Dictated by God to men?

One of the participants in my class on the Bible brought the following article from a blog to the class the other day.

Why is the Bible So Badly Written?

Millions of Evangelicals and other Christian fundamentalists believe that the Bible was dictated by God to men who acted essentially as human channelers. Each phrase is considered so perfect that it merits careful linguistic analysis to determine His precise meaning.

If that were the case, one would have to conclude that God is a terrible writer. Although some passages in the Bible are lyrical and gripping, many would get kicked back by any competent editor or writing professor— kicked back with a lot of red ink.

Mixed messages, repetition, bad fact checking, awkward constructions, inconsistent voice, weak character development, boring tangents, contradictions, passages where nobody can tell what the heck the writer meant to convey. . . .  This doesn’t sound like a book that was dictated by a deity.

In the COG we were taught, just like the Mormons were taught, that God literally breathed the words into the minds of the scribes.  They essentially channelled the words of god onto paper.  It may make for a good simplistic story to feed people who have never critically studied the Bible, it is it really true or more precisely accurate?

Most stories in the Bible, particularly the early books of the Bible were never written down till long periods later.  The stories were just that, oral stories passed down through leaders, rabbi's, teachers and storytellers.  COG leaders expected you to believe that each time the story was orally told, not one single thing was ever changed in the storyline.  No storyteller ever changed things to fit the people he was talking to.  No storyteller ever blanked out while telling the story and substituted another word or phrase to make the story sound more logical.  Nope, the magical god of the church entered the mind of every prophet, sage, rabbi, and storyteller and caused them to say the exact same words for hundreds and hundreds of years without one single deviation from the original plot line being forgotten.

The article continues with this:

No question, the Bible contains beautiful and timeless bits. But why, overall, does it so fail to meet this mark? One obvious answer, of course, is that neither the Bible—nor any derivative work like the Quran or Book of Mormon—was actually dictated by the Christian god or other celestial messengers. We humans may yearn for advice that is “god-breathed” but in reality, our sacred texts were written by fallible human beings who, try as they might, fell short of perfection in the ways that we all do.

In the church many ministers proclaimed that they knew exactly who wrote every single book in the Bible.  They all said that because one man said so and that man could never be questioned.

Far from being a single unified whole, the Bible is actually a collection of texts or text fragments from many authors. We don’t know the number of writers precisely, and—despite the ancient traditions that assigned authorship to famous people such as Moses, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—we don’t know who most of them were. We do know that the men who inscribed the biblical texts had widely different language skills, cultural and technological surroundings, worldviews and supernatural beliefs—along with varying objectives. 

How many church members knew about two different creation stories or three different 10 Commandment sets?

Bible writers adapted earlier stories and laws to their own cultural and religious context, but they couldn’t always reconcile differences among handed-down texts, and often may not have known that alternative versions existed. Later, variants got bundled together. This is why the Bible contains two different  creation myths, three sets of Ten Commandments, and four contradictory versions of the Easter story.

The Gospel According to Matthew (not actually authored by Matthew) was written for an audience of Jews. The author was a recruiter for the ancient equivalent of Jews for Jesus. That is why, in the Matthew account, the Last Supper is timed as a Passover meal. By contrast, the Gospel According to John was written to persuade pagan Roman prospects, so the author timed the events differently. This is just one of many explicit contradictions between the four Gospel accounts of Jesus’s death and resurrection.

The contradictions in the Gospel stories—and many other parts of the Bible, are not there because the writers were confused. Quite the opposite. Each writer knew his own goals and audience, and adapted hand-me-down stories or texts to fit, sometimes changing the meaning in the process. The folks who are confused are those who treat the book as if theywere the audience, as if each verse was a timeless and perfect message sent to them by God.  Their yearning for a set of clean answers to life’s messy questions has created a mess. 

The Bible is a messy book about messy people living messy lives.  Is it all wrong?  No.   Myths, legends and societal stories all contain truths, whether or not the events actually happened.  Do all of the parables that Jesus told have to have been actual events or were they stories told to tell a truth more plainly for the people he was speaking to at the time?  Can the word of God contain non-factual stories in order to tell a truth?

Ron Weinland Says He Never Went To Prison...He just went on a....

Ron Weinland meets his "camp" mate

...campout!

Ron apparently believes he was on a 3 1/2 year campout!

Even though it is well documented in court proceedings, by the Ron Weinland Blog, this blog and other sites that he is a convicted felon, he apparently believes his followers are dumb enough to he was on a campout.

Excogger says:

February 9, 2018 at 17:21

Ron did NOT go to prison!

In his last published sermon he admits he had been, for a period of three years, on a “campout”.

Yes, Ron was another happy camper on an extended vacation, it would appear.

