151st anniversary of CGA’s, now CG7’s magazine

Rebuilt Gymnasium in Sardis

Tomorrow is the 150th anniversary, according to CG7-Denver, of its magazine, now called the Bible Advocate. The following is from former CG7 President Robert Coulter:

The Michigan State Conference of the Church of Christ, predecessor to the Church of God (Seventh Day), made plans for the publication of a magazine in its conference at Bangor in June 1863.

It chose The Hope of Israel as the name, solicited subscriptions at seventy- five cents per year, received offerings to defray startup costs, and hired H. S. Dille as its editor. On August 10, 1863, the first edition of The Hope was sent to fewer than forty subscribers…

The Hope taught the Advent, Sabbath, and conditional immortality, while advocating sola scriptura…

Our pioneer church had no theological statement on God, and its discussions of Christology proved unfruitful. Its earliest clerics were divided in their opinions on Christ’s identity. Some taught that Jesus was a natural son of Mary and Joseph, later adopted as God’s Son…

The Church was founded on an anti-Trinitarian doctrine, in which the Holy Spirit is not a personal part of the Godhead but a mere influence or power emanating from God.

The Hope of Israel went through several name changes and became the Bible Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom in 1900. It is now simply know as the Bible Advocate.

The Church itself was originally called the Church of God (Adventist) (CGA) and then became the Church of God (Seventh Day) (CG7) in 1923.

The late Herbert W. Armstrong was a minister with CG7 in the 1930s later claimed that CG7 represented the Sardis era of the Church of God.

Robert Coulter of CG7 is a church historian and I have had several discussions with him on various aspects of church history, particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries. Based upon those discussions and additional research, because of concerns of CGA’s ‘Christology’ (many leaders of it according to Robert Coulter denied the deity of Jesus), I have not felt that the way some considered CGA organization as truly COG necessarily correct (though I believe it had some real COG members in it). Earlier this year, Robert Coulter released a 500 plus page book on his version of CGA/CG7 history that I read, and let me simply state that he seems to feel that doctrine should be much more open/undefined than I do and he takes a partial preterist view of prophecy (he believes that the Great Tribulation is over and most of the Book of Revelation has been fulfilled).

That being said, CG7 claims 300,000 are affiliated with it, though when I visited a group that supposedly was in South America last year, they were not aware of that affiliation. But the group did keep the Sabbath, avoided unclean meats, and had other doctrines as far as I could tell consistent with CG7 teachings.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Church of God, Seventh Day: History and Teachings Nearly all COG’s I am aware of trace their history through this group. Whaid Rose is the president of the largest CG7 group (Denver). Do you know much about them?
The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses early history of the Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and COG-7th Day.
The Dangerous Rise of Preterists Has the Great Tribulation finished? What was the view of early Christians? Why is the preterist view dangerous?
Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today? Includes quotes from the 1973 edition of The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong and explains who he was and how he should be viewed today.
Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning Is binitarianism the correct position? What about unitarianism or trinitarianism?
Is The Father God? What is the view of the Bible? What was the view of the early church?
Jesus: The Son of God and Saviour Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth? What message did He bring? Is there evidence outside the Bible that He existed? Here is a YouTube sermon titled Jesus: Son of God and Saviour.
Jesus is God, But Became Flesh Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what?
Virgin Birth: Does the Bible Teach It? What does the Bible teach? What is claimed in The Da Vinci Code?
Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity? Or did they have a different view?
What is the Holy Spirit? This is an article by Rod Reynolds.
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?
Binitarianism: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning This is a shorter article than the Binitarian View article, but has a little more information on binitarianism.
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from c. 31 A.D. to 2014. A related sermon link would be Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. Marque aquí para ver el pdf folleto: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios.