|
|
|
|
|
| Group Profile | History | Beliefs | Issues | Links | Bibliography |
In addition, to Mystery of the Ages Armstrong wrote several books and a number of pamphlets, Bible lessons and letters. These writings are used to supplement the Bible in that they provide interpretation and inspiration for the church.
Herbert W. Armstrong was born in Des Moines, Iowa on July 31, 1892. He was raised
in a Quaker family. Between the ages of 12 and 16, he worked in many jobs and was
often complimented for his ability to work well. These compliments caused him to
realize that he had great abilities and they ignited a flame of ambition within him.
This time of new ambition for accomplishment and self-improvement would be
influential throughout Armstrong's life. At the age of 18, he began looking for a
vocation. In accordance with his uncle's advice that only those who have no ambition
need formal schooling, Herbert W. dropped out of high school in his sophomore year.
He went to work in the advertising office of a small newspaper in Des Moines. Over
the next few years, he worked with many different newspapers and sold ads
independently until 1915 when he went to Chicago and opened his own advertising
business. After having some business success, he returned to Iowa in 1917 to visit
family; while there he met and fell in love with Loma Dillon. They wed on his
twenty-fifth birthday and during the next three years they had two children.
In the first few days after they were married, Loma Armstrong would have a dream
that would deliver "the unrecognized call of God" to Herbert Armstrong. At this
time, he had not been much involved in the church even though he and his wife had
gone to church a few times. In this dream, Christ descended among three white angels
from the sky and embraced Herbert and Loma. He then told her that Christ would be
coming to earth and that she and Herbert were to prepare the world for his coming.
Armstrong's wife shared the dream with him the next morning, but it was not until
years later that he realized that it was a call from God.
By 1922, Armstrong's business in Chicago had disintegrated. In 1924, he moved his
family from the mid-west to Salem, Oregon where he advertised for a hardware,
jewelry, department and furniture stores. He found his greatest financial success in
advertising for the local laundry, but in 1926, the laundry advertising business was
swept from him
It was in this same year of business failure that "religious controversy" would
strike his home. Loma had become friends with a bible student in Oregon who had
convinced her that Saturday was the correct day to worship. When confronted with the
"news" that they had been worshipping on the wrong day, Armstrong was shocked and
humiliated by what he considered his wife's "religious fanaticism."
Armstrong vowed to prove to his wife that they were to worship on Sunday, and thus,
he delved into deep Bible study. While studying the Bible, he was confronted with
even more opposition to his religious beliefs. Doubts of the Bible's validity were
planted in his mind from his sister-in-law who was a believer in evolution. As a
result, he included the study of evolution in his quest for knowledge of the true
religion. In Armstrong's words: "And so it was in the fall of 1926--crushed in
spirit from business reverses not of my making--humiliated by what I regarded as
wifely religious fanaticism, that I entered into an in-depth study of the Bible for
the first time in my life
The more Armstrong studied, the more convinced he became that evolutionary evidence
was not based on scientific data. Armstrong looked at scientific "evidence" and
studied the Bible's account of special creation and found that "there was no proof"
of evolutionary theory and that it had all been conjecture and supposition.
As he continued in his original quest, to prove his wife wrong, he found that he
had been incorrect. He asserted that Jesus had been crucified on Wednesday, not
Friday as is generally assumed, and he was in the tomb for three full days and
nights (this would become one of the central beliefs in what would later became know
as "Armstrongism"). In his autobiography, he insists that, although he didn't
realize it at the time, this was the changing point in his life. After realizing
that he had been wrong for so many years in his religious worship, after having
intensely studied most of the Bible, and after having become bewildered and
frustrated with his realizations, Armstrong found himself trying to reconcile with
God and find the way he was supposed to live.
His surrender to God led him to great joy and he began to see everything with a
new and different light than before. It was a new light that gave him a new
positive, spiritual outlook. In the year following his religious awakening,
Armstrong was baptized and had begun to seek out the "true church " of God. Only
those churches that worshipped on Sunday would be considered.
In 1928, he began preaching at the small Church of God in Missouri and in 1931, he was
ordained "as a minister of Christ 's Gospel." Armstrong moved to Eugene, Oregon in
1933, to establish his own religious following after butting heads with various church
members and ministers over his differing theories of church doctrine. It was there
that he initiated
The World Tomorrow
, a religious radio show that is said to have once been the most widely
broadcasted religious program in existence. It began as a simple religious program
that would condense an entire church sermon into one half an hour and expanded to
later become the Radio Church of God.
In addition to using his radio broadcasts to widen his audience base, Armstrong also
used print and television media (television did not come into play until the late 1940s,
after the end of WWII). Realizing that in order to be successful, he must have a
follow-up to
The World Tomorrow
, Armstrong set out to publish a magazine he had been dreaming up since 1927 called
The Plain Truth
. He used his prior magazine experience to publish a magazine that would "bring to
the world God's truth-making it PLAIN!"
The splitting of the WCG and the formation of its splinter groups (including the Philadelphia Church of God) was prompted by three main things:
The role of Armstrong in the Church.
As the founder of the movement, Armstrong alone headed the Worldwide Church
for over 50 years. As the movement grew in size, the number of individuals required
to keep the movement growing increased. Thus, Armstrong had to bring in outside
help. The most prominent of those that he brought in (and the expected successor to
Herbert W.) was Garner Ted Armstrong. Garner Ted was Herbert's youngest child.
During his younger years, Garner Ted rebelled against religion, but after attending Ambassador College, the insitute founded and funded by the WCG, he became convinced of the validity of his father's religion. By age 27, Garner Ted was already a regular host of The World Tomorrow , the executive vice president of the church, the president of Ambassador College and the executive editor of The Plain Truth . He was being prepared to take over whenever his father was no longer capable, but that plan would never come to pass.
Between 1966 and 1978, Garner Ted was disfellowshipped four times. Reports indicate that each of the first three times there had been increasing rumors (and some evidence) of sexual indiscretion and failure to attend to his duties as a minister. In his final expulsion from the church in 1978, Garner Ted was disfellowshipped for attempting to seize too much power when his father became ill. According to Herbert W., "Under [Garner Ted], God's Church, the World and the College had been turned around until it was actually scarcely God's church any more. Everything was run as a strictly secular and worldy organization." Thus, Armstrong retained central control of the WCG. After expulsion from the church, Garner Ted began his own church called the International Church of God.
Armstrong's Biblical Outlook Armstrong always insisted that the Bible alone was the foundation of his church and his teachings. His teaching revolved heavily around the end times and his followers saw him as a messenger chosen by God for the last days. His church was paralleled to the church of Philadelphia in the book of Revelation, God's "true church." In addition, he never claimed additional revealed scriptures such as the Mormons have. This left the door open for reinterpretations of the Bible that would "prove" that Armstrong was in error and that would eventually rip away the pillars that held up the WCG's Armstrongism beliefs.
Armstrong's Successor After Armstrong's death on January 16, 1989, Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. (formerly a minister with the Worldwide Church for 30 years) took over as Pastor General. Soon after, the foundations of Armstrongism began to crack. Tkach assumed leadership over the church with every intentions of letting the Bible speak for itself. Very shortly after Tkach took over, change began taking place. Some speculated that Tkach had been waiting in the wings in 1986, ready to make changes once Herbert W died. But he, and other church leaders, insist that is not how this astounding transformation of the church began. In a 1997 interview with Joseph Tkach, Jr. (he succeeded his father after his death to colon cancer in 1995), he explains that the process of change was stimulated by questions from without and within the church:
"A few years after my father began serving [as Pastor General], he appointed people such as Michael Feazell, Greg Albrecht and me to various positions. We soon found ourselves having to answer various questions and challenges regarding Herbert W. Armstrong's former teaching....Some of the questions that came were new, unique in that we hadn't seen such challenge before. As we would independently do our individual research to answer certain questions, we all found that the things Herbert W. Armstrong was teaching were in error, both historically and biblically."
29
Joseph Tkach, Sr., the denominational leader, was also having problems believeing
in Herbert W.'s insistance that they were the only true Christians when he was
witnessing people giving their lives for missionary work. This coupled with the
"errors" found by his son and other administrators opened up Tkach, Sr. to thinking
that Armstrongism could indeed be wrong.
The goal was to make changes slowly and to explain them thoroughly for all to
understand, "but that ended up being an impossible dream."
