebook pages, which my Dad and I worked on, shared that domain.

I had found out recently, this domain was NO LONGER owned by my brother. It was DEAD IN THE WATER, and was up for sale by the hosting company. So I purchased it, and attached it to "worldwidechurchofgod.org", and once again it was ALIVE and being used by this work.

And because my brother saw that i had purchased it, and he no longer had control of it, he slandered me before the brethren, in order to change YOUR MIND against me.

And so now he has REMOVED the videos on my Youtube channels, all the World Tomorrow Videos, and Radio Programs, and Sermons I worked on and uploaded, and the programs my Dad and I worked on,(which has his voice over). Because those videos had "wwcg-archives.com" on them, my brother decided to SHUT DOWN those YouTube Channels.

IT WAS NOT HIS TO TOUCH! He was NOT over those YouTube Channels! He was only included to ASSIST ME.

But he booted me from the Facebook pages, and has refused my requests to be restored back to these YouTube Channels. He said, he would give it all back after he edits and changes them to go to his NEW website "wwcga.com".

I say new, because he started that rather recently on his own.

When our Father was alive, my brother was over administering the website "wwcg-archives.com". I was placed over the Social Media pages, and Youtube Channels, and over the PUBLISHING of the warning message on those medias.

This family breakdown is a result of the failed fiasco of the Kitchen family traveling to Jerusalem because they thought they would give a final warning there to unite the one true church and deliver a witness to the world. 

See:  

Kitchen Family Suffers Humiliating Setback In Jerusalem

God's Two Pillars Are Currently In Jerusalem At This Very Moment! 

Would You Help Build A Library In Petra Dedicated To The Worldwide Church of God And Herbert Armstrong?

Satan's Wrath Was Stirred Up In Petra September 2022 Causing Him To Soon Prohibit Loyal COG Members From Using Internet

Samuel continues: 

My brother, in anger, ROSE UP and KICKED ME OUT OF THEM, to have control of them, because he felt he was wronged on our trip to the middle east. So because he could do it, HE FEELS HE CAN DO IT.

I had to start again from scratch, and this has been a very troublesome time in my life. MY BROTHER, my TWIN BROTHER, as he admitted publicly, is no longer walking in agreement with me. I do not know exactly what he is in disagreement with. But that's what he said.

So he started a NEW ARCHIVES, and the one we had been using, the original, was thrown aside, and eventually made inaccessible to him.

Now, I had NOTHING TO DO with removing him from the wwcg-archives.com domain. The domain was almost LOST, and everything we used in the Work of God was going into DESTRUCTION, under the hand of my brother. His solution, was to start fresh.

While my hand was forced to start fresh WITHOUT MY BROTHER, because he separated from me, I have made the purchase to PRESERVE THE ORIGINAL WORK I've been involved with since 2005, at least.

My brother CHOSE to separate himself from me, and he chose to start fresh with a NEW WEBSITE, using what Jesus Christ raised up through my father and myself.

My father died April 15, 2021. Since then, I believe Christ has showing me what Satan did concerning God's Church after the death of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. It seems to be the exact thing step by step.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT WHO IS IN CHARGE! We ought to realize and KNOW JESUS CHRIST IS HEAD OF THE CHURCH, and HIS WORK!

How many damn times have we heard this? Look how far that has gotten all of us.

Anyway, on with the drama: 

Tim, is making it about who is in charge. I believe Jesus Christ is in charge. And if Tim comes with a right attitude, and repents before the Church, I will be so happy!

It is always someone else who has a bad attitude or is causing drama. It is never the self-appointed savior of the church. 

I am working hard, to encourage members to have a RIGHT ATTITUDE towards the ministry. As I believe the ministry of the Worldwide Church of God is being restored. I AM NOT IN CHARGE.

This is NOT the Church of Samuel W Kitchen! This is NOT the Church of Timothy J Kitchen Jr! This is NOT the Church of Herbert W Armstrong! IT IS THE CHURCH OF GOD! And it is known today as the Worldwide Church of God!

I am fighting with everything I have, to preserve the Worldwide Church of God and this work. People mock me, and try to weaponize my words to OFFEND Mr. Aaron Dean. Now I am talking OPENLY about Mr. Dean, as I have already gone to him PRIVATELY. This isn't behind his back. I am not trying to ROPE HIM IN. But out of all the Administrators with Mr. Armstrong, at that point in time, He seems to be the one God has picked and he is an ordained minister. He is not with the Worldwide Church of God anymore. He is attending with ANOTHER CHURCH, the United Church of God.

But he has been kind, and brings people to remember the lessons he learned from Mr. Armstrong. But he is waiting for God's servant to be raised up. So am I.

Out of all those examined by Mr. Armstrong to be the next Pastor General, He is the last. He actually was picked by Mr. Armstrong, but he claims he talked Mr. Armstrong out of making him the next pastor general.

Out of that casting of lots, as Samuel the prophet examined the sons of Jesse, Aaron Dean remains.

That is truly one of the dumbest things I have heard. 

And no HE WILL NOT MAKE HIMSELF the next Pastor General! And I think that is clear. If he is to be, then GOD WILL PLACE HIM THERE! And I feel, since I am involved with this work, I have to ENCOURAGE God's people to BE READY for that time, whether or not it is Aaron Dean!

These other Cog groups, are preparing the people to REJECT the government of God, because THEY DON'T WANT a single man in charge!

But we won't come back together through these other groups. IT WILL BE AS THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD! And that's what I am declaring! Now, did Jesus Christ send me to do that? Examine the fruits.

That is the same crap Bob Thiel pulled on everyone when he tried to justify his self-appointment. Gerald Flurry did it. Dave Pack has done it. It is revolting.

I've faced opposition. From Shirley and Earl Timmons, from Grace Communion International, from these COG groups, and from all these websites and new trademarks that have sprung up to STOP THIS WORK AND THIS CHURCH!

Family members were targeted and murdered because we had a FAMILY holding fast, and working together.

SO like Satan took out the patriarch, he took Dad out.

Now, he wants to DIVIDE the work, and to break up and destroy the Worldwide Church of God! But God does not work in MULTIPLE GROUPS! THE BODY AND WORK OF CHRIST IS NOT DIVIDED!

Now my brother separated through disagreement. Please pray for him. I love him. But he took control of what was raised up through my dad and I, and is attempting to SHUT THE DOORS, by shutting the videos down, because things aren't directed to him.

I would love to direct things to his website and work in cooperation. I certainly wish it and pray for it.

But he has removed everything, when God's people need it most, out of bitterness towards a brother and because he has zero control over the archives now. Jesus Christ removed him. Now let's pray for his repentance, and his speedy return. But I felt you needed to know what has happened! Let us be ready with open arms when He returns! But let us not be distracted from the work set before us.

The Work of God must go on. and THE DOORS NO MAN CAN SHUT!

Woo Hoo!  Isn't Bob Thiel doing that? He thinks he is. Gerald Flurry claims he is. Our official COG felon, Ron Weinland claims he is. Gerald Weston, Viv Kubik, and most other COG splinter leaders all claim they are. If that door is unable to be shut why is the current state of the COG movement such a pathetic mess? 

So please pray brethren. Don't let Satan DIVIDE YOU to cause you to leave your calling, to be some other church. WE MUST BE READY!

I am blocked from my brother. But if you ask him anything, ask him to restore those videos with the wwcg-archives.com domain on them. I am not here to destroy it. I am seeking to preserve what was lost.

But if you can be my advocate in this perilous time, to my brother, perhaps he will see his error, and return. Take it to Christ, and please pray for the healing between us brothers. I don't see him as an enemy, but he is no longer with me, and has done some things he should not have done! He thought he was hurting me, but he is hurting the Church of God, and so I have to say something now for the sake of the Church.

Pray for him. Thank you Brethren,

In Christ's service,

Samuel W Kitchen

God's Most Highly Favored Church of God Leader Since Paul Claims: "...it was I who “kicked out” LCG, not the other way around."

`

 

Our Great Bwana to Africa and the occasional 100 Caucasians has not been having a good time the last few days. His rapid response to an article here that he did not like was swift and hilarious. Even worse, he is getting sick and tired of all of the Laodicean miscreants on this blog who say he was kicked out of the Living Church of God. That one has really been stuck in his craw for a long time.

How dare anyone say that LCG kicked him out when it was HE THAT KICKED OUT THE LIVING CHURCH OF GOD! 

Those poor deceived ministers and leadership in the Living Church of God do not know the heresy they committed when they refused to kowtow to his absurd demands. Thanks to their great rebellion,  the Great Bwana pitched a fit and used this as justification to start a new splinter group.

