There They Go Again
The late Ian Boyne of the Church of God International rejected Herbert Armstrong’s British Israelism. Unlike most of the leadership of the Armstrong Churches of God, Boyne rejected the prophetic model created by Herbie and was even unafraid to stop by this blogsite on occasion and share his disdain for those teachings. For Mr. Boyne, CGI represented an organization that had outgrown the foolishness of Armstrongism and had embraced a more mature and defensible version of Armstrong’s theology. Unfortunately, his views on British Israelism now appear to have been out of sync with the organization to which he devoted a large part of his considerable talents, energy and life.
Like the dog who has returned to his own vomit, there can be no doubt that the Church of God International has embraced the teaching of British Israelism whole hog! In their most recent Armor of God program, Pastor Bill Watson resurrects God’s promises to Abraham and runs through the story of how Israel separated from Judah. He then proceeds to assert that the birthright promises devolved to Manasseh (the United States of America) as the “great nation” and to Ephraim (the British Commonwealth) as the “company of nations.” And, while this stuff may sound absurd to the average listener, it will no doubt sound very familiar to those who have had any experience with Herbert or Garner Ted Armstrong and their now-defunct Worldwide Church of God.
Despite the abysmal record of prophetic failure racked up by both Armstrongs, Watson insists that the voice of the prophets comes alive when one understands and accepts British Israelism. Despite the fact that our modern understanding of DNA has excluded any possibility that the peoples of the United States and Britain could be the physical descendants of Abraham, CGI persists in promoting the teaching that they are. Despite the history that disproves their understanding of the migration of ancient peoples and the survival of the Davidic dynasty after its biblically recorded demise, CGI insists that history is wrong. Despite the fact that the majority of Christianity recognizes that the promises to Abraham and David will find their complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Church of God International continues to pedal the heresy that those promises must be fulfilled in the here and now – in this world.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as an intellectually satisfying version of Armstrongism. CGI has demonstrated that there really isn’t any room for deviation or dissent from Herbert Armstrong’s core teachings – British Israelism being one of the most distinctive of those. And I can’t help but wonder what Ian Boyne would think about CGI’s latest offerings to the public.
Miller Jones