A coherent defense of the practices of Commandment-keeping, sectarian
Christians can be developed by bringing together various theological
assumptions that many of the currently scattered groups share. These
fellowships base their beliefs and practices on scripture. A typical
service often involves a sermon quoting extensively from the Bible. The
expectation of the speaker is that the listeners have Bibles with them and
are looking up each reference for themselves. It is essential to refer to
a few biblical passages as part of a discussion of the theological
propositions discussed in this chapter. Commandment Keepers expect a
religious discussion to be based upon exposition of scriptures. When
scriptures are quoted in this chapter, it is not with the intent to claim
that they must be understood in a particular way. The citations will serve
to illustrate why Commandment Keepers believe that their beliefs and
practices are scripturally derived.
An important starting point for a Commandment Keeper is that
nearly all human beings will ultimately be given eternal bliss, salvation,
if you please. In expounding upon prophecies relating to a coming
millennium of divine rule, Don Henson, a United Church of God pastor,
writes:
God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come
to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). These prophecies reveal that God will make
His gift of salvation available to all who have lived (Henson 1999, 7).
There are, in the theological scenario of the Commandment Keepers,
three categories of people. Some people will be alive when Christ returns
and will survive into the millennium. It is presumed that most of them
will eventually accept the religion of Jesus Christ:
This is the time God has set to really start to save the people.
Blindness will be removed; the people will see God's mercy and love
clearly. All who are blinded today, but who live into that period, will
have their first opportunity for salvation. Christ will come with "ten
thousands" of His saints to execute judgement and convince all that are
ungodly of their ungodly deeds (Jude 14, 15). The devil will be chained
so he cannot deceive people (Revelation 20:1-3). The saints will be
ruling the nations here on earth (Dan. 7:27; Luke 19:17; Rev. 2:26, 27;
5:10) (Worldwide Church of God 1972, 3).
Those who have already died are at present unconscious. The Commandment
Keepers are generally hostile to the doctrine of an immortal soul that
continues to live in heaven, hell, or purgatory:
We believe that humanity was created in the image of God with the
potential to become children of God, partakers of the divine nature. God
formed humanity of flesh, which is material substance. Human beings live
by the breath of life, are mortal, subject to corruption and decay,
without eternal life, except as the gift of God under God's terms and
conditions as expressed in the Bible (United Church of God 1998, 9)
Their generally accepted teaching is that after the millennium, nearly
everyone who lived and died will be resurrected to physical life on a
renewed physical earth to then have an opportunity to live in full harmony
with God's laws. It is presumed that most of them will commit themselves
to the religion of Jesus Christ:
This scene in Revelation 20 pictures the climax of God's plan'the
great white throne [of] judgment, when the vast number of unsaved people
will be resurrected and be given their first chance for salvation-all
those millions and millions who have lived and died since the time of
Adam up through our age, and have not known the true way to eternal
life. (Worldwide Church of God 1972, 4)
Incorrigibly wicked people will die and no larger exist. Eternal death
is their eternal punishment, not eternal life enduring some sort of pain:
The first place we find nephesh referring to mankind is in the second
chapter of Genesis: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).
The word translated "soul" in this verse is again the
Hebrew word nephesh. Other translations of the Bible state that man
became a living "being" or "person." This verse does not say that Adam
had an immortal soul; rather it says that God breathed into Adam the
"breath of life," and Adam became a living soul. At the end of his days,
when the breath of life left Adam, he died and returned to dust. In
death his life and consciousness simultaneously ceased.
The soul (nephesh) is not immortal, because it dies. This
is clear in the Bible. For example, the prophet Ezekiel quoted God:
"Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul
of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, see also
verse 20). (D'Alessandro, et al. 1997, 10- 12).
The generally accepted doctrine of Commandment Keepers
concerning the ultimate destiny of the wicked is termed by some
theologians, "annihilationism." A major American news magazine recently
reported that this view is growing in popularity among conservative
Protestant theologians (Sheler 2000, 50).
According to the dominant theology in the Commandment-keeping
community, God has chosen a relatively small number in human history to be
a part of the Church of God:
Nowhere is there any prophecy that the one true Church should become
great and powerful, exerting influence in this world. Rather, Jesus
called it the "Little Flock," persecuted, scattered by the
world'separate from the world! (Hoeh 1978, 3)
When Christ returns the faithful members of God's Church throughout
history will be resurrected to life as spirit beings. Those still alive
will be transformed from being physical to being spirit:
When Jesus Christ returns to earth in full supreme power and glory of
the Creator God, he is coming, this time, to save the world,
spiritually. (Armstrong 1985, 344)
The resurrected saints will assist Jesus Christ in ruling the physical
world for the thousand-year period and the additional periods of judgment
previously described.
