Van Robison on: "RETHINKING THE BIBLE"

RETHINKING THE BIBLE

Like millions of others, I too believed the Bible was infallible and inerrant for many years of my life.  I have read the Bible from cover to cover, more than once and studied portions of it many times.  Based upon certain verses in the Bible, we have all been led to believe that it is all inspired by God.  Perhaps part of the reason for that belief is that even Jesus Christ made reference to certain individuals in the Old Testament.  In life I have learned to question and that to automatically assume something is true, is a sure ticket to deception.  Bible infallibility is actually a form of CENSORSHIP, which means to Bible apologists that it cannot be questioned, because to question the Bible is to question God.  Not so!

Strangely, even in the New Testament the reader is told to "prove all things" and "try the spirits whether they be of God."  The things Jesus Christ taught during His human life time, were jaw-dropping.  Jesus Christ was is in fact the most renowned whistleblower the world has ever known and His impact upon human beings is monumental.  We read that Jesus came to SET THE CAPTIVES FREE.  Jesus also DEMOLISHED man-made religion as recorded in Matthew 23, which is worthy of being read and thought about by all church goers.  Jesus was profound.  Jesus offended the religious rulers and the religious elite.  I would even suggest that should Jesus Christ walk our streets today, He would bypass the "pastors", the "senior pastors", the "bishops", the "elders", the "reverends", the mega-church leaders, those with titles such as "Dr. Pastor", the "scholars", those with "masters" degrees in theology, those with "doctorate" degrees in theology and so forth and once again hand-pick "uneducated fishermen", or perhaps farmers or housewives as disciples (people with common sense).

Jesus Christ bucked the religious status-quo.  Jesus and His disciples picked corn and ate it on the Sabbath Day.  Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath day.  Jesus proved that man-made religion is just that---man-made.  Jesus did not wash His hands before He ate, which was an offense to the legalists.  In our world today, we also have the legalists, not only in the original Worldwide Church of God and its many daughters, but the world is overrun with religious legalists in many different groups.  Going to church itself is a form of legalism.  What does it really have to do with salvation or eternal life?  Sure Jesus entered the synagogue, but not to learn truth, but to enlighten those who lived in darkness.

The church world is Bible obsessed.  They think life on earth revolves around Bible study.  It does NOT!  Life really revolves around LOVE (at least it should), and God is LOVE.  How is God love in the face of tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and "natural" disasters?  What about endless wars of death and destruction?  The issue is that God created human life and we all suffer because of the decisions humans make in life.  Most of us are not responsible for the heinous wars of mankind, but many suffer because of them.  Why does God not intervene and stop them?  I have asked that question a million times and the only conclusion I have is that we have to learn from living, but that does not make God responsible for insane wars.  As to natural disasters, I have no answer, but I do not assign evil to God.  Who does not have questions with no valid answers?

The Bible in my opinion is a great deal of fiction, myth, legend and human fabrication.  That of course offends the senses of many.  I can receive the fact that there are some good teachings in the Bible, especially the words attributed to Jesus Christ, such as about love, compassion, mercy, empathy and humility but that does not cause me to believe that everything in the Bible is fact or truth.  I have no idea how the New Testament was penned, even though I have read that it was penned many years AFTER the life of Jesus Christ.  Was Jesus Christ quoted "verbatim?"  How does anyone know?  Truth is---they don't know!  For many it seems that their faith in Jesus depends entirely upon the false belief that "the Bible is infallible and inerrant."

The Old Testament and the book of "Revelation" both defy the teachings of Jesus Christ and are cause to seriously doubt inspiration.  Just because one verse says "all scripture is given by inspiration of God", does not make what is called the Bible, the word of God.  In the end of the book of "Revelation" we read that anyone who tampers with "Revelation" will suffer the consequence.  That is an obvious attempt at CENSORSHIP and I would suggest that the real author of this novel and fiction had an ulterior motive.  Throughout history men have always put words in the mouth of God that God never spoke and attributed events to God that God is not responsible for.  The gullible and naive "think" God authored the Bible, for no other reason that they read "all scripture is given by inspiration of God", and the hard fact is that ANYONE with pen in hand could pen such words and attach anything to those words they wish, causing the reader to believe that God did it, when He did not.

Anyone who digs deep will learn that there are mountains of information about the Bible, that will overturn what millions have believed about it.  There is an avalanche of knowledge about the Bible that will no doubt change the course of how human beings see the Bible in the years to come.    In my personal convictions, that does not cause me to be an atheist or cause me to doubt Jesus Christ.  In fact, without Jesus Christ there is NO LIGHT in the world.  Naturally I read that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, but also the Living Waters, the Bread of Life, the Manna from Heaven, the Light of the World, the Vine, the Door, the Resurrection, the Good Shepherd and the ONLY Master from the Bible and I accept that.  What other hope is there?  NONE!

