The Two Trees

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil images the way of qualifying through our own efforts under the law. The Tree of Life images Jesus and total reliance on His merits that come to us by faith alone. Yet, some still insist the law is the path to life. It is a path, sure enough, but not to anything good.

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This topic has been staring everyone in the face now for millennia. It is right there in the earliest commentary of Genesis, in plain sight, overlooked, ignored by generations. Recorded and presented through typology regarding perhaps the greatest deception that exists. It is the contrast between law and faith. A law of faith versus a law whose fruit is death. All represented by two trees in the garden of Eden.

There was a tree of Life and a tree of death, curiously titled 'The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil'. No one seems to ask the important questions:
“What does this tree represent, topologically”
“What does the other Tree of Life represent?”

"How is it, after God’s explicit command that Adam and Eve must not eat of its fruit or even so much as touch the tree, did they so readily decide to do so?"

(Matthew 13:35)  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

(Revelation 13:8) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the dragon; v4], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The sin of Adam and Eve was reflected, through typology, by their nakedness and unwillingness to come before God. God in turn covered their nakedness with the skins of animals. Dwell a moment on that. Animals were sacrificed in order to ‘cover their sins’ even as the sacrifices in the law were a temporary covering of sins that could not forgive sins. This was a form of a “stay of execution”; a temporary respite from the death penalty imposed on them for having disobeyed God - but with one interesting departure which carnal people overlook: their motive for having partaken of that tree and its forbidden fruit.

This is not to overlook what God said regarding how they would, in the day they partook of that fruit, they would die, for there was indeed a death; a spiritual death.

(Ephesians 2:1-6) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The choice between the two trees is the same choice today, between the law, represented by that tree of death, and faith in the author of Life, represented by that Tree of Life. Access to the Tree of Life had been cut off, which was the price of disobeying God and abandoning faith in Him, but access is now being reopened as a result of the perfect sacrifice for sin and man’s reconciliation with God.

How do you get people to choose that which condemns over that which saves from condemnation? This question - and an observation of what happened in Eden, and what happened at Sinai, and what happened when Jesus arrived, and what presently happens today - is a testament to just how susceptible mankind is to deceptions. For there could hardly be a broader spectrum between the law that kills - the law that produces wrath; the law that makes all guilty before God - and the God Himself that rescues mankind from the ravages of his own sins, and from the law they embrace which condemns them to death for their sins, due to the wiles of that serpent, the devil.

Why do people still choose the law? Why do people still opt for the law that admittedly condemns sinners, where all have sinned?

They, like Eve, were convinced there was something to be gained by partaking of that fruit of the tree that represents the law, and it boils down to ego… a desire to sate the flesh and mind. It is like a rat-trap with pride as the bait. In order to acquire what is offered, all you have to do is not set off the trap; don’t sin! But we have all sinned already. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. With no concept of the pervasiveness of sin that encompasses the fleshly desires of the mind which, being a carnal mind, desires to elevate the self above others; to gain bragging rights that glorify the self, while castigating others who do not measure up to their elevated status; vainly imagining they are something to look up to and that they can and have achieved their lofty status based on their own efforts and merits. So strong is the pull of the flesh and mind that they are willing to risk the death demanded by the law against sinners, where they raise themselves up as having conquered sin by "keeping" the law so as to qualify for a greater position, role, and status in the kingdom of God.

There is a glorification of the self, not unlike what God revealed to be the sin of Satan, who sought to elevate himself and be like God is God. Law-keeping is an attempt to do the same; to elevate the self; to become “perfect” and sinless as a result of your own efforts. And like the devil, they seek to try and convince others to join them in their vain attempt at transforming themselves into superior beings. Wouldn’t it be ironic if a third of mankind followed this path to their own destruction.

The law is designed to ‘weed out’ those with a love of their own selves and a hatred of others that refuse to do as they do. The Pharisees and other ‘religious people’ of Israel hated Jesus and the Father in heaven, replacing their dedication to God with a dedication to law; viewing the law as ‘giving them an advantage’ they otherwise would not have among men. They saw it as a pathway to being superior to others, and the bragging rights that goes with it. God is relegated to the back pocket, to be presented whenever they need forgiveness for failing miserably at the game of law-keeping.

(John 7:49) But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

This was the view of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin - that no one knew the law like they did, and the ignorant masses were accursed. Those following the very Lawgiver “didn’t know the law” and didn’t keep the law according to their dictates and interpretations. The ignorant didn’t keep the law and were cursed as a result, and it was their job as the administrators of the law to see they were punished. They thought they knew the law - they thought they were the law - yet they neglected the weightier matters of the law.

It isn't those who are unfamiliar with the law who are cursed, it's those who don't understand the Messiah.

How is the behavior of the Pharisees any different than the condemnation you see spewed out by Adventists and other Sabbatarians, like Armstrongism, against those who have left their groups and headed out the exits? They discovered "keeping" the law was not following Christ Jesus; the Way, the Truth, and the “Tree of Life”.

Also see:
Two Trees - Two Covenants

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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Where Do We Draw The Line?

Greetings, dear readers. It's your punctilious proliferator of peeves and profundities, presenting a post about paganism and principles. Today, I would like to talk about where to draw the line with people of weak conscience who take issue with holidays and birthdays. Also, there is something you should know about the people who peddle these message about holidays being evil.
Yes, it is that time of year.

I was reading through my old 2018 article "Three Reasons Why I Stopped Keeping Christmas - Part II", because I honestly could not remember what it was about, and in the comments I noticed a small mention of scruples. To refresh your memory, scruples are, "An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action" (from the American Heritage Dictionary).
I said in a comment:

"I can promise you that once you start down that road to scrupulosity, there is virtually no end to that road. There is practically no limit to the things a person can question and worry about. You can become a slave to it. Trust me on this one, I have seen some seriously enslaved people who worry about the smallest little things and constantly need reassurance. Their lives are beset by it."
-Me, back then.

Nothing has changed my mind about that statement.
But the reason I said that was in response to a request for more holiday articles on things even like the Fourth of July or Thanksgiving. I never did write those articles. It's not that I thought it was an unreasonable request. I thought at the time it would be more efficient to get directly to the heart of the matter - which I think is scrupulosity.

Scruples are good. Scrupulosity is not. Scrupulosity takes our good conscience and twists it into fear and doubt. It can paralyze us with questions and worries. It can take over our lives. It can negatively affect our relationship with our Savior. Not good!

It can be beneficial to go away from your own posts for a while then visit back again after forgetting all about them. When I am thinking about what to write, I know just what I mean. When I write, that doesn't always come across as I'd thought. Coming back later erases all those thoughts and gives me the perspective of a first-time reader. Many times I say to myself, "I think I know what I was getting at, but it could have been stated so much clearer." This is one of those times.

I had hoped it would be more efficient to comment on scrupulosity rather than write more articles. But I never really explained what I meant by scrupulosity nor gave any advice at all on what to do about it. I was asked about holidays and responded with scrupulosity, and that was that. It all made sense to me back then, but now it seems I sidestepped the request without heeding it at all. Not what I intended!
You know what they say about good intentions.
Maybe I can make amends six years later?

As I discussed in my post "Peddlers of Paganism", there are people out there who make their living off exploiting people's fears and scrupulosity. They twist good things, things created to be received with thanksgiving, into doubtful things. They tell you God cannot save you if you enjoy pine trees or lights or candy or various mundane things, even when God Himself used these items in His worship in the Bible. They use shifting definitions they themselves don't meet. They tell you once a thing is tinged with paganism it remains pagan forever. They tell you that you can secretly contract paganism without even being aware of it. They tell you that you are headed for condemnation if you celebrate God's own miracles. And it doesn't matter at all how terribly false their claims are, so long as the end result affirms what they want to hear. How preposterous!
I disagree with all of these things, and ABD has several articles that explain why.

I also said in that same post:

"The question is - how far do we take this? Do we let people of weak conscience control our lives and our homes and our churches? No. Their weak conscience is not a license for manipulation."

Much of this discussion on drawing a line rests on good taste and Christian charity. Paul is clear, in I Corinthians 8 and 10, that a good Christian bears those of weak conscience with patience and charity. Sometimes, doing the right thing means avoiding what we fully believe is perfectly acceptable if that thing upsets our brethren of weak conscience. We bear it until they mature in the faith.
But that has to have its limits.

We cannot let people of scrupulosity and superstition take over our churches, our faith, and our good conscience. To bear with a brother or sister in Christ with patience and understanding is good! It's the loving thing. It's the Christian thing. But not when it ends up making people feel terrible about themselves and causes division.

