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Should There Be "Government" in

the Church of God?

When you sit down and think about it, there is no SIMPLER sub-
ject on the face of the earth! Yet, for thousands of years, men
have done ALL in their power -- sparing no effort or expense --
to CLOUD, CONFUSE and COMPLICATE this very simple sub-
ject. WHY?

John D. Keyser

The entire answer to the question of church government can be told in one small paragraph.
However, men have been so deceived for so long by governments about government, that to satisfy
every question or objection would fill many volumes.

Herbert W. Armstrong (late Pastor-General of the Worldwide Church of God) energeti-
cally and powerfully preached AGAINST government within the Church during the first twenty
years of his ministry. He condemned it as IDOLATRY!

Yet, over time, all this has changed. In fact, it is quite stunning to realize that one man could
hold such opposite views on one subject in one lifetime! Nevertheless, he did.

In the early years of the Church YEHOVAH gave Herbert Armstrong MUCH TRUTH and
I, for one, am deeply grateful to have been exposed to that truth. It was like "life from the dead"
because, for me, it was. However, he was a man and made mistakes.

Before his death in 1986, for whatever reasons, he brought an ANCIENT ERROR into the
Church. This error has grown like a CANCER and spread to other Churches of God; until, today, it
casts an ominous shadow over every aspect of Church life. And, if it is not soon checked, it will
DESTROY the Churches -- as it has done so many times before.

The Great Historical Error!

This error is certainly not unique to our time. It can be found in the history books under
many names -- in fact, to a great degree, it IS history!

Because the Worldwide Church of God used to preach so strongly AGAINST this error,
and because this doctrine is the VERY FOUNDATION of the Catholic Church, those who now
rule in the Churches of God would very much like to DISTANCE themselves from the ancient PA-
GAN DOCTRINE of "THE PRIMACY OF PETER."

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