"Official religion, meanwhile, kept up the forms of state-cult. But as the city-state became an anachronism in a world of large
kingdoms and empires, new religious forms were evolved: the ruler cult of the Hellenistic kingdoms and the emperor cult of the Roman
Empire. The rulers became gods, first after their death and then even while alive" (Collier's Encyclopedia, subject: Classical
Mythology). What is found in many churches of God regarding human deification is nothing short of a return to the ancient Roman/Greek
cult of emperor/ ruler worship with a Christian flavor. I call it "CLOSET POLYTHEISM."
HWA falsely taught that becoming God was
the exclusive future and the special domain of individuals who were part of the WCG before 1986. He gave no quarter to anyone
outside his Church, to those that left his Church, or to any person summarily ejected from the WCG fellowship. As you might
expect, that exclusivist "true" Church, that was also supposed to be the "kingdom of God in embryo," is now extinct. Over time,
this church literally split apart at the seams. Apparently, God aborted that peculiar and false "embryonic" kingdom. The
membership is scattered to the four winds. About his church, the WCG, the late HWA wrote: "The very first portion of God's
spiritual harvest of humans finally to be born of God-made God Beings—is the Church! … They shall be GOD BEINGS!" (Mystery
of the Ages, p.234). So, one process today of "becoming God" originated with HWA, as did the notion that God is "reproducing"
himself. But where did HWA get the doctrine? No one seems to know.
Here is a sample of the problematic logic used to justify
this multi-god doctrine. A WCG writer: "If we are to be changed from physical to spiritual—and not just ordinary spiritual,
but by and into the spirit of God; if we are taught by Jesus to pray 'Our Father in heaven…'; if he really is our (not just his) Father;
if we are (to be) his sons; if we share the Father's and the Son's glory; if we inherit eternal life; if we partake of the divine
nature; if we are to be just like Jesus now is; if we have the complete mind of Christ; if we are worthy of worship—WE MUST BE GOD!"
(Good News, 7/76, p.28). This is more than problematical: it is a false teaching by blind, egocentric teachers. The problem
with this clever "logic" is obvious. It is all human reasoning based on a mixture of implication, conditions, superstition,
some truth, and much error.
It is amazing how quick and willing some are to accept a position with little or no support beyond
superficial proof texts, half-truths, and biased research. Many are more than willing to toss out the only true God and replace
him with a double-god and future multiple god-beings, which is a clear example of polytheism, and do so with enthusiasm. One
fool on a Church of God Internet forum even wrote, "I think I would die before I publicly profess Unitarianism [the belief in one
God], but I don't think I would go that far to deny the Trinity." Such loathing of the biblical one-God concept and loyalty
to a false prophet's concept is baffling. Does salvation hinge on one's concept of God? You bet!!!
Some scholars have shown
that historically, ancient societies began their religious existence or awakening with a monotheistic approach to deity, one god or
one supreme god. This one God was the "Creator," "Life-Giver," or the "Great Spirit" of all Creation (cf. Rom.1:18-2:1). As societal progress was made, prosperity and material comfort increased, and when plurality rather than a homogenous whole began
to be the norm, a given society would experience corruption and the one-god concept would begin to fade. The foundational monotheistic
culture would move dangerously in the direction of polytheism. The population would begin creating gods in their own images
and defend them to the death. Recent sabbatarian Church of God leaders have created gods in their own image. Rather than
adhering to the false evolutionary concept of an upward movement from multiple gods of rocks and trees of the earliest tribes to the
enlightened high point of advanced society in the worship of one god, it has been the reverse-devolution. Societies typically
begin worship with one God. Over time religious methodology devolves and spirals downward into the worship of many gods. Almost imperceptibly, the multi-god society would begin to fester and decay from the inside.
Q: How much prosperity has multiple gods
brought polytheistic nations?.... A: NONE! (END)