God's most important man says:

Speaking on more recent church history, one recurring falsehood that some at Banned have asserted is that I was kicked out of the Living Church of God–that was not the case. Notice a comment posted at Banned related to the post there yesterday:

Bob is his own worst enemy. He has never learned when to keep his mouth shut. Meredith kicked him out of the LCG for that, in a very public manner. 

 

That is also not the truth about church history. 

 

All the top leadership of the Living Church of God knows full well I was not kicked out. I left because the leadership had serious integrity problems and refused to keep promises that they repeatedly made to me (for details, see Why Bob Thiel Left the Living Church of God).
While I was sent what was supposed to be a private letter, that was made public, it was not an attempt to kick me out –for details see Response to a Letter from Dr. Roderick C. Meredith Dated December 28, 2012. 

 

Many at Banned cannot get over the fact that it was I who “kicked out” LCG, not the other way around. If those at that libelous site would stop repeating the lie I was kicked out of LCG, I would not feel the desire to sometimes comment about it. 

 

I chose to leave LCG because of its integrity problems and its intentional failure to fix doctrinal and prophetic errors it promised to fix. It was NOT the other way around.

Intergrity? Integrity? Is this, coming from Bob Thiel? God no more had a hand in starting the improperly named "continuing" Church of "god" than he did when Gerald Flurry apostatized and stole Jules Dervae's writings and passed them off as his own. Both are just bastardized versions of the Worldwide Church of God and somehow think they are carrying on its mantle. It is time Bob Thiel stopped lying.

Bob Thiel's Complete Meltdown Over 1st Century Christianity

My Post Pissed-off Bob Thiel

I was away from the computer yesterday and today, but it was brought to my attention that Bob Thiel posted a super-fast response to my post on First Century Christianity. I guess he didn’t like the real story about what happened in those early years of the Church! He wrote: 

The anti-COG Banned by HWA website has the following post: First Century Christianity: Putting Together the Available Evidence.

He followed that statement with some excerpts from the article. Then, he went on to say:  

Although the above author claims to have used scripture and historical sources like the so-called Ante-Nicene Fathers (those are writings from men prior to Emperor Constantine’s Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.), he has missed many things and came to a historically inaccurate conclusion. The idea that the Bible and early church history point to Sunday as being universally kept instead of the seventh-day Sabbath by the end of the first century A.D. is totally wrong and historically inaccurate. (cogwriter: The Sabbath in the First Centuries of the Christian Church)

Bob then proceeded to cite many of the passages which refer to Christ and his apostles keeping the Sabbath. My response: That’s great, Bob, and it doesn’t refute or contradict anything I wrote in my post. We would expect to find observant Jews keeping the Sabbath and observing the tenets of Torah, and we do! Next, he quoted extensively from the fourth chapter of the anonymous epistle to the Hebrews. And, as anyone with a background in Armstrongism would expect, he makes the claim that this passage also proves that Sabbath-observance continues to be a requirement from Christians. Bob, of course, completely ignores the context of the remarks and twists them to support his thesis.

The context of this passage, of course, is that the Israelites had failed to keep the commandments of Torah and had consequently failed to truly enter into God’s rest – the real one, the one that the Sabbath pointed to! We read there: 

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Verses 8-10, ESV) 

 

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read: 

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

So, YES, a Sabbath rest remains for Christians – his name is Jesus of Nazareth! 

As for the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Bob’s thesis does NOT hold water! The earliest Christian catechism (which was composed sometime in the First Century or very early in the Second), The Didache, has this to say about Christian worship: 

Chapter 14. Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day. But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: "In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations. (See Early Christian Writings: The Didache) 

Notice this also from some of the epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (Late First, early Second Century): From his letter to the saints at Philadelphia: 

But if any one preach the Jewish law unto you, listen not to him. For it is better to hearken to Christian doctrine from a man who has been circumcised, than to Judaism from one uncircumcised. But if either of such persons do not speak concerning Jesus Christ, they are in my judgment but as monuments and sepulchers of the dead, upon which are written only the names of men.

 

Likewise, in his epistle to the Magnesians, we read: 

Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to the Jewish law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace…If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death-whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master-how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead…Let us not, therefore, be insensible to His kindness. For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be. Therefore, having become His disciples, let us learn to live according to the principles of Christianity. For whosoever is called by any other name besides this, is not of God. Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the sour leaven, and be ye changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be ye salted in Him, lest any one among you should be corrupted, since by your savour ye shall be convicted. It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believeth might be gathered together to God.

Finally, Justin Martyr (Second Century) wrote this about the manner of Christian worship common at that time: 

“And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.

So, sorry Bob – your narrative about what happened in the First Century just does NOT hold up to scrutiny! Herbert Armstrong was no historian. In fact, he wasn’t much of a theologian either. Rather than trying to read your teaching about the Sabbath into history, you may want to re-examine the actual documents and histories related to that era!

Lonnie Hendrix

Things Not On Your Bingo Card: Alice Cooper Has A Better Understanding of Jesus Than Bob Thiel Does

From a reader:

I was never an Alice cooper fan, but I am now 🫶🏽✝️ pic.twitter.com/Z1FBBwEN2x

— Catarina Senora Gatita (@WyattCatarina) May 4, 2024

The full one-hour program can be found here:

God, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll: An Interview with Alice Cooper

First Century Christianity

First Century Christianity: 

Putting Together the Available Evidence

Over the ten plus years of this blog's existence, I have put together a narrative about what happened within the Christian community of the First Century. To be clear, my narrative is very different from the one put forward by Herbert Armstrong, his successors, and most Sabbatarian Christians. And, although my narrative draws upon the evidence provided by Scripture, Josephus, the writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Catholic scholars, modern Biblical scholars (like Gerd Ludemann, Bart Ehrman, James Tabor, etc.), secular history, and Roman Catholic scholars, I believe that the narrative provided here is unique and distinctive from the ones provided by all of them individually. In short, I do NOT believe that the available evidence supports the narrative of a Christianity hijacked by Gentiles or pagans, or a Church imposing its beliefs on a diverse and growing movement (NO grand conspiracy theories here).

According to the Gospels, Christ appeared to a small, core group of his disciples after his resurrection and told them to carry the message of his kingdom to the ends of the earth (a message that focused on the salvation that was available to all through him). Moreover, as the Gospels make very clear, an important part of that message was the fact that God had resurrected Jesus after the Sabbath, during the dark portion of the Jews' first day of the week - the one that the Romans called Sunday (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-2, Luke 24:1-2, and John 20:1). Nevertheless, it is the "Acts of the Apostles" which recounts the story of what happened within the movement during the first four decades of its existence. From this historical narrative (in conjunction with the epistles of Paul, Peter, James, and John), we can piece together the story of what was really going on within the movement.

Thus, the narrative begins with a small group of people who were wholly Jewish in their ethnicity, religion, and culture. Like Jesus, it is important to understand that these original disciples of his were observant Jews. In other words, they were accustomed to observing the Sabbath, Holy Days, clean and unclean, etc.. In short, they were familiar with Torah and had always employed it as the standard for their lives. Moreover, it is clear that this continued to be the case throughout the first decade of the movement's existence. Indeed, the book of Acts portrays a rather insular group which had little interest in expanding outside of the Roman province of Judea.

According to the Gospels, however, this was not what God and Christ had in mind for the people of the New Covenant. After all, Jesus had told his disciples at the conclusion of his own ministry: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV) Indeed, the inertia was so strong within the early Church, that we are informed that Peter was given a special vision to accept Gentiles into the movement (Acts 10). Interestingly, just prior to this event, we are informed that a Jew named Saul (who had been enthusiastically persecuting Christ's disciples) was converted and welcomed into the Church (Acts 9:1-30). This man, of course, went on to become the Apostle Paul - the apostle to the Gentiles.

Initially, the book of Acts informs us that Paul preached in synagogues around the Eastern Mediterranean provinces of the Roman Empire (Acts 13 and 14). Eventually, however, there was a backlash against Paul and his associates within the Jewish community, and the Gentile audience for their message increased over time. Now, as more and more of these non-Jewish people came into the Church, some of the Jewish Christians became disenchanted with the fact that these folks weren't observing the tenets of God's Covenant with Israel (as outlined in Torah). Sure, they had accepted Christ, had been baptized, and received God's Spirit; but they were ignoring circumcision, the Sabbath, and a host of other commandments. These circumstances enraged some of the Jewish Christians within the Church (mainly those who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees).

Hence, we read in the fifteenth chapter of Acts: "But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.' And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, 'It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.'" (Acts 15:1-5, ESV) Clearly, the question before the gathering was: Will the Gentile believers be required to adopt the tenets of God's covenant with Israel?

