GCI further pushes Greco-Roman liturgical calendar: But what did the early Christians do?

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GCI (Grace Communion International, essentially the group that originally ran the new and changed Worldwide Church of God) wants its congregations to further adopt a non-biblical liturgical calendar:

Worship in GCI congregations

June 20, 2018

Along with many others in the body of Christ, worship in GCI follows the Christ-centered and gospel-shaped pattern of the Western Christian calendar as detailed in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). This pattern of worship is organized around a weekly celebration of the gospel (see the recommended order of services below) that is typically held on Sunday, the day the risen Lord Jesus was first encountered. As shown in the diagram and list below, the worship pattern then includes several annual celebrations that highlight key aspects of our Lord’s life and ministry along with other key aspects of the gospel.

(source)

Advent (four Sundays preceding Christmas)

Christmas eve and Christmas day

The season of Christmas (Christmas through January 5)

Epiphany Sunday

Transfiguration Sunday

Ash Wednesday

Lent (Ash Wednesday through Palm Sunday)

Holy Week services:

Palm Sunday (celebrated as Passion Sunday when there are no Maundy Thursday and/or Good Friday services)

Maundy Thursday

Good Friday

Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil)

Easter Sunday

Easter season (Easter through Pentecost)

Ascension Sunday

Pentecost Sunday

Trinity Sunday

All Saints’ Sunday (Sunday after All Saints’ Day)

Christ the King Sunday …

GCI congregations may adapt the denomination’s standard liturgies to accommodate local customs and needs (though the basic formats and content should be followed). Congregations may also adapt GCI’s standard pattern of worship, though all should provide services that celebrate Jesus’ birth during the Christmas season and his resurrection during the Easter season.

Biblically and historically the above has so much wrong with it, it is hard to know where to begin.

Perhaps the best way would be to point out that GCI has been moving away from the Bible and towards non-biblical traditions for decades.

For example, in the August 1998 edition of the old Worldwide News there were three articles on the changed Worldwide Church of God’s (WCG’s) then current teachings, under the Tkach Administration, regarding days of worship. Many statements were made and asserted, but only a few scriptures were cited. One article was titled Is There An Annual Worship Calendar in the Bible? The short answer to that question is yes, but WCG/GCI has instead been advocating a non-biblical worship calendar. A specific critique of that old article is found in the following: Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible?

Now, let’s go through the GCI advocated liturgy.

1) Advent: Early Christians did not celebrate Christmas (see What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days?), hence they were not having four weeks for pre-Christmas sermons every year.

2) Christmas and Christmas eve were celebrated as the birth day of the sun-god Mithras (see What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days?). In the fourth century, the pagan sun-god worshiping Emperor Constantine wanted Jesus’ birth celebrated there instead (see also Do You Practice Mithraism?).

3) Since Christmas was not celebrated, early Christians did not observe “the season of Christmas.” However, pagans did with various celebrations that were condemned by early professors of Christianity.

4) The Catholic Encyclopedia reports the following about the first observances of Transfiguration Sunday:

The Armenian bishop Gregory Arsharuni (about 690) ascribes the origin of this feast to St. Gregory the Illuminator (d. 337?), who, he says, substituted it for a pagan feast of Aphrodite called Vartavarh (roseflame), retaining the old appellation of the feast, because Christ opened His glory like a rose on Mount Thabor. It is not found however in the two ancient Armenian calendars printed by Conybeare (Armenian Ritual, 527 sq.). It probably originated, in the fourth or fifth century, in place of some pagan nature-feast, somewhere in the highlands of Asia. (Holweck, F. (1912). Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company)

So, once again, GCI is promoting a pagan observation for its members.

5) Ash Wednesday and Lent: These were not celebrated by early Christians. Instead, they were adopted from pagan practices, probably also including Mithraism. For details, check out the article: Is Lent a Christian Holiday? What About Ash Wednesday?

6) Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday was not observed by the early church. Some believe that it began in Mesopotamia in the late fourth century. However, Roman Catholics did not seem to adopt it until much later.

The Catholic Encyclopedia notes to following about Palm Sunday:

Binterim, V, i, 173, on the authority of Severus, Patriarch of Antioch, and of Josue Stylites, states that Peter Bishop of Edessa, about 397 ordered the benediction of the palms for all the churches of Mesopotamia. The ceremonies had their origin most probably in Jerusalem. In the “Peregrinatio Sylviæ”, undertaken between 378 and 394…

In the three oldest Roman Sacramentaries no mention is found of either the benediction of the palms or the procession. The earliest notice is in the “Gregorianum” used in France in the ninth and tenth centuries.