The anonymous commentor on my Christmas post said:

"If there is truly a pagan holiday out there then I'll give it up for God. No pagan holiday is worth participating in if it risks our relationship with God."

That is noble! There is a very commendable spirit at work in this heart. Look at how they are willing to repent and change anything they feel comes between them and their Savior. Well done!

But!

That good intention is easily taken advantage of by people of weak conscience and ignoble motives who peddle paganism. The comment started, "If there is truly a pagan holiday..." Therein lies the rub. The holidays are most often not pagan. The claims most often false.
The good intention of avoiding paganism is taken advantage of. That particular commentor might not be easily taken advantage of, but I have had several other readers over the years who were/are.

Do pay attention to your conscience. Do not violate it! But at the same time, do not base your conscience and decisions on the questionable information you get from peddlers of paganism. Test the spirits!

I want you to know something else, most esteemed reader. The story you are being told about pagan holidays, from many sources but not all, is not really about informing you. What it is really about is uplifting themselves in their own eyes by putting you down.
Those are not informative messages you are reading. Those are accusations.

In Armstrongism, the system the As Bereans Did blog is mainly about, my former church system, we did not tell people about their pagan ways to educate and reform them. That would be a misunderstanding. We were told the rest of the world is not being called by God right now. We literally were told that to help the world is to fight against God. We were even discouraged from giving to charity because of this. Those messages about paganism were never intended to bring the world to repentance. Then why did we put out so much material about pagan holidays and etc? We did it for us! We preached about the world's pagan ways so we could feel superior! That message isn't for you, it's for them. And it goes far beyond holidays.

Herbert Armstrong's Church of God movement is a branch of Seventh Day Adventism. They preach seventh-day Sabbath, Old Covenant holy days, meats laws, tithing, and various other Old Covenant traditions. They are anti-Trinitarian, and believe the Holy Spirit is not a person. They are iconoclasts, and believe the image of the Cross of Christ is a pagan symbol of Tammuz. They used to believe (and some still do) whites are a superior race descended from Noah's son Shem, and other races are cursed. They believe British-Israelism (aka. Anglo-Israelism) which says God secretly preserved people of Israelite descent who populate western Europe, America, and Australia in this modern day, to be His only called people. They believe all Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and almost every other Christian tradition besides (sometimes including other Armstrongist churches) are all condemned, deceived followers of Satan the devil, who have all been purposefully relegated by God Himself into the system of "Babylon the Great and her Harlot daughters". They believe that grace is a very different thing than how mainstream Christians understand it, and grace is only for those who keep the things they keep and don't keep the things they don't keep. They believe if you do not join them in ALL of their beliefs, then you are doomed in this life, and only in your next life will you be given an opportunity to repent, and then you will live in eternity under their rulership and benevolent guidance.

This is not just about holidays, dear reader. Not by a long shot.

These people who accuse you of paganism are not calling you pagan just because of holidays, and they are not going to stop calling you a pagan just because you stop keeping holidays. Holidays are but the tip of the iceberg. This was never really about Christmas or Easter or birthdays. You don't keep Christmas? OK. But you're still a pagan to them for so many other reasons.
None of their annual messages about pagan holidays are to help you stop being a pagan. There are two very real reasons for it: 1) to accuse you of being a pagan, and 2) to reassure themselves of their superiority. They put you down to lift themselves up.

You cannot challenge them. You cannot reason with them. You cannot plead. This isn't about facts and truth, it's about reaffirmation. Do you understand now why the accuracy of their source material does not matter to them? Do you understand now why they will not listen to anyone no matter what evidence is offered? It was never about accuracy. It was always about affirmation. You need to be aware of this so you can truly be informed about what this message about pagan holidays really is. 

They might not post their content for your good, but I hope As Bereans Did does. That is my sincere hope in every post. That you are helped, and God is glorified.

Now, we go back to Paul's advice.

In I Corinthians, Paul said to be aware of your fellow Christian's weak conscience. But Paul also said to Timothy (in the context of bondservants, but I believe the lesson applies here):

(I TIM. 6: 3-5) 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, 5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.

This very same Paul who was very conciliatory in I Corinthians has clearly drawn a line in I Timothy. A line must be drawn at some point. We cannot infinitely give way to our brethren of weak conscience. We cannot treat them poorly, because that is uncharitable and un-Christian, but we cannot allow people of weak conscience to stay immature in the faith forever, and we cannot allow ourselves to be led by those who are immature in the faith.

If people will not listen to what the Bible unambiguously says in Esther and John, that celebrating man-made holidays is completely acceptable - something even Jesus Himself participated in - but instead continue to dispute and argue and accuse, from such withdraw yourself.
If people will not listen to what history says, that Saturnalia and Brumalia were not on December 25th - to name just one of many examples where the claims are false - but instead continue to intentionally promote incorrect information, from such withdraw yourself.
If people will not listen to Ralph Woodrow or countless other researches besides, that Alexander Hislop was wrong and his claims were unfounded and conjured from his own imagination, but instead falsely accuse their fellow Christians of Nimrod worship and paganism based on known lies, from such withdraw yourself.
If people will not learn what makes for good research even though the Internet has made good research not only possible but easily obtainable, but instead persist in quoting nonsense, misrepresenting their sources, and presenting confirmation bias and century-old encyclopedias as "God's truth", from such withdraw yourself.
If people are "Refusing To Understand", but are willfully ignorant, from such turn away.

Before you who are new to this blog get too upset with me, I wrote this post assuming most people who will read it are already familiar with this ABD's extensive catalog of material on holidays, "once pagan, always pagan", and etc. Please do read our posts. I cannot expand on them all here.

If you want to know what my own personal line is, knowing what I know and having experienced what I have experienced, I draw the line at well-informed conscience. Not scrupulosity, but scruples. If I feel guilty about it, I don't do it. Easy peasy.
But then I research it. I need to know if I feel guilty reasonably or unreasonably; rightfully or mistakenly.

Scrupulosity. Superstition. Bad information. Hidden motives. Fear. Pride. Willful ignorance. Legalism. I definitely feel guilty about those things, and I won't have anything to do with them.

I also said in my Peddlers of Paganism post:

"If you really feel that badly about a holiday or a decoration, don't do it!! There is freedom in Christ. Do, or do not - it's the same. So long as it is to Christ that you do or do not do. I am not here to convince you to keep holidays. I am merely telling you that you are being falsely accused and there is no valid reason for you to feel like a pagan. Yet, if you do feel badly about something, then don't violate your conscience.
But ask yourself - do you feel badly because it is bad, or because peddlers of paganism made you think it is bad, falsely? Our articles are here to help you decide that. Test the spirits."

So, where are you going to draw the line?

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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Peddlers of Paganism

Is it that time of year already? Time for another "once pagan, always pagan" post.

The number-one subject I have been asked about over the years is in regards to holidays and can people be pagan for participating. Got an email just last week about it. People out there are truly concerned if they are still a good Christian, not because they've renounced their faith but because they celebrate Jesus Christ.

When a good Armstrongist friend of mine called me after many years of no contact, he just wanted to small talk. He told me he still thought I was a faithful Christian despite leaving the church (I like to think I am). He is a quality man. It was nice of him. But there was one and only one message of importance he wanted to convey: don't start keeping Christmas. He didn't call or write or anything for several years, and hasn't since, but he made a special effort to deliver me this one critical message. He could have said so many other things, like don't stop keeping the Sabbath, but he didn't. That's how important it is within that system.

Some of the messages I get are from people who are curious, some are concerned, but some are suffering. You wouldn't believe how many people from around the world live their lives in fear. I receive messages from God fearing Christians who get crippling anxiety because they had pleasant thoughts by looking at a billboard or having a passing conversation. Do we serve a God of fear? No. But fear is what they have.

Here is from one such message:

"xhwa, I am terrorized by guilt again today. Today, I was talking to receptionist and she brought up a small sentence on the Christmas tree."

Terrorized! By a conversation.
Here is from another:

"Ever since I have been made aware of pagan origin of certain traditions, my life has been a living hell. I wish I had never been exposed to such literature because it hasn't been profitable to my life. It has only given me guilt trips, moody feelings, sadness, depression. I cannot go about life without these thoughts and people infiltrating my head."

A living hell! Afraid of plants and wreaths and lights and sweets and colors and shapes. They feel happy, then guilty for feeling happy, then anxiety hits. My heart truly goes out.

Those are extreme examples, you might think. Maybe so, but they are real none the less, they are God's all the same, and they deserve dignity and truth. They feel terrible inside like they have betrayed their God all because of what they were told by media pumped out by peddlers of paganism year after year around this time.

