The
NITPICKER'S GUIDE
FAQ
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Disclaimer: The articles on this website are not
offered as comprehensive treatments of the topics under
consideration. They are intended to be merely helpful
overviews.
ANSWERS
FROM THE WEBAUTHOR OF THIS SITE
Q. 1
What
does "COG" stand for in the name of this website?
A. 1
It stands
for Church of God. It is a direct reference not
to just any group that labels itself by that name, but
to the Sabbatarian Church of God movement that had its
roots in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) under the
founder of that organization, Herbert Armstrong.
Armstrong led his denomination with an iron fist for
over fifty years, and thus "doctrinal debate" within the
WCG was non-existent. Anyone who openly proposed
doctrinal perspectives contrary to Armstrong's own
teachings was quickly removed from the organization by
disfellowshipment. If the individual was viewed as a
particular threat to the doctrinal stability of the WCG,
he might even be "marked," which indicated that all
loyal WCG members were duty-bound to have nothing to do
with him, and most certainly should never read any
material he had written. (For more information on
Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God, see the
profile
of the WCG on my Field Guide to the Wild World of
Religion website.)
Armstrong
died in 1986, and his successors proceeded to dismantle
the doctrinal base of the organization almost totally.
Tens of thousands of those who did not agree with the
doctrinal changes left and either remained totally
independent as individuals, or formed their own smaller
groups. Since there was no longer a central doctrinal
authority to dictate what everyone must believe, debates
on a wide variety of doctrines broke out quickly.
Within
the circles of "independent COG" groups, there are a few
doctrines which have particularly led to high levels of
emotional antagonism in the debating. In many cases,
those with views different from the majority on a
specific doctrine have attempted to gather supporters
for their perspective from within their own circle of
fellowship. This has often led to actual break-up of
both fellowship and friendship in such places. It is
surprising that opinions on just one doctrinal area can
engender such hostility that people who were formerly
meeting in peace and love find themselves drawing lines
in the sand and defending them to the point of allowing
the group to disintegrate rather than seek moderation or
sensible compromise.
Some of
the topics covered on this website have been prominent
in these contentious situations. It is hoped that the
material provided may equip groups which have not yet
experienced such divisive circumstances to avoid being
drawn into such a show-down.
Other
topics on this website are merely topics of wide debate
among COG groups, and are included as a matter of
interest.
The
topics on this website may well also be of interest to
people with no COG background at all. The doctrinal
subjects are common to many other denominational groups
and of interest to Bible students in general.
Q. 2
Who
are you, what is your Church background, and what makes
you think you are qualified to write about all the
topics on this website?
A. 2
My name
is Pam Dewey. My husband George and I have been involved
with the Sabbatarian Church of God movement for over 40
years. We were active members of the Worldwide Church of
God from 1968-1978. After being disfellowshipped and
marked from that organization for disloyalty to the
leadership of Herbert Armstrong, we then became affiliated with the
Church of God, International from 1978-1988. George was
a CGI pastor from 1980-1988. We have not been officially
affiliated with any denominational COG group since 1988,
but continue to fellowship widely with individuals and
independent congregations of COG believers, and
cooperate with a number of independent COG ministries.
In my
work as a writer, editor, researcher, and commentator
for a variety of COG publications and websites over the
past decade, I have been extensively involved in
covering the COG debates about the topics on this
website. I have studied the Bible in depth for over
forty years, and have read widely in the field of
comparative theology. It is this background that I bring
to the creation of the material for this website.
Q 3:
Do you
claim to be an expert on all of the topics covered on
this website?
A 3:
Absolutely not. I claim to be moderately well-informed
on the nature of the various arguments put forth by all
sides in the debates on these topics. In the articles on
this website, I make no effort to exhaustively explore
every technical aspect of the subjects at hand. I
offer a broad overview of the elements of the debate.
If a reader wants more detailed information on any
aspect of any of the topics, the Internet is full of
exhaustive treatments created by proponents of the
various positions.
Q 4:
Are
you an expert in Hebrew and/or Greek? If not, how can
you offer an opinion on the validity of arguments which
rely upon an examination of the original languages?
A 4:
No, I am
not an expert in Hebrew or Greek. But I do have a
university degree with high honor in Education, and
earned A's in university classes on sound logic. It is
the soundness of the reasoning of the positions
presented that is under examination in the material on
this site, not the technical details of the Greek or
Hebrew of any specific passage. If an author makes
reference to a technicality of Greek in the midst
of making an invalid argument, the argument is still
invalid whether his Greek is impeccable or not.
Q 5:
I have
my own doctrinal thesis on a topic covered on this site.
I'm sure it is different from everything you have ever
read on the topic. And I am absolutely sure it
will change your mind on your conclusions about that
topic. If I email it to you, will you read it?
A 5:
I have
read many hundreds--no, probably thousands!--of
documents, short and long, about the topics on this site
in the past forty years. I will be more than astonished
if you have come up with something truly unique. Most
authors who believe that they have, have just not been
exposed very widely to the collection of information
available on their chosen topic. And thus their
Astounding New Truth is most often just a re-hash and
minor restructuring of the same arguments of many
authors who have gone before. I haven't seen anything
truly new in over a decade. But yes, I would at least
skim any new article I would receive to see if it
contained anything unique. If it is obviously just more
of the "same old same old," however, I will not be
taking the time to explain to the author how and why I
disagree with his reasoning and conclusions. I receive
unsolicited documents on these topics constantly, and
would have no time for a real life if I felt obligated
to carry on a dialogue with every author. There are
plenty of Internet forums catering to such dialogues, so
no one need go without others to critique their efforts.
Q. 6:
I
think you are wrong in your evaluation of one of the
topics on this website. If I write up a rebuttal to your
material, will you post it on the website?
A. 6:
There are
no doubt millions of people who disagree with every
facet of my Biblical understanding. The purpose of this
site is not to give all of them an outlet for their
disagreements with me. The purpose of the site is to
provide a public venue in which I can share my own
understanding, and present the case for that
understanding as clearly as I am able. Fortunately for
each one of those millions of people, the Web offers
unlimited opportunities for them to put up their own
website where they can share their own perspective of
any topic with the world, including any rebuttal they
wish to make to any of the material on this website.
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