7) Maundy Thursday: The Catholic Encyclopedia has to following about it:

The feast of Maundy (or Holy) Thursday solemnly commemorates the institution of the Eucharist … Canon 24 of the Council of Carthage dispenses the faithful from fast before communion on Holy Thursday, because, on that day, it was customary take a bath, and the bath and fast were considered incompatible. St. Augustine, too, speaks of this custom (Ep. cxviii ad Januarium, n. 7); he even says that as certain persons did not fast on that day, the oblation was made twice, morning and evening, and in this way those who did not observe the fast could partake of the Eucharist after the morning meal, whilst those who fasted awaited the evening repast. (Leclercq, H. (1911). Maundy Thursday. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company)

The ‘Eucharist’ that many use has pagan origins and was introduced by apostates. For details, check out the article: Marcus, the Marcosians, & Mithraism: Developers of the Eucharist?

8) Good Friday: Jesus was not killed on a Friday, hence that was not observed. Instead, historical records show that early Christians kept Passover.

9) Holy Saturday: While early Christians did keep the Saturday Sabbath holy, they did not observe Holy Saturday.

This is what the Church of Rome teaches happened on the day they call Holy Saturday:

What happened on the first Holy Saturday?

Here on earth, Jesus’ disciples mourned his death and, since it was a sabbath day, they rested. …

What happened to Jesus while he was dead?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, “hell” – Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek – because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.

Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into “Abraham’s bosom”:

“It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Saviour in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.”

Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.

634 “The gospel was preached even to the dead.” The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment.

This is the last phase of Jesus’ messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ’s redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/12-things-you-need-to-know-about-holy-saturday3

632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was “raised from the dead” presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.478 This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ’s descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.479 (479 Cf. 1 Pet 3:18-19.) (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 632)

While Jesus’ disciples mourned His death and would have rested on the Sabbath, when Jesus was dead, He was actually dead. Though He was raised from the dead on the day we now call Saturday.

There are several theological problems with the Roman view of ‘Holy Saturday”. Consider:

If Jesus did not really die, which He did (Romans 5:8, 8:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:10), then He did not really give His life.
Jesus said He would be like Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish (Matthew 12:40)–does anyone really claim that Jonah preached in ‘hades’ (called sheol in Hebrew) during that time? It is certainly not recorded that Jonah did that in the Old Testament.
There is no New Testament teaching that Jesus descended into Hades to preach to various spirits or dead humans. Plus dead humans are dead (see Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality? and What Happens After Death?).

On that third point, first let me quote the Bible:

27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (Acts 2:27)

That passage does NOT say that Jesus descended and preached. Consider also the word translated as Hades means the grave or place of the dead.

It is NOT the same word as Gehenna (which had a fire) that is often translated as hell in many New Testaments.

It is also NOT the same word as Tartarosas which is used as a place of restraint for fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4). The Bible never teaches that Jesus went there after He was executed.

Note, in his Latin Vulgate Bible, Jerome used the word for Tartarosas and not the word for Hades:

4 si enim Deus angelis peccantibus non pepercit sed rudentibus inferni detractos in tartarum tradidit in iudicium cruciatos reservari (2 Peter 2:4, Latin Vulgate)

Furthermore, realize that Acts 2:27 is a quote (per Acts 2:25) of something David wrote in the Psalms:

10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (Psalms 16:10)

Sheol also means grave or place of the dead. Notice the following where Sheol is translated as grave:

5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks? (Psalms 6:5, NKJV; both the Catholic NJB and NABRE leave the word as Sheol, instead of using the translation as grave–see their Psalm 6:6)

Now let me quote a statement from the late French Cardinal Jean-Guenole-Marie Danielou on whether the New Testament teaches the descent:

The Descent Into Hell…This doctrine appears nowhere in the New Testament,1

1 So W. Bieder, Die Vorstellung von der Hollenfardt Jesus Christi, p. 128

(Danielou, Cardinal Jean-Guenole-Marie. The Theology of Jewish Christianity. Translated by John A. Baker. The Westminister Press, 1964, p. 233)

Anyway, Jesus was dead for three days and three nights. Jesus emptied Himself of His divinity upon incarnation (Philippians 2:7) and did not receive it back until He was resurrected (cf. John 20:24-29). Early Christians did not keep the ‘Holy Saturday’ holiday that the Roman Catholics promote.

