David C. Pack
vs
A Sabbath Test
Thirty Deceptions
"The Fourth Five Lies"
Response from Dennis Fischer:
Anyone who listens to this pet doctrine of these false leaders must be prepared to do all of the above.
Response from Dennis Fischer:
This may be true according to the imaginary book they have conjured up. But it is most definitely not true according to the scriptures or to A Sabbath Test. And I should know.
Furthermore, the RCG mantra re: “pet doctrines” is getting rather repetitive—much like a chant. They continue to cry it out, but fail to prove it—for obvious reasons.
The Seventeenth RCG Deception:
We must ask: Do you see how utterly ridiculous their thinking is? Are you able to see why Mr. Armstrong never bought into this confusion?
Response from Dennis Fischer:
This is a very interesting assertion. Here, the RCG writers are implying that the issue of buying and selling on the Sabbath was actually presented to Mr. Armstrong and that he rejected it cold. These writers have now taken another deceitful leap and are even enlisting Mr. Armstrong in their deception. Regrettably, he is not here to defend himself.
The Eighteenth RCG Deception:
God does not forbid pleasure that is appropriate for the Sabbath. It is not profaning the Sabbath to listen to pleasing classical music. Neither is it sinful to appreciate a beautiful landscape or to walk out into God’s creation to better enjoy His Sabbath. Certainly smelling the fragrance of flowers or taking in fresh mountain air is pleasurable—would God have us abstain from enjoying these things on the Sabbath? Does enjoying a delicious, wholesome meal profane the Sabbath? Of course not! Even in I Corinthians 7:5, in which Paul instructs husbands and wives to abstain from the pleasure of marital relations while fasting, he does not command them to refrain from this on the Sabbath. Clearly, God does not condemn pleasure that is within reason and within His Law.
Yet, statements from the book A Sabbath Test paint a much different picture. After quoting Isaiah 58:13, the authors write, “By this statement, God makes it abundantly clear that we are not to seek personal enjoyment on His Sabbath. It is true that the Sabbath was made for man (Mk. 2:26) [sic – actually Mark 2:27], but it is God’s day (Ex. 31:13-17). Therefore, His people are to honor His instructions regarding how it is to be kept” (p. 34).
Response from Dennis Fischer:
I would like to begin by addressing the RCG question I have set off in bold. What they have done with it is very subtle. By posing the question this way they are expressing an obvious truth. However, cloaked within this question is a great deception.
What the RCG writers are implying is that there is no difference between enjoying a delicious, wholesome Sabbath meal at home or at the home of brethren, and going to a restaurant. Therefore if you think one is wrong you have to believe the other is too. By joining these two activities together into one general comment, the RCG writers are hiding what they are really arguing. This is tantamount to saying: “Does God forbid you being with your family on the Sabbath?” when arguing that you should go to an amusement park with them on that day.
The fact of the matter is that my co-author and I are totally in favor enjoying a delicious meal on God’s Sabbath. However, we are opposed to going out into a world of unbelievers and buying it from them. To do otherwise is to engage in a practice that goes contrary to God’s law. Furthermore, we believe that an honest examination of what takes place at a restaurant will illustrate our point. Although the RCG wants you to only see the meal and the fellowship at the restaurant, there is so much more. This is a BUSINESS transaction. To demonstrate this fact, consider the following words from A Sabbath Test.
A Sabbath Test
Whether one wishes to believe it or not, those who go to restaurants on the Sabbath are engaging in a commercial enterprise. This enterprise involves the purchase of goods, the contracting of labor, the agreeing on a price, as well as appropriate methods of payment. There is even a provision for the payment of bonuses (tips) in this business transaction. Furthermore, in this business relationship the restaurant patron possesses a considerable level of authority over personnel. These patrons define what they will purchase, how it will be prepared, and when it will be delivered. Additionally, they have expectations of personnel as well as products, and reserve the right to exercise disciplinary action if expectations are not met. Patrons can lodge complaints, refuse payment, and even engage the services of governmental agencies that protect the rights of consumers. They can do this because they ARE CONSUMERS. They are participants in a very real business transaction. The restaurant understands this principle well and to think otherwise is simply untrue.
Our purpose in writing A Sabbath Test was to argue that you can have that delicious meal without engaging in business to get it. Furthermore, God’s word proclaims the very same thing.
After arguing that anyone who opposes going to a restaurant on the Sabbath must also oppose having a delicious meal of any kind on this day, the RCG writers then claim that my co-author and I believe that the Sabbath should be totally absent of pleasure. However, this claim is utter nonsense and just another deception advanced by these church writers.
In multiple places throughout our book we give examples from the scriptures of the many pleasures God’s people may enjoy on this wonderful day. I quote from the book:
A Sabbath Test
Although God’s law outlines certain prohibitions concerning the Sabbath, it also outlines numerous activities that enhance the honoring of this great commandment. In reality, the command to honor God’s Sabbath is among the most affirmative in the Decalogue. Here are just some of the things you can engage in on that day: Rest from your labor, fellowship with God’s people, study His word, pray to Him, refrain from worry, meditate on His way, sing praises to Him, be nourished by His servants, anticipate His Kingdom, celebrate God’s way with family, teach your children, delight in the great hope He has given you, serve God’s people, comfort the weak, encourage the strong, embrace the lonely.
And in all of this, God’s word instructs His people to DELIGHT in this day, knowing that the Sabbath stands as evidence that God’s hope for all mankind will one day be accomplished! (A Sabbath Test pp. 109-110)
The Sabbath pictures God’s great millennial Kingdom. It is a day filled with hope and rich in meaning. God’s people should see it as nothing less. The Sabbath is a day that provides a glimpse into a Kingdom that will be absent of suffering. That Kingdom will be a time of great peace, great prosperity, great health, and great hope. It will be a time when ignorance and superstition will be replaced with the knowledge of a loving God and Father. Honoring the Sabbath that pictures that Kingdom is nothing less than a tremendous privilege and blessing. It should fill all of God’s people with a sense of purpose and hope, and most of all, it should fill them with THANKSGIVING. (A Sabbath Test p. 111)
Throughout their essay, the RCG writers portrayed our vision of God’s Sabbath as a dark oppressive time and place, but this is not true. It is just another deception. Here is what we truly believe as expressed in the book they so desperately pervert.
A Sabbath Test
The Sabbath pictures liberation and freedom from bondage. It pictures the great hope of God’s Kingdom. It is a unique day in which we can finally stop doing the labor, chores, and mundane activities of life. On the Sabbath we can come out of this world for one day, and picture a time when this world will be delivered into the hands of the King of kings.
The Sabbath is a delight, not because we are out having fun, amusing ourselves and being entertained. It is a delight because we have a special time set aside to seek our Maker. In a very real sense, the Sabbath is a time when the bride shares moments with the Bridegroom.
God’s people should actually consider His holy Sabbath as an appointment – a date with her fiancé. She should look forward with a deep longing to the Sabbath because it offers the luxury of twenty-four hours of rest from a world that is defiant to God. Furthermore, it replaces that time with a period of celebrating the transcendent hope of eternal life, living and working together with our Father and elder brother, Jesus Christ. (A Sabbath Test pp. 38-39)
The Nineteenth RCG Deception:
They then conclude, “Therefore, God was instructing His people to avoid physical activities which cater primarily to personal pleasure. Tragically, this is exactly what dining out on the Sabbath is. It is something that is geared toward personal pleasure. It is what millions of Americans and Europeans do for entertainment and recreation every single day and especially on the Sabbath.”
Do you grasp what these authors are saying? They are equating the physical necessity of eating—ingesting food in order to obtain necessary nutrients for life—as entertainment and recreation. Who is missing something here? Should such a rift in logic or judgment not serve as a warning flag to reasonable, spirit-led minds? Should it not also be painfully obvious that the authors simply do not know and understand the true God?
Response from Dennis Fischer:
This characterization of our point is deceptive to the core. I doubt that even the RCG faithful will believe it. However, it is their deception, so here is my answer.
We are NOT saying any such thing and you know it. Our argument is NOT against food. It is against going out into the world on God’s Sabbath and seeking out unbelievers who trample on this day, and paying them to trample on it for you.
I do however, agree with the RCG writers concerning their comments about a “rift in logic.” What they have suggested concerning our words in A Sabbath Test, reveals how far some will stoop to sell their point. In this case, they will lie to peddle it.
The Twentieth RCG Deception:
As with all the other “proofs” used to support their unstable hypotheses, this “proof” is tailored to fit the authors’ predetermined conclusion.
Response from Dennis Fischer:
One of the “tell tale” signs that a person is biased is by the absence of integrity in his arguments. Now apply this standard to the RCG article condemning A Sabbath Test and its authors. The number of distortions in their Essay is staggering. They have misquoted my co-author and I repeatedly. Furthermore, they have misrepresented the clear meaning of our words. On the other hand A Sabbath Test is an honest examination of a vital truth. There is nothing about this book that does anything but show great respect to God the Father and His Son. Furthermore, it shows deference to God’s people. It is not A Sabbath Test that is a reflection of an unstable hypothesis, it is the RCG’s arguments that employ lie after lie to vindicate their cause.
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