This is only the second time I have seen the word hagiography (in previous post, hagiographic,sic) used in a sentence. The first time was in a book review referring to, if I remember right, LAMA as well. The review was of the book Quest to Restore God's House - A Theological History of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee): Volume I, 1886-1923, R.G. Spurling to A.J. Tomlinson, Formation-Transformation-Reformation, which was published by CPT Press in Cleveland, TN. I had to look the word up, but I thought it was a correct usage.My first read of LAMA, a First Edition (autographed) copy, was about 30 years ago. As a COGOP member and minister with a deep family history in the movement I was most interested in the events leading up the 1923 split and the COG's take on it, along with their reasoning for the court cases/lawsuits that followed.Synod makes some good points about the organization date of the denomination - COGOP claims June 13, 1903 when AJT joined the Holiness Church at Camp Creek (with the understanding it was the Church of God of the Bible). COG goes back to the Christian Union and folds in the Shearer School House Revival. However, it was the growth after AJT joined and became pastor of the church that triggered the organization at the First Assembly in 1906.AJT's role in the development of the church from 1903to 1923 is a subject of much debate, but when compared to the movement prior to 1903 it is monumental in scope. As I remember, LAMA, paints AJT as being authoritarian in his leadership and that he took money from starving pastors, widows and orphans. So that's what the split of 1923 was about and why the COG had to take AJT to court so often. Did AJT steal church money for himself? To me this is the most troubling accusation that still lingers in COG culture today. I believe this is an untruth (using a nicer word here) that has been passed and taught from generation to generation in the COG. What is not discussed so much was the effect of AJT's views on race and full participation in the church as a causal factor. Neither, was his more conservative views on divorce and remarriage addressed or his understanding of the nature of the church. I feel this leaves some big holes in the narrative of what happened. There is much I could point to, the division that has resulted, the personal cost to the Tomlinson family, the spiritual cost to the COG. However, let me ask this question, do your own scholars have the liberty to explore any other version of COG history or are they bound by the company line as found in LAMA? Some have said to me the ghost of AJT still haunts the history of the COG. Why would they say that?
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