Let's take a look at what LCG's leadership have to say this time.
The editors are Gerald Weston, Richard Ames, Wallace Smith, Gary Ehman, John Robinson, Robert Tyler, Stuart Wachowicz, Adam West and William Williams.
This issue has a circulation of 293,000. For July-August 2017 it was 282,000. For May-June 2017 it was 355,000. For March-April 2017 it was 417,000. For January-February 2017 it was 412,000. More circulation figures may be seen in a previous post.
The magazine continues to reprint a narrative which was originally published back in 1958 written by the late Roderick C. Meredith vilifying the mainstream Protestant churches as illegitimate by condemning the initial leaders of the Protestant Reformation.
It is evident how old this narrative is by noting the books cited in this article.
- Alzog, Johannes. Manual of Universal Church History. 1878.
- Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand. 1978.
- Bettenson, Henry. Documents of the Christian Church. 1950.
- Fisher, George. History of the Christian Church. 1887.
- Hausser, Ludwig. The Period of the Reformation. 1873.
- Hurlburt, Jesse Lyman. The Story of the Christian Church. 1918.
- Orchard, G. H. (George Herbert.) A Concise History of Foreign Baptists. [Volume 1 of this narrative dates back to 1855.]
- Vedder, Henry C. A Short History of the Baptists. 1907.
- Walker, Williston. A History of the Christian Church. 1918. [Link omitted due to quality issue with at least one previously offered source.]
It is so strange seeing how Meredith cited these old sources when making his polemic delegitimizing the mainstream Protestant churches. Many of them were quite old when this narrative was first published in 1958.
Michael Heykoop has a little article condemning mixed martial arts.
Gerald Weston has an article discussing juvenile delinquency.
Douglas Winnail has a little article insisting that the rise of the British Empire was God's will even though he lives in a nation which gained independence only after being compelled to wage war upon the British authorities for eight years.
Richard Ames has an article scare mongering about the possibility of the annihilation of humanity by nuclear warfare.
Simon R. D. Roberts has a little article discussing the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards and the recent retirement of the Duke of Edinburgh from public duties.
The Question and Answers insists the vision mentioned in Acts 10 does not abolish restrictions regarding meats mentioned in the Old Testament. LCG teaches that Old Testament restrictions regarding meats are still to be observed by Christians today.
Jonathan McNair has a little article calling upon parents to give their children chores to do.
Wyatt Ciesielka has an article talking about terrorism and insisting that the problem of Al Qaeda-like extremism will be solved after Christ returns.
There are letters printed. Out of the six published only one originates from the United States.
Here's one letter from Jamaica from a person commenting on Meredith's death.
I regret the passing of Dr. Roderick C. Meredith. I have been listening to him for over 20 years on radio and TV and have joined the Tomorrow’s World Magazine Bible studies, so I have come to know him and love him. To his family and many friends, be encouraged, we will see him again in the life to come. I will know him personally then.Here's a letter from the Philippines.
Please continue my free subscription of Tomorrow’s World Magazine. It’s very interesting to read. I’ve learned a lot about world events through the eye of Bible prophecy, and about what is going on in our troubled world as we face unprecedented dangers and crises and the time of Jesus Christ’s return draws nearer. So, please continue my subscription, for I want to be one of those who follows our Savior’s instruction to “watch and pray” (Luke 21:36) as we approach the end of the age.
May I request also from your good office a free copy of your informative booklets [booklet which calls for the observance of Jewish holy days mentioned in Leviticus 23 as interpreted by LCG], [a booklet which implies that only LCG is the true church] and [a booklet insisting that the final Pope will be a miracle worker who will prop up a future European empire.]Here's a letter from Australia questioning LCG's doctrine of soul sleep, the teaching that once one dies he or she enters a state of unconsciousness until resurrected in various resurrections in the future. This idea is also present in other Adventist churches originating from the Millerites of the 1830s-1840s such as the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
In a recent TV programme you spoke about people who die not going directly to be with their Heavenly Father but sleeping until the resurrection. In Ecclesiastes 12 at the end of verse 5 we read, “Then man goes to his eternal home.” Also verse 7 says, “and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Surely we are a Spirit rather than a Soul? In Matthew, we read about the transfiguration of Jesus where there appeared Moses and Elijah. I would appreciate your comments on these scriptures.LCG naturally insists that their interpretation is correct. They say the human spirit is in humans but not a human and that it is not conscious. They say the transfiguration was only a vision which did not literally happen. Here is part of their response.