Give me strength!!!!  From False Prophet Ron Weinland

Why is it that COG members will hear these men lie through their teeth daily, in and day out, and yet they sit there week after week believing the vomit that flows out of their mouths.  Do COG members still feel the need to be "special" and "called out" from the world and need this continued mental reinforcement?  The entire church knows that HWA uttered hundreds of failed prophecies.  They know Rod Meredith, Dean Blackwell, Herman Hoeh, Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack, Gerald Waterhouse, Bob Thiel, James Malm and many, many others did it and still do it.  And still, they sit.

Is Dave Pack Still Unable To Pay Most Of His Ministers

From Exit and Support:

February 12, 2018

This [Restored Church of God Destroyed My Marriage] is a sad story, repeated too often. Personally, I am grateful that my husband in RCG continues to support us. His understanding of "common" is less strict than what I have read on your site.

I know that most of the RCG ministry works without pay, just being compensated for expenses. So, it is not a mystery who gets the money [Pack]. They teach that the End is near, so why bother saving? I also know they believe that they are not looking for Jesus to return, rather they believe that Elijah is coming to "rule the world" for a time.

Also, a top minister in RCG works full time to "correct" Pack's false prophecies on their computers. That way, no one without a hard copy will know how wrong he is! --[name withheld]

It is well known that Dave imagines that "all things in common"include members money, which he believes belongs to his god, and therefore since he is God's only representative on earth today, all of their money belongs to him.

Apparently, Dave is so cheap he has a mostly volunteer ministry.  Other than paying some of their expenses, Dave is keeping all of the money for himself.

In May of 2016, Exit and Support reported that Dave could not afford to pay his ministers:

May 23, 2016

Dave Pack is pressed for money, as he still is not paying lower ministers for their full time work. At most, he is paying half pay. Many ministers are working for no pay. I do know that he has lost a big chunk of members by now claiming to be the "Elijah." Anyone, who takes time to check out HWA, especially if they followed him, just won't buy it. --Impacted by RCG

This should not be considered something new.  The Church of God has a great track record in doing this to its ministers over the decades.  As tens of millions of dollars were poured into the Pasadena campus for buildings, grounds and AICF, the ministery struggled to be paid at times.  HWA and the top echelon of the church never suffered during those financial crisis's, but everyone else sure did.


Also, notice the last paragraph in the top quote.  Dave has spent the last several years posting one sermon after another about his scenario for the end times and the return of his "jesus" for the second and third time.  Those sermons contained one outlandish teaching and prophecy after another.  When the mockery of these teachings reached a crescendo, he abruptly pulled all 130 some sermon transcripts offline.  Now he has to pay someone to come in and clean up his mess.

Herbert Armstrong With The Token African Americans

Here is Herbert, second from left, posing in front of African American children, when he was 21 years old, on a visit to a farm near Greenwood, South Carolina.  The white folk with the token blacks to show the folks at home how superior the whites were to the "darkies."

My Sure Word of Prophecy...

New International Version
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
I Thessalonians 4:17

I spent my youth well into middle age, sorta, being told and somewhat believing that I would not die but actually luck out and live in the times when I'd merely twinkle into being "God as God is God."
I just suspected I'd rather twinkle in an eye than die in a nursing home or in some other less than twinkly way. Here is a short list of the big names who tried to convince themselves, me and you of that.

(I'd say Gospel Jesus, but you'd just get angry)
Peter
James
John
Paul 
2000 Years of Church Fathers

Herbert W Armstrong
Garner Ted Armstrong
Roderick C. Meredith
...and some other leading evangelists.....

Joseph W Tkach
Hermann Hoeh
Dean Blackwell
Ernest Martin
John Halford
Dibar Apartian

David John Hill 

Stanley R Rader

Gerald Waterhouse

........are dead and lived their entire lives as if they wouldn't die

Therefore and thus sayeth myself in what I would like to be remembered as the "No Brainer, I'm Pretty Sure I'm Right Prophecy"

Dave Pack

Gerald Flurry

Robert Thiel

Gerald Weston

Victor Kubic

Wade Cox

James Malm

Dennis Diehl

YOU

...to follow

Between being convinced we were chosen, special, set apart, protected, watched over and unique, we gave others permission to waste our time and  forgot...

My personal suggestion...

I Had a Dream: Does The Church Still Haunt Your Dreams?

In my personal transition from the WCG and the ministry, I still have dreams weekly about various issues that I can only assume my subconscious mind has and still does wrestle with. Unlike Dr. Bob, I don't put any outside stock in dreams being more than the mind sorting through the events of the day or other life issues that are a bit more deep seated to make sense of it all.  In my own case, my WCG dreams seem like no brainers to me as to what my subconscious self knows to be, or do or think.

So here we go with Dreams of WCG and what they still tell me. These are repetitive dreams with some having been experienced dozens of times until "I get it."

Dream #1  A giant ball of light bursts into three colored balls of light.  However, the white ball of light comes down to me and elongates into an angel.  I ask the angel, "How can I fly?"   It puts its vest on me and off I go. I see a soccer game below then bank hard right up into the rafters of a log pavilion with hundreds of people below attending the Feast.  They applaud when I fly in.  However, I slow wing it down to the floor where they are having lunch and every time I try to sit down with them someone says "This seat is taken"  I give up and fly away.

Lesson:  You don't belong here any more.  Fly away.

Dream #2  The sky is full of commercial jets.  They are dropping like flies and crashing all over the place.

Lesson:  You're world is crashing

Dream # 3  I am the co-pilot of a commercial jet. Every time, and I have had this dream scores and scores of times, we try to take off, a canopy of trees starts growing over the runway.  I tell the pilot to hurry and he never does what I say nor does he ever acknowledge me.  We crash every damn time.

Lesson:  If you don't fly your own plane and only let others do it for you, you'll never get off the ground.

Dream #3b  We start down the runway and here comes the canopy of trees growing over it.  Screw this...I take over the controls and fly on out of it.

Lesson:  You can't be the co pilot. You can't depend on others. They aren't listening and can't help you. You have to be the pilot if you want to take off.

Dream #4  This dream I have at least 50 times.  I'm in Buffalo, NY trying to get to Rochester. I have a hard time figuring out which way is East and have to climb through stores and peoples backyards to get out of town.  Once I get free of Buffalo and pointed in the right direction I start for Rochester on either a tricycle, a go-kart or even a skateboard.  I never get there.

Lesson:  I am trying to get "home" but I am doing it with an inadequate vehicle.

Dream #5   I am on a bus to and SEP camp somewhere.  I get there and everyone is packing up to leave.  Several times I have to climb on the bus roof because the ground is covered with snakes.  I pack up an leave.

Lesson:  You're too late for camp.  Let the snakes be, take the bus home and get on with your life.

Dream #6  I am back a local church I pastored to give the sermon. Last night , the elder who smoozed me to my face and stabbed me in the back by telling the church I was the worst thing that ever happened to the church etc, was also there.  I asked him if he was  going to speak and he said no "but you better speak the truth."

Lesson:  The elder still doesn't like me

Dream #7

I am at the feast. Sometimes it is packed full and other times it is nearly deserted and people are coming and going from rival sites.  I have to speak and am up in the balcony when I am introduced to speak.  I can't find my Bible or my sermon so will just go without.  However, I can't find a way to get from the balcony to the stage ever.

Lesson:  It's over.  There is no way back and you don't need your Bible to live your life

In NONE of these dreams have I surmised that I am a prophet, an Apostle or have any business back in church.  I get it!  

What about you?  Has your church experience haunted your dreams as your mind sorts itself out over the experience?

COG Prophet Says There Is Too Much Jesus Being Preached In The COG's

Dave Pack has said something about the other Church of God's I would never have expected.  Well, part of me did, but the claim against other COG's on what they supposedly preach is what is surprising.  Dave is offended that some COG's preach Jesus more than they do the doom and gloom of the past.  Imagine that, COG's preaching Jesus, who knew?

Many are unaware that the apostasy produced new positions in thinking about the Work of God. Many independents and others, usually but not always in the smaller splinters, now believe there is no longer an ongoing commission, nor any need, to either ANNOUNCE the kingdom of God to the world or to WARN the nations of Israel. These believe that all such responsibility ceased at Mr. Armstrong’s death. Most others believe God has commissioned His Church to fulfill His purpose—to continue His Work—but have become confused as to what that is.

For instance, the Philadelphia Church of God (PCG) believes its main purpose is to “warn Laodicea.” Its offshoots then see a duty to turn and warn PCG! Most others see no need to warn the final, lukewarm era, thinking this arrogant and presumptuous. Similarly, they would give little or no emphasis to a SPECIAL WARNING to the great nations of Israel—what Mr. Armstrong often referred to as “the Ezekiel Warning.”

“Jesus,” Growing the Church and Evangelical Protestants

Over time, the apostates slowly conditioned the Church, without most recognizing it, to

think the above approach was “unloving,” and that a different emphasis—one of “helping” people and “leading them to Jesus”—should be employed. They felt this should replace what was seen as an old approach of “doomsaying,” “sundowning” or offering a “save your skin” gospel connected to warningnations.

If I told you that most who think they are doing God’s Work today now believe it primarily consists of, or at least includes, Jesus’ role is central to the gospel—the Church or individuals giving to disaster victims and relief organizations—warning, particularly whole nations, is judgmental—or the Work as we knew it is finished, you would surely believe I am speaking of today’s Worldwide Church of God. Sadly, to one degree or another, these are the splinters. Worse, most who attend them have not grasped how far their leaders have departed from the commission that over 150,000 people helped carry out as recently as the mid-1980s. The Work of God