good news 1957 (vol vi no 04) apr_w

7/28/2019 Good News 1957 (Vol VI No 04) Apr_w

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VOL. VI, NUMBER 4

International Magazine o fTH E C H U R C H OF GODAPRIL, 1957

WHY Are So Few BeingConverted Today?The World Tomorrow Broadcast is the biggest religious work onradio. Millions hear it every night. Yet only a few hundred areconverted through the broadcast each year!WHY?

by Herman L. HoehY ES, WHY, if this is God's Church,are so few being converted?It is time we understand THEREAL PURPOSE of our preaching thegospel of the Kingdom to the world.Let's recognize it. We are not converting the world. Christ's Message isbeing rejected by the overwhelming majority. The teachings of this world doseem more alluring to most people thanGod's truths. But that is exactly the reason why this gospel must go around theworld!It is the jew-not the many-whowere predestined to understand the truthin this age ( I Cor. 1:26). They must bewarned before it is too late! God holdsus responsible for their learning Histruth now!To the world our message is goingforth only "as a witness" (Mat. 24:14).The world cannot receive the truth(John 1:5 ). Jesus explained why, bysaying: "Men love darkness rather thanlight, because their deeds areevil" (John3:19).But the world does not believe thatits deeds are evil! And no wonder-forthe WHOLE WORLD has been deceivecl-and it does not know it! That is whypeople do not recognize truth when theyhear it. They have been deceived without realizing it!But how, when and where did this deception begin? How can we distinguish

the basicdifference between the churches of this world and our Church-thetrue Church of God which Jesusfounded?Universal Deception Foretold!The true Church of God, Jesus foretold, was to be persecutedand SCATIERED

- jus t as it is today! Most of youbrethren are scattered.On the night in which Jesus wasseized to be crucified, He said: "It iswritten, 'I will smite the shepherd, andthe sheep shall be scattered'" (Mark14:27). After He, the Shepherd, wassmitten by crucifixion, the "sheep"His CHURCH-were to become scattered.Notice Acts 8:1:"And at that time there was a greatpersecution against the Church . . . andthey were all scattered abroad. . . ."Jesus also warned His "sheep"-thisChurch, you who are in the Church ofGod today: "Take heed that no mandeceive you. For many shall come INMY NAME, saying I am Christ"acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ-"and shall deceive many" (Mat. 24:4-5) .John the apostle witnessed this verydeception shortly after 70 A. D.! Noticewhat he wrote:"MANY false prophets [or preachers}are gone out into the world." Theyprofessed to be Christ's ministers, they

came in the name of Christ; but theywere anti-christs!John continues to write: "They are ofthe world: therefore they speak of theworld, AND THE WORLD HEARETHTHEM. We are of God: who knowethGod heareth us; who is not of God"whoever does not obey Him-"hearethus not" ( I John 4: 1, 5-6).Do you grasp the meaning of theseverses?THE WORLD believed the many falseministers. The few listened to andbelieved the apostles of Christ. Forexample, compared to the hundreds ofthousands of Gentiles and Jews atEphesus, only 12 individuals wereconverted when Paul first started preaching (Acts 19: 7 ). The world did notbelieve the apostles! The world accepted,instead, the FALSE PREACHERS who 'roseup in the Church. Notice:"Even now have many antichristsarisen . . . They went out from us[they left the true Church of God], butwere not of us; but they went out, thatthey might be made manifest that notall are of us" ( I John 2: 18-19).This is why there are somany denominations today!John wrote of the same condition inII John 7; "For MANY DEClllVERS aregone forth inro the world . . . Whosoevergoeth o11ward and abideth not in the


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Page 2 The GOOD NEWS April, 1957

ministering to its membersscattered abroad

International magazine ofTHE CHURCH OF GOD

Address communications to the Editor,Box Ill, Pasadena,California.Copyright,April, 1957Bythe Radio Churchof God

Roman world was filled with thoseapostate ministers. Here is why theyspread and multiplied.In 69 A. D. the headquarters of God'sChurch at Jerusalem was forced to fleebefore the Roman invasion. Persecutionbecame widespread. Many congregationswere scattered. The apostles were toofew in number to stem the r is ing tide ofapostasy. False teachers and falsebrethren were everywhere (Rev. 2:20;Dan. 11: 34) .The apostasy-secretly at work inPaul's day-now snow-balled into amovement spreading throughout the entire Roman Empire. It was a universalor catholic movement of Roman origin.It compromised with the world. A worldwide organization rook shape with itsnatural headquarters at the capitol ofthe Roman Empire-Rome!By the time John wrote the Book ofRevelation, this apostate ChurchSatan's Church-"the Synagogue ofSatan"-already existed side by side withthe true Church (Rev. 2: 10 and 3:9).This was before 100 A.D.! The "Synagogue of Satan" soon became the BIGChurch. The world heard it. This wasthe Church destined to "rule the nations" (Rev . 17: 18). I t is this Church,whose records fill the pages of Churchhistory, that we are about to investigate.The true Church of God, despised,persecuted and scattered by the world-ye t NEVER DIVIDED-was soon lostfrom view! Even the world's historians have never known where to look forthe true Church, for they do not knowWHAT the true Church is! Today theworld still does not recognize which isthe Church Jesus is building!

Differences In DoctrineThe first century has passed. Thesecond century of our era begins. Alreadywe find rwo separate and distinct Churchbodies. One-the true Church-isscattered but not divided. The other the result of apostasy-is divided intoliterally dozens of conflicting beliefsand practices, yet t rying to maintain anoutward form of unity.All the churches of this world arethe daughters of that first great apostasy

or falling away from the truth. "For thetime will come"-and it did come-"thatthey will not endure sound teaching,"said Paul; "but having itching ears theywill heap ro themselves teachers . . .and turn away their ears from the truth,and turn aside unto fables" (I ITimothy 4: 3-4).In the next article is the evidence ofChurch History that this great apostasyDID occur-proving that Sunday wasnever observed in rhe New TestamentChurch, and that THE SABBATH WASOBSERVED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCHFOR CENTURIES AFTER APOSTOLIC DAYS.

deceived, bur the willing tools of Satan.When they could not make headway in the old state religions of Greeceand Rome, they secretly joined the con-gregations of God's Church. "And incovetousness shall they with feigned(or pretended] words make merchandise of (or exploi t] you," warnedPeter (I I Peter 2: 3 ). They wanted thetithes of God's people-they were seeking a living and wanted to indulgetheir carnal passions. That is why theytaught what the people wanted to hear.What Is the Meaning of Mystery?This vile Babylonish system appealsto HUMAN NATURE. And humannature "is not subject to the law of God,neither indeed can be" (Romans 8: 7).That is why it is called the "mysteryof lawlessness," or " iniqui ty." It is themystery of why sin appears right toman, though it ends in death! It isindeed a mystery why human beingswant to do what God says is wrong, yetthink that they are doing what isright!The en ti re history of human experience is wrapped up in this mysterious,universally unrealized fact. It is aSECRET that the world does not grasp."The whole world" is deceived anddoes not know it. (Revelation 12:9) .People want to follow other people.Many in the early Church were afraidof what other people-their paganneighbors-might say. They wanted tohear the teachings of the pagans aroundthem.And what were the pagans believ

ing?-the Babylonian mysteries, thenewest and latest fad, brought to Greeceand Rome by Roman soldiers who hadrecently conquered the region of oldBabylon! The false preachers broughtthese mysteries in to the Church!Their next step was to gain controlof Church government (I I Cor. 11 :

1 3 ~ 1 5 ) . They cleverly, and at firstsecretly, plotted to "draw away disciplesafter themselves." That is how the"Synagogue of SATAN" was formed!The Synagogue of Satan

Those false teachers who left thetrue Church "professed to know God"they pretended to obey God-"but bytheir works they denied Him, beingabominable and DISOBEDIENT, and untoevery good work disapproved" (Titus1:16). They professed Christ and theFather; but they rejected the authorityof God and His law! They were DIS-OBEDIENT.They acknowledged that Jesus wasthe Christ; they came in His name,professing to be the ministers of Christ- bu t they rejected His message andsoon forgot His SABBATH!Between 70 A.D. and 100 A.D. the

NUMBER 4OL. VIHerbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and EditorHerman L. HoehExecutive EditorRoderickC. MeredithGarner Ted ArmstrongAssociate Editors

teaching of Christ, hath not God."Jude, in his letter, also bears witnessto the same widespread deception: "Forcertain men have crept in secretly, whowere of old written of beforehand"it was prophesied that many would bedeceived. "These are they who makeseparations"-they separated from thetrue Church of God (Jude 4, 19).From that early apostasy have sprunga great Mother Church and her hundredsof daughter churches.The Plot Develops

Changes in doctrine do not sweepthe world overnight. It takes time, oftenseveral generations, to oblite rate thetruth. In fact, it took nearly 1000 yearsbefore the last vestige of truth waswiped out!Here is how the apostasy began:"For the MYSTERY of lawlessness ISALREADY AT WORK," wrote Paul in IIThessalonians 2:7. A SECRET influence-a mysterious sinful influence-was atwork in the Church in Paul's day! It iscalled the "MYSTERY of BABYLON theGreat" in Revelation 17: 5. It was theancient pagan BABYLONIAN mysterysystem-the same rebellious system thatcommenced at Babylon shortly afterthe flood-that was at work in the localcongregations of the early New Testament Church!Certain men had crept in unawares,secretly, bringing these mysteries withthem. Jude says of them: "These aregrumblers, malcontents, following theirown passions, loud-mouthed boasters,flattering people to gain advantage"(Jude 16, RSV). They yielded to the ircarnal human nature. They were the


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Why Do the ChurchesObserve SUNDAY?Sunday was NEVER observed by the inspired, O1'iginal NewTestament Church. But today it is almost a universal custom amongprofessing Christians! Why? The incredible TRUTH about theorigin of Sunday observance is published for the first time in thisintriguing article.

by Herman L. HoebHow AND WHEN did Sundayreplace th e Sabbath inthis Western Christian-professing world? Why did the churches loseth e one and only SIGN-the Sabbathwhich designates who God's people are?How did Sunday become known asthe "Lord's Day"?

It is time we-in God's Churchpeer behind the curtain for the facts!I t is time we become grounded in thefai th and understand HOW, WHEN andWHERE Sunday observance originated.The facts of history will shock you!

Sunday Is the "Lord's Day!"The churches today are in a Babyl011of confusion. And no wonder! For theirreligion sprang from Babylon! (Rev.17.)Most Church doctr ines and practiceshave Christian-sounding names, butthey are in reality Babylonish customsfalsely labeled, This is especially trueof Sunday-the "Lord's Day"!Believe it or not, Sunday was celebrated by pagans as the "Lord's Day"over 2000 years before the resurrectionof Christ. The apostle Paul saw theheathen observing it. Yet never oncedid he observe it. And he forbadeChristians to celebrate it (Gal. 4: 10) .Then why do we find the churchestoday observing Sunday supposedly inhonor of Chris t?The answer is simple. Consider ICorinthians 8:5. The heathen world,in which the New Testament Churchbegan to grow, was filled with paganholidays in honor of "gods many, andlords many."WHICH "LORD" IS IT, THEN, WHOSERESURRECTION ISCELEBRATED ON SUNDAY TODAY?Certainly NOT Jesus Christ! He wasresurrected near the close of the Sabbath, or Saturday. Jesus Christ was no tthere when the women came to thetomb Sunday morning (Luke 24:1-5).If Chri st is not the "Lord" whoseresurrection is honored on Sunday, thenwho is the "Lord" whom the churchesworship today when they observe Sun-

day, the "Lord's Day"?I t is none other than Nimrod, theworld's first recorded false Messiah! I tis Nimrod's fictitious resurrection -aclever counterfeit of Christ's resurrection

- t ha t the nations celebrated every Sunday in Abraham's day and in Paul'sday, and that professing Christians arecelebrating today!But how is it possible that Nhnrod-c-who was known among the heathenas "Baal," the "lord," and the "SunGod"-came to be honored on Sundayas the "Lord" among Christians?How is it that his day-Sundayinstead of God 's Sabbath, has becomethe chief of "Christian holidays"?Now let us peer behind the curtainand understand the almost unbelieveablerecord of history, If it were revealed itwould shatter the traditions of thechurches!