According to this teaching, when the plan is completed, all
people who have accepted God's rule will be spirit-beings, living forever
as God's daughters or sons. Human beings were created to become eternal
members of a divine family. Life in the physical realm is believed to be a
prelude to life in the realm of the spirit. Those who are unwilling to
live in harmony with the laws of God, the father of the divine family,
will never be given life in the spirit realm. They will be sentenced to a
death from which there will be no escape by a resurrection. They will
simply cease to exist.
Most human beings will be confronted with that choice, eternal
life or eternal death, in a post-millennial world, after they have already
lived during pre-millennial history. In their first physical life they
will not have been forced to make a final commitment. They will be
resurrected to a second physical life in a paradisical world governed by
God's laws. The environment at that time will be conducive to successful
adherence to the beliefs and practices that prepare human beings for
eternal life in the divine family.
Because of this world view, Commandment Keepers are not engaged
in a frantic effort to convert non-members. They remember John 6:44:
No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I
will raise that person up on the last day.
There is a related scripture nearby that also should be cited at this
point, John 6:65:
And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to
me unless it is granted by the Father."
Conversion is looked upon as coming from God and as something that only
a small minority of humans will experience this side of the Second Advent.
It will be a common experience after that climactic event.
As has already been mentioned, there are scriptures in Revelation
20 that are interpreted to refer to a resurrection of saints, a thousand
years of peace, and then a general resurrection to judgment, the period of
"The Great White Throne Judgment":
Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to
judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their
testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the
beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or
on their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand
years.
(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the
thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first
resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand
years.
Then I saw a great white throne and the One who sat on it;
the earth and the heaven fled from his presence and no place was found
for them.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the
throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of
life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in
the books. (Revelation 20:4-6; 11-12)
It is believed that this post-millennial period is being
alluded to in Matthew 12:41-42:
The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this
generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of
Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!
The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with
this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the
earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater
than Solomon is here! (Matthew 12:41-42)
The condemnation spoken of there is assumed to be the start of a
process by which repentance and reconciliation with God can be ultimately
achieved.
A further implication of this optimism concerning human destiny
is that Commandment Keepers understand that God has allowed human beings
some slack, some loopholes should they prefer to use them. Most people are
not being confronted with enough of God's truth so as to be forced to
decide yay or nay regarding their own commitment to God's ultimate purpose
for them. In other words, some aspects of Commandment-keeping are
motivated by a desire to please God, to have a better relationship with
God, and to be a better person in an effective community. Not all conduct
will be justified as a logician might justify a philosophical argument. It
is not a matter of, "You're cornered!" but, rather of what option is most
spiritually edifying. It must be added, however, that many Commandment
Keepers, if not most, believe that for them, with their understanding of
scripture, to violate the Sabbath and annual holy days would be considered
sin and would severely disrupt their relationship with the Deity:
For love to be meaningful it must be accurately defined and
understood. That is the purpose of God's law, especially the Ten
Commandments. (Foster 1998, 3)
The next logical point of discussion is the role of the
Church. Commandment Keepers believe that the ancient nation of Israel was
offered natural greatness in return for the acceptance of a divinely
revealed code of law. The issue at Mount Sinai was not eternal life, but
national greatness. Israel was to be a model nation, interacting with
other physical nations of the world in a godly manner:
In ancient Israel God gave them knowledge of his law, but not his
Spirit. Their minds were not converted or changed. They were still
carnal. The 37th chapter of Ezekiel reveals how those of ancient Israel
will receive the Spirit of God, if willing, in the Great White Throne
Judgment. (Armstrong 1985, 239)
Commandment Keepers would generally agree that it was
apparent by the time of Jesus that Israel had been unsuccessful in
fulfilling its divinely appointed role. In the millennium Israel will have
a second opportunity to be an international role model, but under far
better conditions and with far greater potential results. Israel's
conversion will begin the process by which all nations will accept the
true religion.
After discussing the historical and prophetic role of Israel, as
necessary background, theological expositions by Commandment Keepers can
be expected to focus on the role of the New Testament Church. It began
with Jews but is not based on ethnicity. Its members are offered
individual salvation.
Herbert W. Armstrong declares:
Remember God has set out a 7,000-year master plan for accomplishing
his purpose. We have stated that his purpose is to reproduce himself.
But actually reproducing himself means converting the world from sin
into God's righteousness. It means instilling within God's potential
children the perfect spiritual character of God. They would become
finally born sons in the God family. (Armstrong 1985, 227-228)
Relating the master plan specifically to the Church, he writes:
And just as God has not created all at once, but in successive
stages, so he is bringing salvation to the world in successive stages.
The Church is a necessary instrumentality preparatory to, and in order
to, bring salvation to humanity. Therefore, once again, let it be
emphasized that the purpose of the Church is not merely to give
salvation to those called into the Church, but to teach and train those
predestined and called into the Church as instruments God shall use in
bringing the world to salvation. (Armstrong 1985, 228).