Is what is called "the Bible" really a man-made idol?  Do many worship "the Bible?"  Of course they say they do not, but I believe they do.  The Bible is really just INK on PAPER.  It is not God and God is not the Bible.  God is a Spirit Being, He is not INK on PAPER.


Van Robison

Prophet Thiel: The Catholic Church Came to the COG To Get The Canon

God's favorite prophetic mouthpiece has a bold comment today on his blog.  Prophet Thiel claims that the Catholic Church actually came to the Church of God (the Saturday keeping, kosher eating, holy day keeping, circumcised kind) to find out what books they were using for their Bible when Jerome was setting the canon.

 For years I have studied into this subject extensively and strongly believe that the Bible and secular history support the view that the Catholics and the Protestants got their books of the Bible from the Church of God.  Specifically, for one example, when the Catholic saint Jerome was putting his Latin Vulgate version together, he went to Palestine/Judea and met with non-Catholics who seemed to be part of the COG to confirm what was valid. 

Prophet Thiel is reacting to Dixon Cartwright's articles about the  Biblical canon in The Journal.  Dave Havir has this quote in The  Journal:

In his editorial, “Lo and Behold, an Elephant Is in Our Room,” Mr. Cartwright broached a subject that he says most conservative Christians almost never talk about even though it has profound implications for Christians’ view of the Bible and therefore their view of God and everything else.

“Yet where did our approved list of Bible books come from,” Mr. Cartwright asked, “and how do we know
that God inspired and even breathed them as holy writ?”

The elephant in the room is “right there beside us and we don’t notice that the books we virtually venerate
reside in our system of beliefs thanks to the imposed authority of a religious organization that Protestants and the Churches of God general reject.”

The organization Mr. Cartwright mentioned is the Catholic Church, although he says he isn’t being critical
of Catholics.

“I mentioned them because I think it’s ironic that Catholics, and their predecessors, decided on which books
should be considered Scripture even though they don’t believe in sola scriptura, the principle of relying solely on the Bible for doctrines.”

I never cease to be amazed at how Prophet Thiel thinks he is an authority on EVERYTHING!  He knows for SURE that they Catholics came to get the canon of the Church of God when they were establishing their version of the Bible.

Most Armstrongites have NEVER researched into the Bible, how it was written, by whom, etc.  They only know what Herbert Armstrong said, or  Rod Meredith, or Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry says about it.  If these men said it, so let it be done! "God is working through them so there is no need to ever read any books about Biblical authenticity."

One thing I did forget that the church taught, that was brought out be a reader in The Journal, was that  the writings of Herbert Armstrong would eventually make it in the canon of the Bible.

• The WCG believed that Herbert W. Armstrong’s writings would become part of NT scripture when Christ returned. So the WCG did not believe in a closed canon.

When will Rod Meredith and the Living Church of God ever reign in their embarrassing mouthpiece.  Do most LCGers think Bob is the greatest gift on earth to them?

William Beher Speaking On Behalf of Conspicuously Absent Dale Schurter

Has William Beher become the "mouthpiece" for Dale Schurter?  Schurter has been conspicuously absent since this blog revealed that he held many beliefs diametrically opposed to God's most important inspired man, Dave Pack. How dare he have an original thought in his head before Dave had one!

Now William speaks out on behalf of the absent one:

Some have written Mr. Schurter quite upset, as they feel as though he believes they do not have God’s Spirit. That impression is simply not true. God’s people do reside in various splinter groups. But, and this is important, they are branches cut off from the vine! It does not mean they do not have God’s Spirit, but rather they are no longer connected to the Body of Christ, and those who do not reconnect at some point are in danger of having the Spirit dwindle down and eventually be entirely gone.

The question that needs to be asked here is, "If you have God's spirit but are cut off, what is the point in having it?"  What good is it going to do you  to be cut off from the tree or the vine? Branches cut off die, especially vine branches.  They die within minutes.  What William is really telling these people that they are dead and have no hope unless they come over to Pack's cult.  I guess William cannot think from both sides of his brain at the same time.

William goes on to quote HWA trying to placate those that got offended by Schurter's baloney:

Next, Mr. Armstrong talks about how a person with God’s Spirit can temporarily exist outside the Body of Christ. This includes a few who are converted—given God’s Spirit at a baptism—outside the true Church. But notice what must eventually happen.

“Can one who does not know of the true organized Body doing God’s Work, and therefore is outside of it, be a member of the true Church which Christ built? The answer is yes—for it is possible for one to have truly repented, believed, and received God’s Spirit—and be following that Spirit as far as he sees and understands—who does not know of the organized Work Christ is using today. But surely God’s Spirit in him would lead one, in due time, into his part in the organized Body the living Christ is directing.”

Once again William is blatantly telling anyone who thinks they have God's spirit that they are damned if they do not join up with Pack.  According to him there is no truth outside Packism.

Obviously then, it is very much possible to have God’s Spirit and be outside the Body of Christ. But that does not mean that wherever such people are found is also where the Body of Christ—the one true Church—is located. God’s people can be scattered in different groups, but they are outside the Body of Christ, and need to reconnect to the Vine at some point.

In other words, get off your lazy asses and join the one and only true church.  Get your eyes anointed today and see the light! Don't think for yourself anymore, let the Packman do it for you.

Van Robison on "Is the Bible a Ball and Chain?"

Is the Bible a Ball and Chain?

Millions have been in bondage to INK on PAPER, called "the Bible" for a very long time. Is the Bible a ball and chain upon the lives of those who think God sent it from heaven to mankind?   Those who stand in pulpits will obviously answer no, because it is their excuse to dominate and control their personal followers.   No one could say that the Bible has no value at all, or at least if they do they overlook the fact that there are some good points found in this collection of writings compiled into one volume.   Certainly it is not bad to believe that loving your neighbor is a good thing, or that being meek is a bad thing, or that being a

peacemaker has no merit.   We even read to "prove all things", which is sage advice.

On the other hand there is a great deal about the Bible that is a ball and chain upon the lives of an innumerable multitude of human beings, including those associated with the Worldwide Church of God and its many clones.   Having read the Bible a great deal in years past, I conclude that it is not necessary to read the Bible everyday or have Bible studies endlessly for life.  Far more important is simply to live, love, be kind, do good things and enjoy your life while you have it and teach your children to THINK and never stop asking questions.   When you listen to PIED PIPERS IN THE PULPITS, the bottom line is that they think they have a right to do your thinking for you and a free pass to your bank account (at least 10% of it and exceptions for more).

The Bible is a great excuse for abuse of multitudes of human beings, who have been hoodwinked into thinking that religious leaders understand something about God, that common people have no access to.   I get sick and tired of seeing preachers on television standing with the Bible in their hands, quoting verses and treating people as if they are so brainless that they must be bottle fed their daily dose of preachers

sermons.   If people had any sense they would all run for the exit doors and never again financially support these self-appointed gods and mind-control preachers.  After all how many times does a human being need to be told something they have heard 10,000 times before?

Lets face it, every "pastor" preaches that which is right in his own thinking.  Never mind that God gave all human beings a brain and that for those who still believe in God, no "pastor" on earth is the funnel through which others must travel to have a relationship with their Creator.   Pastors and churches all take captives and their "authority" for doing so is the ball and chain called "the Bible."  Of course that Bible is interpreted in so many different ways that it is comical to an outside observer.   I once sent an email to a "Christian" organization stating that much of the Bible portrays God in the most barbaric manner and attributes to Him, horrors, atrocities and genocide that no thinking human being, would ever believe defines the true character or nature of God.  His reply was that he was shocked and was going to right this minute pray for me.   Many Bible readers never entertain, that maybe, just maybe, some of this stuff is myth, fiction, legend and penned by LYING SCRIBES and control freaks.   Apparently Jesus Himself thought so, because He denounced their man-made religion in His famous speech at Matthew 23, which someone seems to have remembered and penned years later.

As the years pass, there are so many voices that are ripping the Bible to shreds that I doubt that it will be the "infallible and inerrant" word of God for another two-thousand years.   Does it have any value at all?  In my thinking yes it does, but like a newspaper one reads, who would believe that everything in it is the unvarnished truth?  Like "news" on television, only the gullible and naive would believe that the news media is a source that is founded upon nothing but truth.  In fact television, movies, newspapers, magazines, books and even the Internet are all sources of major and massive propaganda.   Just because something is said to be ancient (scrolls for example), does not make them infallible and inerrant truth.

Humans have always been liars with ulterior motives.  To accept without question the Bible as total truth is simply childish.  I seriously doubt that God reads the Bible everyday or sits in a pew listening to preachers.  When Jesus went into the synagogues, it was not to learn truth, but to enlighten those who lived in darkness.

Van Robison