THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF GOD
The pages of this website identify Catholicism/false Christianity as the eighth head of the “Beast” powers that oppose God. It is quite alarming therefore to be able to identify many Catholic doctrines and practices in the Churches of God in this Laodicea era. However, the facts don't lie.
Below is a brief list, but no doubt more points could be added.
1) Image of the Beast Church government (a.k.a. "the primacy of Peter", or "one man rule").
Not every Church of God (COG) practises this, but quite a number of large ones do, as they follow in the footsteps of Herbert W Armstrong (HWA). See "THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD" for a full explanation.
2) Baptism in the name of the Trinity.
See the page "BAPTISM INTO THE TRINITY".
3) Futurism rather than Historicism.
The Churches of God have in this end time largely adopted a Catholic method of interpreting prophecy known as Futurism. However, during and after the Reformation the opinion generally held by Protestants and true Christians was that prophecy provides an overview of history given in advance, an interpretation method known as Historicism. Therefore it was understood that the prophesied times given in Scripture are usually of long duration.
For instance, the prophecy about the "Man of Sin" (II Thes 2) was held to refer to the office of the Papacy, and that "power was given unto him to continue" for 1260 years, not a literal "42 months" (Rev 13:5). During the Catholic Counter-Reformation, however, in order to deflect suspicion from the Papal office, an explanation was concocted by the Catholic Church claiming that most major prophetic events, and especially those found in the book of Revelation, were yet in the future and would be fulfilled in a final apocalypse. Thus arose the unfortunate philosophy of Futurism, which over time found its way into other churches and eventually also into God's Church.
Hence, today the Churches of God are still looking for an Antichrist to arrive, a Great Tribulation to come, a "ten-toed" European power to emerge, Two Witnesses to appear, the battle of Armageddon to be fought, and so on. Additionally, they have fanciful explanations for the prophecies concerning 1260, 1290, 1335 and 2300 days found in the book of Daniel, all supposedly in the future, when far wiser students of Scripture from previous eras could see that these numbers referred not to days, but to years, and therefore involved major long-term events.
Whereas men can perhaps bring about short term events, only an all-powerful God can make events occur over long stretches of time, the main purpose of prophecy being to prove the existence of God. As God Himself states in Isa 46:9-10, "I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done".
4) Believers cannot interpret God's Word.
Only the Priest/Apostle/Prophet/Minister/Church can interpret the Scriptures.
5) The placement of images in significant places, depicting leaders or former leaders.
As in Catholicism, the Churches will deny that these images are worshipped.
6) Infallibility of the leader.
Only "in matters of faith and doctrine", as the Catholics say.
7) The Church's authority overrides God's Word.
God says no food is to be purchased on Sabbaths (Neh 10:31 and 13:15-22), but the Church says it's okay. God's Word says we shouldn't follow what the Gentiles do when they cut down a tree, set it up and decorate it (Jer 10:1-5), but some Sabbath keeping Churches do exactly that, as they participate in Christmas celebrations.
8) Traditional Christian standards applied to Sabbath keeping.
As long as you go to Church on the Sabbath, you can do with the remainder of the day what you like, including frequenting businesses.
9) The use of relics.
Some years ago, the PCG identified what it believed to be Herbert W Armstrong's "prayer rock" in Oregon and transported it to its Oklahoma headquarters. HWA mentioned this rock in his Autobiography. The PCG now teaches that this "prayer rock" has replaced "Jacob's pillar stone", the stone that used to be under the Coronation Chair in Britain, as being indicative of where God's throne is located today!
10) Clapping for leaders.
When the Pope appears at St Peter's Square, or anywhere for that matter, the crowds clap for him. During Herbert Armstrong's reign and that of subsequent Church leaders, we have also begun witnessing this strange phenomenon in Church services when the leader appears. Many of us find this disconcerting to say the least, and are hesitant to join in. Is the Church of God a theatre or a circus? Should leaders in God's Church be idolised like pop stars or movie stars or, amazingly, even like the Pope?