Contemporary disciples of Herbert W. Armstrong do not generally cite
the writings of Stanley Hauerwas. Yet, it would be useful at this point to
remind the reader that Hauerwas (1989 and 1996) has written two books
referring to contemporary Christians as analogous to "resident aliens."
That term aptly describes the perspective of sectarian Christian
Commandment Keepers. The Church is a witnessing community, illustrating a
better way of life but not promoting it politically. Its members are
following God's commandments in preparation for an eternal life, which
will begin with their administrating the Kingdom of God under Jesus Christ
for a thousand years:
The family of God will grow. As kings and priests, the Church on the
resurrection will be co-rulers under Christ in restoring the government
of God over all nations. But we shall also be, as priests, co-saviors
with him in saving the world. (Armstrong 1985, 240).
In these pre-millennial times in which we live, Church members are
representatives of a government which will ultimately come by force to
take over the world. They do not attempt or expect to exercise significant
authority over non-members until that time:
The CHURCH, then, is that body called out from Satan's world being
prepared to restore, with and under Christ, the GOVERNMENT of God. That
shall be a time when Satan shall have been removed. It shall be a time
when all living shall be called to repentance and salvation with eternal
life through the Holy Spirit of God! The CHURCH immortal shall be RULING
with Christ'replacing the present role of Satan! (Armstrong 1985, 255)
[Emphasis in the original]
Since the Church is not seen as a political force, it has
limited options for maintaining internal discipline. There are positions
of leadership, and members could be expected to maintain good standing so
as to be qualified for these positions. Also, there would naturally be
peer pressure within the community to maintain proper standards and a
ministry which, among other functions, would be expected to consistently
persuade the membership to maintain its commitment to Commandment-keeping.
In accordance with the New Testament examples, the major instrument of
discipline in the community is the exclusion of flagrant violators of
Church standards from participation in Church functions. This practice has
been mentioned in Chapter Three. In general circles, this practice is
often referred to as excommunication. In Sectarian Church of God circles
it is usually called disfellowshipment. Romans 16:17 states:
I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause
dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have
learned; avoid them.
Commandment-keeping groups use this verse as the basis of
taking note publicly of individuals who are deliberately disrupting the
peace of the community in their behavior by, for example, circulating
hostile material at services or aggressively recruiting for other
religions. Such open disputing will cause the leadership in the community
to bar that individual from services and to warn the membership about that
person's fractious behavior.
In Chapter Three this dissertation dealt briefly with the problem
of the anti-democratic way in which this policy has been administered for
half a century in the Worldwide Church of God and many of its spin-off
organizations. Within the Commandment- keeping community some adherents
are now teaching that if someone is to be excluded from a congregation for
an extended period of time, the decision should be made by a
representative body of the congregation rather than by one individual. It
is understandable that perhaps the whole community should not be aware of
what problem has caused the action to be taken. Yet it is still valid,
according to this view, that a duly authorized council or committee should
be responsible for such disciplinary measures, not just one man. That is
the precedent established by ancient synagogue practice (Wigoder 1989,
247).
A critical aspect of the role of the Church is to proclaim the
coming of God's rule:
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have
commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the
age." (Matthew 28:18- 20)
This proclamation is important for various reasons. It gives hope to a
suffering humanity. It may influence people to live life in a better way,
even if they do not become Church members. Some few will respond to the
message by actually becoming members themselves, future rulers of the
millennial earth:
Jesus expects His followers to carry out His work of spreading the
gospel of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:23-24, 26) and sharing His
truth and commandments with the world (Matthew 28:18-20). We are to wait
for His return with faith and patience (Luke 21:19), knowing that "he
who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13-15) (Schroeder
1999, 11).
Another function of the proclamation is to show that society
as a whole has historically been unwilling to live in harmony with
biblical laws, thus showing humankind in retrospect the cause of its major
problems. Thus, a general rejection of the message is looked upon as
normal and necessary for the ultimate good of human society. It is
expected that a humbled humanity which rejected God's religion in
pre-millennial times will be even more receptive later. People will
compare the fruits of their moral rejection of God's religion with the
wonderful results of their acceptance of it during the millennium. A
stronger commitment to God's way of life will be produced.
Commandment Keepers expect that shortly before Christ's return,
two powerful prophets, the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11, will
dramatically confront the leaders of the world and their subjects in
general with a powerful warning to change their wicked ways or face divine
punishment:
These two witnesses are two human beings who are given extraordinary
power for 3 « years just prior to Christ's return (verse 3).
