Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Van Robison On: "Splinter Group Cocoons"




Splinter Group Cocoons


In the world of religions, every group without exception lives within the walls and confines of the thinking of its founders and leaders.  Every Bible college and every Bible correspondence course is tailored to the thinking of the author or authors of those institutions and study courses.  Bible colleges are manufacturers of clones of their own making.  There is a two fold purpose for Bible schools and this is to perpetuate their peculiar beliefs and $money.  They are businesses that provide income to their existence and like a machine they make molds of their own teachings, which are rubber stamped in the young people who are caught in their web.

In the Worldwide Church of God, Ambassador College was the means to a never ending supply of Herbert W. Armstrong clones.  Young people are very impressionable, pliable and like clay---moldable.  Only those who are capable of independent thought and thinking, break out of the mold.  Many live their entire lives within the confines of their programmed minds and thinking, while some eventually break free and run as fast as they can.

This is true not only of the Worldwide Church of God and its many splinter groups who live in religious cocoons, but it is true of all groups, including Mormons (Brigham Young University),  Jehovah Witnesses (Watchtower Bible School of Gilead), Southern Baptist (many colleges), Seventh Day Adventist (Southern Adventist University), and the list is endless.  Of course many "Bible" schools and colleges also offer liberal arts and studies in non-religious venues.

Every religious group wants to perpetuate itself and there is no greater means to do so than "Bible" colleges.  In reality they are not "Bible" colleges, they are clone manufacturers of their own particular beliefs.  Many young people aspire to position and influence over others and so hence off to "Bible school" they go to become "pastors" and "preachers" of "truth."  What they really become are clones of how they have been indoctrinated to "think."  Have you ever had two people knock on your door and attempt to persuade you to listen to them or read their Jehovah Witnesses material?  Many have and I have also.  I admit that these people are generally friendly, sincere and zealous, but at the same time they are NOT independent thinkers, they are parrots.  They are programmed robots of Jehovah Witnesses indoctrination.  I always feel sorry for the two young people that I have seen with white shirts and ties walking down the street, who are intent to proselytize anyone who will give them an ear to Mormonism.

Young people in general don't have the experience to discern, but with time you would think that as people become older they would become wise.  Sad to say, many never become wise to the serpents, snakes and wolves in sheep's clothing who devour.  Worldwide Church of God splinter groups are all led by clones of Herbert W. Armstrong and they are NOT "the Way, the Truth and the Life."  There is NO mediator between God and man, aside from Jesus Christ, for those who still believe in Jesus Christ.  Religious cocoons are not a new phenomenon and they have been in existence for a very long time.  Public persuaders are often pretenders.  Most likely the common factor as to why so many will follow these fake religious rulers is simply FEAR.  However, God is NOT a monster.  The "Bible" may portray God as a monster, but I would suggest that in fact the so called "Bible" so misrepresents and distorts the true character of God is so many parts, that it is the very reason so many have warped views of the true nature and character of the Creator of all life and the universe.  No loving parent would act toward their own children the way the Bible portrays God as acting toward His own human creation, in many parts of it.

Splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God, are living inside religious cocoons.  In nature, cocoons break open and the butterfly or moth is set FREE.


Van Robison

New Arabic Bibles = Beginning of the Famine of the Word (According to Armstrongites)




This week there have been several news stories about a couple of Bible translations being produced for use in Muslim dominated countries.


New Bibles: No 'Father and Son' in Trinity

New Arabic and Turkish translations of the Bible from three reputable North American Christian organizations are brewing controversy because they no longer contain the words "Father" and "Son" in the Holy Trinity. In addition, the phrase "Son of God" has been removed. Why? "These terms are offensive to Muslims," say the publishers, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers.
Yahoo! News gives three examples that are causing the controversy:
  • Stories of the Prophets from Wycliffe and SIL is an Arabic Bible that uses an Arabic equivalent of "Lord" instead of "Father" and "Messiah" instead of "Son."
  • Meaning of the Gospel of Christ from Frontiers and SIL is an Arabic translation that removes "Father" in reference to God and replaces it with "Allah." In addition, the word "Son" is either removed or redefined. Matthew 28:19 reads: "Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit" instead of "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
  • In a Turkish translation of the Gospel of Matthew, Frontiers and SIL have used the Turkish language equivalents of "guardian" for "Father" and "representative" or "proxy" for "Son."

Christian Today Australia has this to say:

The words "Father," "Son" and "Holy Spirit" are integral to preserving the true meaning of the Gospel and should never be tampered with, some ministries say. But some Bible translation organizations – such as Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), have argued that in certain cultures, keeping the literal translation creates the wrong context and does not portray the relationship between God and Jesus Christ correctly.

Controversy is swirling around the Arabic and Turkish translations of the Bible. The word "Father" is replaced with "Allah" (meaning God in Arabic), while "Son" becomes "Messiah."

One example of this change in the text concerns Matthew 28:19, which instead of "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" becomes "Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit."

The reason for this modification, both Wycliffe and SIL say in similar statements released which address the concern, is so that Muslim readers of the Bible are not confused into thinking that the relationship between God and Jesus is a physical father-and-son one, where God is the biological father of Jesus.

"We, along with all other Wycliffe organizations worldwide, strongly affirm the eternal deity of Jesus Christ and require that it be preserved in all translations. Scripture translations should promote understanding of the term 'Son of God' in all its richness, including His filial relationship with God the Father, while avoiding any possible implication of sexual activity by the Father," The Wycliffe branch in Canada explained in a statement. New Arabic Bible to be translated without terms 'Father' and 'Son', sparks controversy

This of course has gotten many Armstrongites wrapped up in a tizzy.  The pretend Armstrongite Jews on Yahoo, HWA worshipers on Facebook and various splinter cult leaders jumping into the fray.  All that is missing so far is Prophet Thiel adding his two cents to the mix.

To illustrate how ridiculous some of those comments are here is a choice tidbit from a COG Facebook page:



We always knew that there would be a "famine of God's Word" in accordance with the prophecy in Amos 8:11, but that it would be as a result of banning Bibles, but Satan is more subtle than that. Satan has produced polluted versions of the Bible based on twisted and false translations from corrupted texts.



Thank God for the internet and translations such as Fred Coulter's faithful version which preserve God's Word as far as humanly possible, by someone guided by the Holy Spirit, so that we can still "rightly divide" it.

Famine of the word?  Because of two Bible translations that exist out of HUNDREDS  of others?  What planet is this idiot on?  And then to say Fred Coulter has the RIGHT translation?  Fred Coulter???????  The "preacher" that reads bumps on peoples heads in order to diagnose what's wrong with them?  Phrenologist Fred has been attempting to promote this book for several years with gullible church people forking over  big bucks for useless garbage. Talk about a polluted bible version!

It's funny how everything attached to Armstrongism is always "preserving God's word as humanly possible" and yet the entire organization is rapidly dissolving into nothing.  Did God go and lose it all again?  Is God really that weak of a god  that so much of Armstrongism has made him out to be?

I just have a sneaky suspicion that these bibles will have more of an impact in peoples lives in those countries than any Armstrongite splinter cult ever has or will ever have.