The Ambassador College Correspondence Course: Tinfoil Bob has determined he needs to add to it.

How many of you ever completed the Correspondence Course that the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God put out?  Most church members only know it in its abbreviated form of 32 lessons which was eventually shortened to 12 lessons.  Those who grew up in the church in the "Radio" years remember the mind and butt-numbing 58 lesson course.  Remember all of those wonderful hours parked at your dining room table diligently reading each lesson and handwriting out every single Bible verse it referenced?

Each lesson was meticulously planned out so that you never had the opportunity to question what was being presented.  After all, this was coming from God's College and therefore had to be 100% right!  God would NEVER lead the Apostle astray into letting something as miraculous as the Correspondence Course EVER be filled with error!

The problem with the entire course is that was nothing more than an elaborate "proof-text" of what the church believed after "proof-texting" scriptures to fit their interpretations.

Here is the definition of proof-texting:

Prooftexting (sometimes "proof-texting" or "proof texting") is the practice of using isolated, out-of-context quotations from a document to establish a proposition in eisegesis (introducing one's own presuppositions, agendas, or biases). Such quotes may not accurately reflect the original intent of the author,^[1] and a document quoted in such a manner, when read as a whole, may not support the proposition for which it was cited.^[2][3][4][5] The term has currency primarily in theological and exegetical circles.

This is to be distinguished from quotations from a source deemed a hostile witness, which inadvertently substantiate a point beneficial to the quoter in the course of its own narrative. Even when lifted out of context, those facts still stand.

Many Christian ministers and Christian teachers have used some version of the following humorous anecdote to demonstrate the dangers of prooftexting: "A man dissatisfied with his life decided to consult the Bible for guidance. Closing his eyes, he flipped the book open and pointed to a spot on the page. Opening his eyes, he read the verse under his finger. It read, 'Then Judas went away and hanged himself' (Matthew 27:5b). Finding these words unhelpful, the man randomly selected another verse. This one read, 'Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."' (Luke 10:37b). In desperation, he tried one more time. The text he found was: 'What you are about to do, do quickly.'" (John 13:27)^[6]

The church was quite adept at twisting scripture to fit the interpretation it wanted the members to believe. Most members never knew it was happening.  After all, if Herbert said it, that settled it!  Since it was settled it could never be questioned.  God forbid if anyone dared to read a book that might have an opposite viewpoint!

That brings us to today, as Doubly-blessed, Almost-arrested Tinfoil Bob Thiel has determined that he need to correct the old Correspondence Courses.  Tinfoil Bob, like almost all the other splinter group leaders has never had an original thought in his head.  He has spent years copying and imitating everything the church did.  Now he has determined that he needs to add his great interpretations to these old courses.

We have been making progress on literature and clarifying matters for an upcoming Study the Bible Course lesson. Working on that lesson (number 15) caused me to do a lot of research and add many scriptures that were not in the original course from the 1950s. We expect that lesson to be available next Spring.

Speaking of the Study the Bible Course, we have been working on getting all the English version lessons online by themselves, as opposed to only being available in the magazines. This should be ready fairly soon.

Can any of these self-appointed pissants ever write or preach anything NOT already done by HWA and his crew?  Not a single new thought or interpretation for the 21st century.  No new way of looking at things that have relevance for people of this world.  No one humble enough to admit mistakes were made and interpretations were wrong.

Humility is not a word any present-day Church of God leader knows or exemplifies.  They cannot because they REFUSE to follow the one person who taught them what it was to be humble. Liars and boasters of themselves and their supposed good works of magnificent campuses, auditoriums, great websites, booklets in Swahili and other African languages, the list can go on and on because it is always about themselves.

Herbert Armstrong, as arrogant as he was, at least had a vision.  Something bigger and grander for members to look forward to as a unified group on a journey together.  Today's COG leaders have no vision.  The beat their chests as if they do and boast a lot, but they are visionless.  Herbert Armstrong could circle the wagons and realign people to his cause when it got waylaid, yet today we see scores of little men who cannot inspire people to join up with them to complete the grand vision Herbert Armstrong envisioned.  They have ended up being like dung beetles rolling their little balls of malevolent teachings up the side of an ever-growing pile of stinking crap.