Their mission will be to give one final warning to the
governments of this world that man's ways, cut off from God, can never
see peace. (Worldwide Church of God n.d., Two Witnesses, 1)
The general rejection of the warning, persecution of the Church, and
worldwide conflict with the threat of total destruction, will lead to the
return of Jesus Christ. The immediate act of defiance precipitating this
heavenly invasion will be the martyrdom of the Two Witnesses.
It is believed by Commandment Keepers that the world began as a
physical paradise. Human rebellion against God caused a kind of back up
plan to go into effect. Human beings were allowed free rein to develop
their own civilizations. Thus, the millennium and post-millennial periods
will be an effective contrast.
Such a belief does not encourage active support of attempts to
politically alter society. While such movements may accomplish much good,
they are ultimately not the solution to societal woes. Only the change in
human nature that the millennium will bring will solve civilization's most
persistent problems. There is an analogy to the teachings of the great
Marxist ideologue of a century ago, Daniel DeLeon. He taught that social
democratic reforms were a distraction, like washing the garbage before
throwing it away. Commandment Keepers need not worry about throwing away
the world's civilizations. They believe that God will accomplish that
supernaturally. In the meantime, humankind is learning the lesson that
none of its humanly devised civilizations can bring happiness:
The gospel of the Kingdom of God reveals that Jesus Christ will
set up His Kingdom on earth with His resurrected saints to give everyone
the opportunity for eternal life. God's desire is for everyone to
inherit the Kingdom of God, each in his or her own time (2 Peter 3:9; 1
Corinthians 15:20-26).
The true gospel reveals that the saints'the faithful
followers of Jesus Christ resurrected to eternal life at His return'will
be actively involved in ruling with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God
when it is established (Revelation 5:10). Prophecies in the book of
Isaiah reveal that Christ will begin working with the human beings left
alive after His return to teach them His ways. The resurrected saints
will assist Christ in bringing about complete spiritual and physical
healing of the nations (Isaiah 30:20-21; 35:1, 5-6). (Treybig 1999,
Gospel, 35).
Israel functioned as a nation among other nations under the
Old Covenant. The Church is not functioning now in that way. Church
members are to be apolitical and non-violent. In common with certain other
religious communities, they are conscientious objectors. Moreover, their
distinct holy days and dietary habits would cause them to avoid
participating in organizations that maintain a tight discipline and unity
of conduct. They would, therefore, tend to avoid even a non-combatant role
in the military.
As noted earlier, the prophet Jeremiah promised Israelites a
divine solution for their sinfulness. A New Covenant would be made that
would change their very nature. This change of nature would cause them to
desire to obey God's commandments from within themselves rather than as a
result of externally imposed disciplinary measures.
Eternal life is the gift God has in store for those who turn from the
way of sin and begin obeying Him from the heart. (Foster 1999, What
is Your Destiny?, 5)
This New Covenant would involve forgiveness for their past
offenses. Commandment Keepers expect that the millennium will begin with a
mass conversion of the descendants of ancient Israel and Judah and their
reunion and restoration to national greatness as the first step in the
conversion of all humankind. It is believed that at that time, as has
already been stated, those who were part of the pre-millennial Church of
God will be spirit- beings possessing eternal life.
It would be useful to point out that most Commandment Keepers
believe that the Anglo-Saxons, Celts, and many people of the politically
democratic nations of northwest Europe are descendants of the northern ten
tribes of Israel who were forcibly expelled from their territory by the
Assyrian Empire in the late eighth and early seventh centuries BCE. The
most effective presentation of this belief can be found in the 1986
edition of The United States and Britain in Prophecy, published by
the Worldwide Church of God. This form of Anglo- Israelism means that the
Anglo-Saxons, Celts, and certain other related ethnic groups will someday
merge with the Jewish people and observe many practices commonly thought
of as Jewish today, such as the Saturday Sabbath, Old Testament Holy Day
seasons, and Old Testament dietary laws. Other nations all over the world
will eventually follow this example while not losing their specific ethnic
identities:
I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my
statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.
Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your
ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. . . .
then say to them, thus says the Lord God: I will take the
people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will
gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land.
I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains
of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall
they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two
kingdoms'.
My servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have
one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe
my statutes. (Ezekiel 36:27-28, 37:21-22, 24)
To these passages can be added the following scripture from
Zechariah 14:16:
Then all who survive of the nations that have come against Jerusalem
shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and
to keep the festival of booths.
Adherents of those religious organizations carrying on the
legacy of Herbert W. Armstrong generally share the following encapsulated
summary of a large number of scriptures. Under the Old Covenant ancient
Israelites had agreed to obey the Torah. Generally speaking, ethicists
would agree that some of its laws still define appropriate human conduct
such as prohibitions against stealing and murder. There is a critical
question dividing mainstream Christians from Commandment Keepers. That
question is how many of the laws of the Old Testament continue to define
appropriate behavior for a contemporary Christian who seeks to live in
harmony with God's will for her or him as much as possible.
According to this view, the world is destined to be blessed
nation by nation with a proper relationship with God. This process has
already begun with the selection of the people of Israel as the vanguard
nation, which someday will accept the responsibility of being a proper
example for other nations to follow:
Here is good news! Here is part of the Gospel message. Blindness is
happened to Israel, not forever, but until the full number of Gentiles
who are to be converted in this age comes into the Kingdom. Then Israel
shall be forgiven and the vast majority of Gentiles shall seek God
("Worldwide Church of God 1970, "The Coming Utopia," 4).
Right and wrong behavior and a proper relationship with God
are not dependent upon specific physical promises. The Old Testament is
still relevant to conduct even though many historical conditions have
changed. A further dimension to add is that generally communities are
defined by shared festivals and dietary habits. It should not be
unreasonable to believe that those who seek to identify the Church of God
might look for such signs to designate that community. Looking to God to
define certain cultural norms is a way to demonstrate one's commitment to
God's sovereignty. Also, it evinces desire for an intimate relationship
with God:
A converted person is a person with a totally changed, or converted
mind. A converted mind in which the very mind of God is joined with the
human mind as God says through the apostle Paul, "Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). The Holy Spirit is the
spirit of a sound mind, which is a completely changed mind. It has made
an about-face in its desires, purposes and intentions. (Armstrong 1985,
238)
Commandment Keepers believe that to accept their entire body
of beliefs and practices does not require being convinced beyond a doubt.
They only need to show the reasonableness of their positions and the
problems with other positions. They believe that total surrender to God is
the result of a divine miracle. Argumentation plays its part, but it is
not enough to really convert a human mind to the religion of Jesus Christ.
It is believed that at any given time people may become baptized members
of the Church who have not really been converted.
Baptism is for adults who have repented of their sins and
accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Master. Commandment Keepers
believe that counseling with a minister or Church representative should
precede baptism. Sometimes a delay may be recommended:
Now about children. You can't immerse children, but anyway children
are not mature enough to have truly repented. Baptism is for those who
have come to enough of an adult mind to have truly repented. (Armstrong
1979, 4)
Fallible humans, however, are conducting the procedure, on earth;
mistakes can be made. Some people may be convinced intellectually but not
spiritually converted. Such people potentially can be unconvinced in time:
Anyone who "joins the church of his choice" has not come into God's
true Church. One cannot just "join" the TRUE Church of God. One is first
selected and drawn by God the Father through his Spirit, brought to a
complete heartrending repentance, and changed in his total life-style,
and has also not only believed in and accepted Jesus Christ as personal
Savior, but also has believed Christ. (Armstrong 1985, 229)
This dissertation began with an allusion to the second
chapter of the book of Acts. That chapter describes a mass baptism that
occurred on what might be called the official inception of the New
Testament Church. That event is recorded as taking place on the festival
known to Christians as Pentecost. Those baptized were devout Jews (Acts
2:5, 41) who did not need to learn about the practices that new converts
today generally learn about from Church members.
The previous paragraph is not intended to imply that new converts
must be thoroughly grounded in the beliefs and practices of Commandment
Keepers. What is looked for is a genuine desire to make whatever changes
are necessary. Usually this becomes obvious by the adherence to one or
more of the distinctive practices, such as the Saturday Sabbath, or the
avoidance of Christmas and Easter observances:
Changing our lives to submit to God'what the Bible refers to as
repentance'is based on the conviction that He will intervene in our
lives and ultimately grant us eternal life. Faith, which includes
understanding and action, is required for salvation. After all, God will
not give eternal life to someone who does not believe or obey Him. Such
a person would bring misery on himself and others for all eternity.
Faithlessness is hopelessness (Treybig 1999, You Can Have Living
Faith, 9).
In the literature of the old Worldwide Church of God and its
contemporary offshoots, the concept of faith is closely linked with
obedience. God's true Church is motivated by faith to keep God's
Commandments:
The special and holy people of God, like Abraham are obedient
people'selected from all nations'who have chosen not to live by bread
alone, "but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew
4:4). Their trust in God comes from the heart and is demonstrated by
their obedient actions. God's Spirit works in them to produce faith and
obedience, making them special to God. (Foster 1999, The Church Jesus
Built, 15)
Our culture generally appreciates someone who can disagree
without being disagreeable; so do Commandment Keepers. They seek open
minds and environments conducive to polite discussion. It is not their
style to be "in your face" or to provoke confrontation. They expect
persecution to come at times, but they do not seek to court it or wallow
in it. Generally, a discussion with an American member of the community
will show that the members love and appreciate their country and its
freedoms. They are anticipating a coming rise of dictatorial nations,
which will restrict the freedom of Commandment Keepers to practice and
promote their religion. For these sectarians, our present era is a period
of respite in a sordid history of religious persecution punctuated by
martyrdom. In that sense their history parallels that of world Jewry with
whom many of them feel a special empathy.