Prophesied to Happen"Why," it is often asked, "did theBible not warn us that Sunday wouldbe substi tu ted for the Sabbath?"The answer is that the Bible DOESWARN us! It was prophesied in advance

--Qver 800 years befo re Sunday creptin to the New Testament Church!Turn to the Rook of Hosea. Theprophet had a message for the futurefor our day! It is a warning to thechurches of our land."And I"--God is speaking-"willpunish her"--Qur people Israel-"forthe FEAST DAYS OF THE BAALS."Sunday is a feast of Baal.

Israel " forgot Me, says the Lord"because they rejected the Sabbath. "Andin that day"-the very near futurewhen Christ intervenes in world affairs-"you [Israel} will call Me, 'My husband; and no longer will you call me,'My Baal.' For I will remove the namesof the Baals from her mouth , and theyshall be mentioned by name no more"(Hosea 2:13, 16-17, RSV).How plain! Israel today, the lastbastion of professing Christianity, hasadopted the feast days of Baal-and thatincludes Sunday! Here is a prophecy

that the churches of Israel would becelebrating the festivals of Baal-thatthey would even call God by the namesof Baal! That is exactly what they dowhen they call Sunday the "Lord's Day"- tha t is, Baal's Day-thinking thatthey honor Christ.Our land is filled with the names ofBaal. The greatest of Church holidays-Easter- is named after the wife ofBaal or Nimrod, and yet Christianst hink tha t they honor Christ by celebrating this Babylonish feast!God warns in this prophecy that Hewill punish our people-and the ministers who have misled them-for rejecting His way and His Sabbath (Ezck.20: 18-21) and adopting the ways andthe feasts of the Gentiles .Now let us consider when and howit all came about.

The Surprising AnswerSunday is directly connected withEaster. Easter is the pagan counterfei tfor the Passover. I t is at the passover

not the Sabbath-that the apostateministers struck first!The Passover is, of course, one of theannual festivals God revealed to HisChurch. The pagans never observedthem. They hated God's festivals--andpeople today still hate theml They arecommonly sneered at as "Jewish"holidays.The Jews at least made a pretense ofobserving the festivals God gave HisChurch through Moses. To turn thepeople away from observing the paschalMEMORIAL of Christ's DEATH, the falseteachers first labeled the New Testament passover as "Jewish," as part ofthe "law of Moses."The people, of course, wanted to dowhat their pagan neighbors were doing.And the pagans were celebrating annualand weekly memorials in honor of theRESURRECTION of the false Babyloniansavior Nimrod or Tammuz. Thenatural thing to do was to introducethis pagan custom into all the churcheseach week in honor of the resurrectionof Christ. The peop le wanted it. The


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Page 4false rmrusrers quickly taught it! Itspread rapidly and widely!But wait-since Christ was resurrected on Saturday, that would meanthe unscriptural weekly communionwould customarily be held on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was also the day onwhich all Christians were meeting.Does that mean that the early apostatechurches observed communion everySaturday?Indeed it does!Here is the testimony of Socrates, theCathol ic His torian who l ived after 400A.D.:"In Asia Minor [that was wherePaul mainly preached, and where Johnspent his last years] most people keptthe fourteenth day of the month"exactly as we do today. "While therefore some in Asia Minor observed theabove mentioned day, OTHERS IN THEEAST KEPT THE FEAST [THE COUNTERFEIT PASSOVER OR EASTER] ON THESABBATH indeed. . . ."Why the Sabbath? Because it wasstill the common teaching that Jesusrose on the Sabbath!But this is not all the evidence! Hereare more incredible facts from the pen

of the Catholic historian Socratesaround 400 A.D."For although almost all churches[the falre churches, not God's Church]throughout the world celebrate thesacred mysteries ON THE SABBATH ofevery week"-this was about 400 yearsafter Chtist-"yet the Christians ofAlexandria and at Rome, on account ofsome ancient tradition, have ceased todo this [though they did so at a priortime]. The Egyptians in the neighborhood of Alexandria, and the inhabitantsof Thebais hold their religious assemblies on the Sabbath, but do notparticipate of the mysteries in themanner usual among Christians rngeneral." (Ecclesiastical History ofSocrates, book V, chapte r 22. Quotedfrom Vol. 2 of Nicene and Post-NiceneFathers, pp. 131-132.)Do you really grasp the astoundingsignificance of this historical record?If the Sabbath had not been kept in theearly New Testament Church-and ifthe resurrection were not on the Sabbath,there would have been no reason tocelebrate the pagan "sacred mysteries"- t he heathen counterfe it of the passover-on every Sabbath, and alsoannually on a Sabbath.

Here is absolute testimony to theSabbath resurrection of Christ. I fChrist had been resurrected on Sunday,certainly the Catholics would haveinstituted the "sacred mysteries" onSunday, the day that t he ir heathenneighbors always celebrated the "sacredmysteries," which originated in Babylon!Though they adopted the "sacred

The GOOD NEWSmysteries-c-the mass or communionfrom the pagans, they celebrated it onthe true day of Christ's resurrection!But why, today, do the Churches believe that Sunday was observed in theNew Testament churches in honor ofChrist's resurrection?Here is the accurate testimony ofhistory.The Testimony of a Roman GovernorIn suppon of Sunday, many preachersand writers turn to a letter writtenabout 112 A.D. by Pliny, the Romangovernor of Bythinia-Pontus. This wasthe area to which Peter addressed hisfirst letter ( I Pet. 1: 1 ) .But this let ter does not say what mostministers claim!Pliny wrote to his superior, EmperorTrajan, seeking to know the legal stepshe should take against Christiansaccused of crimes perta ining to theirreligion. Of the Christians under hisjurisdiction he related:"They affirmed that the whole oftheir gui lt or e rror was, that they MET

