New Moon Message 1/12/32/120

Dear Friends,

In the Sabbath Message of 24 October 2009 we issued an open letter to the WCG offshoots and the other Churches of God http://www.ccg.org/_domain/ccg.org/Sabbath/2009/S_10_24_09.html. It was as a cover to the paper on Ditheism which deals with the issue of the erroneous theology of the WCG and the work on Binitarianism and Radical Unitarianism concerning the other Churches of God in the last few decades. It would be a good idea to re-read that message to refresh our minds on what has been said. That message was also published as an ad in the local Country Mailer in the area of Tyler/ Big Sandy, Texas by the church in Texas through the Coordinator there.

It received a few responses. Some wanting to study more and one by way of an ad in reply from an independent former WCG person who is what is in effect a Messianic Jew with a mix of the odd ideas of the WCG and the odd apocryphal writing. The response identified what are the real and substantive failings of those exposed to the WCG teachings to understand basic fundamentals of the theology of Christianity and indeed basic terms. The person placing the ad did not understand the origin and use of the words Ditheism and Binitarianism and indeed claimed that “they do not legitimately exist in the English language.”

He then proceeded to ramble through what are some basic myths of both Armstrong’s Ditheism and also Trinitarianism. Although from a reading of what he now says and believes he would not be accepted in the WCG under Armstrong, However, he advances the erroneous theology of Armstrong not seeming to understand the implications. We will deal with the various errors here so as to commence what is in effect the education of the Churches of God in the theology of the church. Our beliefs are clearly stated in Statement of Beliefs of the Christian Faith (A1) if there is any doubt as to what we believe.

So we can all understand the terms we are using, the following is the Oxford Dictionary definition of the terms. As we can see Ditheism was first used in 1678 in modern English, and Binitarian and the logical Binitarianism comes from its use in the German by Loofs in 1898. Any person with an exposure to theology should understand what is meant. The churches of God however did not have exposure to such words until the writer defined the errors in, and basis of, their theology and Binitarian/Trinitarian theology from 1988-1994 and in the writings published by CCG.

Ditheism: 1678 [Di-2] Belief in two supreme gods: religious dualism; espec. the belief in two independent antagonistic principles of good and evil, as in Zoroastrianism and Manicheism (Oxford Universal Dictionary, 3rd Ed. Clarendon, Onions ed. 1964).

Binitarian: a. and sb. Theol. [f/ L/ Bini (pl.) twofold, double after Trinitarian. Cf. G. Binitarisch (Loofs 1898).]

1. Adj. Of or belonging to a belief in a Godhead of two persons only;
2. Sb. A believer in this doctrine. Hence Binitarianism (Oxford English Dictionary Supplement, Vol. 1 A-G,  Clarendon 1987 reprint

The basis of the Ditheism of WCG is examined in the paper Ditheism (No. 76b), which was the paper for which the Sabbath message was written to introduce.

There is a move by Trinitarian plants in the Churches of God to introduce Trinitarianism by means of Binitarianism as they had done in past years by introducing Binitarianism and then slowly developing the transition to Trinitarianism. Such was the means used in other churches as we discussed in the Sabbath Message yesterday at http://www.ccg.org/_domain/ccg.org/Sabbath/2010/S_02_13_10.html.

There are some who simply don’t know enough to determine what they and the Churches of God actually did believe. There is one such writer who claims membership of the LCG. He claims that the Church was originally Binitarian and that Herbert Armstrong and the WCG was, and the LCG is, Binitarian.  His name is B. J. Thiel. He is not qualified in the field (although he did once reportedly claim a D. Theol, but allegedly seems to have removed it from his CV). Certainly, he exhibits no knowledge of the basis of the theology, nor of the nature or falsity of the documents that he quotes in support. Indeed, he has trundled his incorrect theories into Wikipedia. Much of the error comes from a simplistic application of the definitions above.

The comment regarding the early church and the WCG being Binitarian is completely erroneous, as a reading of the paper Ditheism (No. 76b) will show. How Binitarianism came into Christianity is explained in the paper Binitarian and Trinitarian Misrepresentation of the Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127b).
It is a pagan doctrine of the Mystery and Sun cults which developed in its theology after the issue of the prophecy through Isaiah. It is a deception used against the Churches of God and they don’t seem to understand that fact.

It was stated in the original message that this false doctrine of Ditheism is now largely confined to the US. Indeed the reply merely reinforces the point. Many of the former members of the WCG simply don’t get the point. There is a general lack of intellectual rigour in the offshoots that simply does not deal with, and which seems not to understand, the error and indeed blasphemy of their doctrines. Much of this misdirection comes from the prohibition on actually reading anything that might contradict their errors. The ministry brainwash and bluff the members and the members let them get away with it.

The US based offshoots are the problem. Many in the rest of the Churches of God overseas get it. They are dealing with the problem and acting upon their understanding through study.

We will deal with the basic assertions without dissecting the very poor English expressions and logic.
The false premises are:

1. The Name of God is elohim [eloiem (sic)] which is a plural word denoting a Godhead of two [beings] 

Comment: Elohim is a plural word which has never been confined to two beings and denotes the entire council of the elohim which includes all of the sons of God and the Morning Stars. This error of the WCG is examined in the paper Ditheism (No. 76b) which the person obviously failed to read. This view is a fundamental false teaching of the WCG before 1993. The name for God the Father is clearly given in the Bible, and that is Eloah.  The word Eloah is a singular word which admits of no plurality whatsoever. The Bible uses it as a test to determine who has any knowledge of the Nature of God (Prov. 30:4-5). The Book of Job discloses the names of God as Eloah, Elohim and Yahovah. It shows the fact that God has many sons, one of which is Satan and a number of which are Morning Stars, and that these beings existed before the foundation of the world (Job 1:6; 2:1, 3:4, 38:4-7). Ezra shows that Eloah is the object of worship, the source of the law, the God of the Temple, the object of sacrifice and the basis of the Temple system which is the house of Eloah (Ezra 4:24-7:26). Moses identifies Eloah in Deuteronomy 32:15,17. The multiple sons of God are noted in the allocation in Deuteronomy 32:8 which the Sopherim changed, as we know from the LXX and the DSS. Eloah is extending Himself to become Elohim as an extended family.

In Proverbs 30:4 it is stated: Who has ascended up into heaven or descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what is his son’s name, if you can tell?

The prophecy answers the first part of the question in the very next verse.
Verse 5 states: Every word of Eloah is pure He is a shield to them that put their trust in him.

There is one word for God the Father as the object of worship and that is Eloah. Another word for God the Father is Yahovih (SHD 3069). When Yahovah (SHD 3068) is read it is read by Jews as Adonai. When they read Yahovih they read Elohim making distinction between the two beings (see Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary notes). When the word elohim refers to the name of The One True God, it is accompanied by Ha as Ha Elohim, or The God. Elohim is a plural word that means gods and is used to refer to multiple beings in the Host (see also the paper The Elect as Elohim (No. 001)).

The basic false premises of Herbert Armstrong are examined in the paper The 18 Restored Truths of Herbert W. Armstrong (No. 233b).

2. That the Christian Churches of God deny the pre-existence of Christ.

Comment:  Many people who don’t bother to study CCG material simply state that CCG deny the pre-existence of Christ because they are ignorant of the distinction between First Century Biblical Unitarians and the Radical Unitarians of the post Reformation theology. The CCG position on the pre-existence of Christ is stated in the paper The Pre-existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243). The doctrine is fundamental to Christianity.

The basis of Radical Unitarianism is discussed in the paper Origins of Radical Unitarianism and Binitarianism. (No. 076C). This lack of understanding in the distinctions among Unitarians comes from the complete inability to read and determine facts among the WCG offshoots and the tendency to play the man by defamation in the US domain, both religious and political.

3. That the 70 weeks of years prophecy in Daniel 9: 25 refers to Jesus Christ.

Comment: The assertion in the WCG that Daniel 9:25 refers to Jesus Christ stems from the mistranslation of the text in the KJV. The fiction is supported by both Jews and Trinitarians as it suits their purpose. The text refers to two anointed ones or messiahs (see RSV et al). The first anointed one was Nehemiah after 7 weeks of years. The second anointed one that was cut off, 62 weeks of years later, at 69 weeks of years, but not for himself, was James the brother of Christ in 63 CE. The Seventy weeks of years ended in 70 CE when a Roman army attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the history of the reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013)). This fable on the text, which could not have referred to Christ, is bandied about by the biblically ignorant thinking they understand the prophecy. The person in the reply states the prophecy was why Herod murdered the infants. The Bible is quite clear that Herod was alerted by the visit of the magi who left by another route so as not to assist Herod further. The church was alerted, by the murder of James, that the Temple was about to be destroyed in accordance with the prophecy and that was why they fled to Pella after 63 CE.. They were warned by the prophecy.

4. That Christ is the second personage of a true Godhead.

Comment:  This unbiblical notion comes from the intrusion of Binitarianism into the Church of God. Eloah is the God of Jesus Christ. Both are elohim, as are all the sons of God of the Host, not just Christ.  There is only One True God (cf Jn. Jn 1:18, 17:3, 1 Tim. 6:16. 1Jn. 5:20).  Therefore God, Thy God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy comrades (or partners) (Ps. 45:6-7; Heb. 1:8-9) (see the papers Psalm 45 (No. 177) and Psalm 110 (No. 178) and The Elect as Elohim (No. 001) ibid.).

5. Christ was crucified on a Crucifix.

Comment: Christ was killed on a stauros which is no more a cross than a stick is a crutch. The WCG never taught this nonsense.

6. That Alice Bailey mentioned the Christian Churches of God in her works.

Comment: This false assertion is typical of the attack by lies and defamation. Bailey makes no mention of the Christian Churches of God.

It is noted that the $500 reward cannot be claimed for producing one correct prophecy that Armstrong and his ministry made. There are none, and so they have to twist the offer of reward into something else. Don’t they understand? Anyone who fears God is to ignore false prophets by law and reject them from the Body of Christ. They die spiritually, as they were killed of old (Deut. 18: 20-22). These people are repeatedly proven false prophets and God requires them to be exposed and rejected. That is why these people can’t deal with the issue.

The comments are typical of what we might expect from someone who has not examined the Bible in its original texts and who has swallowed the propaganda of a sect without researching the basis of its claims and doctrines.

This is just the start of the long haul back in the process of re-education for the walking wounded of the churches of God, and the Adventists and the JWs and everyone else damaged by these false doctrines.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General