The Bible says that there is a spirit in man, not that he is one (e.g., Job 32:8). And while our spirit does return to God upon our death, it does not represent a “conscious entity” of any sort, as Ecclesiastes itself makes plain, stating that “the dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5)—an observation verified by many other passages. And Jesus clearly described the event in which Peter, James and John saw the future, glorified bodies of Moses and Elijah as a vision, and not as a current reality (Matthew 17:9).Here's a letter from Ontario insisting that Canada is becoming increasingly intolerant towards this person's views.
I find the changes in morality today disturbing. But as you say, the knowledge of a future world ruled by Christ, when peace will be the Law of the land, gives me comfort and faith in a very challenging society that is becoming more intolerant to Christian ideals.And so we see that LCG's leadership have produced another issue of their recruitment magazine to attempt to get more people to join their organization and to persuade once again to their members that LCG's leadership is worthy of being followed and accepting their tithes. There is no need to follow LCG to become a Christian.
***
LCG and many of the other COGs insist nothing can be done to improve the Earth until Christ returns. We must not live in despair or think that our efforts are useless. The COGs are wrong to be so pessimistic. But there are many opportunities to help people and improve society. For instance helping people in need because of Hurricane Harvey.
Here Are Ways You Can Help People During Hurricane Harvey.
How to get (and offer) help after Hurricane Harvey.
"LCG and many of the other COGs insist nothing can be done to improve the Earth until Christ returns."
ReplyDeleteAfter going to a conference on Energy, Food and Population, I used some of the material in a Spokesman’s Club speech, and naturally emphasized that these are issues that man can’t adequately address. That evening, a journalist substituted for the minister, and he took the unexpected turn that man may be held accountable for problems that could have been resolved but weren’t.
While it wouldn’t have been possible to avert Hurricane Harvey, it’s been noted that the effects would not have been so damaging if certain civic projects hadn’t been shelved and preference given economic expansion.
Various COGs have weighed in on Climate Change, but I don’t recall the WCG’s reaction to Ozone Depletion back in the 1980s – and I could imagine it was considered one of these problems we shouldn’t try to solve because it was beyond our ability. Although the resolution of the problem was not implemented in the most efficient manner, the Ozone ‘Hole’ is well along its way to normalcy. And perhaps other issues could be resolved as well.
Well, the ozone hole that appeared in 2016 was still three times the square mileage of the continental USA, but it has contracted from its peak of years past in response to limitations placed on some of the man-made chemicals that cause ozone depletion. What amazes me is that nobody seriously contests that chlorine and bromine in the atmosphere cause ozone depletion, yet there is a serious fight over whether man-made carbon-based greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to global climate change. Seems like industry is willing to go so far as to change the chemistry of freon for the sake of the ozone hole, but to insinuate that our entire American lifestyle would go down the tubes if we made a massive switch to clean energy.
ReplyDeleteBB
It seems that alternate energy had more acceptance, at least passively, when the issues were pollution and the finite supply of fossil fuels. Introduce climate change, and there's active resistance.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I believe that alternative energy technology has now gotten a jump on the fossil fuels industry. People laughed at the wind farms outside of Palm Springs, but a lot of money was invested in them, and they are not a joke any more. Solar energy has come down in cost, and for the past ten years, I've watched more and more panels go up on the roofs in my neighborhood. And, hybrid and electric cars are gaining in public acceptance more and more every day. Tesla cars are accepted status symbols, and the Chevy Volts that used to be laughed at are seen more and more on the road.