ON A CERTAIN STATED DAY, before itwas l ight and addressed themselves in aform of prayer to Christ, as to somegod, binding themselves by a solemnoath . . . never to commit any fraud,theft, or adultery . . . after which it wastheir custom to separate, and thenreassemble to eat in common a harmlessmeal" (Coleman's Ancient Christianity,pp. 35-36).This le tter, it is claimed, proved thatChrist ians observed Sunday as early as112 A.D.! But it proves no such thing!Pliny's letter merely mentions thatChristians-these were apostate Christians-met "on a certain statedday," but he does not tell the Emperorwhich day it was! Let us not assume.Many noted scholars now admit thatthis stated day could easily have beenthe seventh day of the week becauseit "appears to have been quite ascommonly observed at th is date as thesun's day (i f not even more so)." FromTaylor's quotation in The InternationalStandMd Bible Encyclopaedia, art."Sabbath."Indeed it could have been the Sabbath!As late as 400 A.D. the professingChrist ians of Bythinia-Pontus, and allthe Eastern Roman Empire in general,met on Saturday to celebrate theresurrection of Christ!On Saturday Gentile converts toCatholicism celebrated, without Biblicalauthority, the resurrection of Christ withthe pagan "sacred mysteries"-the "common meal" mentioned by Pliny, oft encalled the "Lord's Supper."

Not True ChristiansThe New Testament Church neverfollowed these customs. So widely spread

April, 1957and m such numbers were theseprofessing Christians that "the templeswere almost deserted, and the sacrificialr itual was inter rupted" (Ramsey, TheChurch in the Roman Empire, p. 198).Truly converted Christians were to be a"little flock" (Luke 12:32-40), notmulti tudes of Genti les coming wholesale into the churches and bringingheathen customs with them!Notice also that they met at dawn!"before it was light." This was thecommon time for pagans to holdreligious services. Then they boundthemselves by an oath, forbidden inScripture. After dismissal, they would"reassemble to eat in common aharmless meal-the "sacred mysteries"of Babylon!But notice especially that theseapostates met on the Sabbath-just assome apostate churches still meet on theSabbath today, Sunday-s-in Pliny's day-had not yet been widely introducedamong professing Christians. Pliny's letter then, is not proof for Sunday, butfor church services on Saturday!Sunday Emerges fo r the First TimeAt first even the Gentiles at Romemet on the Sabbath to celebrate thepassover, according to Sozornan's history.But it is at Rome particularly that wefirst notice the custom to observe the"sacred mysteries" on Sunday! This wasa result, Sozoman wrote, "of ananc ien t tradition." But how early wasthe tradition?Here are the facts!Irenaeus, a bishop in France, living

toward the close of the second century,wrote a letter ro bishop Vicror ofRome. He names specifically the menwho first began to observe not only everySunday, but also "Easter Sunday" andwho forbade the passover and the Sabbath to be observed in accordance withthe practice of the apostles! Here iswhat Irenaeus wrote:"We mean Anicetus, and Pius, andHyginus, and Telesphorus, and Xystus,They nei ther observed ir"-the truepassover on the 14th of Nisan-tlnordid they permit those after them todo so."Who were these men?-bishops ofthe Church at Rome!Here is the first record, by a Catholic,of the fact that the Roman bishopsobserved the passover on a Sunday!It was bishop Xystus (his name isalso spelled Sixtus) who was the firstrecorded individual to prevent theproper observance of the Sabbath andthe passover, and to celebrate the"sacred mysteries" each Sunday morning,and annually on a Sunday. Irenaeusspeaks further of him, declaring that hisdoct rine was in direct "opposition" tothe practice of the remainder of the


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April, 1957churches. Bishop Sixtus was living atthe beginning of the second century,just after the apostle John died! According to Roman Catholic t radition, heenforced his new prac ti ce nut later thanabout 115 A.D. and 125 A.D.I t probably was slightly earlier thatthe custom of Sunday observance wasfirst practised by Gentile converts. Thebishops of Rome are always careful toenforce only what ultimately will beaccepted by the vast majority.Here you have the astounding originof an annual Easter Sunday in theRoman Church.The "sacred mysteries" were also observed henceforth every Sunday!-instead of every Saturday.But how did this local Roman customspread throughout the churches?While at Rome, Polycarp, bishop ofSmyrna, discussed the matter of EasterSunday with the Roman bishop.Irenaeus continued: "For neithercould Anicerus persuade Polycarp notto observe i t"-the passover-"becausehe had always observed it with Johnthe disciple of our Lord, and the rest ofthe apostles, with whom he issociated;and neither did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe it, who said that he wasbound to follow the customs of thepresbyters before him" (Quoted fromEusehius' Ecclesiastical History, book V,chap. 24, in the Nicene and Post-NiceneFathers, Vol 1).Notice that bishop Anicetus had noScriptural grounds-he determined tofollow the "customs" of men!-EasterSunday!

A Pretended Vision from GodShortly after Polycarp left, thereappeared an amazing letter-said bymany scholars to have been a deliberateforgery. This letter states:"Pope Pius, who lived about 147, hadmade a decree, That the annualsolemnity of the Pasch [Pasch is theGreek word for Passoverl, should bekept only on the Lord's day"-Sunday-"and in confirmation of this he pretended, that Hermes, his brother , whowas then an eminent teacher amongthem, had received instruction from an

angel, who commanded that all menshould keep the Pasch on the Lord'sday"-"Baal's Day"! (From pp. 11481149 of Bingham's Antiquities of theChristian Church.)Of this same hoax we read in Apostolical Fathers, by Donaldson, p. 324,"One of the letters forged in the nameof Pius, where one Hermas is mentionedas the author; and it is stated that inhis book a commandment was giventhrough an angel to observe the Passover on a Sunday."I f this letter was a deliberate forgery,it was invented after Polycarp's time in

The GOOD NEWSan effort to lend weight to the newcustom of Anicerus, bishop of Rome,who falsely maintained the Sundayobservance of the eucharist. If it werenor a furgery, then Pius himself wasthe author of this deceptive letter. (Piusdied just prior to the visit of Polycarpto Rome.)At any rate, Sunday commenced inthe church as a "pious fraud"-Satanictrickery!Sunday made slow headway amongthe divided, confused apostatizingchurches. In the West, particularly atRome, and in Egypt it gained mostrapidly. That is the very area in whichthe fewest numbers of true Christiansoriginally lived. I t was in the populousEast-in Asia Minor and in Mesopotamia-that the vast majority ofchurches maintained the faith considerably longer!

Spurious Letters AppearAs soon as the tradition of GoodFriday-Easter Sunday began to gain afoothold, fraudulent letters, masquerading as apostolic letters were circulated.These fraudulent letters are often quotedtoday as proof of the observance ofSunday in the true New TestamentChurch!These deliberate frauds demonstratethe foulness of the Satanic apostasy.Nei ther the apostles, nor the Church ofGod ever had recourse to frauds! OurSabbath is based on inspired Scripture.Sunday is based on a fraud-a LIE!Here are quotes from some of thespurious letters which poured forth from

the Synagogue of Satan.The first and most important letterwas the spurious "Epistle of Barnabas."Tradition claims that it was the work ofthe companion of Paul. Anyone readingit knows better. The weight of scholarship proves that it is a deliberateforgery-a spurious letter-composedabout the commencement of the secondcentury by another person assuming thename.This epistle, or letter, is filled withmany inaccuracies, triflings and absurdities. It is a complete contrast to theinspired New Testament epistles. I tshows a very misguided knowledge ofthe practices of the Old Testament. Theconfused trend of the times is plainlyreflected in it.Here is what the author of this lettersays about the Sabbath being counterfeited by Sunday!From chapter fifteen, we read the following extracts (i f they are confusingthey were deliberately meant to be inorder to deceive the readers!) :"'And He rested on the seventh day.'This meaneth: when His Son, coming[again], shall . . . judge the ungodly . . .then shall He truly rest on the seventh

Page 5day. . . . Then we shall be able tosanctify it. . . . Ye perceive how Hespeaks: 'Your present Sabbaths are notacceptable to Me' . . . I shall make abeginning of the eighth day, that is, abeginning of another world. Wherefore,also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesusrose again from the dead" (Ante-NiceneFathers, Vol. 1, pp. 146-147).Notice the confused ideas and expressions and the misquotations of Scripture in this chapter. This is the kindof religious trash that masqueraded inthe name of Christianity in order todeceive Gentile converts. Consider howthe writer attempts to set aside theSabbath. He does not dare claim it isabolished. He merely states THAT IT ISNO T POSSIBLE FOR HUMAN BEINGS INTH IS MORTAL L IFE TO KEEP IT. Onlyafter the return of Jesus will Christians"be able to sanctify i t"-the Sabbath.This bewildering explanation-whichsounds exactly like the doctrine ofdemons-is totally lacking in DIVINEAUTHORITY for observing the first dayof the week. It clearly indicates theextent to which those early men graspedany idea tha t might have lent even theleast weight of argument for layingaside the seventh day! To reject theSabbath demanded caution! In order tonullify the command, the false Barnabas-claiming the authority of the apostleBarnabas-pretended that the Sabbathwas so holy that man cannot-andhence, needs not-keep it ! Irs fulfillment awaits the seventh thousand-yearperiod, the Millennium.

Now notice the argument in supportof Sunday! The writer of this spuriousletter contends that "the eighth day"ought to be kept-he does not call itthe "Lord's Day"-because after seventhousand years are past, there will be"an eighth day"-a new and eternalworld. Observe that the reason forcelebrating Sunday rests upon the facttha t "an eighth day" will follow 7000years of human history. Notice howhe perverted the truth about God'sPlan!He concludes his epistle with the boldstatement that Jesus rose on the firstday of the week. But he does not yetventure to use this as a reason for Sundaysacredness! Of course not, for most ofthe professing Christians had beentaught up to this time that the resurrection was on the Sabbath. I t took timeto explain away the "three days andthree nights" during which Jesus wasin the grave!

Another ForgeryThe next letter-c-or rather forgery

to consider is that of Ignatius. His work,"The Epistle to the Magnesians," writtenshortly after the turn of the century, is


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Page 6usually regarded to be one of severalspurious letters written by another andattributed to Ignatius. Whether or notIgnatius wrote it is of no importance.For it still typifies the evil spiri t of thetime which cleverly foisted on the worlda day in honor of Baal!There are two forms of his letters,one Greek, the other Syriac. Each isentirely different from the other. Theyare probably both forgeries. The G.reekform of chapter 15 reads in part:" ... Those who were brought up inthe ancient order of things"- those whoreceived the t ruth from the apostles-"have come to the possession of a newhope (a new heresy!}, no longer observing Sabbath, but l iving according tothe Lord's (day or life} in which alsoour life has sprung up again by Himand by His death ..." (Ante-NiceneFathers, Vol. 1).This spurious letter is supposedly another proof that the apostles insti tu tedSunday! But it saysno such thing.In this quotat ion. from Ignatius, thekey words in italics after "Lord's" areNOT in the original Greek. Manyhave assumed that the word to be supplied is "day," bu t the context clearlydemands "life." The authoritativeCyclopaedia of Biblical Literature (byKitto), article "Lord's Day," states thatthe original Greek is probably corrupt,and that the word has to be supplied bythe reader. Kitto contends that the word"life" must be understood.This forgery, then, doesn't tell us anything about Sunday! This is the kindof "authority" that many preachersand denominations rely upon tojustify their pagan traditions.Did you also notice that the forger of this epistle claims to havegone beyond the t ru th delivered oncefor all time to the Church? What didJohn write about those who "abide notin the teaching of Christ"? (I I John 9).Here we have the exact fulfillment ofwhat John warned against-men goingbeyond the teaching of Christ, seekingpagan customs, rejecting the Sabbath"no longer observing the Sabbath."No wonder John had to declare:"Beloved, no new commandment writeI to you, but an old commandment whichye had from the beginning: the oldcommandment is the word which yeheard" (I John 2:7). It is an eternallynew commandment. But the forger ofthe let ter of Ignatius makes it appear asthough a new and different commandment for Christians were necessary!This same forger of Ignatius' letterwrote also: "Your bishops preside inthe place of God, and your presbytersin the place of the assembly of theApostles" (chapter 6). To be in the"place of God" is to be an antichrist!The original Greek word "anti" means

The GOOD NEWS"in place of," hence "in opposition to "(Thayer's Lexicon) . This fraudulentepistle of Ignatius is the diabolical workof the antichrists against whom Johnwarned! Abolition of the Sabbath is adoctrine of antichrist!The Amazing Syriac RenderingThe Greek version of Ignatius

already quoted is an indication ofWestern Chris tiani ty, influenced byRome. But there is a longer Easternversion in Syriac that is truly remarkable.I t indicated the difference of opinion inthe Eastern churches where the apostolictradition was strongest. Here is what i treads in part:"Those who were conversant withthe ancient Scriptures came to newnessof hope. . . . Let us therefore no longerkeep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for'he that does not work, let him noteat.' For say the . . . oracles, 'In thesweat of thy face shalt thou eat thybread; But let everyone of you keepthe Sabbath af ter a spiritual manner,rejoicing in meditat ion on the law, notin re laxat ion of the body, admiring theworkmanship of God, and not eatingthings prepared the day before. . . .And after the observance of the Sabbath,let every friend of Christ keep theLord's Day as a festival, the resurrectionday, the queen and chief of all the daysof the week. Looking forward to this,the prophet declared, 'To the end, forthe eighth day,' on which our life bothsprang up again, and the victory overdeath was obtained in Christ."These words from the Syriac versionof the forgery of Ignatius clearly demonstra te the importance of the Sabbath inthe early Catholic churches. The letterwas forged in order to persuade theGent ile converts tha t they should nolonger keep the Sabbath as they hadbeen doing. Henceforth they shouldwork on the Sabbath day after attending church services on it.Notice that a pretense is made ofhonoring the Law of God by having itread on the Sabbath! "But in ~ ' a i n , "Jesus warned, "do they worship Me,teaching for doctrines the commands ofmen" (Mark 7:7).Ignatius, or whoever forged this letterin his name, misapplies two Scripturesthat do not perta in to the Sabbath in aneffort to prove that common laborought to be done on that day. But hecites no apostolic authority for it!The date of this spurious letter isdisputed, though the contents clearlyindicate the observance of Sunday hadcrept into the Church. But did younotice the authority claimed for Sunday?It is truly amazing. The so-calledprophecy about "an eighth day"-Sunday-is no prophecy at all. It is quoted

April, 1957from the subscription to Psalms 6.The inspired Hebrew word is "sherninith.' This word does not mean "theeighth day." The word is merely "atechnical phrase relative . . . to themusical performance of certain Psalms"(Encyclopaedia Biblica, article "Sherninirh") .Here is another illustration of delib

erate text-twisting.Here is another proof that there isno Bible authority for Sunday!No strange thing indeed, it is, thatthe forger did not emphasize the resurrection of Christ on a Sunday. He merelymentioned it. Had he stressed it, thepeople in the churches would not haveaccepted it, for they were still observing the "sacred mysteries" on everySaturday for nearly 300 years afterthis spurious writing was published!The Apostolic Constitutions

During the second, third and fourthcenturies, many documents appearedthat purported to be written by theapostles. These were falsely called "Apostolic Constitutions." They were circulated to create the impression thatthe pagan tradition of that day hadApostolic blessing! Although deliberatefrauds, these documents, nevertheless,express the cor rupt church teachingswhich filled the Christ ian-professingworld during the centuries after thedeath of the apostles.The following (from Ante-NiceneFathers) are certain of the constitutionsor statutes in part that formed the practices, not of the scattered remains of

the true body of Christ, but in theCatholic churches, especially the Eastern. Here is what they say regardingthe sabbath as a day of public worship.'"I Peter and Paul"-remember, thisis a forgery-"do make the followingconst itut ions. Let the slaves work fivedays; but on the Sabbath-day and theLord's day let them have leisure to goto church for instruct ion in piety. Wehave said that the Sabbath is onaccount of the creat ion, and the Lord'sday of the resurrection" (Ch. XXXIII,p. 495).These spurious laws continue:"Thou shalt observe the Sabbath, onaccount of Him who ceased from Hiswork of creation, but ceased not fromHis work of providence" (Ch. XXXVI,p. 413)."On the day of the resurrection ofthe Lord, that is, the Lord's day, assembleyourselves together, without fail" (Ch.XXX, p. 471)."You must fast on the day of Preparation, because on that day the Lordsuffered the death of the cross underPontius Pilate. But keep the Sabbathand the Lord's day festival, because theformer is the memoria l of the creat ion,


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April, 1957and the latter of the resurrection. Butthere is only one Sabbath to be observedby you in the whole year, which is thatof our Lord's burial, on which menought to keep a fast, but not a festival"(p. 469).Notice that Saturday and Sunday arebeing observed side by side!"But assemble yourselves togetherevery day, morning and evening, singingpsalms and praying in the Lord's house:in the morning saying the sixty-secondPsalm, and in the evening the hundredand fortieth, but principally on the Sabbath-day. And on the day of our Lord'sresurrection, which is the Lord's day,meet more diligent ly" (p. 423)."Every Sabbath-day excepting one,and every Lord's day, hold your solemnassemblies, and rejoice" (p. 449).The people were not following thelaws and judgments of the Scripturesas the standard of God's wilL Thechurches invented their own laws! Theprophet Daniel prophetically gazed

upon this ecclesiastical system that would"think to change times and laws"(Daniel 7:25).These statutes, especially representing the Eastern view, were almost acentury behind the Western custom offast ing on the sabbath.The Testimony of Justin Martyr