Generally speaking, Commandment Keepers enthusiastically study
biblical prophecy and are thus aware of Zechariah 8:23:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from nations of
every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and
saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
In the history of Christianity there have been periodic
eruptions of sectarianism. It seems to have traveled from Armenia to the
Balkans to the Alpine regions prior to the Protestant Reformation.
Commandment Keepers have sought to research the sects of the past for
evidence of shared beliefs and practices and have developed sketchy
historical writings tracing many of their doctrines from the first century
CE through to this century. As we have seen in the previous chapters, it
is easier to pick up their story in post-Reformation Europe.
Commandment Keepers see in such institutions as the Inquisition a
prophesied persecution of the true followers of Jesus Christ. As a student
of the history of religion, I find the history of Christianity remarkable
for the magnitude of religiously motivated violence in the light of the
early pacifistic teachings of Jesus. Sectarians, seeking to establish the
legitimacy of their dissent from the mainstream, often cite this history.
As an aside I would remind the reader that different religious affiliation
within Christianity has been a factor in recent violence in Yugoslavia and
certainly has played a critically important role in the inter-group
conflicts in Northern Ireland.
It has already been mentioned that Commandment Keepers often
display a certain affinity for Jews. This doesn't mean that the community
is free of negative feelings and stereotypes. Such feelings are also
displayed from time to time, but a general philosemitism emerges from two
sources. One is the belief among people of northwest European origin that
they and the Jews share a common ancestry, a common ancient history, and a
future reconciliation. The second is due to many shared beliefs and
practices and a common heritage of persecution for some of those
practices. Anti-Semitism continues to be a problem in our contemporary
world. Other Christians have classified many Commandment Keepers as
Jewish. Acquiring that label sometimes has led to negative consequences
for the Commandment Keepers.
This issue of the Jewishness of Christianity is currently being
widely discussed. One reason is the post-Holocaust sensitivity of
Christianity to its heritage of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism has played a
role in the rejection by many Christian communities of Old Testament
practices and their replacement by practices that often originated in
paganism. That reality is a theme in the literature of the Christian sects
that observe the ancient Hebrew Sabbath, festivals, and dietary laws.
For example, here are some comments concerning the final
authorization of Sunday as a day of a rest in the Roman Empire and the
abandonment of the Saturday Sabbath by mainstream Christianity:
This change was legislated in A.D. 321, on the seventh of
March. On this day an unusual edict was issued by the Roman Emperor
Constantine. The edict is often designated as the earliest Sunday law.
It read as follows: "On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrates
and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In
the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and
lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another
day is not suitable for grain sowing or for vine planting; lest by
neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven
should be lost"; (Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit.12, 3; translated in
History of the Christian Church, Schaff, vol. III, 380).
Then finally, in A.D. 365, it actually became illegal to
keep the seventh-day Sabbath. A convention of ecclesiastical authorities
was held in what is today the nation of Turkey. It was called the
Council of Laodicea and was convened to settle, among other matters, the
Sabbath question. One of its most famous canons was the twenty-ninth
which read as follows: "Christians must not judaize by resting on the
Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather, honoring the Lord's Day;
and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found
to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ" (Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. XIV, 148). (Worldwide Church of God n.d.,
Sunday Observance)
One of the fundamental presumptions of Commandment Keepers is
that there should have been a greater continuity between the original
Jerusalem church and what has followed. They argue that Christianity
should finally overcome anti-Semitism and return to its roots.
Along these lines I would like to cite an analogy with Islam.
Although it is a universal religion, it is still closely associated with
Arabic geography, history, and culture. Its most holy city is in Arabia.
Its scriptures are in Arabic. Throughout the world, even in non-Arabic
speaking nations, the Muslim call to prayer is broadcast in Arabic.
Christianity could have retained a closer tie to Judaism and
Hebraic culture and still have become widely diffused. Of course, the New
Testament was written in Greek, but its authors generally were
well-grounded in many practices thought of today as Jewish, and generally
not practiced by most professing Christians. The abandonment of these
practices by mainstream Christianity was not inevitable. Commandment
Keepers believe that many of those practices are essential to the
authentic Christian way of life prescribed by the New Testament.
It should now be pointed out more explicitly that the
Commandment-keeping sectarians under discussion believe that Christianity
early became confused and corrupted and ultimately departed from the
original faith:
The churches of today have changed drastically from Christ's pattern!
