New Bible Advocate released

The September/October issue of the Bible Advocate has been released by the Church of God (Seventh Day). The theme of the issue is the Church. Nothing controversial, as we'd expect from the Denver-based mother church of COGdom, it's all good standard biblical fare in a faith-affirming sense.

Almost all of the articles are sourced in-house; in fact it's a while since ex-WCG writers contributed to the publication, something which was common a decade or so ago.

Available to download.

Advocating a Different Spirit

I'm conflicted about the Bible Advocate. Years ago - we're talking the early 1980s - I was a hard copy subscriber. If nothing else it proved to me in my traumatized post-WCG state that a kinder, more generous form of COGism did indeed exist out there, albeit relatively small and distant. I still check out the magazine, though these days only online. It's not exactly riveting reading, especially for folk raised on the decadent triple-chocolate prophetic confections promoted by the mad-as-a-meat-axe Armstrong wing of the movement. The BA - published by the Church of God (Seventh Day) - is more like home made vanilla bread pudding. No artery-clogging additives, and "way healthier".

So why conflicted? Well, it's still a fundamentalist magazine, and for some of us that's now a very far country indeed. But it's not so "in your face", and gentler in tone than it's off-the-wall rivals. It's detractors in the shards of Herbal Empire might label it "Protestant", though I would question that ... who the heck knows what "Protestant" even means these days. Evangelical? Well, kind of, in an irregular sense.

The first thing that struck me about the July/August issue was the number of women contributors - Scott Ashley would have a hernia. The staff box lists a number of women too, including Associate Editor Sherri Langton. Fancy that.

The second thing that strikes an ex-WCG/LCG/UCG/PCG/whateverCG member is the absence of prophetic bullroaring. These folk actually know better. Compared to Beyond Today or Tomorrow's World the BA is positive, up-building and encouraging. If you're addicted to circus acts, you'll need to find an Armstrong periodical.

One item caught my eye in particular; a letter on the Questions & Answers page which asked: "Is the Holy Spirit a force or a person? What does CoG7 teach about the Spirit of God?" Interesting response.

Available to download.

BA - welcome to COG alternity

You know you've slipped into a weird parallel universe when you pick up the Bible Advocate. Weird in a mostly good way. The first sign is a feature article that mentions (and quotes) both Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King in a positive sense. For that reason alone Israel Steinmetz's Kingdom Loyalties (on the subject of non-violence) is a few thousand kilometres down the flight path from anything published by the Armstrong derivatives. In fact, I don't believe I've ever seen Bonhoeffer quoted in any of the COG flagship periodicals (other than BA). And how many times have you run across an approving mention of MLK in Tomorrow's World?

I looked and couldn't find a single mention of "Bible prophecy" anywhere in this issue.

What you can find is an article by Ronald Gallagher on the crucifixion/resurrection, Calvin Burrell on the new covenant, Jason Overman on faith, Caitlin Meadows on abortion issues and a number of what I guess you'd call "devotional pieces." The closest thing to the stock-in-trade rigidities we've grown to expect in Armstrongism is a piece by former editor Max Morrow called Uphold the Faith!

Some of the distinctive beliefs of the Church of God (Seventh Day), which we believe are among “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints,” are being tested: namely, divorce and remarriage, tithing, clean and unclean meats, observance of extra-biblical holidays, and participation in military combat. 

Morrow is clearly "old school", but it's interesting what he doesn't list: Bible prophecy. Bearing in mind that COG7 is an Adventist denomination that traces itself back to the early days, it seems remarkable that they're not preoccupied - perhaps obsessed is a better word - with the eschatological junk-food diet that now defines their granddaughter churches.

There's no getting around it, COG7 is a fundamentalist church and the Bible Advocate is, naturally, in that mould. But it's a different sort of fundamentalism to anything those in thrall to Roderick Meredith, David Pack, Gerry Flurry and their ilk have experienced. Dare one say it, there's a pastoral tone to the Bible Advocate, and you get the feeling that you could disagree with one or more of the writers and still be welcome.

The PDF is available to download.

(Next in the series, Greg Albrecht's Plain Truth)

A Parallel Universe: the March BA

The Bible Advocate is unlike any of the Armstrong COG publications. Rarely, if ever, is there an article featuring prophetic speculation. No BI. No inane punditry on the hidden meaning of world news. It's clearly not in the DNA of its publishers, the Denver-based Church of God (Seventh Day).

CoG7 is a fundamentalist Adventist body, no question, but it seems to avoid the tabloid apocalyptic speculation that goes hand-in-glove with its two larger relatives, the sibling SDA church, and its ratbag pack of daughters in the Worldwide Church of God tradition. When Herbert separated in the 1930s (they must have thrown a party!) CoG7 was left to follow its own course of development. It currently has churches established in forty countries (p.30).

Back to the magazine. The March issue is themed around baptism. But where, you might ask, are the proliferating exclamation marks! the CAPS, the frequent use of italics? And the lads at UCG's Beyond Today take note, just look at all the names of female writers and staff.

Many hardline Armstrongites would scoff, searching in vain for the heady blend of speculation, pontification and stupidity-on-steroids that they're addicted to. There's absolutely nothing Meredithesque here. Bland by comparison? Yes, but living off a diet of Rocky Road has health consequences. By contrast, a low-key, conversational tone has its own appeal. Not that I'm even faintly endorsing CoG7, just noting that it's one of the healthier options on the lard-laden COG smorgasbord.

The BA has been around a long time (this issue is Vol. 150, No. 2). It's already burned off The Plain Truth (unless you count the invisible Albrecht magazine), The Good News (both versions), GCI's Christian Odyssey, Meredith's The World Ahead, and I daresay it'll burn off the current crop of splinter mags as well.

The PDF is available to download.