So Armstrongites often insist that parts of the Bible that Christians tend to view as not applicable to them need to be observed by "true Christians" today. But where in Armstrongism does one decide what must be followed and what can be ignored in the Bible? Has any Armstrongite wondered how this passage of the Bible applies to Armstrongites today?
And if any man's seed of copulation ["semen" in the NKJV] go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even. And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even. The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even. (Leviticus 15:16-18. KJV.)
Any Armstrongite wanting to practice these rules might be comforted by knowing that, according to the Penguin Classics edition of the Talmud, this only applies to abnormal emissions of semen.
The truth is Christians have no need to practice Jewish ritual practices such as those described above to be a Christian. Herbert Armstrong was never professionally trained in learning the history and teachings of Christianity and Judaism so he misunderstood many things. He thought certain Jewish rituals and practices mentioned in the Bible are to be applied to Christians today.
He did not understand that when Christianity first began to be accepted by non-Jews a consensus was made that non-Jewish converts did not need to practice Jewish rituals to be a Christian. These non-Jewish converts did not need to observe Jewish ritual law. This may be seen in the council in Jerusalem described in Acts 15 and Paul's letter to the Galatians which was a condemnation of "Judaizers" who were telling non-Jewish converts to Christianity that they needed to be circumcised to be a Christian. Armstrongism tends to ignore that feature of Galatians.
Herbert Armstrong failed to learn these things and adopted mixed up and confused views about these matters and unfortunately passed on his errors onto thousands of people. But thankfully many former Armstrongites have since studied what others say about these matters and realized that they do not need Armstrongism.
There was so much Herbie didn't understand, and his books bear witness of that. For all who read his Missing Dimension in Sex, even the subject of foreplay was governed by the Pastor General in thorough detail.
ReplyDeleteIt is so shocking to think that we were once part of that type of madness. So glad I got away from this... :-)
From my understanding, maintaining "cleanness" was primarily for one's entering the Tabernacle or Temple - one cannot go into the presence of God while in an "impure" state.
ReplyDeleteI find the arguments of HWA and splinter leaders for not keeping certain rules can at times be odd or even bizarre. One is Bob Thiel's convoluted reasoning for why he finds wearing tzitzis (tassels) "doesn't apply (to him)".
There are a few laws which appear to be "acknowledged" but not taught or enforced - such as mixed fabrics, and parapets around a roof. GTA used to mention need for the parapets, and Dave Pack explained why this didn't apply with his "Hall of Administration"!