A century arul a half has nearlypassed since the dea th of Jesus Christ.About this time Justin Martyr addresseshis "Apologies" to the Roman Emperors.He explains to them "Christian" practices of the Catholic Church in theWest.Among the customs he relates arethese:"And on the day called Sunday, ailwho live in cities or in the countrygather together to one place, and thememoirs of the apostles or the wri tingsof the prophets are read, as long astime permits. . . Then we all risetogether and pray, and . . . bread andwine and water [a pagan practice ofMithraic sun-worship} are brought ...But Sunday is the day on which we allhold our common assembly, because itis the first day on which God, havingwrought a change in darkness andmatter, made the world; and JesusChrist our Saviour on the same day rosefrom the dead. For He was crucified"- so claimed Justin Martyr-" on theday before that of Saturn; and on theday after that of Saturn, which is theday of the sun, having appeared to Hisapostles and disciples, He taught themthese things, which we have submittedto you also for your consideration" (FirstApology, ch., LXVII, Ante-NiceneFathers) .The first reason for the observance ofSunday offered by Justin is that it was

The GOOD NEWSthe day God began TO WORK! Justin,however, did not teach that Sundayought to be kept as a rest day!Notice also that Justin calls it the"day of the sun." Why? Tertulliangives us the answer a few years later!When some Romans reproached theearly Catholics for sun-worship, headmitted:"It is a well known fact that we praytoward the east . . we make Sunday aday of festivity. What then? Do you[pagans] do less than this? Do notmany among you, with an affection ofsomet imes worshipping the heavenlybodies likewise, move your lips in thedirection of the sunrise. . . It is you . . .who have admitted the sun into thecalendar of the week; and you haveselected its day, in preference to thepreceding day, as the most suitable inthe week for either an ent ire abstinencefrom the bath, or for its postponements until the evening, or for takingrest, and for banqueting" (Ad Nationes,

book I, ch. xiii).Sunday observance came from SIJt1-worship. Tertull ian justified the practices of his day by appealing to the practices of the heathen, instead of theBible!Tradition Began Customs

Tertullian, the father of LatinChris tianity, never cites any scripturefor his beliefs. He claims tradition forthe customs of his day. Here is what hewrote about Sunday and similar customs:"If, for these and other such rules,

you insist upon having positive Scriptureinjunction, you will find none. Traditionwill be held forth to you as the originator of them, custom as their strengthener, and faith, as their preserver. Thatreason will suPPOrt t radit ion, and custom, and faith, you will either yourself perceive, or learn from some Onewho has" (De Corona, sect. 4).Sunday did not come from the Bible.It is a tradition of men!Justin Martyr admitted, however, thatthere were many who followed the Biblein his day. There were Christians withwhom he sometimes associated whoobserved the sabbaths and the annualfestival.r nf God (chapter 47). He adds,however, that they were rejected bythe main body of early professingChristians. The doctrines of God'sChurch were the same a century afterthe apostles as they were today. We-in God's Church today-maintain thesame faith and body of beliefs thatwere rejected by the multitudes whowere running after paganism!Origen Instructs Catholics How toObserve SabbathNow we come to Origen who wrote

Page 7about 230 A.D. What did Origen sayabout the Sabbath?He spoke in no uncertain termsabout the sabbath within the Catholicchurches in Alexandria , Egypt. Whatfollows is not said by a Judo-Chris tian,as those who obeyed God were called.This was written by a Catholic toCatholics concerning the seventh day ofthe u/eei: at the beginning of the thirdcentury:"But what is the feast of the Sabbathexcept that of which the apostle speaks,'There rernaineth therefore a Sabbatism' (Hebrews 4: 9) , that is, theobservance of the Sabbath by the peopleof God? [Notic e how this man understood his native Greek tongue!} Leaving the Jewish observances of the Sabbath, let us see how the Sabbath oughtto be observed by a Christian. On theSabbath day all worldly labors ought tobe abstained from. If , therefore, Vallcease from all secular works, andexecute nothing worldly, but giveyourselves up to spiritual exercises,repairing to church, attending to sacredreading and instruction . . . this is theobservance of the Christian Sabbath"(Origen's Opera, Book 2, p. 358).These are mighty strong words,expressed by an Eastern church leader.Here is the teaching of the apostatechurches 200 years after the crucifixion!Catholics ought to repair or go tochurch on the Sabbath [t he word Sabbath never meant Sunday to earlyCatholics] for reading and instruction.Worldly labors ought to be abstainedfrom, though not in the strictness thatthe law of God commands. This is notspoken of Sunday, but the seventh dayof the week-around 230 A.D.!Constantine Enforces Sunday!The opening of the fourth centurywas turnulrous for the churches everywhere. Diocletian, Maximian and Galerius were the Roman Emperors inproscribing every form of Christianity.

The persecutions lasted nearly a decade.Then the professing Christian religionsuddenly emerged to freedom under anEdict of Toleration. The nature of suchan edict could mean but one thing, thatChristianity was looked upon by thepolit ical leaders of the Roman Empireas the futur.e State religion. Eventsnow happened fast.In 321 A.D., on the seventh of March,an unusual edict was issued by Crispusand Constantine, often designated asthe earliest Sunday law. It read thusly:"On the venerable day of the sun letthe magistrates and people residing incities rest, and let all workshops beclosed. In the country, however, personsengaged in agriculture may freely andlawfully continue their pursuits; becauseit often happens that another day is


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Page 8not so suitable for grain sowing or forvine planting; lest by neglecting theproper moment for such operations thebounty of heaven should be lost."(Codex ]ustinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3;translated in History of the ChristianChurch, by Schaff, Vol. III, p. 380).This edict' was a civil statute, not anecclesiastical one. I t was a heatheninstitution of which Hutton Webstersays:"This legislation by Constantineprobably bore no relation to Christianity; it appears, on the contrary, thatthe emperor, in his capacity of Pontifex Maximus [a t itle the popes latertook from the Emperors), was onlyadding the day of the Sun, the worshipof which was then firmly establishedin the Roman Empire, to the otherferial days of the sacred calendar" (RestDays, pp. 122, 123).Sunday is the "MARK of the Beast"the political Roman Empire. I t was imposed by the STATE! The Church voluntarily accepted it.

