In an Armor of God webcast that sounded more like a campaign advertisement for Donald Trump, Pastor Bill Watson has demonstrated once again that the Church of God International has not retreated from the errors intrinsic to the doctrine of Anglo-Israelism. Those who are familiar with that church’s teachings and political biases will not be surprised that Mr. Watson’s latest offering was titled “Make America Great.”
The program opens with the pastor praising what he characterizes as an unprecedented economic resurgence within the United States under Trump (no mention is made of the fact that the current economic recovery began under the administration of his predecessor). Mr. Watson even references the Trump campaign slogan “Promises made, promises kept” in his remarks! In short, the pastor makes clear his belief that Donald Trump has restored America’s economic and military might.
Mr. Watson then proceeds to decry all of the ways that folks on the left have obstructed Mr. Trump’s efforts. According to him, these folks have never believed in America’s greatness. And, although the pastor admits many of the moral failings that are part of America’s past (genocide, slavery, economic exploitation, violence, etc.), he goes on to point out that the country has amassed great wealth – the likes of which the world has never seen before. Remember, for those who adhere to the doctrine of Anglo-Israelism, this material wealth is the all-important evidence of America’s “true identity.”
About two thirds of the way through the program, Mr. Watson finally turns to Scripture. To his credit, the pastor reads from the second chapter of the book of James to demonstrate that real greatness is not derived from riches but from engaging in moral behavior. Likewise, he references the twelfth chapter of the gospel of Luke to underscore the futility of amassing great wealth while ignoring moral behavior. Pastor Watson, however, appears not to see any irony in making these distinctions about true greatness relative to his preferred president, Donald J. Trump.
During the program, two additional messages by Mr. Watson are offered to the public: “Amos: An Ancient Message for North America” and “Modern Day Parallels of Israel’s Sins.” If the titles are suggestive of their content, it is easy to imagine more of the same.
For those who might be unfamiliar with these topics, the book of Amos opens with this statement: “The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” (Amos 1:1) The prophet then proceeds to make statements about Damascus, Syria, Gaza, Tyre, Edom and Moab before he discusses ancient Judah and Israel. Nevertheless, the title of Mr. Watson’s message would lead us to believe that this message was intended for modern America.
And, although I’m sure that we could all find many parallels between our sinful behaviors and those of Bronze Age Israelites, that does not mean that we are modern day Israelites. If we choose to interpret Biblical events and prophecies through the false lens of Anglo-Israelism, we are certain to arrive at many erroneous conclusions with regard to our understanding of prophecy and how we process our political views.
As I’ve said before, Mr. Watson would do well to reconsider his views with regard to Anglo-Israelism. If he did that, I’m confident that his own perspective, as well as what he preaches to others, would improve.
The program opens with the pastor praising what he characterizes as an unprecedented economic resurgence within the United States under Trump (no mention is made of the fact that the current economic recovery began under the administration of his predecessor). Mr. Watson even references the Trump campaign slogan “Promises made, promises kept” in his remarks! In short, the pastor makes clear his belief that Donald Trump has restored America’s economic and military might.
Mr. Watson then proceeds to decry all of the ways that folks on the left have obstructed Mr. Trump’s efforts. According to him, these folks have never believed in America’s greatness. And, although the pastor admits many of the moral failings that are part of America’s past (genocide, slavery, economic exploitation, violence, etc.), he goes on to point out that the country has amassed great wealth – the likes of which the world has never seen before. Remember, for those who adhere to the doctrine of Anglo-Israelism, this material wealth is the all-important evidence of America’s “true identity.”
About two thirds of the way through the program, Mr. Watson finally turns to Scripture. To his credit, the pastor reads from the second chapter of the book of James to demonstrate that real greatness is not derived from riches but from engaging in moral behavior. Likewise, he references the twelfth chapter of the gospel of Luke to underscore the futility of amassing great wealth while ignoring moral behavior. Pastor Watson, however, appears not to see any irony in making these distinctions about true greatness relative to his preferred president, Donald J. Trump.
During the program, two additional messages by Mr. Watson are offered to the public: “Amos: An Ancient Message for North America” and “Modern Day Parallels of Israel’s Sins.” If the titles are suggestive of their content, it is easy to imagine more of the same.
For those who might be unfamiliar with these topics, the book of Amos opens with this statement: “The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” (Amos 1:1) The prophet then proceeds to make statements about Damascus, Syria, Gaza, Tyre, Edom and Moab before he discusses ancient Judah and Israel. Nevertheless, the title of Mr. Watson’s message would lead us to believe that this message was intended for modern America.
And, although I’m sure that we could all find many parallels between our sinful behaviors and those of Bronze Age Israelites, that does not mean that we are modern day Israelites. If we choose to interpret Biblical events and prophecies through the false lens of Anglo-Israelism, we are certain to arrive at many erroneous conclusions with regard to our understanding of prophecy and how we process our political views.
As I’ve said before, Mr. Watson would do well to reconsider his views with regard to Anglo-Israelism. If he did that, I’m confident that his own perspective, as well as what he preaches to others, would improve.
THE PROMOTION OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES BY SOME COG GROUPS.
ReplyDeleteIt is disturbing to see some COG groups supporting right-wing political ideologies promoted by some American political parties, especially is support of the defeated Donald Trump. Sadly, this dangerous trend seems to be gaining support by some COG members.
Let me be specific.
PCG continues to preach that Donald Trump will still become President, even though their prophesy he would win the last election clearly failed. https://pcg.church/articles/6184/new-ad-campaign-forecasts-election-result Meanwhile Stephen Flurry daily rant on his https://www.thetrumpet.com/stephen-flurry has become unabashed in his supported of the defeated Trump administration and critical of the current legitimate US Government. It appears that he wants to imitate the late Rush Limburg.
Then we have Fred Coulter’s Christian Biblical Church of God continuing to promote his conspiracy and anti-vaccination theories without providing proven evidence, claiming this is the truth, even though the facts show otherwise. As with PCG he continues to promote the lie that Trump won the Presidential elections and other politically biased claims, often which are simply untrue. https://www.cbcg.org/video/how-to-resist-philosophy.html
Another group is Bill Watson and the Church of God International promoting Trump’s failed policies and several of his conspiracy theories https://www.cgi.org/new-blog-2/2021/2/23/a-beast-on-the-move. Many claims made by Bill have a political basis and some statements made are simply not true. https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2019/08/cgi-pastor-bill-watsons-maga.html Bill should limit his prophetic sermons to what the Bible says, and not conspiracies.
Today many in the Church of God groups are now endorsing the nationalist policies advocated by Trump. The support of Trump from the Christian right has developed because of disenchantment with liberal theology, and the State replacing the spiritual vacuum created by mainstream Christianity adopting liberal values and the decline of traditional values in society. This is surprising as Trump meet none of the qualities of a Christian as described in Galatians 5: 16-26
Previously Worldwide Church of God members were taught not to become involved in the world’s politics as neither the right nor the left have the solutions facing the society today. There is now a growing appeal by some church member in hearing messages that offer simple solutions in reaction to the increasing liberal values being promoted by governments around the world by liberal democracies today. Replacing one evil with another is not the solution to this world’s problems.
Bruce Porteous
9 May 2021
Bruce,
DeleteThanks for your thoughtful and eloquently stated comments. I agree with you that the solutions to our problems are not offered by either extreme of the political spectrum. Moreover, while I believe that Christians should be doing everything in our power to make this world better, we must never lose sight of the fact that God's Kingdom offers the REAL solutions that we so desperately need.
Hello Miller Jones. Thanks for flagging this out on your Blog. This subject has been of great concern to me and a growing number of CoGers. I have addressed the subject on Anglo-Israelism and also its bi-product nationalism, or western exceptionalism. These teachings and those who proliferate them have done damage to the faith of many. Two articles I have put together on these subjects can be found here:https://shepherdsvoicemagazine.org/british-israelism-a-brief-exposure-and-refutation/ and here: https://shepherdsvoicemagazine.org/babylon-to-america-the-perils-of-nationalism-infecting-gods-people/ .Hope you don't mind me sharing these and feel free to look at at your convenience. Thanks again - Jim Patterson
ReplyDeleteJim,
DeleteThank you for commenting here, and thanks for the links which you provided relative to your articles on British-Israelism and the very negative impact that nationalism can have on Christians. You are very articulate, logical and thorough in your presentations, and I encourage my readers to check them out.