DeleteIt really doesn't matter what President Trump does with the Paris Accord. Permitting coal as fuel for power plants is just temporary lip service to displaced miners when the handwriting is already on the wall regarding solar power technology. We worry about the Chinese presently using coal, but they are the ones who are really going to bring down the price of solar technology.
So, it really doesn't matter what Mark Armstrong or for that matter Rush Limbaugh have to say. Their cliches are already time and date stamped, and nearing expiration.
BB
Did you see 'Who Killed the Electric Car'? There was a remark in it like, it was scrapped because only 90% of the people who drove one liked it.
DeleteI heard a report years ago about GM Australia stopping their development of hybrid cars - "People don't want fuel-efficient vehicles". I assume that meant they thought the public wanted (petrol) guzzlers and muscle cars - not that didn't want to save money.
Well, there's a global transition ongoing into the next level of technology. It's already happened in my industry, the printing industry. Web printing with plates and ink has pretty much died out, and been replaced with digital printing, which is based on copier technology. It is so much more efficient that it's mind boggling.
DeleteThe Paris Accord countries are moving forward, and are going to be the drivers of global automotive technology whether the US participates or not. In an effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the French government plans to ban the sale of new gas and diesel powered cars by 2040. Norway and India plan to do it earlier, 2025, and 2030 respectively. The car companies realize that this is inevitable, and are devoting their R&D budgets to cars that will be competitive on the global market. Fact is, whatever President Trump or other politicians say to counter this is irrelevant. The internal combustion engine is for all purposes dead, because the transportation industry as it exists today is the number one producer of greenhouse gases. Announcing the death of the electric car is both premature, and exaggerated.
It's a shame that we've gotten to the point where this is so politicized. If you own firearms, it's assumed that you are Republican, and if you drive a Tesla, Prius, or Volt, people believe you are a Democrat. It no longer matters if something just happens to be common sense. Thing is, at some point, they're going to go after cattle, because the methane they emit is more devastating to the atmosphere than CO2.
BB
So summarizing..........when a minority of people has an opinion or politicians decide against the prevailing facts, it doesn't matter in the long run....."the unseen hand" (of economic philosophy) will set things straight?
ReplyDeleteNck
If you want to adapt your favorite philosophy to that, nck, yeah, I guess.
DeleteBut we're looking at nationalism vs global solutions for an existential threat here. A threat that one political party in one country denies. A technological trend will deliver the solution, provided that it's not already too late. The American auto industry would not be in the vanguard today had it not been for competition involving a better quality product from the Germans and Japanese. And, honestly, the Ruskies' auto industry pretty much succumbed to this competition. Not too many Volgas or Zils running around these days.
BB
If I am not mistaken "classic Armstrongism" indeed took the position that "man could not adequately adress their problems", however I do not recall the part of "doing nothing about it". As a matter of fact many UN, EC, national policy makers read the PT magazine and commented on its "warning" content.
ReplyDeleteIn a sense the "classic" PT was "the Al Gore" of its time.
Having said that.
I do agree with many of your interesting points.
As a matter of fact "the unseen" hand does not know about "nationalism" or national borders.
BB is right. Currently in Quatar oil is being pumped up through "solar powered pumps." This used to be done by "gas powered pumps, where gas would be a waste product for the production of oil.
Arabian sovereign wealth funds are desperately investing in European expensive hotel chains and whatsnot in order to make a buck NOT when oil will run out, BUT when oil will be a "stranded asset." Again BB is right. Coal is rapidly becoming a "stranded asset." Although many power plants are still fueled by coal.
Solar energy has rapidly decreased in price. Technological innovation is expanding in exponential way.
I agree with Hoss. Many interesting developments and innovations are implemented in food production. (re national geographic sept 2017)
Classic Armstrongism placed a sideline by the ability of man to adress their problems and if so, would man be able to contain their innate psychology to abuse obvious solutions for the intention of self destruction.
As long as I am alive I will answer yes to this question, solutions are possible for the next 10 billion people, but I do agree with Gandhi that the ultimate problems might still be caused between our ears.
nck
"Issues being politicised."