(Armstrong 1985, 205)
These sectarians believe that the problem already existed in New
Testament times:
The Church was infiltrated during the First Century with another
gospel. (Armstrong 1985, xii)
The Commandment Keepers see themselves as a restoration of the
original, authentic Christian Church. Quite representative of the views of
many of these sectarians are the words of Mario Seiglie concerning
Christmas:
Dec. 25 was arbitrarily selected, not because Jesus was born on that
day, but because it was already popular in pagan religious celebrations
as the birthday of the sun. (Seiglie 1995, 19)
The origins of Christmas cannot be traced either to the teachings or
practices of the earliest Christians. The biblical feast days of Jesus
Christ and the apostles were neglected by later religious leaders who
instituted a new set of holidays in their place. (19)
There is an outstanding weakness in the position that Sabbath
and Torah-based observance is incumbent upon Christians. That weakness is
the lack of explicit exhortation to do so in New Testament scriptures and
the lack therein of any warnings against not doing so. On the other hand,
it can be argued that since Old Testament festival imagery is so important
in the theological expositions and prophecies of the New Testament,
observance of those festivals should at least be a recommended policy for
Christians.
It can also be argued that the apparent omission of condemnation
for non-observance of the Sabbath and the festivals of the Torah was an
escape hatch provided for those minds not totally surrendered to God's
will. Even though a Christian should want to follow the example of Jesus
Christ and the early Church, societal pressures can make it difficult to
do so completely. Some well meaning people might find the observance of
the ancient Israelite festivals to be too much of a challenge. Perhaps
such people have not yet been selected for pre-millennial membership in
God's Church. They will have an opportunity for conversion in another age.
It is also possible to criticize the apolitical stance of most
Commandment Keepers, since they do benefit from the political activity of
others. Additional criticism can be levied against the pacifism that is
generally typical of the movement. Law and order in society and, most
everyone would agree, internationally, is maintained by the use of force.
This topic is relevant in various aspects to other religious traditions
and is beyond the scope of this dissertation. Even if Commandment Keepers
were involved in politics, and even if that involvement extended to
participation in military activity, the community could still maintain
that it should not use force to compel obedience to the divine laws. It
could still insist that millennial conditions would be needed before such
a policy should be instituted. There is an analogy with Rabbinic Judaism
which, for example, has never in the Common Era attempted to enforce a
Jubilee Year in the Jews' ancestral homeland. It is believed that
conditions are not yet appropriate for the revival of that ancient
biblical institution (Wigoder 1989, 392).
One of the most difficult challenges for Commandment Keepers is
where to draw the line. Which Old Testament practices ought to be
continued and which may be discarded? The Commandment Keepers' three major
criteria for this determination have been introduced previously and will
be discussed in chapters five, six and seven. Their hermeneutic provides
that all relevant scriptural data be collected and weighed when making
such decisions. Sometimes gray areas remain. For example, to what degree
should a farmer strive to obey the commandment to rest his or her land
every seven years? Does the law apply outside of the Promised Land? Does
it apply in a society whose land policies and economic policies are
established on a different basis from those of the Old Testament?
Commandment Keepers prefer living with such gray areas to
scrapping practices like the Saturday Sabbath that they believe are
clearly mandatory for true, faithful followers of Jesus Christ. As has
already been stated, such issues can be confronted by weighing all the
related scriptures and applying them to the contemporary scene, keeping in
mind the theological perspective already discussed. It would be unfair to
categorize such analysis as necessarily so arbitrary as to invalidate the
overall religious system.
As a point of interest, the Worldwide Church of God at one time
ran agricultural operations on two college campuses, one in England, and
one in Texas. The land sabbath was observed on each campus. Positive
articles concerning the experience were written, at the time, in official
church publications (Good News, 1967; Worldwide News, 1973).
Another "gray area" involves the commandment in Deuteronomy 22:12
to wear fringes on the corners of one's garment. It also appears with more
elaboration in Numbers 15:37-41. If such a law is obligatory for New
Testament Christians, various administrative decisions would need to be
made in order to apply it consistently in a community. For example: Does
it apply to males and females? To what sort of garments does it apply?
Does it involve a specific time of day?
Rabbinic Judaism has developed a standard approach to this law in
the form of a four-cornered garment with fringes, also called tassels. It
is donned by Orthodox Jewish men as they rise from bed and is worn while
they are awake. So, it is jokingly said, Judaism is a religion with
strings attached. The Hebrew word for the tassel is often transliterated
as tzitzith.
The long form of the commandment to wear tzitzith appears
in a context of many incidents of Israelite rebellion against divine
authority. It can be seen as an enforcement procedure, an external
discipline. In fact, the explanation given for it is that it is intended
to serve as a memory aid:
You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember
all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and not follow the lust of
your own heart and your own eyes.
So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you
shall be holy to your God (Numbers 15:39-40).