YHVH's Great Test

Retired Prof said...

Dennis, your comment about the story of Abraham and Isaac is pertinent to an anthology I am composing, with the working title "Fables of the Gods." The pattern is to summarize a story that includes a god or gods from one ancient tradition or another. Then I follow it with a moral like those attached to Aesop's fables.

Here's the moral for this story: "Not being human themselves, the gods see no reason to follow basic rules of human decency when they play a practical joke. Deal with it."

Your emphasis on Abraham's culpability is equally justifiable. In fact, way more so, if we're talking psychology instead of theology.

RT  Even as a child in Sunday School, this story puzzled me but also terrified me.  What father would do that? What if the voices in his head were wrong?  How damaged and distrusting of his father would Isaac forevermore be?  What did Mrs. Abraham think of this?  It never made sense to me and I never took it as a story of great faith worthy of note.  It seemed a manifestation of mental illness. At any rate, I was NEVER inspired by it.  And in the Dutch Reformed Sunday School classes, Abraham got a pass and was one of the great men of the Bible.  Not in my young world.

So for your consideration, this sums up an alternative answer to the whole thing nicely for me and would have had I seen it as a child!   :)

YHWH's Amazing Test

NOTE

There is also some consideration in theological circles that the story was a transitional story between the Age of Moses and Taurus the Bull,  4000-2000 BCE where Bulls and Calves were the prominent icon of worship (i.e. Golden Calf worship)  and the now beginning of the Age of Aries, the Lamb. Thus the change in symbols to be used in worship.  

(An "Age" is noted as the 2100 years or so the Sun is found in each of the 12 Constellations ending in one complete cycle of 25,000 years, called the "Great Year")

Even Mithraism, which preceded Christianity,  notes the change with the God Mithras slaying the Bull in it's iconography making way for the new age of Aries.  The death of Jesus in the story marks the end of the Age of Aries with the death of the Lamb of God and the beginning of Pices, the Two Fish  (ahem) and the Church Age of Christianity. I personally think when this Age, which is about to end and whose sacred fluid is blood, without which there is NO forgiveness, the Age of Aquarius , the Water Man, will find the sacred fluid of the future to be WATER.  . 

Spiritual Extortion

Ambassador College Correspondance Course VOL 7 1955

submitted by SHT

The Orlin Grabbe Letter

You can finish the rest of this 70-page letter from Orlin Grabbe on The Painful Truth.

A Letter to Mother by J. Orlin Grabbe

The Museum of the Bible and the Worldwide Church of God

In November of 2017, the Museum of the Bible opened in Washington DC.  For those that have been to visit it, they say it is an extremely interesting place to visit.  It is certainly a far more scholarly attempt than the epic failure of The Ark Experience in Kentucky that draws in people from various COG splinter groups in the Eastern part of the country.

A reader here sent me the following photographs of a display in the museum. Low and behold it has a display featuring the work Basil Wolverton.  Thankfully it is not the Bible Story that the Worldwide Church of God published, but a book designed by Monte Wolverton as a tribute to his father.  It is a vast collection of Basil Wolverton's illustrations that were published by the Worldwide Church of God and other sources over the decades.  

The Wolverton Bible

Dave Pack vs. Tin Foil Bob Thiel on Football

It is a typical day in COGland as many members are settling in for a Thanksgiving meal and watching a game of football on TV.  That is except in Arroyo Grande, CA where Tin Foil Bob is having another meltdown over American football.

Give thanks to God, but not for American tackle football 

Today is the national holiday in the USA called Thanksgiving. And despite certain claims, its specific origins are not pagan. But, of course, no Christian needs to celebrate national holidays like it if they do not wish to (cf. Romans 14). And the Bible does condemn gluttony.

Yet, whether on this day or others, the Bible teaches that people should give thanks:

4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name (Psalm 30:4).