You might wonder what I mean by "peddlers of paganism". I am referring to leaders from systems, like Armstrongism just for one example, who create media that tries to sell faithful Christians on the idea of being pagan for participating in mundane, non-salvational activities such as holidays or birthdays or for having certain decorations. They peddle the idea that sugar and wax and plants can defeat the God who ransomed you. They peddle the idea that you are a pagan. Even when you are not.
Bearing false witness.
What happened to "the TEN COMMANDMENTS, God's great SPIRITUAL LAW"? Apparently, that greatness ends at the 4th Commandment.

FORETHOUGHT AND INTENT

Let's answer the big question right up front. Are you, a God-fearing Christian, now a pagan for participating in mainstream Christian holidays? My answer is a qualified 'no'.

Merely participating in a Christian holiday, or having holiday decorations, does not - I repeat, does not - make you a pagan. Calendar dates and bits of paper and plastic and colors and shapes and flowers and candles and treats do not have the power to snatch you out of the hands of your Father in Heaven.
My "no" is qualified because it all depends on your heart and your intention. What makes you a pagan is actively, knowingly, intentionally worshipping another deity. Are you intentionally celebrating Christ? Then, no, you are not a pagan. Are you actively, knowingly, intentionally honoring some other deity, like the Gentiles of old? I am not talking about having a decoration or doing some pastime activity. I am not even talking about idols in our lives, like avarice or sex, that take your focus off your Christian walk. I am talking about actively, currently, knowingly dedicating your time and honor and hopes and worship to another deity. No? Then you have nothing to worry about. Yes? Then you are participating in something inadvisable and you really ought to rethink your path. There is no better way to utterly violate the New Covenant than that.

Notice how you would be fully aware of this. It will come as no big surprise to you. You will not need a peddler of paganism to stop by and inform you of anything because you will be well aware already. A Christian cannot accidentally or unknowingly be a pagan.

You cannot bend down to slide a gift under a tree, with thankfulness to God in your heart, and accidentally be a pagan. You cannot see an old television show, get nostalgic feelings, and suddenly be a pagan. You cannot see a display at a store, get a sense of beauty from it, and suddenly be a pagan. You cannot eat a cookie, really enjoy it, and suddenly be a pagan. That just isn't how paganism works. Did you worship the cookie or the ballet or the decoration? No. Did you replace God in your heart and intent? No. Then that was neither idolatry nor paganism.

Part of the game these peddlers of paganism play is they use such a loose definition of idolatry and paganism (when it suits them) that it goes off the deep end into superstition. Their superstition. They say a Christmas Tree is the same as child sacrifice. They say you can overpower God even by the mere presence of a candy cane. Sugar is bad for you, but not that bad! They say once a thing is pagan, it is always pagan - no matter how many millennia pass by. But is that so?

PAUL'S TAKE

What did Paul say?

(I COR. 8: 1-7) Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. 4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
7 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

An idol is nothing. How can the peddlers of paganism sell us the idea that so many things have dreadful power when Paul tells us the idol is nothing? Is Paul discounting idolatry here? No. Paul is simply saying that, to a mature Christian whose heart is solidly with God, the idol is nothing, because the idol has no power. As we saw in my post "Once and Future Kingdom - Part II", Jesus took that power away from the false gods. Idols have no power against you. How much less things that were never idols to begin with.

Then Paul continues to verse 7. He says not everyone understands that Jesus took all power away from the false gods and now those idols are nothing. For some, the idol is something, and it defiles their weak conscience. That is what the peddlers of paganism hope to get from you. They want your conscience defiled ...because their weak conscience is defiled.

(I COR. 10: 25-28) 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; 26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” 27 If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”

Paul, continuing the idea from chapter 8, addresses the notion that all things are lawful for us (v.24). He never denies that! But he exhorts us to remember not all things we do in our freedom are helpful or edifying for others. We should consider others in what we do. Then he gives an example.
Paul tells us we are free to go to a non-believer's house. Because we are free to! That they are pagan doesn't matter. Does their paganism make us pagan? No. We can eat whatever they set before us, asking nothing about it. Does eating and celebrating make us pagan? No. What if the meal were dedicated to pagan gods without our knowledge? Still no! That was the entire point in verse 25. Much of the meat sold in the market was openly dedicated to a pagan god within the past few days. Paul knew that. The people who asked Paul about it, prompting him to write about it, knew that. Still no. Here, Paul says that if anyone expresses concern that the food was offered to idols (he does not say the host expresses this, but anyone), then you stop and do not eat. Because it becomes pagan when someone brings it to your attention? No. You stop for their conscience, not for yours. Our conscience is clear, because our hearts belong to Jesus. But their conscience is weak.

Presumably there might be other Christians there, and those people might be put off that the food was offered to idols. Does this make the person claiming idolatry correct? No. For an idol is nothing. But it does make it a matter of good taste to treat them kindly. The question is - how far do we take this? Do we let people of weak conscience control our lives and our homes and our churches? No. Their weak conscience is not a license for manipulation. I feel this is more of a "when in Rome" sort of a thing.

Do you see how this relates to holidays and birthdays and treats and decorations?
It has to do with the notion of once pagan, always pagan. The peddlers of paganism build their entire case on it. Paul blows that up. Kindly.

Note how the dedication of the food was immediate, not thousands of years ago. And the dedication was real, not made up. Not false accusations. Paul knew that meat in the market was quite recently offered to idols within a functioning temple to a pagan god he could name by pagan priests he could see, and Paul still said to eat it. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” If that food is not once pagan, always pagan, then how much less is a Christmas cookie? Christmas decorations are dedicated to Christ, and none besides - at least by Christians anyway. Similar decorations may or may not have been used in the distant past by a defunct religious system. What does that have to do with us? Nothing. Peddlers of paganism will protest that God hates those things forever, but Paul blows that up.

Are you seriously going to tell me that I can put meat in my mouth that was dedicated to Aphrodite not 72 hours ago and it's perfectly fine, because “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness”, but if I put up a wreath-shaped cookie in my mouth that I dedicate directly to the Lord, then I am a pagan because that shape was used 2,000 years ago for a pagan purpose? Nonsense!

BIBLICALLY UNBIBLICAL

If once pagan, always pagan is a genuine issue, as the peddlers would have us believe, then we all are in big trouble, them included. If people who preach once pagan always pagan understood how many things they do which have "pagan" connections, they would be unable to function. (I am putting “pagan” in quotes because these things aren’t actually pagan. They are just falsely accused of being pagan.) There is nothing that you do that does not have a "pagan" connection except actually having faith in the Living God. You name it, if it is in our world then it has "pagan" connections.

How many times have I gone over lists of things that are used by God in the Bible or by Christian churches today that were once pagan? Many times! Here I go again:

Priesthoods, ministers, elders, sermons, temples, sacrifices, prayer, rest days (sabbaths), holidays, religious rituals like baptisms, circumcision, instructions on morality, laws and codes of behavior, parables, special decorations, sacrifices, special meals, fires, candles, incense, hymns, psalms, choruses, ritual meals, religious texts, religious schools, religious heroes, marriage, honeymoons, wedding rings ... I could go on and on.

Many of the things in the list above, which qualify as once pagan always pagan, are things the peddlers of paganism do regularly. We all do. But they excuse themselves. They excuse themselves while condemning others. "Paganism for thee, but not for me." All of these things have exactly the same "pagan" connections as jack-o-lanterns. All of these can be found in pagan religions first before they were in the Bible or in Christian practice. All of them. I thought a pagan item was the same as child sacrifice? Funny how that story changes. All of those were pagan, yet they were all adopted in worship of God.

Don't get me wrong here. God is no fan of actual, genuine idolatry. But the peddlers use a definition of idolatry that they themselves don't meet, and that changes to suit their situation.
They will tell you that God is a believer in once pagan, always pagan. That is not what we see in reality. Almost every aspect of what God commanded Israel to do, right down to the Ark of the Covenant, had some counterpart in a pagan religion. You didn't know the Ark of the Covenant was patterned directly after an Egyptian box used in religious worship? It was! God used it anyway. (Biblical Archaeology Society blog has an article on it, titled "The Ark of the Covenant in its Egyptian Context") 
God did that?? YES!
God adopted "pagan" things into His worship. It's not just Paul that blows up once pagan, always pagan. God does, too!

I have been told, "Well, those things were used by God, so that makes them OK." Fine. Let's go with that. That is the standard now. If God did it, then it's OK.

