There are
definite reasons why ecclesiastical leaders prefer the observance of
holy days by their church members. And it is not at all difficult to
understand if one is open-minded towards the issue. Essentially, it
comes down to the matter of having control over the minds of the
people. It is far, far easier to gain religious authority over people if
the people are having to mold their lives (every moment of their lives)
around "church affairs." And the performance of rituals (which
most Protestant denominations conveniently call ceremonies) is a
main way of gaining human authority over other humans. You see, not only
will the ecclesiastical authorities be in command of people's lives
while they sit in church on Sunday or Saturday mornings, but their
control will reach into their homes (kitchen, living room, bathroom, and
bedrooms) – on a twenty-four hour basis! That is why food laws, days,
times, seasons, and years are important to religious leaders. By telling
people when they are expected to do things, and what they
have to do to be in good circumstances with the church and God,
they then have the authority over people that they need to rule
effectively.
This is what happened in
Judaism in the time of Christ. The whole nation was really under the
control of the religious authorities--those who sat on "Moses' seat"
(Matt. 23:1-4). Christ said that those authorities had bound upon the
people multitudes of laws (do's and don'ts) that made the lot of the
people a burdensome task. And what was bad about it was the teaching of
the religious authorities that the people had to do as they said in
order to obey God. And indeed, the common people had to look to
those religious men all the time for direction. Their whole lives were
governed around what the "church" said.
For example, the calendar
year was ordained (not by civil authorities which would normally have in
mind a convenient calendar for commercial or agricultural advantage),
but it was controlled to maintain the advantage of those who determined
religious requirements. It led to much corruption among religious
authorities because they could sell their "religious decisions or
philosophies" to the highest bidder--because there was considerable
money involved in the regulation of the calendar and other ritualistic
requirements. Most of the priests (who were in high ecclesiastical
positions) were extremely rich and very aristocratic in their
life-styles. After all, they were supposed to represent none other than
God himself, and the people were expected to do just what they said no
matter how deceptively corrupt some of the decisions were.
Christ, however, was not too
considerate of their religious excesses and the human control they had
over the people. He called them hypocrites, blind guides, fools,
serpents, a generation of vipers (Matt 23). They were basing their
decisions on the commandments of God as found in the Old Testament, but
by their additional interpretations they were making those laws into the
commandments of men (Matt. 15:1-9).
Nevertheless, since the
Jews were under the Old Covenant relationship with God (the New Covenant
only had its initiation with Christ's death on the cross--Matt.
26:27,28), Christ still expected the Jews to bear the heavy burden that
those "on Moses’ seat" demanded (Matt. 23:1-4), but that all changed
with the introduction of the Christian church (Acts 2). Note that the
apostles were castigating those same ecclesiastical leaders (and not
obeying their dictates) not two months after the resurrection of Christ
(Acts 5:27-32).
As time went on and even
the Gentiles were brought into the pale of Christianity (and the
Gentiles had never been under the Mosaic religious authorities in the
first place), the apostle Paul began to inform people that they no
longer had to pay attention to the decisions of any religious
authorities regarding the eating of food, keeping of days, months,
times, and years (Col. 2:16). He said that one day was the same as
another (Rom. 14:1-6), but that if the individual wanted to
observe any day, he could make up his own mind on the issue. He did not
have to have men inform him what to do (Gal. 4:10).
With mature Christian
teaching, the matter of physical rituals or ceremonies fell into disuse.
These were the mere types of Christ and once the reality came in
the person of Christ, one's attention was to be directed to serving
him--not days, months, times, and years (or the men who governed such
calendar periods).
In effect, the rescinding
of the necessity to observe the Old Testament calendar dates relieved
Christian believers from the yoke of bondage imposed on those under
the Old Covenant legislation. The apostle Paul, however, criticized some
Gentiles who wanted to adopt such a government over their lives. "How
turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, wherein ye desire again
to be in bondage? Ye observe days and months, and times, and years"
(Gal. 4:9,10).
The apostle Paul taught
that there was only one mediator between God and mankind (and
that mediator was Christ--only Christ!), and that a Christian did
not need any man over him (I Tim. 2:5).
And this was the teaching
the apostles left the church of the first century. However, in the next
300 years the church got so powerful in the world that they had to bring
politics and civil rule into effect. This is when the church once again
imposed "days and rituals" (though different from the Old Testament
times). It was necessary to control the people and their money. Even
today, there are some church organizations which demand a ritualistic
calendar that they control. Paul would have none of it. We're
free in Christ.
By "FIC" (former member of
WCG)
Let Go of Days, Take Hold of Christ
(is it necessary
to observe holy days and rituals in order to gain eternal life?)
Lifton's Eight
Criteria of Mind Control
When We Attended the
Feast (What did they do to our minds?)
The Big Build-up of the Holy Days
My Position in Christ
(accepted and secure forever)
Back to
Questioning HWA's doctrines
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