1840: At this date the
Pawcatuck
Church
was built (on
High Street
,
Westerly
,
Rhode Island
).
This church building we found, much by accident (or divine guidance, which
seemed to be unusually active this day). While
we were photographing the outside of the building a girl came
running across the street and asked us what we were doing. We explained, and she invited us to go
across the street into their church offices and speak with
their elder Sr. Pastor, a Rev. Leon R. Lawton, a most wonderful
man. He proceeded
to take us into the church building for a photo-tour. It was fairly large, I
would say it could have seated 1,000 people. The
sanctuary was upstairs, while kitchen and function rooms, and class rooms were downstairs. Hundreds of clear windows were throughout
the building, windows of ancient glass. The
building had the date of 1840 on it. Pastor
Lawton said currently there were forty members meeting regularly
on the Sabbath, and that he also pastured a group of Jamaican
believers who had moved from
Boston
into the area. Sadly,
they are short of qualified pastors and have to invite pastors
of other churches to preach on occasion, and at times they teach
doctrine contrary to their beliefs. These people are lovely people, gentle
and kind, and yes, genuine Christian Sabbatarian believers. Their numbers are down from their heyday
of the 1800s, but they’re still alive spiritually. These
buildings are beautiful, and the quality of the woodwork is truly
marvelous. He freely
gave of himself and some of the booklets out of their library,
whatever we were interested in.
THE ACTIVE THREAD MOVES SOUTH
TO NEW
JERSEY
1705: In 1705, 2 years before the death of Steven Mumford (and probably
while Passover was still observed on the 14th of Nisan), a
few members went down to
Piscataway
,
New Jersey
, and founded a Church there. They called themselves 'The
Church
of
God
, Keeping the Commandments of God in Piscataway
New Jersey
.' They met in the house of one Benjamin Martin. Edward
Dunham was sent back to
Westerly
,
Rhode Island
for his ordination with 'the laying on of hands' ceremony. The
Piscataway Church of God's beliefs were as follows: 'We believe
that unto us there is but one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus
Christ who is the Mediator between God and mankind, and that
the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God.' (I.e., they rejected
the 'Trinity' doctrine of Catholicism and mainstream Protestantism.)
They believed in the Old Testament and New Testament. They believed
in the Ten Commandments being written by God, they believed in
the 6 principles of Hebrews 6 (i.e., the laying on of hands,
healing, the resurrections, the ordinance of baptism, etc.) They
believed in the keeping of the Lord's Supper (although it doesn't
say how often. This is something we'd like to find out.) They
believed in Church Government. And they believed that baptism
should be by immersion. These are the basic beliefs of the Church
as written down in 1705.
Their first record in their old book is as follows: "The
Church of God, Keeping the Commandments of God and the Faith
of Jesus Christ, Living in Piscataway and Hopewell, in the province
of New Jersey, being assembled with one accord at the house of
Benjamin Martin in Piscataway, the 19th day of August, 1705, we
did then and with one mind chose our dearly beloved Edward Dunham,
who is faithful in the Lord, to be our elder and assistant according
to the will of God, whom we did send to New England to be ordained.
Who was ordained at the Church meeting in
Westerly
,
Rhode Island
by prayer and laying on of hands
by their elder William Gibson the 8th of September, 1705." As
it was stated earlier "On March 2, 1708 they apparently
changed their observance of Passover from the yearly Bible
observance of it on the 14th Nisan to a monthly or bimonthly
event." This ordination of Edward Dunham occurred
3 years earlier. Piscataway was far enough removed from
Rhode Island
that they just might have held onto the proper observance of
Passover on the 14th of Nisan. We
get the following quote from “Conscience
Taken Captive, A Short History of Seventh Day Baptists”,
p. 12, par. 2,
“
New Jersey
1705, Piscataway, in northern
New Jersey
, was the third birthplace of Seventh Day Baptists in
America
. [remember they
weren’t calling themselves this in 1705, and this congregation
probably never did]. In
1705 Deacon Edmund Dunham, a leader in the Baptist church, saw
Hezekiah Bonham doing “servile labor” on Sunday. Thinking
it was his Christian responsibility, Dunham reprimanded him for
breaking God’s law. Bonham demanded scriptural proof that
the first day was holy by divine authority. Edmund
Dunham accepted the challenge. He
not only searched the Bible himself for proof he assumed must
be there but enlisted members of his Bible class to join him
in the study. Out of this study he and 17 others became
convinced of the validity of the seventh day Sabbath and began
meeting in the Dunham house. Most
continued membership in the Baptist church but the subject was
so fundamental that, for the sake of peace, the Sabbathkeepers
withdrew. They entered
into a covenant agreement on August 19, 1705. Edmund Dunham was selected as pastor and
sent to
Rhode Island
where he was ordained at Hopkinton by the
Newport
church.”
What we see here, and this is by extrapolation of the facts, and obviously
the Seventh Day Baptists have interpreted the facts differently,
we’re all dealing with the same facts---but
we see that these early Sabbath observing “Churches of
God, Keeping the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus
Christ” for the most part had such a friendly relationship
with their harvest field, the Sunday observing Baptists, that
eventually in 1818 they took on the name Seventh Day Baptists---and actually came to consider themselves a
part of the Baptist movement, and not the Sabbatarian movement
they had originally come from by way of England and France. This friendly relationship to their harvest
field was so strong at times, even in times of the Newport
Church of God, that William Hiscox actually pastured the 1st
Baptist
Church
started by John Clarke when they didn’t have a pastor. From “Conscience Taken Captive”,
p. 14, par. 2 we get:
“The
Newport
Baptist
Church
, from which the Seventh Day Baptists had separated, was without
pastoral leadership in 1694. The
records show that they voted to “place themselves for a
time under the ministry of Rev. Mr. William Hiscox of the 7th day
Church.” During much of the 18th century
a chapel located on the
shore
of
Green End
was shared by several Baptist churches in
Newport
for their baptismal services. Elder
William Bliss of
Newport
helped preserve the Baptist witness during the period of British
occupation in that city as he visited and encouraged members
[obviously Sunday observing Baptist members] of pastorless churches
in the area.” [Elder Bliss was and Elder in the Newport
Sabbatarian Church of God during this time. I
believe his gravesite is in the cemetery in
Ashaway
,
Rhode Island
.]
