Saturday, April 17, 2010

More on Hutaree and the COGs

The 'Christian' militia Hutaree, which stands accused of plotting to commit terrorism, had placed a link to Dave Pack's Restored Church of God's Real Truth magazine. That already been discussed here.

Well, there's more.

Hutaree's website also includes a page called Beast Watch. This page features as its background numerous pictures of C. Winston Taylor's illustration of the Beast of Revelation 13, which will be familiar to readers as the illustration on the cover of Herbert W. Armstrong's 1960 booklet, Who or What is the Prophetic Beast?

It contains links to some webpages written by members of Hutaree.

There's a page entitled No Pre-trib Rapture. This is similar standard COG doctrine which says there will be no rapture to heaven before the Great Tribulation. The COGs instead teach that the Philadelphia era of God's Church will be taken to a place of safety on earth (widely speculated to be Petra, Jordan.)

It's also of note that some racist 'Christian Identity' groups deny the doctrine of the rapture instead saying that believers must endure Armageddon on earth. This contributes to some Identity practitioners' adoption of a survivalist mentality.

This Hutaree Beast Watch also contains a long paper entitled '10 Horns of the European Super State, Mr. Europe and 7 years of peace in Israel'. This paper stated that the European Beast Power will have ten members. This is similar to COG doctrine that which states that the European Beast Power will be composed of ten 'horns'.

Seven years of peace in Israel is not an idea often stated in COG teachings. They focus more on the war rather than the peace before the Great Tribulation.

Again I do not blame the COGs for Hutaree's alleged plots. It is clear that Hutaree members' flirtation with COG teachings was rather superficial. For instance most COGs are radically pacifist. Hutaree did not adopt that.

The COGs teach and practice many unusual (and sadly some heretical) doctrines. Yet Hutaree still linked to other, non-COG websites. So they did not adopt the COGs' exclusivist attitude which denounce non-COG Christians as not true Christians.

So it is clear that Hutaree's adoption of COG ideas and doctrines were quite superficial. Obviously they were fascinated with COGs' prophetic teachings.

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