“I want to make a statement about…me…now, if I became deceived, I will never tell you what I’m going to tell you now…I am telling you if I go off into strange ideas, misconduct, rebellion, you name it, don’t follow me. I want to tell you that now, because if I start doing that I’m gonna try to get you to follow me! I’m gonna come to you and tell you it doesn’t apply, it doesn’t mean me, no, no, no, no, no, no, it’s OK to follow me because ABCD and XY and Z. Do you understand what I’m saying? Listen to me now, when I tell you don’t follow me if I go off into weird ideas, or if I get off into other things that are total absolutely unscriptural conduct, because if I do I’m gonna paint it with a different face and try to get you to follow me. Do you understand what I’m saying brethren? Please remember that, because I promise you that if I become deceived, I’ll forget it, and I’ll want you to forget it…And I hope you’ll remember it well enough to quote it right back to me…But I’ll tell you what, I’m not going anywhere.”
-David C Pack
December 12, 1998
The Clarion Call of Apostle David C. Pack
Video and audio files can be found here and on Rumble
It’s more than that: For the Jews, it was a unifying tool to forever make them ‘special’ — they will forever be apart and separate no matter what nation they are in and, for that reason, no matter what their political or religious alignment they may seem to have, their first priority is to their closed group: Gentiles will always be gentiles and excluded from them.
It should also be mentioned that the New Testament is based on what is called hagiography, which is a biography which idealizes its subject — meaning that even if anyone mentioned in the New Testament actually existed (there is no valid historic proof, of course), at best it would be an account which is largely fiction. Scripture itself hints at this with ‘Luke’ mentioning the most excellent Theophilis for whom he wrote up these myths to ‘set them in order’. In other words, one called ‘Luke’ gathered the fragments of unsubstantiated rumors to create the outline / framework of one called Jesus. Theophilis seems to be some sort of ruler. This was common in these times for wealthy patrons to have writers create stories for them.
Moreover, even theologians acknowledge that the New Testament is forged — the writers ascribed as writing the books, never did, but the texts were created from pretty much out of thin air. Think of that: Theologians who are supposed to be the proponents of the Bible know very well that nothing that is said can actually be true. Nevertheless, they are so very arrogant in their insistence that their view is right and the rest of us are so beneath them. It’s sort of like arguing which timeline in Star Trek is the real legitimate account, when, in fact, it’s total fiction and doesn’t exist at all.
Matthew didn’t write Mathew, Luke didn’t write Luke, Mark didn’t write Mark and John didn’t write John and furthermore, whoever did write the books never met Jesus. II Peter is known to be totally fabricated. Half the epistles of Paul are definitely forgeries. And, as mentioned on X, there are a lot of books left out. For example, there aren’t just 4 gospels, there are 40. My favorite is the Gospel of Thomas:
In the Gospel of Thomas, saying #114, (also from the Nag Hammadi), reads: “Simon Peter said to them: Let Mary go out from among us, for women are not worthy of the life. Jesus said: Look, I will lead her that I may make her male, in order that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males.
You can probably see why it was left on the cutting room floor.
And then there’s Revelation. Revelation was so controversial that it was the last to be added to the ‘cannon’:
The Book of Revelation was added to the Christian biblical canon relatively late, with its acceptance finalized in the 4th century. While some early church fathers like Athanasius acknowledged it, Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange notes that it was not universally accepted until later councils. Doubts regarding its authorship, Jewishness, and connection to the Montanist heresy initially hindered its inclusion. Ultimately, the Councils of Hippo (393 AD) and Carthage (397 AD) affirmed its place in the canon.
Here’s a more detailed look:
Early doubts and objections:
The Book of Revelation faced skepticism early on, with some questioning its authorship and its compatibility with other New Testament writings. Some early church leaders also found its apocalyptic themes and symbolism problematic.
Yes, especially that part about the great whore and her protesting daughters.
Of course, Armstrongists have their own spin. For example, you will never see Wade Cox of the Christian Churches of God mention Hebrews 2. Armstrongists bring a whole new level of daft to the Bible by claiming that some how the United States and British Commonwealth are descended from ancient Israel. Curious, because in the 1970s, 75% of the American population could trace their ancestry back to Germany and the British Royal line can trace its lineage back to Germany. Well, no matter, just like the Bible, if Herbert Armstrong said it was true, it just had to be true.
Some of us are somewhat skeptical about that.
The Jews now days are white europeans occupying a land in the Middle East that they stole from those who lived there. They call themselves ‘Gods chosen people’ which is complete bullshit.
Moreover, Israel is one of the most feminist countries in the world. Just one unsubstantiated accusation against a man by a woman can leave him in prison for 20 years. There is a video floating around with an overbearing woman refusing to pay a taxi driver who accused him of sexual assault and called the police on him. It was totally bogus. The police were going to haul him into jail immediately until he showed them the dash cam video. Fortunate for him he had a camera in the taxi. He would have been toast. Nothing happened to the woman, of course.
Well… the Old Testament is partially accurate in some places, as in, “As for my people, children are their oppressors and women rule over them,” not that the Scripture is actually all that helpful for Israeli men. Not sure about the Book of Esther where God is not explicitly named anywhere. Many biblical scholars interpret the Book of Esther as a political satire or a humorous farce. Rather than being a strictly factual historical account, it uses caricature, irony, and exaggeration to critique the perceived vanity and decadence of the Persian Empire and to explore the complexities of Jewish life in the diaspora. Some scholars interpret the entire book of Jonah as a humorous, satirical work. The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11): This narrative can be read as a parody of ancient Mesopotamian ziggurats and the hubris behind them. The story satirizes the city’s arrogance by playing on its name, “Babylon” (“gate of God”), by renaming it “Babel,” a Hebrew word for “confuse”. The talking donkey: In the Book of Numbers, the prophet Balaam strikes his donkey for refusing to move, unaware that an angel of the Lord is blocking the way. The donkey is miraculously given the power of speech to rebuke its master, making a fool out of the prophet who was meant to be wise. Paul addressing the Corinthians: The Apostle Paul used biting sarcasm in his letters. In 1 Corinthians 4:8, he ironically praises the Corinthians by saying, “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings!” The satire is meant to shame them for their spiritual arrogance.
And so on and so forth.
The Word of god is filled with sarcasm. A lot of it may not be accurate or historically correct. That’s the magic of truth.
And it appears that the Catholics which assembled this mismatched book called the bible where lost on that concept as have the armstrong cults who actually believe that a donkey can talk.