In addition to novel holidays (EST. 9: 20-28; JON. 10: 22-23), and gift-giving (EST. 9: 22), God also lists the use of statues in His worship (EXO. 25: 17-19), garland, bells and fruit (EXO. 28: 33-34; 39: 25-26; II COR. 3: 16), lights, flowers and ornamentation (EXO. 25: 31-37), greenery (LEV. 23: 40; NEH. 8: 13-15), and evergreens and pine trees (ISA. 60: 13), to name a few. Miller Jones over at the God Cannot Be Contained blog reminds us the very crown God will place on our heads, "...is indicative of the wreath, garland, coronet which was worn by the Roman emperor or given as a prize to the victor in the public games of that time..." God is going to award us a pagan wreath to wear?! Scandal!
All of these "pagan" items are used in the Bible in the proper worship of God. All of them used at Christmas. All of them condemned by peddlers of paganism.

What happened to if God did it, then it's OK? That didn't age well. Do you see how their standards change?

What's more, they will claim if God did not directly command it then we shouldn't be doing it. In other words, God never commanded Christmas, so we shouldn't do it. But is that what the Bible says?

In the Bible, God never commanded most of the Old Covenant law to Gentiles. That doesn't seem to stop anyone from doing what God didn't command. In the Bible, God sanctioned the creation of novel holidays. The Jews made up Purim and Hanukkah - and God honored both. Matha wrote one of the best articles in the ABD catalogue, "Established and Imposed". It is biblical and acceptable to create a new holiday that honors God.
So, what God does not command, that they do. They do things God did not command and then they condemn those who do not follow them. And what God allows, that they do not do. They abstain from things God allows and then they condemn those who do not follow them. If it was never pagan, then it's pagan anyway, and if it is biblical, then it's still pagan. Unless it's something they like, then it's OK. Nonsense!

(ACT. 10: 15b) "What God has cleansed you must not call common.”

They tell you December 25 was an ancient pagan holiday. It wasn't. They tell you early Christians ignored Jesus' birth. They didn't. They tell you Christmas was Nimrod's birthday. It wasn't. They tell you Christmas Trees were pagan. They weren't. They tell you Jeremiah 10 condemns Christmas trees. It doesn't. They tell you all trees are pagan. They're not. They tell you Santa is an anagram for Satan. It's not. They tell you gift-giving is wrong. It's not. They tell you Easter was an ancient pagan day. It wasn't. They tell you Easter means Ishtar. It doesn't. They tell you Jesus wasn't resurrected on Sunday. He was. They tell you it's wrong to have a holiday God didn't command. It's not. They tell you birthdays are pagan. They aren't.
I could keep going and going like this, but I don't need to. We have articles for that. Go to our Categories page and look for Christmas or Easter or whatever. There it all is! I recommend starting at the Easter FAQ and the Christmas FAQ. All of the questions you have will be addressed there. If not, write me.

We can see the real story is quite the opposite of the one they peddle.

When God does it, it is redeemed and becomes clean. Unless you're a peddler of paganism. In which case you will continue to condemn those things as unredeemed and unclean. When God does it, it points to Him and is contrasted with paganism. Unless you're a peddler of paganism. In which case you will continue to condemn those things as idolatry and paganism. When God does it, the items find their proper use, as all things should be used to glorify God. Unless you're a peddler of paganism. In which case you will continue to say those items are abominations.

RIDICULOUSNESS

Does it surprise you to learn the peddlers of paganism have not been straight with you about holidays and what their history is? Their source material is garbage. They will quote anything that says what they want to hear. It doesn't matter how low the quality of the source. And if their source doesn't say what they want, they selectively quote it so it comes out how they want, or they just misrepresent it altogether. Or else they just make things up out of thin air. I can show you examples of this. I have a whole section on the Categories page just for false history, but check out these three articles, just for example. As you read them, pay attention to their sloppy research methods.

A Pattern of Dishonest Documentation
Review of COGWA's Origins of Easter
Quartodecimens - Were They Law Keepers?

Over the years , the authors at As Bereans Did have dedicated countless hours to studying the truth, and sometimes we study holidays. We have dug down deep into the dusty annals of history to bring you the facts about the origins of holidays and dates and traditions. Because we hate ourselves? It might seem that way, but no. Because they lied to us, too! Now we want the truth. And we want you to have it, too. We have investigated if holidays make us pagan. They don't. We have investigated whether or not attempting to keep "biblical" holy days is a better option. It isn't. We have deeply investigated this notion of once pagan, always pagan. It's bunk.

Debate with the peddlers all you like. It won't help. Read Dillon's article "A Dialogue on Jeremiah 10". Research and write blog posts for decades. It won't do any good. The peddlers of paganism do not change when exposed to facts and reason. There is nothing you can tell them they haven't already been exposed to. They just don't care. Do you think the people who write the books and make the videos misunderstood? Maybe they didn't read the same things as the authors here at ABD? Of course they have! I started reading the things I read because I read about them in Herman Hoeh's material. (Herman Hoeh was once the top official Armstrongist historian. "The most accurately informed man in the world.") I thought he was trustworthy. To my surprise, Hoeh selectively quoted, misrepresented, outright changed parts he didn't like, and even made things up as he went along. I know this because I went to his sources and read them (if he bothered to cite sources). I was shocked! So, I wrote blog posts (plural) about this. I quoted Hoeh, I quoted his sources, I pointed out how they were not the same, I even gave links so the reader could verify on their own ... and for my efforts I was called a liar. No, seriously. They called me the liar. Hoeh said he accurately quoted a source, I demonstrated he did not, and I am the liar for it.

You want another example? They condemn birthdays. Show me the place in the Bible where birthdays are condemned. You can't. It's not there! They condemn you based on their own opinions, not commands from the Bible. What happened to not doing things that aren't commanded? Oh, they say, "The only birthdays recorded in the Bible were celebrated by pagans," but 1) birthdays aren't religious celebrations. 2) Job's children were not pagans and neither was Herod Antipas. He was a practicing Jew, just not a good one. So, it is not true that only pagans had birthdays. And 3) there is one more birthday in the Bible they prefer to leave out: Jesus' own birthday.

(LUK. 2: 9-14) 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 

If that isn't celebrating, I don't know what is. I've heard of cowboys and I've heard of princesses, but I have never heard of any other time when a multitude of angels showed up and shouted for joy at a birthday.
Let us not forget that the angels, shepherds, Magi, Anna the prophetess, John the Baptist, Zecharias and Elizabeth the parents of John the Baptist, and Mary and Joseph all rejoiced to see His first coming. All of the angels and heroes of old eagerly awaited that time. Abraham rejoiced and was glad to know He was coming. There is nothing wrong with being overjoyed that the Lord was born. It remains the second-greatest miracle in the history of mankind. He couldn't die if He wasn't born.

Alas. Once again, if God does it it's still wrong, and they aren't above leaving things out they don't like.

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON

They peddle paganism, not because the things actually are pagan, but because they need them to be pagan. They need to differentiate their product from the mainstream, or why would you send your money to them? Think about it. If church 1 is exactly like church 2, why do we even need church 2? But if church 2 can scare you into believing church 1 is pagan, then you might send them your money. That's the real game, ladies and gentlemen: money. The peddlers aren't here to help you. They are only here to help themselves ...to you and your cash. (We don't take donations here. Only prayers. Our services are completely free. You couldn't pay us even if you wanted to. Praise God!) The very same people who tell you it does not honor God to give gifts to your loved ones and the poor (like the Bible says in Esther 9: 22), will tell you it honors God to give your money to them. That's the reason why I am calling them "peddlers". They are selling a product. The product is fear.

You're a pagan Nimrod worshipper, and Jesus can't save you if you sing those carols and find joy in colored lights. But if you take up Old Covenant legalism and send them your money, they might put in a good word with God for you.

They accuse you. That makes you feel bad, doesn't it?

Let me ask you this. In centuries past, when the fundamentalists Protestants were - in the name of God - accusing people of witchcraft and burning them at the stake (or various other tortures), do you think those accused people were real witches? No, they weren't. Those weren't witches at all. Those were Christians! Do you think those accusing them were correct? No, they weren't. Do you think those accusations were based in truth and well-researched fact? They did have the handbook "Malleus Malifecarum", after all! No, not really. Do you think those who accused their fellows in order to avoid torture were being honest and altruistic? No, they weren't. Fear makes people do strange things. Oh, how they professed they were doing God's good justice, up to an including murdering people, yet they were wrong all the same. Their victims were innocent of the charges, yet they did what they did all the same. They were killing their own brothers and sisters in the faith, all the while saying they were honoring God. Did that honor God? Even the fundamentalists themselves later admitted it did not.
How are these modern peddlers any different than those past fundamentalists? Only in that they do not burn people at the stake. Otherwise, it's the same. They still falsely accuse you. They still condemn you. They just can't kill you. No, they say God is going to do that. You are judged and condemned on false witness by people who are making up fake histories and who believe God cannot overcome a candy cane.

It reminds me of what Jesus said to the Apostles:

(JON. 16: 2) They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

Of all people on earth, the Apostles were put out of the synagogues and killed. How are these modern peddlers any different than those past Jews? Only in that they don't have letters from the Sanhedrin permitting them to stone you. Otherwise, it's the same. Remember, Jesus Himself was - in the name of God - falsely accused and tried and sentenced for blasphemy.

Look. Let's get something straight.
If you really feel that badly about a holiday or a decoration, don't do it!! There is freedom in Christ. Do, or do not - it's the same. So long as it is to Christ that you do or do not do. I am not here to convince you to keep holidays. I am merely telling you that you are being falsely accused and there is no valid reason for you to feel like a pagan. Yet, if you do feel badly about something, then don't violate your conscience.
But ask yourself - do you feel badly because it is bad, or because peddlers of paganism made you think it is bad, falsely? Our articles are here to help you decide that. Test the spirits.

In absolutely no way should this article be understood as excusing actual idolatry or paganism. The message at ABD has been consistent over the years - there are many false gods but only one true God, our New Covenant duty is faith in and loyalty to God through Jesus Christ, our Christian calling is to follow the Holy Spirit into service and charitable works, our freedom in Christ is not a license to sin. Pretty standard, really. If something is genuinely pagan or idolatrous, we highly recommend having nothing to do with it. Knowingly, willfully, intentionally turning away from God to idolatry is a salvational issue and it is genuinely dangerous. Again, we just disagree with the peddlers of paganism on what real idolatry is. They use a shifting definition and shifting standards, and we call them out for it.

CONCLUSION

If you knowingly and intentionally devote your worship and honor to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him for your salvation, then an idol is nothing. He has taken all power and authority, and you are a citizen in His Kingdom now. Believe that. Rejoice in it! "Once pagan, always pagan" is an unbiblical and broken line of reasoning that no one really follows. Paul didn't preach it. God didn't heed it. Neither should you. How much less pagan is an item that was never an idol in the first place?
And no, you cannot accidentally or unknowingly become a pagan. As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, you cannot accidentally be a pagan while worshipping Jesus Christ. The peddlers' accusations have no power over you.

You just want to be a good Christian. Your heart is in the right place. It's the peddlers that are the problem, not you. They have taken your eyes off the righteousness that comes from faith (ROM. 3: 21) and put your eyes on efforts that can never bring righteousness. Not even the law could bring righteousness (GAL. 2: 21), how much less can avoiding poinsettias? Mundane things do not overpower God. Avoiding them cannot bring you righteousness. So, stop looking there.

The peddlers want to be good Christians, too, but they have terrible information and were trained by people with less than honorable motives. Don't listen to them. Don't give them power over your life. Have faith and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Look at the fruits! Do the peddlers bring you peace and truth? Or, do the peddlers bring you torment and fear, based on false claims? (You will know the claims are false when you read our articles and pray about it.) You know it's torment and fear. Do they bring you the Gospel of Jesus Christ or accusations? You know it's accusations. So don't heed them. Just walk away.

At what point do we look ourselves in the mirror and in all seriousness tell ourselves, "I will, from this moment forward, stop believing in once pagan, always pagan, because it is a thoroughly un-biblical notion, and I will stop listening to these peddlers of paganism who lie to me and themselves, and who only seek to enrich themselves at my expense" ?

I am bashing people pretty hard in this article. I don't usually do that. It is normally my way to go light and try to build bridges. I prefer to ease people toward the truth. The issue is, a light touch isn't always called for. Sometimes Paul writes Titus, and sometimes Paul withstands Peter to his face. When I get letters from good, God-fearing Christians who doubt themselves and their families and their faith - over demonstrably false nonsense peddled by fundamentalists - I get upset. I believe I am justified in getting upset. That's why I'm in a snit today and ranting on.

I would like to give you a short list of some recommended articles to get you going in the right direction. If you still have questions in your mind, like may we celebrate birthdays, or may we celebrate holidays God did not command, or should I be keeping "biblical" holy days, or even questions about "learn not the way of the heathen" - we hope we can be of some help.

• Established and Imposed
• Jeremiah 10 and Christmas Trees
  
• Falsely Accused? Christmas Trees and Germanic Paganism
• Why Not Keep Biblical Days?
• On Nimrod and Christmas Trees Part I
• Nimrod's Birthday Was January 6?
• Two Sabbaths of Matthew 28
• Easter History Part I
• Three Days and Three Nights

Keep in mind we have a Categories page with abundantly more than just this. Scroll on down to the Holidays section.

May the Living God, in whose hands you are held, guide you and teach you, strengthen your faith, uplift you, assure you, bring you to a better understanding of who you are in His eyes, and keep you safe in the sure salvation obtained for you by our Lord Jesus Christ.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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Escaping Armstrongism - part I

A few weeks ago, I asked how we could help you, our esteemed readers. The answer came back, people want to know more about what it is like to exit. Having done that once, I believe I can oblige.

There are several ways to approach this. Where to start? I have a sinking feeling this is going to take more than one post.
Nothing to it but to do it.

Maybe it would be helpful to start by telling you how I left. I've told parts of it here and there, but never really plotted it out. Not that you care about me, or that I hope to get you to care about my tale, but maybe there will be a helpful nugget in my story that you can relate to.

This is the highly abridged version of how I left.

In today's post, I am going to take you through the major events that led to my initial exit from thirty years of following Herbert Armstrong. In my next post, I will go over my experiences after I made my escape.

WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS

One thing I've learned over the years is that everyone's exit has to be personal. Nobody leaves for an empty reason. No one leaves for someone else's reason. My reason to leave, like my reason for joining in the first place, was deeply personal, and it starts with prophecy.

I was big into prophecy when I was a young boy. Prophecy is what got me interested in Herbert Armstrong in the first place. My father was a tithe-paying Armstrongist in good standing. He was a stern man, and I wanted to make him proud. My mother was not an Armstrongist at all. So, my father was never allowed to force anything religious on his children. He spoke to the Ministry in the Worldwide Church of God, and they said to just let it play out on its own. The church was always odd that way. Regular people were actively discouraged from evangelizing. I suspect it had something to do with money. My father would talk to me about the church and prophecy, and I would eat that up. He had all the written material and watched The World Tomorrow regularly, so I ate that up, too. It was prophecy that got me into other topics, like Easter for example, and the Sabbath. The hook being set, I was reeled in like a fish. And like a fish, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

As I got older, I would read through everything I could get my hands on (approved material only, of course). I wanted to crack that nut. I needed to fully understand prophecy. I could understand Revelation, I just knew it! That led me to gravitate towards others in the church who loved prophecy. Funny thing about prophecy nuts - none of us agree about much. And some of us didn't agree with Herbert Armstrong.

I was at the Feast of Tabernacles in 2002, in Pensacola, Florida. Hurricane Isadore was taking a tour of the Gulf of Mexico. A room full of friends had gathered to chat about nothing in particular. In my circle, the topic turned to ... yes, prophecy. Doesn't it always at the Feast, though? A friend of mine asked me if God could lie. (That was his ice breaker this year. He asked a lot of people that as a conversation starter.) Of course not! Why would He want to? We investigated it a while. He eventually asked if I believed the church could be wrong on prophecy. I didn't know how to answer that. Was this some kind of trick? I responded 'no'. How could the true church be wrong on prophecy? It was no trick. He pointed out how he disagreed with a few things. Minor things. But minor or not, the idea that the church could legitimately be wrong on prophecy was major. That was the first crack in the dam.

Fast forward a few years. I was at the Feast in Phoenix, Arizona in 2007. When they say "dry heat" it doesn't mean it's not hot. It a lot hotter, only dry. Which makes 113F/45C and full sun better in precisely no way at all. A group of friends from all over the country had arranged to gather there. We would sneak off in the early morning hours before sunrise, with our Bibles and some coffee in hand, to discuss ... yes, prophecy. We jokingly called it "The Heretics Club". We would discuss our disagreements with official views on prophecy, and each other's. It was mostly peaceful. The key to being a prophecy nut and having friends was to disagree with other people gently. Some guys just don't get that. We tried to get along. There we were, gathered in secret to disagree with each other and discuss secrets. Secrets about why the church was wrong. And why shouldn't we? There were sermons and articles piling up about why Herbert Armstrong was wrong. Every minister I knew about was either saying he was off the mark, or insufficient, or that they were even greater than he (they're still doing it). How was that acceptable but what we were doing was wrong? Wrong, no. Effective, yes. For some reason, what we were doing affected me. Here is the difference - we gave ourselves permission. What felt so risky wasn't the disagreeing so much, it was the permission to disagree. That was the second crack in the dam.

We were careful to keep our disagreements solely on prophecy. We weren't real heretics. That was just a fun little name. We saw ourselves as protecting the truth, not undermining it. I remember walking out of a session one morning, looking at the vast horizon, wondering in awe at the natural beauty and grandeur of God's creation. What force would it take to create all that waste? As I looked out at the mesas, I felt small, exposed. It's in moments like that (and, oddly, in the shower) when I do my best thinking. Maybe it's because I get myself out of the way. Then it dawned on me - if the church was so wrong about prophecy, what's to say they aren't wrong on doctrine too? I ducked into a stairwell and looked around to make sure no one saw me have that thought. I kept my mouth shut tight about that! If I breathed out a whisper about it, I'd be exiled for certain. But, like prophecy, articles and sermons littered the floor about why the church was wrong on doctrinal issues. We were wrong on government, evangelism, the role of prophecy, the centrality of Christ, the calendar, the Last Great Day of Tabernacles, race relations, the list goes on and on. Everyone I knew expressed some sort of dissatisfaction with how things were done in the past. Why couldn't I? My novel contribution was simply to put these smaller bites together to see the whole meal. Since no one was going to allow me to question, I needed to give myself permission to question. As providence would have it, Harold Smith's sermon that morning was his attempt to get ahead of all the doctrinal drift and force everyone back on point. It was a real stinker of an obvious attempt to manipulate everyone. Coincidence? I think not. It seemed there might be something to this doctrine idea after all. That was the third crack in the dam.

I held my cards tight to my chest. No one needed to know what I was going through. Not fully, anyway. I had a friend in my local congregation who was a black sheep if ever there was one. Intelligent and searching, that man. God rest his soul. He wasn't afraid at all to disagree openly. He was a thorn in everyone's side and I enjoyed that about him. We would share ideas, and he loved to do that, so long as your ideas were his ideas. He would not hesitate to disagree otherwise. Hey, at least I always knew where he stood. Harold Smith once made a cross-country trip to visit my congregation. I watched as my friend openly defied him right in front of everyone. It was a sight to behold! I couldn't decide which one I thought was correct, since they both made good points, but I definitely admired my friend for his gumption. He had a soft and friendly face that made you want to forgive him, or else I'm sure he would have been put out of the church years before. Upsetting the powers that be so many times has a way of changing one's perspective. It made him see himself as having a direct relationship with Jesus. No man could come between him and God (or put him out of the church). What a novel idea. I couldn't tell if it was true or arrogant, but it felt nice. Can I have a direct relationship with God, too? No Minister between us? Scary! But a key idea. That was his contribution to my exit.

One average day, I was studying an average topic - the Sabbath and how it was magnified in the New Covenant - preparing for an average sermonette, when, all at once, I "got it". An incredible torrent of joy washed over me. Jesus Christ really did magnify all things! Our flaw was that we had defined "magnify" as "made harder". That was wrong. The Sabbath was magnified just like sacrifices were. Joy was unusual and strange. Armstrongists don't have joy. We feel best when we're given a right good beating in the sermon. But this wasn't guilt, it was joy! And I didn't trust it one bit. I studied late into the night, trying to see if what I thought was real or some elaborate emotional deception. Was I falling away? Was this Satan? Other sinful things feel pretty good, so joy wasn't necessarily proof. I buried my face in church material. By the time I went to bed, I had managed to quench that joy and go back into believing Armstrong. Whew! A close call! That was the fourth crack in the dam.

I could bury that incident, but I couldn't forget it. I needed to know if we were right or wrong. Really know. I decided to do a little trial. I was going to take a doctrinal topic and put it to the test. Just like questioning prophecy, I gave myself permission to question doctrine.

I hated tithing. Nobody loves tithing. That would be my topic. I was going to study tithing every bit as hard as I studied prophecy, but I was going to be critical and try to poke holes in it. Devil's advocate. I think that is where the prototype As Bereans Did doctrinal gauntlet was first constructed. I would see for myself if the church was solid on doctrine. The doctrine of tithing went in, and wreckage came out. Did you know there's a difference between 10% and one-in-ten? Neither did I until that study. We were doing tithing very, very wrong. Highlights of that study are in the ten articles on tithing over at the old Escaping Armstrongism blog. Trust me, you wouldn't want to read the original study I made. It was 27 pages! Condensing it into 10 pages made it easier to digest.
That winter, I showed it to some close and respected friends from the Heretics Club. Try as they might, they couldn't disprove my thesis. It brought one of them to tears. He had sacrificed so much over the years. Tithing was his thing; his hill to die on. The thought of all that sacrifice being for nothing was too much for him to bear. He told me I was right, then apologized and said he could never read it again. Remember when I said 'nobody loves tithing'? Nobody but him. I loved that man. I still love that man, God rest his soul. If he needed to bury this, then I say bury it. Burn it! But as for me, the church could be wrong on doctrine after all. That was the fifth crack in the dam.

What if it was only tithing? Logic dictates I had to try one more topic. One could be a fluke, but two is evidence. I had to know! I chose clean/unclean meats.

I hated tithing, but I quite liked the meats laws. Pork made me feel sick when I ate it. I always knew when some found its way into my food at a restaurant. I thought this would be a fair choice. Certain of my inevitable defeat and confidently awaiting my comfortable return to orthodox Armstrongism, I fired up the doctrinal gauntlet. Much to my disappointment and confusion, the doctrine went in and wreckage came out. Did you know God gave Noah every creeping thing to eat, and that includes lizards? Neither did I until that study. Highlights of that study are in the eleven articles on food laws over at Escaping Armstrongism. You wouldn't want to read the full study of that one, either. It was 50 pages! That was the sixth crack in the dam.

This studying business was getting uncomfortable. During my search for information, I found the Painful Truth, IronWolf, Ambassador Watch and other websites with counter-information. Who knew an entire universe of information already existed? I wasn't quite ready for it all, but there I went all the same. I kept studying and I kept finding. Did you know we are commanded to travel three times a year to the place where the Lord places His name, not just once? We were even doing holy days wrong. So many flaws! How could the one true church have been so wrong?

Understand, I still believed it was the one true church. We had lots of doctrines that I thought were unique to us (because I hadn't yet found out they weren't unique to us), so we had to be one true. When I decided to interact on the anti-Armstrong websites, I always fiercely defended the church. We were one true, so if I was unable to defend my position it was no big deal. I was just unprepared was all. Better answers were out there. Because we were one true.

I was so sure of it, I tried convincing a co-worker of this foundational truth.
A long series of discussions culminated in him agreeing to read "The Incredible Human Potential" by Herbert Armstrong. I gave him my copy. I hadn't read it in several years anyway, so when he converted to the one true church and kept my copy, I wouldn't miss it. He didn't say anything about it for several days. I asked how he was doing. He mildly responded that he had certain disagreements with the material. I was flabbergasted. How can a person read this material and come away with disagreements? I found the book online and read it that very night. My review: what a complete load of steaming Holstein!
How did I ever find that book to be convincing?? The next conversation I had with my co-worker went very differently than the last. I never gave him "Mystery of the Ages" like I planned. Turns out that was pretty bad, too. That was the seventh crack in the dam. A big one!

I travelled to Illinois to spend the Spring holy days with some very dear friends. It didn't hurt that the lady of the house, God rest her soul, made this wonderful stuff called "bread of affliction", which was unleavened (technically). It used egg whites to add air. Affliction never tasted so good! We were all later told by Harold Smith that this was cheating and we were not to whip air into unleavened bread. That served to highlight the way our teachings were rooted in the Bible yet still highly opinion-based. Many people disagreed with him. I went on enjoying bread of affliction. On the last day of Unleavened Bread, my friend and I drove to church together in a beat up old pickup truck. The drive was a bit long, so I took the opportunity to mention some of what I had learned about holy days. I specifically mentioned the laws that required travelling to the place where the Lord places His name three times in the year. My friend told me about how, in the beginning, Herbert Armstrong taught travel three times in the year, but he later changed it when things proved too difficult and expensive. That certainly was news to me. I chewed on that a little and responded it was necessary because it is the law. He didn't agree that was necessary. There's that Bible-based opinion again. But it was the law, I complained. (The law! The law! Just not THAT law!) That was when he said the words I will never forget, "Herbert Armstrong changed the law out of necessity."

        And at that very second, the dam broke.

STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF

Something snapped. No, snapped isn't the right word. Shattered! Yes, something shattered. It was the strangest sensation. One second everything was normal, the next second everything - everything - was different. Do you know what a Dolly Zoom is? Google it. I imagine in the camera of my life, it looked like a Dolly Zoom. Complete with musical score. A switch was flipped. I was in the same truck with the same person, but it was as if it were an entirely different truck and an entirely different person. The friend who I loved so dearly was a stranger to me. Where I had felt comfortable, now I felt trapped. I was taking a cab to a place I didn't want to go.

To understand why that phrase shattered my worldview, you need to understand all it entailed. It meant we didn't really care about law. Armstrong made everything up as he went, and changed what he liked. All that talk about the law being eternal and "not one jot or one tittle" was all just propaganda.

All the prophecies, all the holy days, all the magazines, booklets, and shows, all the sermons given or received, all the discussions, all the studies and debates, all the stands taken over the Sabbath, all the meals skipped because of meats, all the jobs lost, all the opportunities missed, all the ridicule endured, all the sacrifices, all the poverty suffered from tithes, all the years up until then, and all the reasons for being at the Spring holy days (where I was at the time), were all at once shattered by those eight words. I felt cold. I felt trapped. I needed out of that truck, out of that state, right the heck now!

It was everything I could do to keep my mouth from hanging open. I felt like a man trying to stay calm after a life-threatening injury. The building was on fire and I needed the wherewithal to carefully walk toward the exit. I tried my best to act like nothing happened. It's fine. Everything's fine. They must not suspect a thing. I went to church and I did the motions on auto pilot. I no longer felt like I was inside the story. I was outside looking in. Like a near death experience, I watched events from a third person perspective, somewhere removed just off screen. Packed into a meeting room at a hotel with a crowd of strangers I knew and loved. My seat safely in the back close to the exit door. I didn't sing. I had no idea what the sermon was about, I only knew it lasted an eternity. When services finished, I walked outside to the sight of the most beautiful Redbud trees I had ever seen. A purple so vibrant it almost hurt. That little touch of God's beauty helped ground me. I went to lunch afterward, deeply contemplating the laws against having someone work for you on the Sabbath. Herbert changed that law out of necessity, too. We were hypocrites. All of us! Not that day only, but always. I even stayed the night. But I no longer saw the point.
The church was wrong on doctrine. My brain had finally accepted it was all made up as we went along. This entire time, we all were just saying whatever we thought sounded good at the moment.

AFTERSHOCKS

I went home and studied as hard as I had ever studied before. I was fairly down and needed something positive to happen.

I did a lot of looking into the holy days, since I had to give the sermon at Pentecost. My message was about how wrong we were about the holy days, but I stated it in a way that sounded like I was agreeing with everyone. They all said it was the best Pentecost sermon they had ever heard! All but one man. He knew. He came up to me afterward with a glint in his eye and a smile hidden in the corner of his mouth. Oh, he knew exactly what I'd just done. He was genuinely one of the most intelligent human beings I had ever known. He shook my hand with a wink and said it was a good message. We talked very briefly about how nobody else realized. I asked him if he'd thought about leaving. He said yes, but he was going to stay. That's where all his friends were. I thought that was a good reason for a man like him. That was it. Lord, do I ever miss that man!

I spent the summer studying and debating what I had learned online. I read "Churches That Abuse" by Ronald Enroth. That book hurt! I started to read "The Babylon Connection" by Ralph Woodrow, but that took a back seat to another matter. I happened across the infamous story of Herbert Armstrong's personal failings. (You know what I mean. We never go into detail about that here. That's for other websites. But it's all true!)

I was not actively looking for information on Armstrong, specifically. I was just reading everything I could find. I found out about his reliance on the ravings of G. G. Rupert, how he borrowed doctrines from the SDA, the COG7, and the Mormons, and would read the JW's Watchtower magazine to get ideas, how he read "Mein Kampf" and was a Communist sympathizer, how a woman offering him a stack of wood caused him to believe he was chosen by God, how he was fired from the Church of God (Seventh Day), how he predicted Jesus would return by 1936, how he was a plagiarist, how he let his wife die of a simple bowel obstruction but had a suitcase full of pills for himself, how he used to teach Pentecost was on a Monday but then changed his mind, how he was remarried to a woman young enough to be his granddaughter, and how he almost lost the Worldwide Church of God to the State of California in a receivership debacle in the 1970s. He was the test I never wanted. He needed to endure the gauntlet. He failed spectacularly. It was a thing of grotesque beauty. Like watching the Bismarck sink. This was the Apostle?! (Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms'?) Could this get any worse??

Once again, I was crushed. I recalled Armstrong's words, "The deceived don't know they are deceived." Finally, I knew I had not just been wrong. Yes, things could get worse.. I had been deceived. There was a marked difference between the church being wrong and me being deceived. There is no way for me to write to you about how that felt. I promise you, it was as if the very gravity that held me to the earth could not be trusted anymore, and I could possibly float away at any moment. Nothing was worthy of my trust. The only thing I was sure about at that point were the Ten Commandments. What else was hiding out there, waiting for me? I was about to find out.

Enter Justin Martyr.

For some reason I cannot explain, for about the past year or so by this point I suspected answers were hiding in the writings of the early church. I didn't know the first thing about these early church writers. We were always told to stay away from them. I forced myself to read them and become familiar. There were quite a few, so it took a long time. And, to be honest, they were confusing to me. I couldn't relate because I was coming from such a different place. They were saying things that weren't Armstrong's message at all. Like, at all. Not even a little. All of them did this. The natural proclivity of an Armstrongist mindset is to try and force everything into our worldview box, to protect it and keep it true. I couldn't do that with these "Church Fathers". Normally, when something defies every attempt to fit it into the box, it gets dismissed as deception from Satan, and condemned. I wasn't about to do that to them, though. The point was to understand them as they are, and get answers. Yet, to be even more honest, since we were told not to trust them, I didn't seriously trust them. I was afraid of this "lost century" thing. If you aren't familiar, Armstrong told us the true church was forced underground before the end of the first century and all the writings from about 90 AD and onward were nothing but evil Catholic propaganda. Of course it was. All of it disagreed with us! "Lost history" referred to the true church being nowhere to be found, even though it endured, secretly. Maybe in some valley in the French Alps. We don't know. They were lost. You can't prove it, so it must be true! Was any of that really true? No. Not at all. But we believed it was true. Long story short, it took me a long time to get through any of the writings from that period.

One average night as I sat on my couch, I came across a second century document written by a man named Justin. They call him Justin Martyr, for obvious reasons. Justin is the earliest extant Christian apologist. One of his writings is about a discussion he had with a Jew named Trypho. Among other things, Justin described to Trypho how Christians no longer observe the Sabbath. It was nowhere near as simple as, "We don't keep the Sabbath because the Pope changed it to Sunday." No. He went into detail about it. He debated a Sabbath keeper about it from the guy's own scriptures. I will never forget sitting there, realizing the church was wrong on the Sabbath, too. Not the Sabbath! Yes, the Sabbath.

Do you remember when I said I was shocked when I felt an inexplicable joy come over me as I contemplated the New Covenant? And how I said I was shocked when my friend said, "Herbert Armstrong changed the law out of necessity"? This was another of those times. Like earthquakes and aftershocks, they just kept coming. But this one was good!

It all made sense all at once. Armstrong was wrong! The early church were not Sabbatarians, and it was for completely Biblical reasons. There was no lost history. Jesus is our Sabbath! 
I sat on that couch, mouth agape, reading and re-reading Justin's words. I tried to explain it to the person sitting next to me, but I was so energized I stumbled and fumbled over my words. My mind was going faster than my mouth could keep up.

No wonder why we weren't allowed to read that stuff!!

The next day, I prayed about it. I kid you not, I laid face down on the living room floor like the men of old, and I prayed my heart out. I wanted the truth - GOD'S truth. I didn't care what the consequences were, so long as I knew the truth. And just like that, the joy I felt that one night retuned. It was one of the best feelings I'd ever experienced.
Something inside me knew the joy was temporary. This world can't keep joy like that. It was only a down payment; a foretaste. It would dissipate, but I was going to ride that wave as long as I could.

OUTRO

After services one Sabbath shortly thereafter, I asked my Minister to step aside and speak to me privately. He was an honorable man. Not at all like the rest. I told him I was having issues with what I had learned about Armstrong's behavior. He asked if I thought the Holy Spirit came through Armstrong. I considered it for a moment then responded, no. If the Holy Spirit comes at all, it comes directly to us through Christ. I assured him I wasn't questioning his ordination. Realizing that wasn't all there was to it, he probed for more. I responded I could not tell him more, because if I did, he would have to answer the same questions I was, and either he would have to agree with me or lie to himself.
He needed that place, he needed those people, and it wasn't right for me to take it away. It was clear I had to escape Armstrongism. I couldn't stay, like my friend would. I had to go. I was a threat to the group. All I could do any longer is cause division. For their sake and mine, I had to go.

A few days later, a Minister from another area called to ask if I would speak at his Feast of Tabernacles in Panama City, Florida that year. A great honor, which I had to politely decline. I didn't tell him I was leaving. I just said I couldn't attend that year. It was true enough.

Prophecy, gone. Doctrine, gone. Armstrong, God's appointed Apostle, gone. Sabbath, gone.
This is how I described my last day in my post "Welcome To Escaping Armstrongsm" on the old blog:

"I left my splinter group on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008.
I had followed Herbert Armstrong for 30 years.
I insisted on going to services in order to see everyone one last time. I arrived dressed in my best. I made sure to give out as many hugs and hardy handshakes as possible. I got a cup of coffee and settled in for the sermon. When the coffee was gone, so was I. Quietly, I sneaked out the back door, and I am not going to return.
These were the people who were there when I was a child. They were at my wedding. They saw my wife and I through our pregnancies. Everyone was invited to my wife's baptism. They were grandma and grandpa to our children. We went through agonizing church splits together. They loved us like their own. They were a closer family than my physical family. And I never wanted to have to go."

Three decades of my life dedicated primarily to one thing. All gone. All except for Jesus and a belief that mainstream Christianity was steeped in pagan ideas.

I bet my life and my future on the inerrancy of the church Herbert Armstrong founded. I lost that bet. This was supposed to have been the one true church sent from God to tell us the astounding truth! God's truth!!

I knew I had one last bit of unfinished business that I would not enjoy in the least.
... [deep breath]...
I went to my mother's house to humiliate myself and admit my failures. She was right that whole time, and I was wrong. I didn't listen, and I should have. I put her through so much for nothing. She took it well.

I started the Escaping Armstrongism blog that same month. I was still escaping. That's also when I came up with the name xHWA. In other words, ex Herbert W Armstrong believer. Seemed fitting. And sounded better than Silence DoGood.

I hope you found some nugget of value in my story. God willing, in the next post, I will tell you about how I went from recovering Armstrongist to mainstream Christian. See you then!

 

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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My Opinion Is God's Truth

I recently had the pleasure of having a friend of mine tell me and everyone else how wrong we are and how right they are. I just want to pause and reflect on something that came up in the ongoing conversation.

It all started when Stephen Hawking, an atheist, died, and I mentioned a quick RIP and then in brief passing said that now Mr. Hawking knows the answer to the great question. I certainly wasn't intending to enter into a theological dissertation, nor was I intending to advocate one particular view of the afterlife over the other. I just wanted to make a brief statement that I personally believe God is. Very general. Moving on.

Alas. Not to be.

A friend of mine (let's call him friend #1) appeared and started off by telling me that I and most everyone else was wrong on a particular view of the afterlife. The claim was that the Bible didn't support such and such a position. A second friend (let's call him friend #2) proof-texted a verse which clearly contradicted friend #1, and in all honesty did serious damage to friend #1's claim. If the Bible didn't support such and such a thing, then there would be no support, yet there it was. Friend #1, now ego-bruised, resorted to rhetorical statements like "I'm not going down to your level" and "I stand approved before God" and unto us didst provide quotations as II TIM. 2: 15 from the King James Version, forsooth.

So, in summary, friend #1 comes in to enlighten us all with their superiority and clearly itching for a hot debate, but when one was swiftly provided, friend #1 took on the mantle of the victim here. Guy with a knife started a gun fight, and then cried about how unfairly he was treated. Lovely little narcissistic DARVO victim display there. I just have to relate that here because so help me if I had a nickel for every time I've witnessed in my life someone who pulled this same stunt I would not ever want for nickels again in all my days.

But this post is not about rushing in unprepared. It's the attitude of "my opinion is God's truth."

Does God have a truth? Let's all agree, at least for the sake of argument, that a being who IS truth does indeed know the truth on any number of subjects.

But is it true that our personal interpretation is what determines God's truth? No. Not at all.

Yet I run into people all the time who have the attitude of "you aren't disagreeing with me, you're disagreeing with God."

Here's a quote from friend #1:

"If you aren't in agreement with the scriptures, that's your right. I have not put forth anything that contradicts God's word. If you disagree, take it up with him, I didn't write the book. As the scripture says, I do not have to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that many of you have experienced this. It creeps up among any number of very strong opinions. I experience this all the time. But I want you to notice something - he can't or won't make his case, so now he is the guardian of the deposit of faith on earth, and any disagreement with him is a frontal assault on the Lord Almighty Himself.

What is this? It's posturing. It's a bluff. It's a retreat. It's rhetoric.
But worse than that, it's self righteous.

I see this kind of feint all the time. 

All. The. Time. 

When people have a very strong attachment to a pet idea but don't really know what to do about other people who disagree, I think they just don't know what else to do but bluff.

Perhaps they are victims of confirmation bias. Perhaps they honestly thought the force of their personality was all they really needed. Perhaps they legitimately don't know there are any good reasons to disagree with them. Perhaps they just don't know when to stop.

I once talked to a guy who was passionate about a point. After a short discussion, he doubled down and claimed that nothing should be praised but God only. I disagreed, and explained why, referencing Philippians 4: 8. His response was that his opinion is God's righteousness. You see, I disagree with that, too. I think his position is his own righteousness.

He thought his opinion is God's truth. The guy had passion, but so did the Pharisees.

And that's just what I'm on about. There's no humility in this. There's no love. Please excuse me for this quote, but I feel I must -

(I COR. 13: 8-12) 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

Sometimes we really think we know something but we are mistaken. Sometimes the innocent are condemned. Sometimes the diagnosis is incorrect. Sometimes the best intentions pave the road to hell. Sometimes there is a thing that seems right to a man, the ends of which are death (PRO. 14: 12). Guess what - we are flawed. Me too. We "see in a mirror, dimly" so to speak. Do you want to know what is an affront on the throne of God? The affront is for any of us to puff ourselves up with pride as if we have no flaws. I have witnessed so very many people saying something like, "You're not arguing with me, you're arguing with the Bible."

Another quote from friend #1:

"If you have a problem with what the word declares us to be, don't get upset with me, I didn't write the book. You took this to the level it got to by disagreeing with God's word, not me. It's okay to disagree with everything I posted, you have that right. ... I am approved, ... take it up with him if you don't agree."

People, just because we sincerely believe a thing doesn't make it true. There is indeed a right way to interpret the word, and there are many wrong ways. There are people who deeply hold to each position. How do we tell the difference? Do we tell the difference by a contest of who can make the most boastful fiat declarations of their approval before God? Definitely no. By quoting II Timothy about how rightly we divide? Certainly not. Then why be a person like what we see in this quote? Has this person stated their case, and given a reason for their interpretation, and considered other positions and other evidence? No. They never defended their position at all. Friend #1 rushed right in, made a baseless assertion, met resistance, and finally all but declared himself God's own personal spokesperson. Is that reasonable? Is that wise?

No human being besides Jesus alone has the right to claim My opinion is God's truth (because Jesus is God). God resists the proud, but gives mercy to the humble. Nothing is ever so hard and inflexible as pride. You know what happens to things this hard? They shatter! When a person so filled with themselves finds out they aren't the be all and end all, do you know what happens? They break to pieces. So we need to all be humble, and loving. Even to those we deeply disagree with.

(MAT. 5: 43-47) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 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, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?

I get it. I do. We all have something we believe in deeply and we want others to believe it too. None of us believe something we know is a lie. There's a good reason someone coined the phrase, "Genuine, but genuinely wrong." But I urge you, whomever you are, never to resort to the prideful and self-defeating attitude of "my opinion is God's truth" that we see on display above. If there is anything we here at AsBereansDid have learned it's that we, each and every one of us, really do need to ask, "What if I am the one who's wrong here?"

If you're not wrong, then you're not wrong. Behave with grace. The truth can take care of itself. Have a strong opinion; nothing wrong about that. Temper it with love. But! if you are wrong, how could you know it and correct yourself if you think the Lord God decides the truth based on what you believe at any given time?

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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