Paul - the blurred apostle

Last night I attended a lecture by Judith Lieu, a professor of "divinity" at Cambridge University. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the promotional blurb from Auckland University looked interesting.

In the century and a half after his death the apostle Paul was remembered in many different ways, as Apostle to the Gentiles, intrepid traveller, pastor, persecutor and preacher. Christians claimed his memory and his authority to address the questions that troubled them; the Paul of whom they wrote may be very different from the Paul of later Christian preaching and theology but he offers us a glimpse into a period when Christians were having to find their place in the world.

It turned out to be an engaging presentation. Lieu placed the apostle in a second century context - as he was remembered by a subsequent generation - and drew on a wide variety of both biblical and extra-biblical sources. With her impeccably English accent, Lieu demonstrated just how little we really know about this seminal figure in Christian history, and the contradictory information that survives. These contradictions exist even in the canonical documents, and raise questions many theologians prefer to sweep under the carpet. Why does Acts, for example, not refer to Paul's letters? Why were his writings ignored for decades before being rehabilitated?

A key figure in the story of Paul's rise to preeminence is the remarkable Marcion, a "heretic" who almost became Pope, and drew together the first canon of the New Testament. Marcion is one of the forgotten figures of Christian history, but it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see his fingerprints all over the "genuine" Pauline epistles. That's a view taken by outspoken skeptical scholar Robert Price, and while Judith Lieu was far more judicious in her choice of words, I could imagine Bob nodding enthusiastically and making approving grunts.

The second century casts a long retrospective shadow on the first. All may not be as it seems. To hear that from a scholar of the stature of Judith Lieu was riveting.

Latest Web Rankings

19 COG contenders currently make the top half million on the World Wide Web, as measured by Alexa. In reverse order...

19. Victor Kubik: www.kubik.org - 491 628
18. Flurry's PCG: www.pcog.org - 442 620
17. Martin/Sielaff: www.askelm.com - 374 455
16. AW: that's right here! - 373 976
15. Albrecht's PTM: www.ptm.org - 349 563
14. LCG's member site: www.cogl.org - 345 496
13. Hulme's Vision: www.vision.org - 318 165
12. Ritenbaugh: cgg.org - 303 100
11. LCG: www.lcg.org - 167 600
10. Tkach's fiefdom (WCG/GCI): www.wcg.org - 167 036
09. Pack's RCG: www.thercg.org - 164 687
08. Thiel's COGwriter: www.cogwriter.com/news/ - 158 588 (displaying a 404 error as this item was uploaded)
07. Ritenbaugh's Bible Tools: bibletools.org - 136 887
06. LCG's Tomorrow's World: www.tomorrowsworld.org - 125 033
05. Ronnie Weinland's Sticky End: www.the-end.com - 115 678
04. UCG: www.ucg.org - 106 603
03. Flurry's Trumpet: www.thetrumpet.com - 97 445
02. Ruth's Bible Study: www.biblestudy.org - 97 014
01. UCG's The Good News: www.gnmagazine.org - 75 502

God Is Not a Supernatural Terrorist

How we think about God matters, and the kindergarten mindset of the "Big Dude In The Sky" with thunderbolts and a scowl just doesn't cut the mustard. Here's a short article by Michael Dowd that attacks the fallacy at the heart of the problem.

For what it's worth, I believe the question "do you believe in God" is meaningless unless the term "God" is clearly defined. The Sky Father is a projection, not a reality - a human idol and nothing else. It's no tragedy to see it disappear like the smile on the Cheshire Cat, passing the way of Zeus and Odin. Is that atheism? No, it's a commitment to end idolatry. Put another way, many of the folk who call themselves atheists have a much clearer vision of the pervasive idolatry that parades under the cloak of Christianity than the rest of us.

Have a look at the article, and see if you agree. There's a lot more available here.

UCG - in transition?

A thoughtful commentary on the changed composition of the Council of Elders comes in private correspondence from someone who is closer to both the personalities and the issues than most of us. The points made:

(1) The new board members are fairly "free thinkers" in the UCG context.

(2) For the first time younger individuals are in the majority on the council. While this won't mean a change in doctrine, it could well mean changes in policies and administration.

(3) Many of these individuals lean towards greater accountability in United's operations.

(4) Many of these individuals want to see a change in the way the ministry treat the members (including supporting the right of members to express themselves freely.)

(5) Many of these individuals want to see the lack of unity that exists among the ministry addressed.

(6) Most of these observations can be documented from their bios which were issued prior to voting.

Putting aside cynicism, this sounds like a positive step as UCG appears to move closer to the principles which it started out with. The precedent here may be unparalleled in the Church of God tradition - excluding the exemplary record of the Church of God (Seventh Day) - and is a forceful reminder that the Tkach WCG/GCI continues to lag far behind its biggest splinter in establishing mechanisms for accountable governance. The real litmus test may be whether rapprochement will eventually be possible with some of the congregations (one thinks immediately of COG-Big Sandy) that left UCG under previous administrations.

Meanwhile, at the fulcrum of God's Work

Forget the Packophiles, the Flurridians and Rodomites. The True Work of God is being carried out today by the (honey, would you please pass me the baloney?) United Church of God, an International Association. And wouldn't you know it, the lads are currently meeting in holy convocation. The Word of the Lord may not be going forth from Zion exactly, but it is being trumpeted abroad via Twitter. This update from David Myers:

UCG's new Council of Elders members are William Eddington (Int'l), Richard Thompson (returning), Scott Ashley, Melvin Rhodes.

Eddington hails from Oz (but, hey, noone's perfect!), Melvin writes the goofy right-wing-nut GN articles on world events and prophecy, while Scott paddles the flagship as editor of the GN.

So what does this mean? Can we read the future direction of UCG in these chicken entrails? Who is Richard Thompson? Is the Old Guard on the way out? Does anyone care?

Well, Russell apparently does, and so does Aggie. How about this comment:

The sermon yesterday was given by Bob Dick, a minister from Portland. I don’t know all of the details of what he said, but it’s my understanding that they said that the truth can be found anywhere, that HWA is no longer unique, and that they need to change how they relate to the people around them.

If that's the case, may I respond with a modest burst of politely subdued clapping from the cheap seats.

(Thanks to Aggie for the nod.)

Baptists take note of name change

The following appears on the Texas-based Baptist Standard website.

Worldwide Church of God changes name. The Worldwide Church of God, which re-examined and later rebuked the teachings of founder Herbert W. Armstrong after his death in 1986, has changed its name to Grace Communion International. It’s the second name change for the denomination that Armstrong founded as the Radio Church of God in 1934, and church leaders say it’s a better reflection of a move toward more mainstream evangelical theology. Armstrong denied the Christian belief in the Trinity and took Old Testament law to heart. He urged followers to abide by ancient dietary restrictions, to observe traditional Hebrew festivals, to mark the Sabbath on Saturday and to reject Christmas, Easter and birthdays as pagan holidays. The Glendora, Calif.-based denomination says it lost half its members, 95 percent of its 1,000-person staff, millions of magazine readers and its college in Pasadena, Calif., when it officially repudiated Armstrong’s teachings and “prophetic speculation” in the mid-1990s. Grace Communion International claims 42,000 members in 900 congregations worldwide.

Twittering with Spanky & Son

A report today indicates that most of us who have tried the Twitter fad have quickly regained our common sense and dropped out. I'm pleased to announce that I'm also among the ranks of the former twits. If it can't be done on Facebook it probably shouldn't be.

Not so the magisterium of the LCG, which has launched its own Twitter page. Not to be overly critical (ahem) but it's a bit of a bore.

Not so the short-lived Twitter page belonging to Rod's son Jonathan. It quickly rose to become joke of the month among LCG members and other COG readers who stumbled across it. Jonathan has wisely removed it now, but not before several folk hit the print button on behalf of posterity. AW was tipped off by a correspondent who commented on the fact that any other LCG member placing content of this sort online would be booted out of the church without delay.

To be fair, Jonathan isn't as far as I know a salaried employee of his dad's sect (although it's apparent from his postings that he is a member), and was unaware he was being read by anyone other than a couple of amigos: so why give the guy undue grief? The lesson to be learned for practicing COG members here is that if you're going to use colorful language, exercise advanced scatological skills and demonstrate your need for remedial English, posting it all online is a really dumb thing to do.

Richard, wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge?

Dear Richard

I read your article, and it's nice that you're pleased about WCG's re-branding as Grace Communion International. But if this is cause to make the Christian world rejoice, then there's something terribly wrong. The WCG transformation is more a travesty than a miracle. That's why a lot of the people in the WCG who originally welcomed the "reformation" are now ex-members. Outside commentators like yourself have too often avoided asking the tough questions in their haste to claim a victory for evangelical faith. That's why your blog entry is naive and, frankly, uninformed.

When the changes began, people like you were needed to help guide the beneficiaries of Armstrong's Empire away from a hierarchic mindset. What happened? Nothing. Sure, there has been doctrinal change, and that was hugely necessary. But it wasn't enough.

Richard, if you're serious about helping the newly re-christened GCI and its members, write to Joe Tkach and urge him to introduce genuine accountability into his church (and I do mean his church... which is why accountability is desperately needed.) Encourage him to establish an elected board and a procedure whereby the church president must be selected by a representative body for a set term of office. Familiarise him with the concept of mandated leadership.

If you can pull off that trick, then you'll be able to write about a real miracle, with no argument from me!

Gerry Spends Up Big

Gerry "Six Pack" Flurry has been swanning around in Big Sandy, and guess what he's brought home to Oklahoma?

Mormons collect "mormonabilia", so I guess Gerry collects "herbabilia," and there's been no looking back since he hauled the "prayer rock" to Edmond. Over the years since he's continued, um, pecking away...

No, Gerry, we're all really impressed, aren't we campers? Interested readers will surely want to flock, as it were, to the PCG's triumphant announcement of purchase. Maybe we could all hire a bus for a pilgrimage...

A Clever Clunker

What Aggie calls the "whitewashing" has commenced as a number of Tkach-sect websites waste no time in undergoing a makeover from Worldwide Church of God to Grace Communion International.

"One ministry blog has already been whitewashed. The Surprising God Blog has not (yet). One Pennsylvania congregation has been whitewashed. WCG’s vulnerable and at-risk youth recruitment propaganda has not been whitewashed (yet). One TN congregation has been whitewashed. Anybody speak Spanish? Looks like this congregation has been whitewashed, but I can’t tell for certain." (From ISA)

The move is clever. We all know the sect is still Joe's stolen sinecure. Legally it's still WCG, but a new name creates further distance from the past. Those of us who are past members of WCG have effectively been cut loose a second time... we were never members of anything called Grace Communion International. Joe has put on a silly hat and a plastic nose, "can't see me!"

And it is a clanger of a name. GCI doesn't have the x-factor when it comes to church marketing. I don't think the Glendora mullahs will be too worried though, their downsized sect will continue to rake in returns on legacies and assets for a long time.

One of the interesting revelations that came out in the recent Monte Wolverton interview was that (and I'm heavily paraphrasing here) Pope Joe and Cardinal Mike put the hard word on Monte to hand over his father's Bible Story artwork to the WCG/GCI, even though he had possession. Why? Well, it's obviously worth at least thirty pieces of high grade silver. Because Basil was in church employment at the time the drawings were made, they had the legal right to demand them. Morally speaking though, it was the pits. So if you're wondering why the Wolverton Bible has all those obsequious references to Joe, Mike and WCG... look no further. This is how they treat their friends.

The point is, Joe and Mike are anything but mushy marshmallows. Behind the goofy appearance and sanctimonious exteriors lie hard, calculating men. Their Achilles heel is that they rarely get those calculations right, for which we can all be grateful.