The Council of LaodiceaAbout 365 A.D. the Council of Laodiceawas called to settle, among other matters, the sabbath question! One of itsmost famous canons was the twentyninth, which reads thus:"Christians must not judaize byresting on the Sabbath, but must workon that day, rather, honouring the Lord'sDay; and, if they can, resting them asChristians. But if any shall be found tobe judaizers, let them be anathema fromChrist." (Nicene and Post-Nicene

Fathers, Vol. VIX, p. 148).The force of the Roman State hadalready been utilized in 325 A.D. toconfiscate the property and destroy thelives of any who obeyed God's command to keep the Passover. So now, in365 A.D., the heavy hand of the Statefell upon any who would be faithful inresting on the Sabbath day as commanded in the Bible.Why give such a command if therewere no Christians observing the Sabbath?Not only was sabbath-keeping forbidden at this council, but canonsXXXVII and XXXVIII also forbadeCatholics to observe any of the annualfestivals! "It is not lawful to receiveportions sent from the feasts of Jewsor heretics, nor to feast together withthem." "It is not lawful to receiveunleavened bread from the Jews, norto be partakers of their impiety"(Nicono and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.151). These ecclesiastical laws had theforce of civil laws, especially followingthe time of Theodosius (378-395).But one important canon is oftenoverlooked in this Council. The sixteenthcanon reads: "The Gospels are to be

The GOOD NEWSread on the Sabbath, with the otherScriptures" (Nicene and Post-NiceneFathers, p. 133). The "Sabbath" mentioned is the seventh day of the week!Notice. Although Catholics wererequired to work on Saturday, they werestill commanded to attend church thatday! Saturday then was observed muchas Sunday is now!Says Socrates, the Catholic Historian,in speaking of the Eastern churchesduring the life of Chrysostom (345407). "'Saturday and the Lord's day[were] the two great festivals, on whichthey alwaysheld church assemblies.'AndCassian takes notice of the Egyptianchurches, that among them the service of the Lord's day and the sabbathwas always the same" (Bingham'sAntiquities, p. 656).Public worship on the sabbath wasfar from expelled in the churches ofthe East. Even the Western bishops,especially at Rome, had to allow it tocontinue.

After the Council of LaodiceaPublic worship on Saturday persistedin the churches long after the Councilof Laodicea.G.regory, Bishop of Nyassa, a representative of the Eastern churches,about ten years after the Council atLaodicea dared to tell the world: "Withwhat eyescan you behold the Lord's day,when you despise the Sabbath? Do younot perceive that they are sisters, andthat in slighting the one, you affront theother?"Observance of Sunday in a sabbatical

manner was not strictly enforced foralmost two centuries more, for we evenfind Jerome, the translator of the LatinVulgate Bible, work ing after the Sunday services several years following theenactments at Laodicea.Augustine, around 400 A.D., soondeclared: "The holy doctors of thechurch [not the Bible, but men} havedecreed that all the glory of the JewishSabbath is transferred to it (Sunday).Let us therefore keep the Lord's day asthe ancients were commanded to do theSabbath" (Sabbath Laws, p. 284).It was the Church which sanctionedthe Roman Sunday' as a rest day. I t wasthe Church which claimed to have altered God's law (David 2:21) andtransferred the law of the Sabbath toSunday.

It was another six hundred yearsun til the last recorded semblance ofpublic worship was extirpated from theEastern churches. Pope Gregory ofRome, in the West, anathematized"Those who taught that it was notlawful to do work on the day of theSabbath" (History of the Popes, Vol. II,p. 378).Sabbath keeping was obliterated from

April, 1957Rome by the sixth century (Andrews,History of the Sabbath, p. 375). TheEastern churches extirpated it in anotherfour hundred years (about 1000 A.D.).The Sabbath was also stamped out bythe churches of the British Isles andthe continent where, according to Webster's Rest Days, "The Celts kept Saturday as a day of rest, with special religious serviceson Sunday (A. Bellesheim,History of the Catholic Church inScotland, Edinburgh, 1887-1890, i, 86)."

The Protestant AttitudeThe early Protestants and translatorsof the Bible, Cranmer, Tyndale,Zwingle, Calvin, Luther and othersrecognized that Sunday is merely theresult of tradition. They knew it didnot come from the Bible!Why did the Protestants not acceptthe seventh day as the Sabbath? Whatmade them accept the customs of anceint Baal worship?Let's read the Protestants own answer:"Luther's Larger Catechism taughtthat one day is not essentially betterthan another, but that, since it is notpossible to devote each day in the week

to a special religious celebration, oneday should be set apart for that purpose and that, to avoid the unnecessarydisturbance which an innovation wouldoccasion, it should continue to be Sunday. The Augsburg Confession (artxxviii. ) protests against the Sabbathsubstitution theory" (Shaff-HerzogEncyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,article "Sunday").This is why Protestants observe Sunday today! They have voluntarilyadopted the MARK of the Beast-theROMAN EMPIRE'S national holiday!Carlstadt was one of the few men inthe Reformation who observed the Sabbath and the festivals. With him, thelaws given by God to Moses were stillbinding. But his teachings were rejectedby the leaders of the Protestant movements. Luther admitted in His bookAgainst the Celestial Prophets: "Indeed,if Carlstadt were to write further aboutthe Sabbath, Sunday would have to giveway, and the Sabbath-that is to say,

Saturday-must be kept holy."From the beginning Protestants werenot interested in obedience to God, orin the Gospel of the Kingdom. Exactlyas the early Catholics, they were seekingto convert the kingdoms of this worldto their religions. The truth that wasopen to them passed through theirfingers!Thus it remains for the Church ofGod today to proclaim the finalmessage. Only this Church-our Church-has remained steadfast through thecenturies and has KEPT THECOMMAND-MENTS OF JESUS!

good news 1957 (vol vi no 04) apr_w

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