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan writes:
In the simplest sense, then, the Tzitzith serve as a reminder. We
bind them to our garments just as one might tie a string around his
finger or belt in order to remember something. Some say that the
Tzitzith is reminiscent of a lash, serving to remind us that we are
ultimately accountable for all our deeds and misdeeds. We wear them as a
constant reminder that we must obey God's commandments, and not be led
astray by our desires. (Kaplan 1984, 2)
From a Christian perspective then, the tzitzith can be
seen as a physical type of the spiritual antitype, God's Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit motivates Christians to keep on the straight and narrow path
to salvation. The ancient tassels were a reminder of a formal commitment
that a nation had made to God. The tassels functioned on the level of the
community as well as for each individual who wore them. The tzitzith
can be seen as a disciplinary measure that was commanded as a response to
disobedience, not as a part of that body of laws that are necessary to
define righteous living.
As if in anticipation of this issue, John 14:26 states:
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said
to you.
Thus it can be argued that the influence of God's Spirit under the New
Covenant supersedes the wearing of the tzitzith and makes such a
practice redundant, or even somewhat disrespectful to the new relationship
that the ministry of Jesus Christ has accomplished for Christians. This
argument is based upon the biblical context in which the commandment was
originally given. It was given to remind Israelites to obey other
commandments already in force, such as the holy days and dietary laws. It
can be reasonably contended that the wearing of tzitzith represents
an additional layer of obligation more purely disciplinary in nature.
Ironically, while few evangelicals wear biblical tassels, some
communities are encouraging young people to wear bracelets with the
initials W.W.J.D., which stand for, "What Would Jesus Do?" This mainstream
practice is a de facto return to the tassel in another form. It is not a
practice of the Commandment-keeping sectarians that are the subject of
this dissertation. They would view such an innovation to be inconsistent
with their relationship to God under the New Covenant.
One of the difficulties found among Commandment Keepers is a lack
of scholarly writings produced from within their community. Also, there
are elements in the community which can be accused of racism,
anti-intellectualism, cultism, legalism, and self- righteousness. Such
internal problems within the community should not be used
opportunistically by critics to obscure the sincerity and essential
decency of so many Commandment Keepers. Nor does the existence of these
problems refute the theological positions of these Christian Sectarians.
In recent years, there has been an effort among some elements
within the community to upgrade the educational level of their ministry
and to encourage advanced academic study for those who will be
ecclesiastical instructors. The scattering of many Commandment Keepers
into smaller groupings has hindered that effort. Lack of appropriate
education in the ministry remains a serious problem as the community
enters the twenty first century, with no quick solution on the horizon.
Having briefly discussed salvation history according to
Commandment Keepers, it should be repeated again that for them, the annual
festivals of Leviticus 23, when properly understood, foreshadowed that
history, and thus to continue to observe them is critically important. The
observance of those festivals serves as a tool to remember God's plan of
salvation for humanity. To replace the cycle of Israelite Festivals with
another can cause the Church to obscure or forget very important spiritual
knowledge. For this community, the fact that other religious groupings
have a different understanding of salvation history reinforces the
commitment to observe the festivals commanded in the Pentateuch, while
avoiding mainstream replacements or additions.
It is also believed that observance of these days from year to
year can deepen one's understanding of their spiritual significance, and
that God will bless their obedience by supernaturally revealing more
understanding. Such understanding comes to the minds of the obedient as
they study, meditate, and discuss, not through extraordinary means such as
visions or voices.
In recent years there has been a greater utilization of Jewish
writings for insights into the significance of the annual festivals. Some
groups have been receptive to incorporating traditional Jewish symbols in
their festival observance. For example, few Commandment Keepers spend the
Feast of Tabernacles in a traditional sukkah or booth, as do Orthodox
Jews. Yet, at some festival sites one such booth is constructed as a
symbol of the festival season. Some use has also been made of educational
material emanating from Bible expositors associated with Messianic
Judaism.
It can be seen that if we were to isolate the various aspects of
Commandment Keepers' beliefs, there would be common ground with various
distinctive communities within Christianity such as the Seventh Day
Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Mennonites. Putting the entire
package together defines a unique community. Commandment Keepers keep the
same weekly Sabbath as the Seventh Day Adventists but insist on not
celebrating Christmas and Easter and likewise insist on celebrating the
annual festivals in Leviticus 23. While there are Adventists who observe
in some way the festivals of Leviticus 23, at present these festival
keepers are a relatively small minority in their denomination.
The Adventist tradition includes the writings of Ellen G. White,
who is not included as a credible Bible expositor in the Commandment
Keeper tradition. While withdrawing from what is perceived as paganism,
Jehovah's Witnesses do not observe a weekly Sabbath day, let alone insist
on observance of Saturday. Mennonites have a tradition of non-violence but
they also do not observe a Saturday Sabbath. Nor do they reject mainstream
holidays and embrace Mosaic holy days. As previously stated, the community
under discussion believes that more than any other, it most accurately
reflects the apostolic Christian Church.