ReplyDeletePerhaps change that used to take a generation now takes place within 3-4 years. People or perhaps society perhaps is not able to keep up with pace of development.
Some people just drop out like the Amish did at some point. If would like to drop out on a "wireless vacation" it is offered to me for the hefty sum of 4000 dollars for 1 week stay in an all inclusive without wifi.
nck
Well, we've actually been snake bitten in the course of our discussion of emerging technology here. An article in the September 1 issue of Car and Driver describes the new electric Semi trucks developed by both Tesla, and Cummins.
ReplyDeleteMost people are probably not aware of how trucking works. There are long-haul truckers that transport goods across country. Electric trucks would be impractical for that application, because of the need for frequent recharging. Truck manufacturers are developing hybrid technology (think of the Prius principle) for these long hauls. The second leg of the journey occurs after the load is delivered by the cross country truckers to a warehouse in a specific city. Local truckers make the deliveries from the warehouses to individual customers or stores. An electric truck with a 300 mile range between charges will work just fine for these local applications, while virtually elliminating pollution.
About twenty years ago, while hiking some mountains to the south of our city, I observed a horrible brown haze which paralleled the interstate, and the landing flight path into our airport, which is an internationally recognized hub. I wrote a letter to the editor of our major newspaper. Now, over the years, numerous of my letters to editor have been published by major newspapers and magazines. This one was not. I had exposed some of the sacred cows vital to the local business community. Now, for the first time since writing that letter, I am optimistic. It appears that we are on the verge of cleaning up the trucking industry's share of this brown haze. Can the airlines be far behind?
BB
We internal critics of the 1970s "Plain Truth" used to point out (and even satirize) what we called the "disclaimer" paragraph at the end of each article. In some way, shape, or form, the final paragraph would state that there is no solution to the problem or issue that was treated by the article until Jesus Christ returns. This was overly simplistic in most cases, as well as patently ridiculous and untrue. It was the rationalization of the Herbert W. Armstrong end times fear "gospel".
ReplyDeleteAs some of us have pointed out over the years, in the New Testament, two church groups are described: the Jewish Christians, and Paul's Gentile churches. Herbert Armstrong, in his ignorance of the Noahide laws implicit in James's reading of the edict from the first Jerusalem Council, taught that the observances and practices of these two groups were identical. They were not. The fact is, the descendents of Paul's Gentile churches have done a much more effective job of preaching the gospel on an international basis than have the Jewish Christians either then or now. In fact, these churches emphasize that there are indeed steps that can be taken here and now to remedy societal problems that exist in our times. It is a matter of record that they teach that it is a Christian's duty to positively impact the surrounding culture in which he lives. As would Jesus Himself.
BB
Well yes, the salt of the earth.
ReplyDeleteAs you said. A requirement for solving mankinds problems is a "universal or international consciousness" as a prerequisite for international cooperation.
This psychological state of mind only set in after 1969, when the astronauts for the first time were able to present mankind with the iconic "blue spaceship earth" picture.
It is no coincidence that this picture was a major part in wcg's video presentations.
It is part of why worldleaders (working in building international bodies of cooperation) called HWA truly enlightened. This is not to dismiss that I also agree with almost every word you wrote. I am just not negating the flipside of the coin as you have chosen to do for reasons that I have acknowledged.
The brown smog of progress.
The way forward does not come without its negatives.
I noticed that brown fog while having a truly enlightening experience at sunset at Mesa Verde NP. Having observed the ancient habitats, looking out over plain from the plateau I saw a thick brown layer coming from the Phoenix area.
I also just recently saw some dudes illegaly experimenting with a self driving truck. I can easily imagine self learning artificial intelligence devices coming to the conclusion that it more rational or better for all to have fewer humans on earth and act according to that finding. Perhaps Kim is doing the earth a favor before a new world sets in.
I do recommend that national geographic article as I will try and find that car article.
nck
My recollection is that environmental consciousness was an outgrowth of the hippie movement, specifically the "back to earthers" who were starting farm communes and getting into chemical-free organic foods and vegetarian lifestyles. Subversive hippie journalists produced exposes of major corporations and documented how they were disposing of the toxic wastes which were byproducts of the manufacturing processes for their various products.
DeleteThere came to be an entirely new degreed professional known as the "environmentalist". I know, because I was not onboard with this at the time, and one of these people moved into the house next door to me. They didn't seem to like the 400 + Horsepower car setting in my driveway with its huge G-50-16 tires in the rear, and the loud, eye-watering exhaust.
Most California hippies avidly read (and sold) the L.A. or San Francisco Free Press. This was an alternative newspaper, and had underground exposes of the various underbellies of the American civilization (stylized "Amerika"). This included industrialism, the ongoing war in Vietnam, and the international covert operations of our government as well as the domestic ones. Oh, and definitely narcs and "the pigs".
GTA was the dominant visible spokesman for the WCG at this time on the World Tomorrow radio and television programs. In a curious mixture of politics, he generally trashed the hippies and emerging ethnic (Black and Chicano) pride movements, but did glom on to the hippie ideal of cleaning up the environment and making the earth habitable again. But this was not a trend the WCG created. As was their habit, the Armstrongs lifted and co-opted the trashing of the environment as a "sign of the end times", and making it one of several main themes covered by the broadcasts and magazines of that day. Their exploitation of this was vintage HWA-inspired analysis of the news from his own fractured views of prophecy, additional "evidence" that was presented as part of their ongoing cultic-recruitment efforts of that day.
You can't honestly say that HWA/GTA/WCG spawned or were in the vanguard of the environmental movement. The articles of the day on that topic had the same disclaimer at the end, that this was a problem for which there was no solution until the return of Jesus Christ. In effect, it was just as harmful as all of their Phariseeism and false prophecy, a part of the same rotten apple core. If the troubled global leaders who granted HWA photo ops had the impression that he had deep understanding of environmental issues, it was the result of deliberate and disingenuous spin.
BB
By the way, nck, did you get to watch the grandfather and his grandson put on the Native American hoop dance exhibition at Mesa Verde? The ruins there are some of the most elaborate I've seen.
ReplyDeleteBB
I find your SoCal expose interesting, as much as what you wrote on the old radio days. I am endeavoring to read it with the fitting pace of the intro of "The Streets of San Francisco." (when concentration time spans were longer than 3 seconds)
ReplyDeleteAnd I do realize that trends, "weltgeist", "sign of the times" cannot be traced back to one influencer or cause.
Having said that.
I do have to remind those interested that Armstrongism also hailed from the strain of 7th day adventism. This strain was environmentalist before the word was even a concept. Also Judaism and its symbols, like adventism are largely agriculture based.
Ah yes the 20th century.
We are talking "Reports from the Club of Rome", the Doomsday clock scientists. 2 minutes to twelve it was.
Even within WCG and its many cultures 2 main strains seemed to be evident. A) being the "high culture", "government ruling the stars", "AC standard, Corporate Merritt Estate millionaires row. B) being the Texan, Midwestern, practical, doceedo with your partner, banjo culture or the people.
Both strains adressed the prevailing problems also adressed by secular sources like the Club of Rome.
To me it was obvious that the "making yoghurt and baking own bread" practices in the early seventies were also inspired by adventists practices and focus on healthy food. I am sure you are aware that Kellogg cornflakes also hails from that strain.
Native Americans.
In the whole I found it an enlightening experience to explore New Mexico and the ancient pueblos. It seems these people, like the people on Easter Island were in a constant struggle with the (changing environment). For whatever the native Americans have become, I believe they should be restored and honored for what they had accomplished prior to the coming of new inhabitants according to the law of history. People should visit more exhibitions, festivals or whatever to learn about peoples who managed to survive without airconditioning, refrigirators and whatsnot.
Usually I am disappointed to see a native American or a Nepalese child in jeans and sneakers. Perhaps it is necessary to achieve that global consiousness that one day must work to greater cooperation.
nck