Resurrection

I remember Garner Ted Armstrong, who believed in what others call “soul sleep,” offering a “$10,000 cashier’s check” to anyone who could find in the Bible a reference to “going to heaven” when we die. Of course, he never surrendered that money, because the Bible nowhere says the words, “We go to heaven when we die,” or anything else equally explicit. The problem with this challenge is the assumption that every Christian teaching must be stated plainly in the Bible for anyone to simply read and understand and believe. [Read More]

Due to popular misconceptions, consider this a quick Catholic review of the doctrine of resurrection: Your eternal reward after this life is not for your soul to leave the body and go to heaven. Neither is it, if you die in mortal sin, for your soul to descend into the fiery pits of hell. That’s not to say heaven or hell aren’t your ultimate destinations—they are—but not without your body: the same body in which you are reading this. [Read More]

This is a quick reply to Jeff, who commented on my guest post entitled “Bill Watson’s Doctrine of ‘Changing Life Forms’” at the Banned by HWA blog. I had taken issue with Bill (a Church of God International minister and proponent of “soul sleep”), who claims that people who believe in the immortality of the human soul don’t really believe people die, but instead merely “change life forms.” (If you’re interested in this reply, read the original post and his comments first. [Read More]

Can we apply the label “Christian” to the various COGs in the Armstrong tradition, such as the United Church of God (UCG); Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA); Church of God International (CGI); Intercontinental Church of God (ICG); and all the rest? We surely agree that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (think Mormons) and The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (think Jehovah’s Witnesses) are not Christian. [Read More]