One other point that should be made here, and that is that Pastor William
Hiscox was non-Torah observant and recognized Sunday observing
Christians were believers as well, by the very fact that he
preached for the 1st Baptist Church in Newport when
they didn’t have a pastor. Most of the Sabbatarian Church of God
believers viewed their Sunday observing Baptist neighbors as
genuine brothers in Christ. Although
they themselves were strict Sabbatarians, they were non-sectarian
and had not cut themselves off from serving the greater Body
of Christ. These
revivals, although growing smaller in number, are by no means
dead spiritually, but are genuinely filled with the love of
Christ, and continue onward down the path Jesus Christ has
laid out for them. I am indebted to Pastor Lawton for his
love and help in freely giving of his time and Church history
of the Seventh Day Baptists.
Westward Movement From
New Jersey
But the real identity of the “
Church
of
God
, keeping the Commandments of God” went south, first to
Piscataway
,
New Jersey
, and then west where eventually many of these migrating members
formed into what is now the “Church of God Seventh Day.” We
see this because the Church of God Seventh Day recognize their
true identity going all the way back to the Albigensians and
Waldensians in
France
(understanding the prophetic meaning of Revelation 2-3). Whereas the Churches of God in
Rhode Island
since 1818 called themselves from that point onward “Seventh
Day Baptists”. The Churches of God in Rhode Island truly
carried the torch of the Sabbatarian Churches of God to America
from England, and then handed it to those moving westward across
America, those who now call themselves “The Church of God
Seventh Day.” From “Conscience
Taken Captive”, pp. 17-18, par. 2-3 & 1 resp. we get:
“
West Virginia
and
Ohio
Migrations, One of the most dramatic examples of Seventh
Day Baptist migration occurred in 1789 among members of the
Shrewsbury
church in northern
New Jersey
. [this would
be while they still went by the name
Church
of
God
] Members of the church voted to sell their
house of worship and migrate west. Ten
families left by wagon train on a journey which eventually ended
in the wilderness of western
Virginia
. They were joined by others from Piscataway
and the
Philadelphia
areas so that about 70 people participated in this exodus. They stopped for a time in
Fayette County
,
Pennsylvania
where a church had been established at Woodbridgetown by members
from the
Piscataway
church and local converts among Baptists. [See, they’re still working their
Baptist harvest field for converts!] From
this gateway to the frontier, the exodus
moved south up the
Monongahela River
to Ten Mile Creek. In 1792 the
Salem
,
West Virginia
church was constituted, although the record book treats it as
an extension of the
Shrewsbury
church. Over the next century more than a dozen
churches were located among the hills and runs of
West Virginia
at places such as Lost Creek (1805),
Middle
Island
(1832),
Berea
(1870), Greenbrier (1870) and
Roanoke
(1872). From this areas of western
Virginia
(which became the state of
West Virginia
during the Civil War), a stream of migration crossed the Ohio
River into the
Old Northwest
Territory
. Seventh Day Baptist settlements were made
in
Ohio
at Todd Fork, Mud Run,
Mad
River
and
North Hampton
where a church was established in 1837. Other churches followed at
Jackson
Center
(1840), Port Jefferson (1840), Stokes (1842), and Sciota (1842). From these churches the migration continued
across
Indiana
,
Illinois
and
Iowa
. They moved with others and settled in
the
Great Plains
area.”
So we can see that many of these members, far removed from
Rhode Island
, carried the torch of identity and doctrine to what developed
into the Church of God Seventh Day, headquartered in
Stanberry
,
Missouri
.
So we follow the Sabbatarian Churches of God from
France
, to
London
, to
Newport
,
Rhode Island
, to
Westerly
, to
Piscataway
,
New Jersey
. From Piscataway, the active thread goes to Marion Iowa, and
from there it goes to
Stanberry
,
Missouri
. From
Stanberry
,
Missouri
the thread goes to
Oregon
where Mrs. Herbert W. Armstrong was convinced by a Mrs. Runcorn,
a Sabbath-keeper in
Oregon
, affiliated with the Church of God
Seventh Day out of
Stanberry
,
Missouri
, that the 7th Day Sabbath should be observed. [The Church Mrs.
Runcorn may have been a member of was called the 'Scravel Hill
Church of God', in the
Willamette
Valley
, in
Oregon
.]
People who often try to say there is no connective thread between
the Sabbatarian Churches of God of Rhode Island and the Church
of God Seventh Day, and then to the Worldwide Church of God,
or the Sabbatarian Churches of God in and around London and the
Sabbatarian Waldensians, Cathars and Albigensians in southern
France, and later Holland cannot account for a little, but very
revealing connective thread provided by a family who has kept
good records of their origins, or others who have managed to
find those origins. Such is the case with the Cottrell family,
researched by a Church of God Seventh Day historian. The Cottrells were originally of Albigensian
stock, and escaped from the devastating carnage of their people,
who, along with them were condemned under the Third Lateran Council. The Inquisition began in 1233 in southern
France
, when Pope Gregory IX charged the Dominican order with wiping
out Cathari and others (Albigenians and Waldensians) not approved
by the State church. Richard Nickels of the Church of God Seventh
Day relied on multiple sources to uncover:
Roswell
F. Cottrell. He descended from a long
line of Sabbath-keepers; the Cottrells were an Albigensian family
or clan of southwestern France….The Cottrell family of
England
was descended from John Cottrell the Norman, one of the few
survivors of the devastating Albigensian Crusades. In
1638 (two years after
Rhode Island
plantation was founded by Roger Williams), Nicholas Cottrell
came from
England
and settled in
Rhode Island
.
The Cottrell name is found among the earliest
Church
of
God
(later Seventh
Day Baptist) people in
America
. John Cottrell was a member of the “mother”
church in
Newport
,
Rhode Island
in 1692. Nicholas and Dorothy Cottrell were members
of the
Westerly
Church
[of God] (
Rhode Island
) in November 1712.
Roswell F. Cottrell, born in
New York
, was sixth in the line of descent from the original Nicholas
Cottrell. Several
Cottrells were Seventh Day Baptist preachers.
Roswell
was reared in a Sabbath-keeping family and observed the Sabbath
all his life….the Cottrell family left the Seventh Day
Baptists because the Cottrells refused to believe in the immortality
of the soul. Original Sabbatarian Baptist (
Church
of
God
) leaders were outspoken against the doctrine of the immortality
of the soul, and were derisively termed “soul sleepers” by
their opponents. But
the belief in the immortality of the soul eventually crept into
Sabbatarian Baptist teachings through men such as William Davis.
After leaving the Seventh Day Baptists, the Cottrells
were known as “Seventh Day Christians”. A good-sized group of believers was raised
up, whose membership were sometimes called “Cottrellites”….But
in 1851, through Joseph Bates and Samuel Rhodes, now Sabbath-keepers,
Roswell, his brother and his father John accepted Adventist
teaching.
Roswell
became a leading Adventist minister and writer.
During the debate over a church name, Roswell F.
Cottrell stood for “
Church
of
God
”. He was not able to attend the Battle Creek
Conference of 1860 when the church name was selected, but his
article “Making Us a Name,” published in the Review
and Herald of March 22, 1860 was counted as support for the
group that opposed organizing under the name Seventh Day Adventists. In the Review of
May 3, 1860, he wrote, “I do not believe in popery; neither
do I believe in anarchy; but in Bible order, discipline, and
government in the Church of God” (Nickels R.C. Six
Paper on the History of the
Church
of
God
. Giving & Sharing,
Neck
City
, (MO), 1993, pp. 161-162).
So we find for around 700 years, we have the continuous line of one family, who were
first Albigensian Sabbatarian (
Church
of
God
), English Sabbatarian Church of God, Rhode Island Sabbatarian
Church of God, and then ended up with the Church of God Seventh
Day in the
Midwest
, when they could not continue with what became the Adventist
church. Those that left the Adventists left over
change of doctrine and church name, and remained a Sabbatarian
Church of God, whose name became The Church of God Seventh Day. What they briefly say about their history
on their website is:
Our beginning…
.The
Church
of God (Seventh Day) grew from the efforts of dedicated advent
believers living in
Michigan
and
Iowa
in the late 1850’s. In 1863, the
Michigan
church began to extend its influence into the eastern and central
U.S.
through a publication called The Hope of Israel. This
magazine invited fellow Christians to assemble at conferences
and campmeetings, and created interest in their distinctive
doctrines: the second advent [coming] of Christ and the seventh-day Sabbath. Through
these means, the General Conference of the
Church
of
God
(Seventh Day) was organized in 1884 and incorporated in
Missouri
in 1899. Its offices
were located in
Stanberry
,
Missouri
, until 1950, when they were transferred to
Denver
,
Colorado
. Over the years, The Hope of Israel also
moved from
Michigan
to
Iowa
, then to
Missouri
. After several name changes, it is now
known as the Bible Advocate. More
than 100 years later, this flagship publication of the Church
continues to be published and mailed ten times a year from
Denver
offices (http://www.cog7.org ).
The Cottrell Family, An Excellent
Example
The Cottrell family is an excellent example of how certain tight knit
groups of Sabbatarian Church of God believers more or less
maintained the same set of beliefs. And
whenever the beliefs of the Sabbatarian Church of God they
happened to be attending changed or got watered down, they
would then move on, at times fellowshipping amongst themselves. Certain
of the Cottrells thus moved from the Churches of God in
Rhode Island
to the Midwest, bringing with them their
Church
of
God
identity and the doctrinal understandings which had originally
come from
England
, and before that,
France
. We find the 7th Day Adventist
movement formed out of these of
Church
of
God
members who were migrating west from
New Jersey
and
New York
, at the time the Cottrells were also
moving into the
Midwest
. Some of their number along with some of
these others developed into the 7th Day Adventist
movement, taking on that name, while some of their group, which
had become somewhat large (even being called Cottrellites) became
part of and founding members of what became the Church of God
Seventh Day, which preserved more of the original Sabbatarian
Church of God beliefs which had originally come from London via
Stephen Mumford. So
we see how the original Sabbatarian Church of God beliefs moved
west, almost unchanged, first from
France
, then to
London
, then to
Rhode Island
, then to the Midwest and
Stanberry
,
Missouri
. Around the time of 1925 or 1926 Mrs. Herbert
Armstrong met a Mrs. Runcorn, who attended a local
Church
of
God
in
Oregon
that was an affiliate of Church of God Seventh Day, headquartered
in
Stanberry
,
Missouri
. She convinced Mrs. Armstrong of the Seventh
Day Sabbath. Six
months later Mr. Herbert Armstrong was a baptized member of that
church, and then became a pastor in their churches. So
that is how we see that the Sabbatarian Churches of God in the
Colony of Rhode Island are truly “our heritage”. Mr.
Herbert Armstrong became a pastor for several years within the
Church of God Seventh Day, before he was inspired to start a
work of his own. The following quotes show that process
and how it came to take place.
Here is what
Herbert Armstrong said about the Church of God Seventh Day
and why he left them (taken from the 1973 edition of his
autobiography): “The only Church I had so far found which “kept
the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ,” and
at the same time bore the NAME of the original true Church,
was this almost unknown little Church of God with its small
publishing house in Stanberry, Missouri” (Autobiography 1973 ed., page 312).
“….So, as the first step in this test, I wrote up an exposition
of some 16 typewritten pages proving clearly, plainly, and
beyond contradiction that a certain minor point of doctrine
proclaimed by this church, based on an erroneous interpretation
of a certain verse of Scripture, was in error. This was mailed to the Stanberry,
Missouri
, headquarters to see whether their leaders would confess error
and change. The answer came back from their head man,
editor of their paper and president of their “General Conference.” He was forced to admit, in plain words,
that their teaching on this point was false and in error. But, he explained, he feared that if any
attempt was made to correct this false doctrine and publicly
confess the truth, many of their members, especially those of
older standing and heavy tithe payers, would be unable to accept
it. He feared they
would lose confidence in the Church if they found it had been
in error on any point. He
said he feared many would withdraw their financial support, and
it might divide the Church. And
therefore he felt the Church could do nothing but continue to
teach and preach this doctrine which he admitted in writing to
be false. Naturally,
this shook my confidence considerably. This church leader, if not the church
itself, was looking to people as the SOURCE of belief, instead
of God! Yet, here was the only Church holding
to the one greatest basic truth of the Commandments of God and
the faith of Jesus Christ, kept in the NAME of God, and in spite
of this and a few other erroneous teachings, nevertheless being
closer to the whole truth than any church I had found. If
this was not the true
Church
of
God
, then where was it?” (pages 315-316).
“….This Umapine experience was one more in which no fruit
could be borne as long as I teamed with one of the ministers
of this church, connected with, or springing from the Stanberry,
Missouri
, political center. Years
later, still in my search for the one true church, still questioning
whether this could be that church, still not having found it
elsewhere, I asked Mrs. Runcorn (whom Mrs. Armstrong and I looked
upon as our “spiritual mother”) if she could point
out a single real bonafide convert, brought in from the outside,
resulting from the ministry of any of the preachers affiliated
with “Stanberry.” She thought seriously for quite a while. Then she slowly shook her head. She knew of none. I asked several others who had been in
the church for years. Their
answers were the same.” (page 385).
….This was the crossroads---the final pivotal, crucial test before
the living Christ began opening the doors of mass communication
through which GOD’S WORK at last could come to life after
centuries of sleeping, and go forth in mighty power to all
the world, preparing the way before Christ’s return to
earth as Ruler over all nations. I
did not fully realize, then, that this was a crucial turning
point in the history of the
Church
of
God
. My wife and I did
not leave the Church. This
was God’s Church. Of
that I was not, then, completely sure. They
came closer to Biblical truth than any other---but I was seriously
disturbed by their lack of power and accomplishment. What
actually was happening, though we did not understand it then,
was that a NEW ERA was dawning in the history of the [Sabbatarian]
Church
of
God
. The words of Christ
are quoted in the 2nd and 3rd chapters
of Book of Revelation, foretelling the history of God’s
Church in seven successive eras, or phases. [Interestingly,
the Stanberry Churches of God believed the same interpretation
of Revelation 2 and 3, as apparently the Waldensians did as well.] Events
since that time have revealed [this] was the transition for ‘
Sardis
’
(Rev. 3:1-5) into the beginning of the ‘
Philadelphia
era’. Mrs.
Armstrong and I continued to fellowship with these brethren. I
continued to work with them, and with their ministers, as far
as that was possible. The
lay brethren continued to look to me for the leadership of getting
the Word of God going to the world. But
from all that “all-day wrangle” I
was independent of them and their ministers, financially. From
that time I was dependent solely, on God. We
did not ask or solicit financial contributions from any except
those who voluntarily became financial co-workers with us. And
that has been the policy ever since.” (page 385).
So that is a description, in Herbert Armstrong’s own words, about
why he left the Church of God Seventh Day (headquartered in
Stanberry,
Missouri
). It was because of two things, doctrine
as well as the fact that he felt the Church of God Seventh Day
was not following what should have been its top priority, and
that is proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to the world as
a witness. Herbert
Armstrong considered that the Church of God Seventh Day was [the
continuation of] the group in Revelation 3:1-10, the representatives
of the
Sardis
era of the
Church
of
God
.
Here is a question and answer from the Church of God Seventh Day’s
website on Herbert Armstrong.
What connections
did the
Church
of
God
(Seventh Day) have with Herbert Armstrong?---Herbert W.
Armstrong was a licensed minister of the
Church
of
God
(Seventh Day) for several years in the 1930’s. He
was personally known by many of the Church’s ministers
at that time and worked in cooperation with them. In
the late 1930’s, Mr. Armstrong left the Church to begin
his own work, which became known as the Radio Church of God
and later the Worldwide Church of God.
THE WORLDWIDE
CHURCH
OF
GOD
(AT FIRST '
RADIO
CHURCH
OF GOD')
In 1927 Mr. and Mrs. Herbert W. Armstrong came into contact with the Church
of God Seventh Day in
Oregon
, when Mrs. Armstrong met a Mrs. Runcorn, a member of the Scravel
Hill Church of God in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We
have already read about that early connection between the Church
of God Seventh Day and what became the Worldwide
Church of God.
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong and The
Worldwide Church of God, a snap-shot of the early Church
First let’s
look at the phenomenon that was Mr. Herbert Armstrong. Where
most have misjudged him and the Worldwide Church of God (which
he began in the early 1930’s and led until his death in
1986) is that most have not taken the long-range historic view
of either him nor the Worldwide Church of God. Looking
back into the early Judeo-Christian churches in Asia Minor that
existed for the first 300 years of the Church Age, recent history
has discovered that the early Church in Asia Minor and as a whole
for the first 250 years was basically Jewish in practice of days
of worship, as well as racially. Then
came the Greco-Roman church under Constantine in 325AD, banning
any and all Jewish practices in the churches that were “allowed
to continue” in Asia Minor. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/index3.htm for
a more comprehensive study of this period of time in early Church
history.] God obviously
wanted a
“snap-shot” picture of his original early “Churches of God” preserved
down through the ages, to our time now. Amazingly,
for whatever reason, that is what has occurred. [See http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/revivals.htm for
a comprehensive study of this history.] Now,
as recent Church historians have discovered, the early Judeo-Christian churches
in Asia Minor were decidedly non-Torah observant. (That term is defined in the study right
after this one.) But how would
God preserve a historic snap-shot of these early Judeo-Christian Churches of
God that had spread all over Asia Minor from the mother Jerusalem Church, preserving
for us a near exact copy? How would
God preserve this copy through all the pressures of the Greco-Roman church
under Constantine and later, the Roman Catholic Church? How would he prevent this snap-shot copy
from syncretizing the belief system of this pagan-Gentile church which was
annihilating the Judeo-Christian churches in Asia Minor? Historically, the answer is obvious, looking
back. He would have to make his
snap-shot copy Torah-observant,
believing the full Ten Commandment Law of God was still in full force for believers. In
a sense, God had to make his snap-shot copy hard-shell to all outside efforts to change it and it’s
belief structure. Looking back
through all the different era’s of the Sabbatarian Churches of God shows
they resisted successfully all efforts from the outside to force them to syncretize
other belief systems. Now when you look at Herbert Armstrong, along with the Worldwide
Church of God, one is forced to take a different view, and cast off the popular
view that he was a cult-leader of a legalistic cult-church. Taking into account that God has amazingly
revived the Jewish branch of the Body of Christ within a short historic span
of time (1970 to 2005), to where there are close to 500,000 Messianic Jewish
believers, this snap-shot of the early Judeo-Christian churches in Asia Minor
becomes even more relevant. We
Gentile Christians have been all too guilty of misjudging what we don’t
fully understand. It is God who
raises up Gentile Christian and Messianic Jewish churches and denominations,
and it is God who preserves them. And
it is God who lets the older “revivals” die out. So
let’s try to view this history you just read, and Mr. Herbert Armstrong
and the Worldwide Church of God properly now, through the lens of their
own church history. Remember, the Church that Jesus will establish
during his Millennial Kingdom age will be very much like these Torah-observant
Sabbatarian Churches of God, as both Zechariah 14:16-19 and Isaiah 66:23 clearly
show us [taken in context with verses 7-22 of Isaiah 66]. God’s
full Old Testament law, as magnified by the New Testament, will be in full
force as the “Law of the Land”
for the whole world, as Jesus reigns from Jerusalem as King of
the whole earth (Zechariah 14:9). In
light of all that, we should take a closer look at Herbert W.
Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God that was under his
leadership. But also
realize, Romans 14 very clearly spells out the freedoms we all
have in Christ, making “days of worship” an optional
choice “during the Church Age.” Careful reading of Romans 14 shows the
believer has freedom in Christ to chose whether he or she desires
to adhere to the Old Testament version of God’s 10 Commandment
law, or the New Testament “law of Christ”, which
is basically 9 of the 10 Commandments, with choice of “days
of worship” being optional. During
the Millennial Age it will be different, reverting back to Torah-observancy. That is what the Bible shows us. Don’t like it, take the matter up
with God. Them’s
the facts, folks. Take it or leave it, doesn’t change
them.
Irenaeus (177AD)
During the first
three hundred years of the Christian Church a pitched battle
raged against the heresies of Gnosticism and Adoptionism and
those that were spreading them into the congregations. Many
of the early Church leaders after John would start to draw up
the battle-lines between the orthodox and heretical. Polycarp
was John’s trained disciple. He
trained a disciple named Irenaeus, another Jewish Christian,
who then moved up into the region of Gaul and was a Bishop in
what became Lyons in 177-178AD. He wrote five lengthy books defining the
heresies that were attacking the Church. He
was the Christian Church’s first major apologist. He wrote a number of books, but the most important that survives is the five-volume On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called
Gnosis, normally referred to by the Latin title Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies). Book
I talks about the Valentinian Gnostics and their predecessors,
who go as far back as the magician Simon Magus. Book
II provides rational proof that Valentinianism contains no merit
in terms of it’s doctrines. Book
III shows that these doctrines are false by providing evidence
from the Gospels. Book IV consists of Jesus’ sayings,
and stresses the unity of the Old Testament and the Gospels. The final volume, Book V, focuses on more
sayings of Jesus plus the letters of Paul the Apostle. Irenaeus recognized the legitimacy of
the church in Rome, which at this time had apparently not become
an apostate church yet After 325AD this all changed, but at this
time the Judeo-Christian congregations and Gentile Christian
congregations existed peacefully, side-by-side, recognizing each
other and working with each other. All the genuine Christian churches were
busy fighting these heresies and those who brought them into
their congregations. These
heresies had torn into the early Judeo-Christian churches, just
as John and Paul had warned, noting especially what Paul said,
that when he departed, he said grievous wolves would tear into
the flock. The nature
of what become the Catholic Church
would all change by the 300s AD. Irenaeus
is claimed by the Catholic Church as one of their early “fathers” to
this day. As stated
Irenaeus was a Jewish-Christian, and was a student of Polycarp,
who was said to have been tutored and discipled by John the Apostle. It’s
interesting, Irenaeus give us in these five volumes a sort of
snap-shot picture of what the early Judeo-Christian, and even
Gentile Christian churches believed, which modern apologists
might label heretical, sort of proving my point that heretical
beliefs should only be those that complicate the simple gospel
of Christ, and nothing more.
Early eschatological beliefs of
the Christian Church as recorded by Irenaeus
Irenaeus gives us
a vivid snap-shot of early Judeo-Christian eschatological doctrines,
which should not surprise ex-members of the Worldwide Church
of God. “Irenaeus
identified the Antichrist, another name of the apostate Man of
Sin, with Daniel’s Little Horn and John’s Beast of
Revelation 13. He sought to apply other expressions to
Antichrist, such as “the abomination of desolation,” mentioned
by Christ (Matt. 24:15) and the “king of a most fierce
countenance,” in Gabriel’s explanation of the Little
Horn of Daniel 8. But
he is not very clear how “the sacrifice and the libation
shall be taken away” during the “half-week,” or
three and one-half years of Antichrist’s reign.” Small wonder he wouldn’t understand
some of this, as these events are due to occur about 2,000 years
later. Irenaeus is at the early end of the Church
age, and we now are at the end of it. “He
also understood that Rome, or some form of the Roman system,
would be extant at the time of the 2nd coming of Christ. Like the other early church fathers, Irenaeus
interpreted the three and one-half “times” of the
Little Horn of Daniel 7 as three and one-half literal years. Antichrist’s
three and a half years of sitting in the temple are placed immediately
before the Second Coming of Christ.”
Early beliefs about the Millennium
“Irenaeus
declares that the Antichrist’s future three-and-a-half-year
reign, when he sits in the temple at Jerusalem, will be terminated
by the second advent [2nd coming of Christ], with
the resurrection of the just, the destruction of the wicked,
and the millennial reign of the righteous. The
general resurrection and judgment follow the descent of the New
Jerusalem at the end of the millennial kingdom.” Well, he got the order a little mixed
up, as Revelation 20:11-13 shows the general resurrection taking
place, and Revelation 21:1-17, after that event, shows the descent
of the New Jerusalem---after the lake of fire, and the new heavens
and earth are created. “Irenaeus calls those “heretics” who
maintain that the saved are immediately glorified in the kingdom
to come after death, before their resurrection.”---i.e.
he does not believe that the spirit-in-man component within humans
remains conscious upon death when they rise to God in heaven,
but as Ecclesiastes teaches, the spirit of man rises to God,
but is unconscious, which is often called the doctrine of “soul
sleep”.” So Irenaeus and the early Church during
his lifetime believed that believers were to be brought back
to life and made immortal at the time of the 1st Resurrection,
spoken of by Paul in 1st Corinthians 15:49-56. The
doctrine of
“the immortal soul” was considered Biblically inaccurate and heretical
by the early Christian Church, and don’t forget this is a disciple of
Polycarp, who was a disciple of John. So
what Irenaeus pens in these five books, these beliefs here, were the doctrinal
beliefs of John and the other 11 apostles, as well as those of Paul. “He avers that the millennial kingdom
and the resurrection are actualities, not allegories, the first resurrection
introducing this promised kingdom in which the risen saints are described as
ruling over the renewed earth during the millennium, between the two resurrections.” “Irenaeus
held to the old Jewish tradition that the first six days of creation week were
typical of the first six thousand years of human history, with Antichrist manifesting
himself in the sixth period.”---Wow! No
wonder his concepts of what the end-time Roman government,
or some form of it, were fuzzy. He
knew he was 1800 years away from that event---“And he expected the millennial
kingdom to begin with the second coming of Christ to destroy the wicked and
inaugurate, for the righteous, the reign of the kingdom of God during the seventh
thousand years, the millennial Sabbath, as signified by the Sabbath of creation
week…he applies Biblical and traditional ideas to his descriptions of
this earth during the millennium….” i.e.
he’s relying on Old Testament prophecies that describe that millennial
period, such as found in Isaiah. He
saw the millennial period bounded by the two resurrections. You know, I learned most of this information
when I first became a member of the Worldwide Church of God, which was under
the leadership of Herbert Armstrong at the time. Now isn’t that a kicker? Most other Christians and apologists like
to paint him as being a fringe cook, a cultist (heretic?). But here is described the eschatological
beliefs of the early Church, and undoubtedly the apostles themselves, as recorded
by the first and foremost apologist of the Christian Church. So we see reflected in what Irenaeus wrote
in his five books, as he battles heresies John and Paul also battled, the very
same beliefs the early Church of God in Jerusalem believed, which are the same
beliefs taught and believed by the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong. So
what should we conclude from this? Secondary
beliefs, in such areas as prophecy, soul-sleep verses immortality of the soul,
are not to
be considered on the list of what makes beliefs orthodox or heretical. We must go by what Paul taught, and that
is simply that anything that complicates the simple gospel of Christ is to be considered
heresy. Personal or denominational
beliefs about prophecy or immortal soul verses soul-sleep, even teachings about
heaven and hell, all fall within the realm of secondary teachings, and can
and do differ amongst the various denominations that make up the body of Christ. Apologist’s beware,
you must not aim your gun-sights on other denominations and groups just because
they disagree with you on these secondary items I have just listed. For
years you have hammered at the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong’s
leadership, calling him a heretic, and you were wrong in doing that. [Be
sure to click onto the Homepage nav button “Why Orthodoxy?” when
it appears on the site. It will
reveal a lot about these early battles against those two major heresies that
tried to destroy the early Christian Church.]
To read the first volume of Herbert W. Armstrong’s autobiography,
which describes the early years of the Worldwide Church of God
and how it got going, log onto http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?page=book&id=1423 . This
link goes to another Torah observant Sabbatarian Church of God’s
website. Although, being a non-Torah observant Sabbatarian
Church of God believer, which makes me not believe some of what
is on their site, they have accurately reproduced the “Autobiography
of Herbert W. Armstrong, Volume I” at that link.
(Historical note to page 51, "1757:...": Few realize
that Satan even tried to wipe out the Church of God in the United
States through a bold invasion plan by French General Montcalm,
which if successful would have made all of New England from New
York City to the top of Maine part of the French Empire, a Catholic
empire. Even
New Jersey
, where the active thread had taken root would not have
been safe, being only a short distance from
New York
and the
Hudson
. The French, if they had gotten that far, would have intensified
their efforts militarily.
Fort
William
Henry is a colonial version of "The
Alamo
."
It threw a vital six-day delay on Montcalm which caused him
to cancel his invasion plans which would have taken him successfully
to
New York City
. Read these quotes taken from a historical flyer printed by
The Fort William Henry Historical Society. (Emphasis mine
throughout this quote.)
"
Fort
William
Henry was constructed at the southern end of
Lake George
in 1755 by Major-General William Johnson and a group of colonial
volunteers. The British military strategies designed the fort
as a key northern defense of the colony of
New York
. It would also serve as a launching point for future military
operations against the threatening French empire to the north. Finally,
the fort would guard the portage between the waters of Lake
George and the
Hudson River
to prevent any large scale French invasion. This portage
was a vital link in the water route from Montreal to New
York City...In August of 1757, the most brilliant French
General of the colonial period, the Marquis de Montcalm,
sailed up Lake George with a force of 8,000 crack French
regulars, a large party of Indian allies, and Canadian volunteers.
With the capable assistance of the Chevalier de Levis, Montcalm
masterfully deployed his troops and artillery train of 32
pieces. Once their cannons were in siege position, the French
expected the fort to surrender rather then engage such an
impressive army in battle. When an easy capitulation was
not forthcoming, Montcalm initiated a brutal assault with
great vigor and much skill. The defending garrison, under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George Munro, consisted
of 2,000 men. In addition, there were numerous women and
children from neighboring settlements who sought refuge within
the safety of the fort's walls. After a siege of 6 days,
Colonel Munro realized that the structure of the fort was
near collapse and holding out any longer would be impossible. Yet
by withstanding the French onslaught for such an extended
period, the British had time to mass troops further south.
After Colonel Munro surrendered, Montcalm recognized
that any attempts to continue his expedition further south
would be futile. The terms of capitulation included
a promise of safe passage for the beleaguered English who
were able to make the trip to
Fort
Edward
. This greatly mystified and angered the Indians who
had accompanied Montcalm from
Canada
for the sole purpose of securing English scalps. Montcalm,
underestimating the ferocity of his Indian allies, had
detailed but a small guard of French regulars to escort
the garrison to
Fort
Edward
. As the pitiful column of unarmed survivors marched
down the military road, the Indians could be restrained
no longer. Although the precise number of Englishmen
killed during the massacre may never be ascertained,
historians agree that it constituted one of the bloodiest
pages of colonial American history. Following the massacre,
Montcalm razed the fort and covered the charred remains
with sand. The site remained untouched until the present
project was begun in 1953."
So the next time you attend the Feast of Tabernacles at Saratoga
Springs, New York, visit Fort William Henry and remember that
the Church of God owes those buried there on the grounds a debt
of gratitude for stopping Montcalm.
Fort
William
Henry was our '
Alamo
', defended for us by those who didn't even know the true reason
why they were inspired to resist so tenaciously. It was God
who inspired this tenaciousness and military foresight in Lieutenant-Colonel
Munro, for reasons beyond what he could have realized.
END
HISTORY OF THE
CHURCH
OF
GOD
BIBLE STUDY SERIES
So that is where I sincerely believe the Worldwide Church of God comes
from. Currently the Worldwide Church of God now believes it
has historic evidence linking it back to the English Separatists
of the 1630's, which I believe is a totally inaccurate interpretation
of church history. The Separatists of England (my ancestor
was Elder Brewster, so I ought to know a little bit on this
subject) were never Sabbath keepers, but observed Sunday as
their “sabbath”. Although the developing Separatist/Puritan
movement may have crossed paths and shared common ground on
English soil with the Sabbatarian Churches of God, the threads
of their origins were never quite the same as the Sabbatarian
Churches of God which came from the Lollards evangelistic preaching
ministries. A few
stalwart Sabbatarians had obviously “crossed” the
Channel from Europe into
England
in the 1300s.
Judging from the mostly Torah observant doctrinal interpretation
each of these revivals shared, which was not part of the
new covenant doctrinal beliefs of the Apostolic Church of God
from the 50's A.D. to the 300's A.D., these revivals appear to
be revivals of Jewish Christians who didn't go along with
the major doctrinal decisions made at the Jerusalem council of
Acts 15 (and explained by Paul in Romans 14). For some reason
God preserved this often persecuted group of Torah observant
Sabbatarian Christians as they were harassed from Turkey into
Europe, then England and then into the United States. God doesn't
always chose to leave the identity of his people, whether national
or Apostolic Church of God, in the hands of secular and oftentimes
hostile historians.
Don't forget what I said in the beginning. These
Sabbatarian revivals were not numerically large, but very small
at best. This is a footnote in Christian history. I believe
it is our footnote, but it is merely a footnote at best. But
the important thing it shows is that Jesus, for some reason
beyond our wisdom, not only allowed but actually participated
in the raising up of Sabbatarian revivals from the 3rd Century
all the way up to and through Mr. Armstrong and the Worldwide
Church of God. As you can see there are huge gaps between revivals
of these Torah observant Sabbatarian Christians. But
there is also a connective thread, sometimes historically visible,
sometimes not, between one revival and the next. That
thread between the early Sabbatarian Churches of God in
Rhode Island
was indeed Mrs. Runcorn out in
Oregon
. The Cottrell
family shows us there were viable connections going all the
way from southern France to England to Rhode Island and finally
to Stanberry, Missouri. The revivals of these Torah observant
Sabbatarian Christians were also numerically small, i.e.
each revival was not particularly large in number of members.
But they did all share a spiritual/doctrinal/ideological
kinship. If there truly are seven era's of
these Torah observant
Sabbatarian
Church
of God believers there must also be seven major revivals
of the Gentile Christian Church. If Jesus has used Revelation 2-3 to plot
both
Sabbatarian
Church
of God revivals and Sunday observing Gentile Christian revivals,
it is most interesting, because we believed we were the Philadelphian
era in the
Worldwide
Church
of God. The Calvary Chapel affiliates of
Costa Mesa
,
California
believe the spiritually active and alive Gentile Sunday observing
Christians of today are the Philadelphian era. Then
under Joe Tkach Sr. God brought the
Worldwide
Church
of God from being a Torah observant
Sabbatarian
Church
of God into being a non-Torah observant
Sabbatarian
Church
of God. This
may seem insignificant to most Christian readers, but it
is not really insignificant, for recent highly qualified
church historians have uncovered evidence that the early
Judeo-Christian churches in Asia Minor for the first 300
years of their existence, after 50AD, were almost all non-Torah
observant Sabbatarian Judeo-Christian churches. So,
under Joseph Tkach Sr. the
Worldwide
Church
of God had become---in 1995---the very first non-Torah
observant
Sabbatarian
Church
of God in 1700 years! But
very suddenly, Mr. Tkach Sr. died of cancer in that very
same year. This same Worldwide Church of God remained
a non-Torah observant Sabbatarian Church of God for about
five or six years, until Joe Tkach Jr. brought them over
to observing Sunday/Christmas/Easter as their “days
of worship”. Are there any non-Torah observant Sabbatarian
Churches of God in existence after Worldwide’s
change-over to Sunday/Christmas/Easter? That
remains to be seen. Tens
of thousands of non-Torah observant
Sabbatarian
Church
of God members were “squeezed” out of Worldwide
because they preferred to keep observing the Sabbath and
Holy Days voluntarily, as Romans 14 allows, and as the early
Judeo-Christians had for the first 300 years of Church history
in
Asia Minor
. Where are those tens of thousands? Scattered to the spiritual
four winds, so to speak. As
I said before, it is a very interesting and recent discovery
that the early Christian church in
Asia Minor
for the first 300 years was basically Judeo-Christian, and
racially, mostly Jewish, with an estimated 3 million members. These
were all or mostly all non-Torah observant Sabbatarian Judeo-Christians. (We have already seen that the early Rhode
Island Sabbatarian Churches of God recognized Sunday observing
Baptists as being genuine believers as well. But
they were Torah observant in the strictness of following
the letter of the Old Testament Sabbath Commands.) So
the early
Church
of
God
in
Jerusalem
and
Asia Minor
was almost totally non-Torah observant for the first 300
years, even though they observed the Sabbath and Holy Days
of Leviticus 23, and probably the dietary laws as well, voluntarily. To read an excellent research study on
early church history log onto: http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/index3.htm. To read more about what a modern
Sabbatarian
Church
of God is like, continue reading.
Prophetic beliefs
"The Worldwide Church of God under the late
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, and presently the splinter Churches
of God that split off from the Worldwide Church of God after
1995, both held and hold basically a Classic Pre-Millennial
view of prophecy which include some unique interpretations
about the "unsaved dead" not embraced by most Christian
denominations. These are the beliefs of three major splinter
groups that broke away from the Worldwide Church of God, as
well as the
"old" Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong.
These are totally secondary to the central gospel of salvation--i.e.
one is totally free to believe or disbelieve what is presented,
without it affecting one's salvation in the least. The study
is merely being presented to show another view on the subject
of heaven & hell and the Millennium. CLICK HERE to
view the study. You will find it most interesting. You don't
have to believe it."
In this Sabbatarian Church of God history section
you could sort of glean what their doctrines were, and the
link above shows what their prophetic beliefs essentially were. But
to gain a more complete understanding of what a Sabbatarian
Church of God is like, But to gain a more complete understanding
of what a Sabbatarian Church of God is like, what they believe
that’s the same, and what’s different, go to the
next section. You will find it fascinating.
