Featured Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God...CULT!

Except you think only science says anything about the age of the universe.

 

Yep, my uncle was a big WWCOG member, used to drive the whole family to meetings hours away. I was just a kid. Grandmother got cancer and they didn't want her going to doctor for treatment until it was too late. No TV, no Christmas and long butt meetings, hours long was a tough haul for a kid to endure. Even the Feast of Tab was no fun because of the long meetings...

The creepy home visits to make sure you were walking the line... The fear mom had when watching one of the pastor's kids and he fell and busted his head (he was ok)... I remember one year, mom let us decorate a Christmas "fern" because it was small and we could hide it if visited.

Then one day, a big split in the church in Shreveport LA. It was weird all the folks disliking others in the split... the poverty during the split times... the poor preachers being threatened. The politics ...

Glad mother wised up and left them.

 

I remember divorce was a big no-no... yet the leader was married how many times? We are talking Trump number or so...

 

The WWCOG near here stll keeps that name. My acquaintance said they ditched the Jewish feasts but still kewpt them under christian names such as Harvest Festival in the autumn. They still go to Torguay for a week for that and a rival group who still keep the Jewish Festivals go to the same town, but don't meet.

I asked if they still believed that the British and Americans were the lost 10 tribes and he said "NO" but after a pause added "But I do."

Their British Israelism is continued by some on this board who believe that there are ten lost tribes.

 

It would seem that each one of their 'churches' or 'fellowships' within the Grace Communion International umbrella has various holdover doctrines from Armstrongism as can be found in the closest 'assembly' of Grace Communion near to us. They still observe Jewish feasts and are Sabbotarian.

 

You got it, that was the guy Harold Camping. His signature line was: "Thank you for sharing"!

 

There is an elderly man on my mail route who for a while, kept trying to give me literature on the beliefs of his church and this man was continuously talking about the Sabbath day and even told me that I need to tell my employer that I cannot work on Saturday because it's the Sabbath day and implied that if I continue to work on Saturday that my salvation will be in jeopardy. Come to find out, this man attends Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God CULT.

Question: "What is Armstrongism? Is the Worldwide Church of God a cult?"

Answer: Armstongism refers to the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, which became the teaching of the Worldwide Church of God. These teachings were often at odds with traditional Christian beliefs and at times were explicitly in contradiction to the Bible. The most well-known of Armstrong’s teachings is that of Anglo-Israelism. This is the belief that modern-day Jews are not the true physical descendants of Israel. Armstrong believed the lost tribes of Israel had migrated to Western Europe and that the present-day British and Americans were actually the heirs to God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Armstrong believed that this knowledge was the key factor in understanding the prophetic passages of Scripture and that it was his mission to proclaim this message in preparation for the end times.

These beliefs of the Worldwide Church of God were not new and were rooted in an anti-Semitic misinterpretation of Scripture. The Bible is clear that God has not replaced Israel with any other nation and that His plans for Israel are right on schedule and will come to pass after “the fullness of the Gentiles” have come into the Kingdom (Romans 11:25). We can be sure that all God has said is true and will take place, because of His character and consistency (Romans 3:3–4). To attempt to revise God’s plans for both Israel and the Church is to call into question His nature, His sovereignty, His omniscience, and His faithfulness.

In addition, Armstrong taught that at death one is in a sleep-like state until Jesus returns to earth. There would then be three resurrections. The first would be of the faithful Christians. Second would be the bulk of the population who would have a second chance to accept the gospel and be saved, despite the clear teaching of Scripture that there is no “second chance” for salvation after death (Hebrews 9:27). Third would be those that had acted in such a way as to be ineligible for the second chance. They, along with the group from the second resurrection that rejected the gospel, would then be punished. The Worldwide Church of God did not believe in eternal punishment in hell, but rather a complete destruction through fire, i.e., annihilationism. The Bible, however, is clear that there are two resurrections, one to eternal life in heaven for believers and one to eternal damnation for unbelievers (Revelation 20:4–14). Here again, the theories of Armstrongism and the Worldwide Church of God directly contradicted the Word of God.

Armstrong also taught that followers of Christ should remain true to all of the teachings in the Old Testament. Thus, he held the Sabbath to be holy, and in Jewish tradition the Sabbath was observed from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. He further believed that the Old Testament festivals such as Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles must be celebrated. The Worldwide Church of God taught that modern Christians should follow the dietary laws and tithe (up to 30 percent). Armstrongism was only one of many salvation-by-works philosophies that look to the keeping of the Old Testament laws as a means of salvation. But the Bible is clear that the opposite is true. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, because the Law saves no one. “A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). Clearly, the philosophies of Armstrongism and the Worldwide Church of God were just that—worldly philosophies that seek to deny the only means of salvation, the exchange at the cross of our sin for the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and replace it with the Old Testament Law, which Jesus came to fulfill because we could not.

After the death of Hebert W. Armstrong, the Worldwide Church of God began to embrace a more orthodox understanding of the Christian faith. Armstrong’s successors, Joseph Tkach, Sr., and Joseph Tkach, Jr., have led the Worldwide Church of God in a more orthodox direction, rejecting British Israelism, accepting the Trinity, etc. The organization/denomination now refers to itself as Grace Communion International. A brief history of the transition from Armstrongism to Grace Communion can be found at www.gci.org/aboutus/history. Although Grace Communion has come a long way toward biblical doctrine, there are still some serious errors in their theology, such as the teaching that everyone has been reconciled to God and forgiven of sin; that everyone, prior to repentance, possesses the Holy Spirit and is a child of God.

What is Armstrongism? Is the Worldwide Church of God a cult?

 

Quite the testimony, Brother. My dad was pretty wrapped up in Armstrong's WWCOG for many years as well. His testimony for leaving the cult is similar to your own. I am very thankful that he gave his heart to Christ a few years before he passed away. Before your post, I had not given this cult much thought for a long time. Do you know if they are still as active as they were back when Armstrong was still alive?

 

Their college (Ambassador College) in Pasadena, Ca closed and it would seem most assemblies are quite small. I have not seen any of their literature floating around for years. When I was the chaplain of the Visalia Rescue Mission in California one of their pastors was able to convince the Executive Director that their church was truly orthodox believing and he had me schedule them to lead some of our chapel services. They showed up (about 10 of them) with some old time gospel music which had been redacted and revised to fit their theology. They passed an offering plate they brought with them (at a rescue mission!) which came back empty. The pastor preached about nothing useful to his own bunch and of nothing useful to broken men in need of hope and restoration in Jesus. I walked up to the pastor after the service to thank him for his time and he ignored me. They never attempted a return visit (something I would have resisted) probably because of the empty plate!