Move Toward Orthodoxy Splits Worldwide Church of God
One of the first major Armstrong doctrines to be invalidated was that establishing
going to doctors as a sin. The Church had formerly taught that going to the doctor
was a very sinful thing. Christ was said to have given his blood for spiritual sin
and his body for physical sin; thus, to go to a doctor was to be unfaithful to God
and similar to asking Satan for his help. The administrators announcement that the
church would no longer support those who kept their children from doctors, rattled
the church. According Tkach, Jr., about 5% of the members did not agree with the
change but very few left the church.
The next major doctrinal change, and the one that would cause some of the greatest
confusion and the beginning of the mass exodus from the church, was the acceptance
of the Trinity. Armstrong had taught that believers were not born again until the
resurrection and the only road to redemption was to attend WCG, the "true church."
When the church leaders re-examined that belief in the light of scripture they came
to reject the teaching that human beings were meant to become gods. This, in turn,
led them to revise their doctrine of the nature of God. This in turn led them to
accept as true the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In addition to
accepting the Trinity, the church now also believes in salvation by grace through
faith. Further the traditional disciplines of tithing and participating in WCG
festivals that were once said to be essentional for salvation, are now considered to
be optional, but helpful, processes.
The shifts in doctrinal change sparked a mass exodus from the church. In the time
since the beginning of the doctrinal changes over 30 new
splinter groups
have formed. Approximately 50% of its member left the church between Herbert
Armstrong's death in 1986 and the acceptance of the Trinity by the church in 1995.
Estimates say that about one-third of the people who left the church no longer
attend any church service, but many others have joined one of the two major splits
from the WCG.
The first of these splinters is the Global Church of God in Glendora, California.
The church was created by Roderick C. Meredith. Meredith was one of the original
Armstrong lieutenents. His church was established in late 1992 after he was forced
out of the Worldwide Church leadership after 40 years of ministry. In 1993, his
church boasted over 2000 members.
The second group which has received a large degree of the support that has left WCG is the Philadephia Church of God. The PCG was named for the church of Phildelphia in the book of Revelation and it now claims that it is the true church.
More on the Philadelphia Church of God
After Armstrongs's death in 1986, the changes in the church came relatively
quickly and thoroughly. As doctrinal changes occurred and Herbert W.'s works began
to slowly be withdrawn from circulation, questions began to mount. Initially, the
new leaders of the WCG (Tkach, Sr., Tkach, Jr., and their associates) allayed
suspicions of change by telling questioners that works were being pulled for
financial reasons and minor errors. Months later, as more works began to be
discontinued and altered so as to water down the message of Herbert Armstrong, the
elder members became distressed. People slowly began to drift away from the church.
Those who were leaving alleged that the Worldwide Church of God had "strayed from
its original God-given calling and [had] become merely another church
denomination."
A turning point in the conflict occured when the church sought to discontinue
Armstrong's book
Mystery of the Ages
, because of "doctrinal errors." Many who saw Armstrong's doctrine as life law, and
this book as his crowning achievement, became disillusioned. Gerald Flurry, a minister
of the WCG, began writing
Malachi's Message
, a book that revealed why the WCG had turned away from its founding traditions
established by Herbert W. Armstrong.
According to associates of the PCG, once Tkach, Jr. found out about
Malachi's Message
, he summoned both Gerald Flurry and John Amos to the WCG headquarters in Pasadena,
CA. At this December 7 meeting, Flurry and Amos were told by Tkach, Jr. that the
Mystery of the Ages
"was riddled with error." Both were fired and excommunicated from the church. Nine
days later, on December 16, 1989, Flurry and Amos held the first official service of the
Philadelphia Church of God
.
The rationale for Flurry and Amos' Philadelphia Church of God developed from the reading of the biblical book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. The two chapters describe the messages sent to the seven churches in Asia; Chapter Two deals with the first four of the churches. Chapter three of the book of Revalation talks about the church of Philadelphia in verses 7-13. These six verses describe the sixth of the seven letters sent in the book of Revelation. The sixth letter is sent to Philadelphia:
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens..."The Key of David is a symbol of authority (and a principle part of the PCG belief system).The door is an open door of opportunity. In the Bible, an open door signifies the preaching of a message. The designated verses go on to say that although the church of Philadelphia is feeble it will be sustained during the coming persecution. It warns that He is coming soon and that the church must hold on to what it has. If it survives, it will become a permanent and steadfast part of God's temple. Thus, the church takes the name the Philadelphia Church of God because it is believed to be the sole true church whose members will be spared when the end time comes.
In addition, the Key of David vision played a large roll in the founding of the PCG.
I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut and no one shall open.(Isaiah 22:22)
According to the Armstrongists,
In other words, the key of David vision involves a message for all mankind. One
man was delivered this message and he was used to "raise up a work to deliver the
message" but one man could not do it alone. Those beneath Armstrong were also
responsible for spreading the message. When Armstrong died in 1986, and the WCG's
new leaders began to change the doctrines, Armstrongists felt that the leaders were
attempting to close the door and let the message die with the messenger. Jesus
Christ ("He that is holy, he that is true") is thought by the church to be eternal,
so his message must be eternal. Thus, Flurry and Amos founded the church in an
effort to continue passing on the message of the "true church."
The beliefs of the Philadelphia Church of God (and other splinter groups from the
WCG) can be categorized as "Armstrongism." Armstrongism is defined as those beliefs
and doctrines established by Herbert W. Armstrong in his founding and guiding of the
Worldwide Church of God. Armstrongites practicing beliefs include rejecting the
Trinity and the full diety of Jesus. In addition, Armstrong taught British Israelism
and believed that men would become Gods.
The Philadelphia Church of God believes the Bible is "the full word of God,
inspired by God." All doctrines upheld by the Church are provable by the texts from
the Holy Bible. The Church sees itself as being responsible for teaching the laws of
God to anyone interested in learning, but because they believe that only God can
make a person a member of the church, they do not attempt to convert new members.
The church believes that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and that sin will
separate you from God. You must obey God's law perfectly; there is no middle ground,
you either obey God or you don't on a particular issue. Everyone should always be
looking for new ways to please God. We should not be disheartened when we fail. We
should rejoice in our trials because it is through these trials that we are learning
to become and build the character of God within ourselves before the end time. The
church is responsible for telling when the second coming will occur.
Malachi's Message.
The prophet Malachi said "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare
the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:1) This verse has two applications. First, it refers
to John the Baptist who prepared the way for Jesus' human ministry before the coming
of Christ. Second, it foretells the second coming of Christ as "the King of kings
and Lord of lords to RULE over ALL NATIONS!" Malachi's prophesy refers to a human
messenger that will prepare the world for this second coming.
It is believed that when Jesus came the first time (approx. 2000 years ago), he
came to "announce the FUTURE kingdom of God." The second time he comes will be here
to establish that kingdom. Herbert Armstrong was the Elijah that was sent to prepare
the world for this second coming. In his death, the Philadelphia Church of God has
sought to carry on his message to continue preparations.
British Isrealism.
In its simplest form, British Israelism (in the Armstrongian view) is the belief
that the true identity of the "ten lost tribes" (modern Isreal) can be traced back
to Britain and its colonies (America). The tribes spoken of in British-Israelism
are described in Genesis 49:1-30.
Armstrong and his followers interpret these verses as saying that when Israel was
divided into two nations in the Biblical era, the southern nation became the kingdom
of Judah and the northern became the kingdom of Israel. The two tribes in the
southern kingdom took on the name of "Jews" (derived from the word "Judah"). The
other ten tribes were in the northern kingdom and in 721 BC, Israel's kingdom was
conquered and the Israelites were driven out; thus they became the "ten lost
tribes."
These lost tribes were composed of Anglo-Saxons, God's chosen race. In this race
one can find the direct descendents of Kind David and the heirs to the throne of
King David. According to Armstrong, "The fact is, [the British and Americans] are
mentioned more often [in the Bible] than any other race," but they are not
recognized because they are referred to by their ancient name of Israel.
God as a Family.
God is a Family and a Kingdom; it is not a Trinity. Armstrongism says that the
Holy Spirit is a "heresy." Thus, the Trinity of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
is false. The doctrine of the Trinity limits God to three people and this is not
what Armstrongism says the Bible intended. Presently the Kingdom only contains two
spirits: God the Father and Christ the Son. God the Father is the possessor of
Heaven and Earth and the Father of Jesus Christ. The other spirit is the creator of
Heaven and Earth and is the God of the Old Testament; it is the one that became
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the first to be born into the God Family. Jesus
became part of the family when he was resurrected; it was then that he "was BORN a
divine Son of God."
Whereas most traditional Christian faiths believe that one is born again at
Baptism and they are forever saved, Armstrongites believe that you are not born
again until Christ returns to earth. Armstrong taught that the term "born again"
meant "changed in spirit." According to his teachings, Christians are only
"begotten" sons now and they have not been born again. Like Jesus, the true
believers will be born again--changed into spirit--at the resurrection of Christ.
Thus, man becomes God when he is born again; he does not become "godlike" as other
faiths believe.
The Kingdom of God is the government of God. "When the time comes in God's plan
when all humans who will qualify for that Kingdom have qualified and have been 'born
again' into that family, then the Kingdom will comprise only spirit beings who are
literal children of God."
Salvation.
The Philadelphia Church of God believes in salvation by works. Salvation by works
refers to the belief that eternal life must be earned through human effort,
religious ritual, financial donations, obedience to church doctrines. Whereas
salvation by faith believers insist that people are saved by thier faith in Christ's
blood, the Armstrongists believe that Jesus alone, of all humans is the only one who
has been saved. While Baptism is essential to becoming a true Christian, it does not
gaurantee your salvation. "One who is born of God is merely begotten spiritually. He
is not yet really born. Only those who develop spiritually shall finally be given
immortality."
Evolution.
Armstrongism does not support the theory of evolution. One of the reasons the
Philadelphia Church of God refutes the idea of evolution is that in Armstrongs
taught that many of the dating methods for fossils have been proven wrong. Herbert
Armstrong, in his search for the creation of man, found that there is a circular
reasoning that arises in the dating of fossils. Geologists estimate when a certain
fossil speciman might have been alive and the date of the strata are determined from
this. Since scientists assumed that the theory of evolution was correct, everything
else was a supposition that would allow dating of other strata and fossils to be
made in reference to things that had been found previously. Thus, there was no
"proof" of evolution, but a number of assumptions that allowed scientists to make
other assumptions. Also, less than 1% of the fossils found came from vertebrates
which would mean that the other over 99% (which includes vegetation and marine life)
would have had to have turned into a large population of homo-sapiens.
Sabbatarianism.
Armstrong asserted that Jesus rose from the dead on Saturday rather than Sunday,
as generally believed. The sacred day of worship is to be observed on Saturday, and
requires that individuals must devote their extra time to religious studies and
prayer. Anything that is usually thought of as a liesure activity is not permitted
in this time of sacred worship.
Personal Life Choices.
The church has very strict rules in terms of marriage and sex and other personal
life choices. Armstrong taught his followers that divorce was wrong. Any member of
the church who was divorced was pressured into getting back together with their
former spouses. In couples where at least one person is on their second marriage,
couples are told to break up and advised move far apart to resist the urge to get
back together. Interracial marriages are forbidden.
Church members are also not allowed to visit doctors; they are only allowed to pray.
Armstrong taught that healing was a product of keeping God's commandments and having
faith. In Armstrong's words:
The dietary laws of the group are also quite strict. Dietary regulations are said by
Armstrong to be made by God for the health of mankind. The church has published lists of
clean and unclean foods
. The rules of what is "clean" and "unclean" are found in the Bible in Leviticus
and Deuteronomy.
Religious Observances.
PCG members observe 7 holy days annually: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost,
Trumpets, Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.
Tithes and Offerings.
The Armstrong ministries (WCG and PCG) have often been attractive because they do
not appeal to outsiders in any of their programs for money. All donations are
strictly voluntary, until one becomes an official member. After becoming a member,
individuals are required to donate two tithes each year. All tithes are equal to one
tenth of the net salary of the member. The first tithe goes to the church's
headquarters and it is used to finance things such as the church administration and
educational resources. The second tithe is used to pay for church festivals and
activities that are focused on keeping the family strong and celebrating the faith.
Every third year there is an additional ten percent tithe that goes to charity.
The Church teaches that God is a Family and a Kingdom; God is the father of Jesus
Christ. There is no divine Trinity, and no man is the head of the Church. The head
of the Church is Jesus Christ. The Church also believes that God is reproducing
himself and that man was created to literally become God. The Holy Spirit is a gift
from God, which leads to salvation after true repentance. In addition, sin will
separate you from God and Christ, but one should rejoice in his trials because it it
through these trials that God builds His character in us.
During the Armstrongian years of the Worldwide Church of God, the organization was
labeled as a cult and its leaders were labeled as con men and brainwashers. Its
practices were belittled and denounced by those outside of the church. Herbert W.
Armstrong was said to be the false prophet that Jesus had warned would come as a
wolf in sheep's clothing. "Armstrong fulfilled Christ's words as he hid his false
doctrines behind a Christian image and Christian terminology."
For much of its revolutionary period, the WCG faced much skepticism, suspicion and
ridicule from other religious groups (and anti-cult groups). After years of
doctrinal changes and guidance from non-WCG church members, the WCG. s departure
from its traditional Armstrongism founding began to be recognized as legitimate by
traditional Evangelical groups. In 1997, the WCG was officially inducted into the
National Association of Evangelicals. Whereas this acceptance of the Worldwide
Church of God into the NAE has lead to decreasing tensions between the church and
the religious public, it has increased the tension between outsiders and members of
the PCG.
In condemning the works, teachings, and practices of Herbert Armstrong, the WCG
has effectively criticized all WCG splinter groups. The WCG, along with non-WCG
church members have urged the Armstrongian churches to realize the errors of their
beliefs. Critics of Flurry and the PCG are comparing the organization to the WCG and
its seemingly . miraculous. turnaround. Many anti- and counter cult groups say
that the WCG's recognition of true Evangelical beliefs and the denunciation of
Armstrongism gives more proof to their claims that there is something wrong with
Armstrong. s doctrines.
The Worldwide Church of God has become so outspoken against the beliefs of Armstrong
that it sued the Philadelphia Church of God for the redistribution of Herbert W.
Armstrong. s
Mystery of the Ages
. In January 1997, the PCG began to reproduce (and freely distribute)
Mystery of the Ages
which the WCG had pulled from circulation during the early years of its doctrinal
changes. In February 1997, the WCG filed suit against the PCG to suppress the book under
copyright laws; the PCG said it had the privilege to distribute the book under the right
to . exercise its religious freedom.. In March 1997, Gerald Flurry ran advertisements in
the
Los Angeles Times
criticizing the WCG. s doctrinal changes and its efforts to . conceal. the
teachings of the . true church. in lieu of trying to . persuade potential believers
to adopt one of two competing approaches."
There have also been controversies in the Philadelphia Church of God surrounding
its founder, Gerald Flurry. Opposition to Flurry has come from a number of places
including ex-church members, anti- and counter cult groups and Christian groups.
Flurry is said to display "typical cult-leader arrogance" and create a seclusionary
atmosphere for his church members. Some define the PCG as a radical cult that could
potentially become dangerous to its members due to its belief that the end time is
not far off. There are also rumors from ex-members that the members of the PCG have
made plans to leave the country at some point in the future to prepare for the
second coming.
Flurry preaches that the PCG is the only "true church" whose members will be saved
at the second coming. He exalts Herbert W. Armstrong as the Elijah of the second
coming, and claims that he (and his church) are Armstrong's replacements. They are
the only ones who truly know Satan and are spoken to by God; thus, they are the
teachers of the world. Those who devoted their lives to Armstrong and his doctrines
now find that they can devote themselves to Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of
God.
Ex-members of the PCG and many PCG opponents say that Flurry uses his power to
command absolute obedience of the church members. Flurry hold the power of
disfellowhipping members from the "true church." By possessing htis power, he is
said to be able to convince people that they must adhere to the doctrines of the
church or be expelled in which case they will not be saved. As a result, those that
jooin the church sometimes end up impoverished and sacrificed due to the monetary
and spiritual demands placed upon them by the church.
The PCG has also come under pressure from anti-cult and counter-cult groups because
of its medical practices. Because Armstrongism states that one is not allowed to go
to doctors, members and some children have died for not having seen adequate medical
attention. The church believes that if one goes to see a doctor, it is comparable to
going to the devil for help. Only God can save the sick, and it is only if they
deserved to be saved. This is because physical illness is thought to be a result of
physical sin. . Drugs are denounced as poison, vaccines described as compounded from
pus and filth.. Currently there is no evidence of pending lawsuits, but opposing
groups find this doctrine to be uncivilized and dangerous. This is one of the first
Armstrongism doctrines denounced by the WCG; the WCG continues to criticize the
Philadelphia Church of God for its adherence to it.
Church History and
Government
This page is provided by The Trumpet, a publication of the Philadelphia Church of
God. It contains an aphabetical list of links to articles written in the Trumpet that
provide information about different aspects of the Church.
http://triumph.simplenet.com/christ.htm
The Key of David Television Program
Website
This is a link to the official homepage of the Key of David, a television program
hosted by Gerald Flurry. Flurry's program discusses the Bible prophecy, tenants of
Armstrongism and world events in relation to the Bible. This site also has links to
obtain a brief biography of Gerald Flurry and Herbert W. Armstrong as well as other
links (inlcuding literature requests).
http://www.keyofdavid.com
Worldwide Church of God
This is a direct link to the official WCG webpage. This page has several links that
have information about the church's history, beliefs, publications, pastors and the
programs that it sponsors.
http://www.wcg.org/
The Plain Truth Ministries
This is the official site of the Plain Truth Ministries. This site provides a great
deal of information about the Plain Truth Ministries and the Plain Truth Magazine that
was started by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1933. This site is a large compilation of links
to resources that the Plain Truth Ministries offers such as advice, subscription
information and information about the programs of the ministry.
http://www.ptm.org/
Articles of Herbert
W. Armstrong
This site provides downloadable copies of many of Herbert W.'s early writings. Some
of the articles included on the site are "Divorce and Remarriage," "Why Should We Have
Churches," "Which Day is the Sabbath of the New Testament," and "The Sabbath a Perpetual
Covenant."
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~davhill/hwa.htm
Herbert W. Armstrong Library
Online
This wonderful resource allows viewers to download (for free) 7 books, 55 booklets,
90 Bible lessons, and over 600 letters written by Herbert W. Armstrong. The books
include
Mystery of the Ages
, both volumes of Herbert W. Armstrong's Aubiography and his other major works. The
entire library can be dowloaded or users can download a specific item or all of one type
of item (books, pamphlets, etc.)
http://www.hwaonline.org/hwaonline/
Armstrongism
This site provides quotes from Armstrong's literature such as
The Plain Truth
. These quotes are used to explain the central doctrines of Armstrongism. Quotes are
used to define the church's stance on God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Sin,
Salvation, Redemption, and Retribution.
http://members.xoom.com/x_odus/CULTS/ARMSTRNG.HTML
The Lost
Tribes of Herbert W. Armstrong
This article gives information and a summary of Armstrongism's interpretation of
British-Israelism. The article gives a fairly thorough description of Herbert
Armstrong's reasoning behind his version of British-Isrealism.
http://www.catholic.com/answers/tracts/losttrib.htm
The BIBLE Versus Errors of
"Armstrongism"
This site is a comparative list of Bible doctrine and the doctrines of Armstrongism
on topics such as God, Jesus, Sin, and Redemption. The article insists that
Armstrongism is faulty in all of its doctrines about the major religious issues.
http://www.menorah.org/armstrog.html
The Graveyard Church
of God
This site contains a number of links to splinters from the Worldwide Church including
the Philadephia Church of God official webpage. There are also links containing
information about Herbert W. and Loma Armstrong and the prophecies of the Worldwide
Church of God. The website also has a set of links which will allow access to
electronic copies some of Herbert W.'s literature.
http://www.herbertwarmstrong.com/links.htm
A Look at the Philadelphia Church of God
This article was written by members of MacGregor Ministries, a Christian Outreach to
those trapped in cult groups. The article refutes some of the major doctrines of the
PCG such as salvation by works.
http://www.macgregorministries.org/cult_groups/philadelphians.html
Apologetics
Index of the Worldwide Church of God
This source provides a great deal of information about the WCG. It provides links to
extensive and broad overviews of the church's history and change in theology. In
addition, the site also contains links to other parts of the Apologetics site that
explain certain terms of Armstrongism such as British Isrealism.
http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/w01.html
Christian Research Institute
The Christian Research Institute is a counter cult "para-church" which provides
information about Christianity. This site also provides information about cults. The
site has many links which are helpful in researching Christian relgions and cults. In
addition, the site also provides electronic copies of articles for the Christian
Research Journal.
http://www.equip.org
Created by
April Seabrook
For Soc 452: Sociology of Religious Behavior
University of Virginia
Spring Term, 2000
Last modified: 05/29/01