The account continued: "The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, 'Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.'" (Acts 15:6-11, ESV)

Notice first, that Peter spoke "after there had been much debate." This was NOT an easily settled question. Obviously, both sides of the debate recognized that the stakes were high - that the theological questions which this debate had engendered went to the very heart of the nature of the new faith. Next, Peter pointed out that God had already made the decision to give his message to the Gentiles, draw them into his Church, and given them his Holy Spirit. Then Peter reminded his mostly Jewish audience that Christ had been the only Israelite who had ever successfully borne the yoke of Torah. As a consequence, Peter concluded that BOTH Jews and Gentiles "will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus."

In the account, Peter's remarks gave Paul and Barnabas the space they needed to recount the story of what God had used them to do among the Gentiles (Acts 15:12). When they had finished, we are told that James addressed the assembly (Acts 15:13). He began by reminding them about what Peter had told them about God making the decision to make these Gentiles part of his people (Acts 15:14). Next, James pointed out that the prophets of old had predicted that David's heir (Christ) would make it possible for Gentiles to seek the Lord (Acts 15:15-18). According to the account, James then concluded his remarks with his own judgment of the matter: "Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood." (Acts 15:19-20, ESV) The account in Acts ends with the assembly writing a letter to the Gentile Christians which encouraged them to "abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell." (Acts 15:22-29) In other words, they gave them a short list of things that would distinguish them from the Gentiles around them and make them less likely to offend the sensibilities of their Jewish brethren. They would NOT, however, be forced to become Torah observant Jews.

Now, although Acts gives us the impression that this settled the matter, we know from Paul's letter to the Galatians that some of the Jewish Christians continued to advocate for Gentiles to obey the commandments of Torah. Even though almost two thousand years have elapsed since Paul wrote this epistle, his anger and frustration with those Jewish Christians is still palpable. In the letter, Paul recounted the story of his and Barnabas' trip to Jerusalem. He wrote: "because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." (Galatians 2:4-10, ESV) Once again, the leadership among the Jewish part of the Church are portrayed here as accepting Paul and Barnabas and their work among the Gentiles.

Even so, Paul went on to give an account of a previous confrontation he had with Peter over his hypocritical behavior in front of those Jewish Christians who advocated Torah for Gentile Christians (Galatians 2:11-14). For Paul, these folks were clearly NOT to be appeased - this went to the very heart of his message about salvation through Christ. He wrote: "We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (Galatians 2:15-21, ESV)

For Paul, Gentile Christians trying to obey Torah was akin to a freeman submitting to slavery. He summarized his position: "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." (Galatians 5:1-6, ESV) Paul believed that Christ had fulfilled Torah, and that any Christian (Jew or Gentile) who was actively trying to be justified before God by obeying the Law had effectively severed him/herself from participating in salvation through Jesus Christ!

So, this was the situation within the Church about twenty years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. Over the previous twenty years, there had been a large influx of Gentiles into the Church - people who had little to no familiarity with Torah and no tradition of practicing its tenets. Nevertheless, there was still a substantial group of Jewish Christians - both within Judea and in the synagogues of Gentile cities around the empire. Within that camp, there was also a small but vocal group of people who continued to believe that Christians were obligated to obey the commandments of Torah (Sabbath and Holy Day observance, circumcision, clean and unclean, etc.).

Within the Church as a whole, there were also a number of elements of the faith that had become universal (practiced by both Jewish and Gentile Christians). For example, both the Gospels and Paul's epistles make very plain that things like baptism, the Eucharist, and Christ's resurrection were held in high esteem by all. Indeed, in this connection, both the writings of the New Testament and of the people who immediately followed the apostles (the so-called Ante-Nicene Fathers), affirm that Sunday was a day highly regarded by ALL Christians by the close of the First Century. It was, after all, the day upon which Christ had been resurrected, and the Church had been founded (Pentecost). Moreover, as I have pointed out many times over the years, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans, it became physically impossible to observe the tenets of Torah in the manner prescribed by those writings. The old priesthood ceased to function. The Law of the Central Sanctuary was now defunct (there wasn't any Temple). Over the years that followed, Jews were forced to reimagine and reinterpret Torah in the light of their new circumstances.

In short, at the dawn of the Second Century, what had formerly been a wholly Jewish institution had been transformed into a Gentile one. The Jewish roots and traditions of those original disciples were replaced by the new and universal elements of the new faith. The Ekklesia of God was no longer an appendage or sect of the Jewish religion. Instead, it was now composed mostly of non-Jewish people and was rapidly expanding in reach and popularity within the Roman Empire. There hadn't been any Grand Conspiracy or deception, just the natural evolution of a new faith centered on the person of Jesus of Nazareth.


Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix