Genetics, Racial Intermarriage and Armstrongism

Genetics, Racial Intermarriage and Armstrongism 

Back in the Seventies, an Ambassador College Pasadena graduate showed me some notes he made in one of his classes. The topic was preparation for marriage and the notes he showed me dealt with racial intermarriage in particular. The policy as he wrote it was that anyone who was one-eighth Hamitic or more could not marry into the White (Shemite) race. And anyone who was one-quarter Japhetic or more could not marry into the White race. It now strikes me as remarkable that such imprecise terms as “Hamitic” and “Japhetic”, when applied to modern racial categories, would be used in the formulation of policy that would affect people’s lives. It was also revealing that the policy was formulated to protect the White race from “contamination” by gene flow from other racial branches. 

The Biblical Condemnation of Intermarriage 

The Bible does condemn a certain type of intermarriage. When Israel invaded Palestine, they were told not to marry into the tribes that occupied the land before them (Deut. 7:3). In Ezra 9 and 10, we find a condemnation of the Jews for intermarrying with these same Canaanite tribes. The book of Nehemiah recounts that Nehemiah confronted Jews with rants and violence for having intermarried with these people. According to the Biblical account, the issue for Ezra and Nehemiah was the detestable practices of these people foreign to Israel. Did this instruction also entail race? This will be examined in the next section. 

The Pivotal Role of Canaan for Armstrongism 

Dr. Charles V. Dorothy gave a sermon in the Field House on the Big Sandy campus back in the Seventies that spoke to this topic. He went over the account of Rahab the Harlot and as a sidebar identified Rahab as a Canaanite. He further described Rahab as a “beautiful Mulatto.” Herman Hoeh had already established for the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) that the Blacks of West Africa were the descendants of Canaan. The electrifying problem for the WCG was that Dorothy’s statement meant that a Black woman was in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. This was not something left to deduction. Dorothy emphasized this conclusion in his sermon and castigated the White people in the audience for being so shocked by this fact. Several years later, in a WCG publication entitled Tomorrow’s World, Kenneth Herrmann returned Rahab to an acceptable racial status and rescued the heredity of Christ. Herrmann in an article about Rahab described her, without citing historical support, as a Moabite – no doubt to a palpable sense of relief for some in the WCG. 

The Biblical accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah do not call out race as a concern. Herman Hoeh imposed race on these post-exilic Biblical events by proclaiming the Canaanites of Palestine to be Black Africans. From this seed flowered the broad racial policies of the WCG. Hoeh’s catalog of racial identifications and affinities served as the foundation within the WCG for the administration of racial policy pertaining to marriage. In the case of Canaan, this supposition also conveniently dispelled, as a bonus effect, the guilt that the United States, particularly the southern States, should rightly have for the heinous sin of state condoned, commercial slavery. This was because a curse of servitude was placed on Canaan in Genesis. I have never seen Hoeh’s detailed work for supporting his various racial identifications. His articles on this topic are more like declarations rather than carefully vetted analyses. It is a mystery whether Hoeh documented the further and necessary details to support his views for WCG internal use. 

The tragic error in this odd chain of events is that the ancient Canaanites were not Black Africans. Dr. Spencer Wells (geneticist, anthropologist) in a National Geographic television documentary explained that his research indicated that there is genetic continuity between the ancient Canaanites, the Phoenicians and the modern Lebanese people (see PBS video The Quest for the Phoenicians). Brody and King pointed out that studies support the idea that the “genetic affinities of the Jewish populations with Druze and Lebanese may reflect a common Canaanite substrate (Aron Brody and Roy King, Genetics and the Archaeology of Ancient Israel). We also have: “Levantine Semites — Lebanese, Jews, Palestinians, and Syrians — are thought to be the closest surviving relatives of the ancient Phoenicians, with as much as 90% genetic similarity between modern Lebanese and Bronze Age Sidonians” (see Wikipedia article on “Phoenicians” for cited sources.) Finally, Jews and Lebanese are both Y-haplogroup J with some inclusions in their modern populations. 

Conclusions 

These conclusions were developed using an exegetical model augmented by genetic findings. 

1. The ancient Canaanites, and their modern-day descendants the Lebanese, are very closely related to the Jews. (Note that the Lebanese may not look like American Jews who are typically Ashkenazi in origin. The Ashkenazi Jews are 30% to 60% European. A better visual comparison would be the Mizrahi Jews of Palestine.). 

2. If you want to view a Canaanite or Phoenician, have a look at photos of the Lebanese people. You will see they are not Black Africans. Then compare photos of the Lebanese to representations of ancient Canaanites from archaeological research. These people, ancient and modern, are incontrovertibly Middle Eastern. 

 Y-haplogroup E

3. Black Africans are generally Y-haplogroup E and Lebanese are Y-haplogroup J. As a sidebar to the main topic, the case of Canaan demonstrates that the descendants of Ham were not Blacks. Canaan is a descendant of Ham and his descendants are not Blacks. Blacks have a genetic origin separate from the Y-haplogroup J people of Palestine. Y-haplogroup E has been in existence for about 70,000 years based on mutational rates of change, long before the putative era of Adam, Noah and Canaan. 

For those who subscribe to the idea popularized by Hoeh that Ham married a Black woman (this is why Dorothy referred to Rahab as a Mulatto), the mtDNA of the Lebanese, inherited in the female line, has European affinities and not Black African affinities. (See Dannielle Badro, et al., Y-Chromosome and mtDNA Genetics Reveal Significant Contrasts in Affinities of Modern Middle Eastern Populations with European and African Populations). Also, autosomal genetic studies would reveal any Black African connections in the Lebanese. 

4. WCG’s racial intermarriage policy based on Hoeh’s interpretation of the Bible collapses under the weight of the science of genetics. The policy was underpinned by the idea that Deuteronomy, Ezra and Nehemiah made not just religious and cultural statements but also racial statements concerning the Canaanites who were erroneously thought to be Black Africans. However, the accounts in the Bible that proscribe intermarriage with Canaanites do not cite racial concerns. The racial spin was added by Herman Hoeh based on his personal research which seems never to have been published. 

Note: As it turns out, Kenneth Herrmann did not have to write an article correcting Dr. Charles V. Dorothy and sanitizing the genealogy of Jesus of Canaanite blood. The Canaanites are the same race as the Jews and this is borne out by the science of Genetics. 

 Y-haplogroup J

submitted by Neo

The Prideful Arrogance of Herbert W Armstrong

Check out the humbleness and humility that Herbert Armstrong exemplified for the brethren.  Besides Bwana Bob Thiel, has the Church of God ever had a more humble leader?

ht: SHT for the source

How the improperly named "continuing" Church of God began

From Christian to Christian: Standing Strong

Christianity in the Worldwide Church of God was relatively simple and actually contained in three simple words: Obey Your Minister. Regardless of how many may challenge this supposition, there's really no other way around it. If your minister was your link between you and Christ, of damnation and salvation, of in the Church and Out of the Church, then this statement is truth. The critically thinking individual was not regarded competent enough to understand the mind of Christ like your pastor. Members of the Church were admonished about this time, after time, and after time again, sometimes severely. 

The concepts of Critical Thinking were intentionally not developed within the Church. Any questions you had? Ask the minister. Any doubts you have? Don't discuss it with anyone else - lest you sow division and discord within the Church. Ask a question to the minister like you are supposed to do when you disagree? Find yourself on the bad list - at the least an "unconverted" , to a "bad attitude", to a "rebellious spirit" - and on the shortlist to discipline, up to and including disfellowshipment. More often than not, thoughts, opinions, doubts, and questions by many were pushed way back to File 14 (Not 13 - that's garbage, but 14, the Storage Area!). If you dared share them with anyone in the Church, you ran the risk of a ratter outing you to The Minister - which is worse than if you told him yourself - nearly guaranteeing you being labeled as one "Sowing Division" and risking immediate disfellowshipment for speaking out against Church Doctrine. 

This is why many believers on this blog react so strongly to posts on this blog that foster critical thinking. In the Church, we were not encouraged to use our heads and think. We were not ourselves allowed to "prove all things". We weren't confronted with hard questions - those were for the ministers to handle. We did not converse deeply and with prolonged debate (or were not supposed to anyhow) with those who thought different than we did - whether it was a Mainstream Christian, a Street Hoodlum, a Buddhist, a New Ager, or an atheist. 

Years ago, while in the Worldwide Experience, I would have reacted in the way most probably would have expected. I would have immediately blasted any contrary opinion as - well, lost. You know, shake the dirt off your feet and don't even give a contrary person (derisively labeled a "dissident") the time of day. The biggest and most important function in the Church to keep it together was the appearance and misnomer of what we called "unity", in a religion where reality shows us that we were never truly unified. We were master illusionists. 

These days, in this generation of knowledge, information, history, and science, it's not only good to understand the opinions of other people - it's imperative. The approach we had of "don't look at this, throw it in the trash" these days simply fosters an attitude of ignorance. To understand how another person thinks, we have to understand what they think! And this is exactly what many who are Christians are afraid of. That deep down, they may fall victim to convincing argument and fall into what they perceive as "strong delusion". 

Truth is, every part of every religion - whether it's Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Muslim, or Evangelical Christianity - and yes, even Armstrongism - has a certain level of truth within. This is why all religions have massive numbers - because something clicks with somebody as true, therefore, it all must be true. This isn't so - as nobody has the "lock" on all truth as long as humanity is involved. This is why, in every sect of every religion, you will find literally hundreds and thousands of diverse opinions about how this is so and how that is so. You can be as sincere as you wish - but you can also be "sincerely wrong" - and no one has gotten it completely right. Not Herbert Armstrong, not Charles Stanley, not anyone of mortal flesh. This is why a personal relationship with a personal God is the basis of true and authentic Christianity. 

It shouldn't be scary to acknowledge and to hear other opinions. Rather, we have been given a Counselor, and a Teacher - the Holy Spirit - to help us personally where we are. In prayer, as we connect with the Heavenly Dimension, we can understand - personally. And with Christ in us, and working through us, we can stand and grow in both character and in faith, in the assurance of things unseen, growing daily in the assurances of what we know to be true by Him who works in us, and through us. Without the personal Christ within us, we are only as blades of grass blown by the wind. The danger comes when, in our zeal, we, as Christians, try to convince others of what we know personally to those who try to convince us of what they know academically. We will lose every time with this approach. They will blast us and rip us to shreds using academia against personal experience. This is not the way to go. 

The only thing that Christians have for proof are their fruits. The problem is that with many people who claim to be Christians, the fruits just are not there. Instead, there are the "Judgers" who condemn them. There are the "Angries" who blast them with vitriol. There are the "Pious" - the "I'm better than you's because I know the truth". There are the "Righteous Ones" who look down on anyone who believes differently than they do. And the only thing Christians have going for them - EVIDENCE of Christ - is dust in the wind, and then what is there? Absolutely nothing. 

The evidence of Christ - the only thing that shows who we are - and what we are - are the fruits of the Spirit. Gentleness. Love. Mercy. Self Control. Patience. Kindness. Meekness. Joy. This evidence is the only thing that is needed, and the only answer. It is the mind and the emotion of God in action. And as it is said in the Love Chapter - and in a song we all knew or know - we can talk in megaphones, as sounding brass and banging cymbals - but if we do not show genuine love in our actions, conversations and discussions with people of all belief spectrums - than our beliefs and our faith is as useless as bronze age encyclopedias. Because all of the knowledge in the world, and all of the knowledge of our universe, and science, and realms, and realities, and angels, and demons, and animals - and even, as scripture says, height and depth and all things physical - cannot compare to the power of one act of love and kindness. This - love and kindness - is more powerful than all of the knowledge in all of the internet. 

At the end of the day, The only thing that matters is exactly what scripture says - faith expressing itself in love. (Galatians 5:6)  It's the most powerful force and witness in the Universe. Everything else withers, but love stands strong. This is why, and how, we can make it and show Christ in this age of incredible knowledge and understanding. Because there is an abundance of truth in today's knowledge. Yet, there is unbelievable power in love. And that is the narrow road to the narrow gate that is often missed, and few are those who find it.

Submitted by SHT

Fake COG Prophet Claims The Book Of Daniel Has Never Been Understood Until He Arrived On The Scene

What an amazing time to be alive and see prophecy unfold before our eyes!  Never have we seen so many men claiming to have the most ACCURATE interpretations about scripture than we do today.

Our favorite self-appointed and doubly-blessed Great Bwana to Africa, Bob Thiel, claims that he is the ONLY COG in existence who has interpreted the book of Daniel properly.  Because of that, all of the COG's out there will NOT know when the end time troubles hit and when they need to flee.  Only Bwana Bob knows that.  Those stupid little fools in LCG, UCG, COGWA, PCG, and RCG have interpreted Daniel so wrong over the decades that they will have no idea when the shit hits the fan.

Persecution is coming and most in the COGs do not realize how the various persecutions will affect them. 

Those who do understand this properly will have the opportunity to know prior to the start of the Great Tribulation, approximately when it will begin. Those that claim that the “prince to come” in Daniel 9:26 is Jesus and that Jesus is the one that confirms a covenant with many for one week, etc., will not understand as that statement is not a reference to Jesus. The “prince to come” is the final European King of the North. He is the one in Daniel 11:31 who fulfills bringing the end of the sacrifice and offerings 3 1/2 years (the middle of a seven year prophetic week) after the deal is confirmed. Jesus did not destroy the city nor sanctuary, nor is there a biblical record that He confirmed a seven-year covenant.

Because all of you Laodicean heretics refuse to follow Bwana Bob you MAY be given one more chance to stand in awe of his awesomeness.

Those who refuse to accept that are in error (such as the Philadelphia Church of God, Church of God a Worldwide Association, and the Restored Church of God) and will not understand certain end time events.

Nearly all COG groups either do not understand this and/or have significant errors in their understanding of parts of this (including the persecution it is referring to). Prophetic misunderstandings that many COG claimed groups have on some of this is documented in the article Is the Future King of the South Rising Up?

Yet many, including those in nearly all COGs, will NOT understand key aspects of Daniel 2,7,9,11, & 12. There is a listing of 38 prophetic misunderstandings that the Laodicean churches have in the article The Laodicean Church Era, and many are related to the Book of Daniel. Those who misunderstand the sequence and various particulars of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel will not know when the Great Tribulation will come and hence will likely be killed or otherwise greatly affected by it.

Who in their right mind would ever follow such a sad little man as this?  He has no idea what he is talking about and is lying about that things he claims are coming.  From his initial lies about his special anointing to the absurd prophecy interpretations, this guy is absolutely nuts!