Armstrongism

ARMSTRONGISM

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Armstrongism is known as The Worldwide Church of God. Other Names: WCG, originally called The Radio Church of God. Publications: The Plain Truth, Worldwide News (members only newspaper), Youth.
A Personal Experience:
If there has been one thing in my Christian walk with God it has been I have always been in search for the truth. At times what I thought to be true I found later to be a deception was only because I still had with in me the desire to do only what God said and not man or men. The thing with the cults is that they don't tell you everything they really believe and will at times tell you an outright lie to get you hooked.
My wife and I heard Garner Ted Armstrong on the radio and he was saying what we were seeing going on in America and in the "church". We began a study with the WCG and we could see a lot of truth of what we were going through at that time.
As you study with any one Cult or otherwise here is a trap you can fall into. As you check out what is being said and find it to be true you begin to build confidence in that organization or person. What then happens is you find yourself not checking it out as close and just accepting whatever is said to be true because of the trust. After about two years my wife and disagreed on something that was taught in one of the courses so we decided we would do a Bible search ourselves with out the aid of the study guides.
Guess what. Armstrong was wrong. We figured, well, if he was wrong there how many other things did we accept as truth without checking it out. We found ourselves amazed and embarrassed at our deception.
It was about this time that the adulterous affairs of Garner Ted came to light and that pretty much did it for us and we were out of there. So be Careful. Check it out.
History of Armstrongism:
The movement first began with Herbert W. Armstrong in 1934. He was born in 1892 in Des Moines, Iowa, into a Quaker family. In 1917, Armstrong was married to Loma Dillon. In 1927 Loma Armstrong became acquainted with the teachings of the Church of God-7th Day while they were living in Oregon. This was Armstrong's introduction to the Sabbatarian movement. The Church of God-7th Day split in 1933 and Armstrong was ordained a minister in the Church of God-7th Day which set up headquarters in Salem, West Virginia.
In 1934, Armstrong bought radio time and began The Radio Church of God. He also published his first mimeographed issue of The Plain Truth magazine. He was the minister of the COG-7th Day church in Eugene, Oregon at that time. In 1938, Armstrong was stripped of his COG-7th Day ministerial license.
Armstrong had been teaching that the Jewish Feast days were binding on the church contrary to the COG-7th Day doctrine. Armstrong retained his Eugene church and his radio ministry.
In 1947, he relocated the ministry to Pasadena, California. He began Ambassador College, a bible school to train ministers who would raise up churches under his leadership. In 1968, the name of the organization was changed to The Worldwide Church of God.
There was a split in the church in 1974, when forty ministers and several thousand members left the church because of doctrinal disputes and resulting abuses. By the mid seventies, Armstrong was proclaiming himself God's apostle for the last days.
Herbert's son Garner Ted Armstrong became a very popular voice in America on the radio. His dynamic personality and way of persuasion brought many into the WCG. He spoke clearly of Gods impending judgment to come on America and her sinful way and the sin in the organized church.
Sin also caught Garner Ted in its web as well and was found committing adultery. Garner Ted was removed from his ministry at that time but after he repented he was restored. (I personally received a letter on this matter.)
Herbert Armstrong disfellowshipped his son, Garner Ted, in 1978. Garner Ted formed his own church, The Church of God, International located in Tyler, Texas.
In 1979, the state of California placed the church in receivership under allegations of financial abuses by church leaders. After lengthy court battles the courts removed the church from receivership.
Herbert Armstrong died in January 1986 at the age of 94. He was succeeded by Joseph W. Tkach as Pastor General.
Organizational Structure:
Church government is from the top down. The Pastor General heads the church. Evangelists oversee department heads. Regional Pastors oversee the ministers in local churches. Ministers are assisted by elders and deacons.
Doctrines:
Many changes in the doctrines have taken place over the years and changes are now taking place. These changes have caused many of the local churches of WCG to disfellowship themselves from the main organization. These changes appear to be for the good as far as the WCG aligning themselves with the truth. Here are some of the changes in doctrines.
In the August 25, 1986 issue of The Worldwide News, appeared the article, "God Restored These 18 Truths: How Thankful Are You For Them?" The article stated that, "The Editorial Services staff has compiled here, for the first time in any of the Church's publications, 18 essential, basic truths that God restored to His Church through Herbert W. Armstrong." In less than a decade after that article waswritten, most of those "Truths" have been abandoned by the church under the leadership of Joseph W. Tkach.
1. Trinity - 2. Salvation by Grace and not by Works - 3. Born Again
The WCG has changed its belief to be in line with the truth of the Bible and the orthodox position of the body of Christ on these issues.
With the changes continually taking place it is difficult to publish a specified list of the current doctrines they now hold. Then you have several ministers who refuse to teach the changes so it all depends upon which congregation you attend. But even with that there are still doctrines that have not a yet been changed which still classifies them in the cult category.
The doctrinal foundation of the Worldwide Church of God was adopted from the Seventh Day Adventists through the Church of God-7th Day. Armstrong added the Identity of Modern Israel theory which he obtained from J. H. Allen and the Jewish Feast Days, church eras, and the "true name" of God's church which he picked up from G.G. Rupert (Address at a local elders' conference at Big Sandy, Texas by Tkach, Jr., June 1994).

GOD (under Armstrong) -- "The Hebrew for God is Elohim, a uniplural noun, such as the words family, church, group... And so, in truth, God is not merely one personage or even limited to a `Trinity,' but is a family" (The Good News, February, 1979,p.1). "The doctrine of the Trinity is false... Elohim is
the divine family-only one family, but more than one divine Person... So the eternal Father is a Person, and is God. Jesus Christ is a different Person and is God. They are two separate and individual Persons..." (The Missing Dimension In Sex,p.32).
GOD (under Tkach) -- "Do let me summarize, and I hope to make this crystal clear. Our old literature taught that there are two god beings in one God Family, each composed of Holy Spirit. That teaching, which implied that there are two Gods, is not biblical. The Bible teaches that there is one God, not two. "The Bible does not teach that God is a family name, with two God Beings in that family right now, and billions to come later. The Bible teaches that the one and same God is Father, Son, and Holy spirit"
(Pastor General's Report, July, 27,1993 p.4).

JESUS (under Armstrong) -- "Christ is the Yahweh of the Old Testament" (The Plain Truth, Jan., 1955, p.7). "Hence, we see that He was not the `Son' of God until He was born of the virgin Mary" (The Plain Truth, July/August, 1955, p. 4). "The Satan inspired doctrine that Jesus was not human that He did not inherit the sinful nature of Adam, that He did not have all the normal human passions and weaknesses against which all of us have to struggle...this is the doctrine of the antichrist" (Ibid.).
"Now notice carefully God the Father did not cause Jesus Christ to get back into the body which had died" (The Plain Truth, April, 1963, p. 10).
JESUS (under Tkach) -- "Was Jesus the God of the Old Testament? Since God is one, what is the point of asking who the God of the Old Testament was? The answer... has to be `The one and only true God. Who else?'" (Review on the Nature of God, p.5). "The Son of God is one of the three hypostases of the one God. Therefore, the Son of God hypostasis is eternal" (Pastor General Report, Oct. 1993). "From God's standpoint, there was no possibility that Christ might sin,..."(Pastor General Report, Jan. 22, 1991). "Jesus Christ clearly showed to his disciples that after his resurrection, he still had the body he had before his death" (The Plain Truth, April 1994, p.19).

SALVATION (under Armstrong) -- "We are saved by GRACE, and through faith-make no mistake about that; but there are conditions! ... People have been taught, falsely, that `Christ completed the Plan of Salvation on the Cross' -when actually it was only begun there. The popular denominations have taught, `Just BELIEVE-that's all there is to it; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are that instant saved! That teaching is false!" (All About Water Baptism, p. 2, 1954 edition). "...Jesus gave them the final GOSPEL COMMISSION... He commanded baptism as an obligatory ordinance for this Gospel dispensation: ...it is `he that is baptized' that shall be saved. It's part of the divine Commission a required ordinance for salvation!" (Ibid., p. 5).
"Now water baptism is a required CONDITION to receive the Holy Spirit" (Ibid., p.8). "But now see how God's Spirit entering and dwelling in one compares to the physical sperm impregnating the ovum - the imparting of eternal SPIRIT life, later to produce... a SPIRIT PERSON!... Life from the Father has been imparted to it... but neither embryo nor fetus is YET a born person. In the same manner the Spirit-begotten human is not, yet, a SPIRIT PERSON..." (Just What Do You Mean... BORN AGAIN, p. 17, 1972 ed.). (meaning not yet born again).
Armstrong taught that a believer could lose salvation by disobeying what Armstrong declared to be "God's command through His chosen Apostle." He wrote, "Do you want to let resentment against God's government over you NOW disqualify you - snatch you from God's GRACE and PURPOSE for you, and cast you into a lake of fire?" (Dear Brethren Letter, May 2, 1974 p. 7).
SALVATION (under Tkach) -- "The gospel of the Kingdom of God is the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ" (The Worldwide News, August 11, 1992, p. 4). "Our hope of the future, the time when we will receive the fullness of our inheritance, is made all the more real to us as we truly enter into and par- ticipate in the new life to which God has called us in Christ right now" (The Worldwide News, October 6, 1992, p. 1). "...forgiveness is not a result of baptism. Jesus forgave sins without having to perform a baptism. So when does a believer receive the Holy Spirit? When a person believes, he or she is `in Christ,' sealed with the Holy Spirit" (Reviews You Can Use, November/December, 1993, pp. 21, 22).
Tkach has taught that believers can lose their salvation by not being overcomers. "Salvation is one thing but overcoming is another. And if we are not interested in overcoming, you can rest assured that salvation is not going to be there. Salvation is a present possession. However, it does not mean once saved always saved in any way, shape or form. You have to overcome and endure to the end" (Joseph Tkach Sr., Feast of Tabernacles, Sept. 30. 1993).
"If the Christian remains faithful and does not turn away from God, his salvation remains firm and secure. In that sense, `once saved always saved' is right" (Pastor General Report, May 15, 1990).

Tkach spoke to a large gathering of WCG ministers and members in Atlanta, Georgia on December 17, 1994. He addressed the issue of TITHING as being an Old Testament requirement which no longer applies to Christians. He stated that free will offerings were the New Covenant way to give.
One week later, in Big Sandy, Texas, Tkach announced that it is all right to work on the Sabbath for a brief period of time. Both of these doctrines were previously believed to be requirements which could effect one's salvation.
The majority of Regional and local ministers have not accepted the changes and are not teaching them to their congregations. According to numerous widespread reports authoritarian abuses of members on a local level are still epidemic and present a serious challenge to Tkach and his administration.

PRAY FOR THIS ORGANIZATION THAT THEY MAY COME INTO THE FULL
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S HOLY TRUTH: