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CHURCH
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ccsspool. Evils of all kinds escalale.
WHY?
If people threw away or ignored
lhe instruclion books for operating
mechanical gadgels- or lried to op–
erate them contrary to all the manu–
facturer's instructions- mechanical
devices would not work, either !
l t all started in the Garden of
Eden when our first parents rejected
their Maker's revealed knowledge
and disobeyed His commands. And
humanity as a whole has followed
thal course ever since- cut off from
God!
Humanity has continued to reject
revelation as lhe source of basic
knowledge. Man has continued
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reject the WAYof God- His spiritual
law- as the way
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all desired good,
and to decide for himself what, in
his eyes, is good and what is evil. He
has continued to take to himself the
fruil of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. He has continued to
do what is right in his owo eyes.
And in so doing, he has brought on
himself every evil that has beset
humankind.
See where it has now brought this
world. Humanity continued along
on even keel, in knowledge produc–
tion, until about 170 years ago. As
the prophet Daniel forelold, at "the
time of lhe end ... knowledge shall
be increased" (Dan. 12:4).
Science, the False Messiah
So, aboul 170 years ago, scientists
decided the human intellect had be–
come so near perfecl il could now
safely casl off ils swaddling clothes
and throw away lhe crulch of reli–
gion and belief in God. Given suf–
ficient knowledge, they reasoned,
lhey could solve all of man's prob–
lems and cure all his ills. Modern
science stepped forth as the new
Messiah lhal would deliver human–
ily from all lroubles and evils.
Morals began lo relax. Spirilual
values gradually were de-empha–
sized. Educalion lhrew the Bible out
lhe window, and wilh il inleresl in
leaching moral. spirilual and elhical
values. Educational emphasis carne
The
PLAIN TAUTH December 1978
to be, afler World War 1, solely on
inlellect, unconcerned with devel–
opmenl of righteous charac ter.
Knowledge producl ion was increas–
ing at an accelerating rate. G rea t
PROGRESS was being made-in in–
dustry. in technology, in a rcas of
malerialistic, scientific and medica!
knowledge. But increasing knowl–
edge
DID
NOT solve humanily's
problems. It cured no ills.
On the conlrary, man's problems,
troubles and evils acceleraled in al-
One is shocked
and disillusioned in the
discovery that virtually
all religions,
including traditional
Christian ity, have
utterly ignored or
rej ected God's revealed
way of life. This makes
shockingly plain the
reason why the world's
religions and churches
have not made this
a better world.
mosl exact proportion to this in–
crease in knowledge. Finally, in lhe
one decade of the '60s, the world's
fund
Of
KNOWLEDGE DOUBLED! And
in the same ten years the world's
TROUBLES ALSO DOUBLED! And the
lrend has continued since.
The more man works al produc–
ing KNOWLEDGE, the more he brings
EVILS upon himself. Now he has
brought himself to the very brink of
cosmocide. World leaders and scien–
lisls now know t ha t h umanily's
number-one problem is tha l of SUR–
v tvAL! Now lhey are beginning to
speculale on whether lhe '70s or '80s
may be MAN'S LAST DECADE. T he
engines of dest ruclion have been
produced that could quickly erase
all human life from the earth!
The Foundation of True Knowledge
But our Maker has sent along wilh
lhe product He made-humanily–
H is Inslruclion Book. He has made
lhe TRUE KNOWLEDGE accessible for
lhose willing lo seek and use it.
The VERY FOUNDATION of knowl–
edge is this lnsl ruclion Book of
man's Maker. The FOUNDATION of
educalion to fit one for happy and
successful living is being totally ig–
nored in 1oday's educational syslem.
One is shocked and disillusioned
in lhe discovery lhat vi rtually all re–
ligions, including traditional Chris–
lia ni ty, have u tterly ignored or
rejecled God's revealed WAY OF
LIFE. T his makes shockingly plain
lhe reason WHY lhe world's religions
and churches have not made lhis a
better world- WHY lhere is no
peace, WHY so little happiness!
Ask the average church member
how much biblical teaching has to
do with his everyday life- his busi–
ness, his sociallife, his home life, his
politics, his entertainment and rec–
realional life. He will probably
reply, "Why, nolhing, 1suppose."
But the Church of God, from
A.D . 3 1 to now, has
lived
by
God's
revealed WAv OF LIFE, as well as by
the faith of Jesus Christ.
And in that il is indeed unique!
lmportance of the Name
This Church has always recognized
the importa nce of the NAME given
the Church. And il has been always
kept in that name. Twelve times in
the New Teslament the NAME of
God's own Church is called jusl
that: "the Church of God." Christ is
revealed to be lhe living Head of
that Church. And in th is connection
it is in one place only spoken of as
the "Churches of Christ." Bul il is
composed of the begotten children
of God, who collectively as a
Church are named after their
Falher. In sorne New Testament in–
sla nces, a descriptive phrase is
added to lhe name, such as lhe
Church of God at Corinth, or the
Churcbes ofGod in Judea. Today, il
is lhe Worldwide Church of God.
But Jesus prayed lo God the Father
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