The Bible is full of admonitions to give thanks to God. The New King James Version of the Bible has the word ‘thank’ 25 times, ‘thanks’ 75 times, ‘thankful’ 3 times, and ‘thanksgiving’ 32 times. It also has the word ‘praise’ 237 times and ‘praises’ 11 times.

One thing that I have noticed on the day called Thanksgiving by those in the USA, is when I have been at many other places than the home I lived in, American football has been playing on television.

For many, other than food and family, football is a major focus of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Christians should give God thanks, but not encourage violence in sports like American tackle football.

To close, perhaps I should mention that we do not ‘add a day’ to God’s holy days if we somehow observe Thanksgiving or other national holidays. National observances are NOT holy days, nor does anyone have to keep them. Jesus, however, observed at least one (cf. (John 10:22-23), setting an example that we can if we so choose. But not through encouraging violence.

Dave Pack, at least, had a more historical history of Thanksgiving posted about why we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States, something Tin Foil Bob never does since all of his articles are always about him.

Dave Pack seems to be ok with football:

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, ponder and consider the many wonderful blessings you enjoy. Be grateful for these wonderful benefits. (To learn more, read our article “The Sin of Ingratitude.”) Realize that these material blessings were not given to us because of anything we have done—we do not deserve them. God has bestowed them on us—simply because of His mercy, and His promise to Abraham, the father of the faithful (Gal. 3:6-9).

Before you and your family enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, or begin watching a parade or football game, be sure to take time to truly thank God in prayer and thought for the national wealth, power and prestige He has given this nation.

While there is still time, make certain that you and your family are not partaking in the nationwide, unthankful attitude. Be sure to give thanks to God in the same heartfelt, sincere manner that the pilgrims did on the first Thanksgiving in North America! Should You Celebrate Thanksgiving Day?

 

Gerald Weston on Living the Way

So what do you have to say about the following from Gerald Weston?  There are things I could be snarky about but will let you decide.

Living the Way

True Christianity is a way of life (Acts 18:25; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). That way encompasses many things. In the context of these references to “the way,” the most obvious application is that those walking in it were followers of Jesus Christ, their Savior. They understood Him as the Messiah who came to die on our behalf, but also understood that He is coming again. Keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days would not have differentiated them from millions of Jews living in the Middle East and Mediterranean countries in the first century. “The way” goes beyond those observances.

That way was and is different in many respects, and one is how we treat our neighbors (John 13:34–35). We are to do what Christ commanded and walk as He walked (Luke 6:46; 1 John 2:6). He expects a higher standard under the New Covenant. We are not only to love our neighbor, but even our enemies, and that love is expressed in what we do. “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you… for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:44–46; see also Luke 6:27–36). Our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).

During my first few years in the ministry, we visited many “GOTO’s,” people who had requested a visit or wanted to know about baptism or attending services. Street numbers are not always easy to read, but there was a common denominator when looking for a home: We could look for the most run-down property on the block! Yes, this is an exaggeration, but it was not a rare occurrence. The Apostle Paul would understand this (1 Corinthians 1:26–29). Yes, God calls the weak of the world, but nowhere does it say that we are to remain the weak.

The world often judges by outward appearance, and let us be honest: We often do the same. Is this not what James warned us against in James 2:1–9? Does this mean that our outward appearance is not important? Is it not being a good neighbor to take care of our property and so lift the value of our neighborhood? Did not God command Adam “to tend and keep” the garden (Genesis 2:15)?

Being a good neighbor involves many things, far more than this article can list, but with a little thought, we can all come up with ways to show genuine concern for those around us. Practiced thoughts and actions eventually become part of our character—again, “second nature,” as we often say. Godly character is expressed in the two great commandments. And who knows what long-term good may come from your example (1 Corinthians 7:16; Ecclesiastes 11:5–6)?

Our best friends and greatest service efforts ought to be among the family of God, but there are also plenty of opportunities to serve our closest neighbors: the homes around us, co-workers on the job, classmates, and let us not forget those who share our abode. Let us not forget Jesus’ admonition, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).