10) Easter: Early Christians kept Passover. Easter is the name of a fertility goddess, and even according to The Catholic Encyclopedia, many of the practices associated with it have pagan origins (see Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter?). Early Christians did not keep Easter.

11) Although early Christians did not keep Easter, they did understand that Pentecost would be celebrated in accordance with the date in the Old Testament (see Leviticus 23; see also Pentecost : Is it more than Acts 2?).

12) Pentecost: Yes, early Christians kept Pentecost. Yet, the way that GCI and most others observe it, they do not understand its true meaning (see Pentecost: Is it more than Acts 2?) as most do not also keep the other Holy Days listed in Leviticus 23 (see also Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?).

13) Trinity Sunday: Since the Greco-Roman trinity was not adopted until the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. (see Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity?), Christians never kept Trinity Sunday. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives the following information:

Trinity Sunday

The first Sunday after Pentecost, instituted to honour the Most Holy Trinity. In the early Church no special Office or day was assigned for the Holy Trinity. When the Arian heresy was spreading the Fathers prepared an Office with canticles, responses, a Preface, and hymns, to be recited on Sundays. In the Sacramentary of St. Gregory the Great (P.L., LXXVIII, 116) there are prayers and the Preface of the Trinity. The Micrologies (P.L., CLI, 1020), written during the pontificate of Gregory VII (Nilles, II, 460), call the Sunday after Pentecost a Dominica vacans, with no special Office, but add that in some places they recited the Office of the Holy Trinity composed by Bishop Stephen of Liège (903-20) By other the Office was said on the Sunday before Advent. Alexander II (1061-1073), not III (Nilles, 1. c.), refused a petition for a special feast on the plea, that such a feast was not customary in the Roman Church which daily honoured the Holy Trinity by the Gloria, Patri, etc., but he did not forbid the celebration where it already existed. John XXII (1316-1334) ordered the feast for the entire Church on the first Sunday after Pentecost. A new Office had been made by the Franciscan John Peckham, Canon of Lyons, later Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1292). The feast ranked as a double of the second class but was raised to the dignity of a primary of the first class, 24 July 1911, by Pius X (Acta Ap. Sedis, III, 351). The Greeks have no special feast. Since it was after the first great Pentecost that the doctrine of the Trinity was proclaimed to the world, the feast becomingly follows that of Pentecost.(Mershman, Francis. “Trinity Sunday.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912)

Trinity Sunday, then, is obviously not part of the original Christian faith.

14) All Saints Sunday. Early Christians did not keep this. All Saints Day itself was adopted by the Greco-Romans centuries after Jesus was resurrected. For details, check out the article: All Saints’ Day, the Day of the Dead, and All Souls’ Day.

15) Christ the King Sunday. This is perhaps the newest of the observances that GCI is now advocating. Here is information about it:

Pope Pius XI instituted The Feast of Christ the King in 1925 for the universal church, in his encyclical Quas Primas. He connected the increasing denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism throughout much of Europe. At the time of Quas Primas, many Christians (including Catholics) began to doubt Christ’s authority and existence, as well as the Church’s power to continue Christ’s authority. http://www.churchyear.net/ctksunday.html accessed 06/24/18

Since its adoption, we have actually seen more secularism in Europe–so it did not prevent that.

Throughout the years, GCI basically has repudiated most Church of God doctrines and is a Protestant denomination–GCI is NOT a Church of God.

And the liturgical calendar that it is pushing is clearly Roman Catholic (though GCI is not advocating ALL the Roman Catholic holidays).

The Bible teaches to “contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), and it did not include most of the liturgical calendar being promoted by GCI.

GCI is out of step with biblical Christianity.

Early Christians kept the seventh-day Sabbath and kept the biblical holy days (see Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?). They did not keep what GCI is promoting (as even Pentecost was observed differently by them).

After the apostasy set in, many of us left the changed WCG. However, there were various ones who felt that WCG was always God’s church, and that one should never leave it no matter what it did. That was not scriptural nor consistent with the practices of early faithful Christians. The new WCG clearly fell away from the truth (see The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings) and, after being renamed GCI, it has continued to get further away from the truth. Hopefully, those few actual Christians who may still feel that they need to support GCI will finally realize that GCI is not God’s church nor is it a real Christian one.

GCI is pushing a liturgical calendar that would have been an anathema to early Christians.

Whether or not you have been part of WCG, GCI, or simply wonder about the Christian church, you may find the following free online booklet helpful: Where is the True Christian Church Today?

Those who want more on the real history of the Christian church may also wish to read the free online booklet: Continuing History of the Church of God.

Some items of related interest may include:

What was the Liturgy of the Early Church? Were early church services mainly scriptural, emotional, or sacramental? Who follows the basic original liturgy today? A related video is also available: What were early Christian church services like?
What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days? Do you know what the Catholic Church says were the original Christian holy days? Was Christmas among them? Is December 25th Jesus’ birthday or that of the sun god? Here is a link to a related sermon: What do Catholic and other scholars teach about Christmas?
Do You Practice Mithraism? Many practices and doctrines that mainstream so-called Christian groups have are the same or similar to those of the sun-god Mithras. December 25th was celebrated as his birthday. Do you follow Mithraism combined with the Bible or original Christianity? A sermon video from Vatican City is titled Church of Rome, Mithras, and Isis?
Is Lent a Christian Holiday? When did it originate? What about Ash Wednesday? If you observe them, do you know why? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language by Dr. Hoeh: ¿Por Qué Se Observa la Cuaresma? Here is a link to a related sermon: Lent, Ash Wednesday, Carnaval, and Christianity?
Marcus, the Marcosians, & Mithraism: Developers of the Eucharist? Marcus was a second century heretic condemned for having a baptismal ceremony similar to one still practiced by many who profess Christ, as well as for promoting the ‘eighth day’ ogdoad. Might he also be in the apostolic succession list of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria? Where did the eucharistic host and IHS come from?
The Sabbath in the Early Church and Abroad Was the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath observed by the apostolic and post-apostolic Church? Here is a related sermon video The Christian Sabbath and How and Why to Keep It.
Sunday and Christianity Was Sunday observed by the apostolic and true post-apostolic Christians? Who clearly endorsed Sunday? What relevance is the first or the “eighth” day? A related sermon is also available: Sunday: First and Eighth Day?
What Happened in the ‘Crucifixion Week’? How long are three days and three nights? Was Palm Sunday on a Saturday? Did Jesus die on “Good Friday”? Was the resurrection on Sunday? Do you really know? Who determined the date of Easter? (Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Murió Jesús un día miércoles o un viernes?) A sermon of related interest is titled What did and did not happen in the ‘Crucifixion week’?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? Where did Easter come from? What do scholars and the Bible reveal? Here is a link to a video titled Why Easter?
Pentecost: Is it more than Acts 2? Many “Christians” somewhat observe Pentecost. Do they know what it means? It is also called the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of Weeks, and the day of firstfruits. What about “speaking in tongues” and led by the Holy Spirit? (Here is a related link in Spanish/español: Pentecostés: ¿Es más que Hechos 2? plus one by Herbert Armstrong HWA sobre Pentecostés). Here is a YouTube sermon titled Pentecost: What it Teaches and When it is .
Pentecost is Part of God’s Plan. This combines a couple of articles from the 1980s, plus additional scriptures and modern comments about Pentecost. Here are links to two related sermons: God’s Pentecost Plan and Your Part in It and Pentecost Plan.
Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by the Tkach WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: Calendario Anual de Adoración Una crítica basada en la Biblia y en la Historia: ¿Hay un Calendario Anual de Adoración en la Biblia? A sermonette in English covers: Colossians, Galatians, and the Feasts of God.
All Saints’ Day, the Day of the Dead, and All Souls’ Day When did “All Saints Day” and the “Day of the Dead” begin? “What about All Soul’s Day”?
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language LA DOCTRINA DE LA TRINIDAD. A related sermon is available: Trinity: Fundamental to Christianity or Something Else? A brief video is also available: Three trinitarian scriptures?
Joyce’s Pictures of the Pasadena Campus of Ambassador College and the former Headquarters of the old Worldwide Church of God Here is some pictures of the old campus taken in 2016 for those interested in what it did look like and what remains.
The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings Who is 2 Thessalonians 2:3 referring to? Are there multiple falling aways? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: La Apostasía: Enseñanzas de la Biblia y de la WCG. There are also two YouTube videos on the subject that you can watch The Falling Away Part 1: From the Bible and Church History and The Falling Away Part 2: Positions Presented by Others.
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by the Tkach WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background. As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware! [Português: Esperança do salvação: Como a igreja do deus difere da maioria de protestantes]. A sermon is also available: How Does the Church of God Differ from Protestantism?
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
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 Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L’Histoire Continue de l’Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?