Five Simple Questions for the World Mission Society Church of God (WMS)
John C. Rankin (April 20, 2012)
I have occasion to consider the World Mission Society Church of God (WMS for short here) through a friend. Its website says that it “only follows the teachings of the Bible.” It then has many distinct doctrines, rooted in a simple assumption, upon which all else depends.
Their assumption is this: God has two images – male and female.
Based on the Hebrew word for God being in the plural (elohim), WMS says “the ‘Gods’ mentioned in Genesis 1:26 are the male image and the female image of God – God the Father and God the Mother.” Eve is said to represent “our heavenly Mother,” the only one through whom eternal life can be given, and through whom the “wife” of Jesus would be revealed.
Here are five simple questions:
- Does WMS understand that elohim is an “honorific plural,” not referring to multiple gods, but to the one true God who is greater than all the so-called gods?
- Does WMS understand that elohim is a masculine term, and also greater than the concepts of male and female?
- In the Bible, God is called Father, but where in the Bible is God ever called Mother?
- All people in history are descended from Adam and Eve. Thus, Eve is called the “the mother of all the living” from the Hebrew hayyeh. But where is the biblical text that makes Eve into “our heavenly Mother?”
- And thus, where is the biblical text that shows Jesus – as the second Adam – having a wife who is “our heavenly Mother?”
I invite the leadership of the WMS to converse with me in private or public, and answer these questions, along with the freedom to ask me any questions as well.
###
