Herbert W. Armstrong

Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) was the founder of the Radio Church of God / Worldwide Church of God; self-appointed chancellor of unaccredited Ambassador College; publisher of The Plain Truth magazine in several languages; presenter of The World Tomorrow radio and television programs; father of radio-television evangelist "Garner Ted Armstrong"; president of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation; self-styled as Ambassador for World Peace and patron of the Ambassador Auditorium concert series.

Beliefs

Many, but not all, of Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings appear to have been influenced by Church of God ministers Andrew N. Dugger (1886-1975) and Clarence O. Dodd (1899-1955).

Related Topics:
1886 - 1975 - 1899 - 1955

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Herbert W. Armstrong preached a gospel that was quite different from that of mainstream Christianity because he did not primarily intend to attract members, but to serve as a base with which to warn the world of a timetable of coming events. The climax of those events, in his concept, would result in the return of Jesus Christ to Earth as King of kings and Lord of lords in order to establish the Kingdom of God.

Related Topics:
Gospel - Kingdom of God

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Four major platforms of doctrine

Although Armstrong always taught that faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the baptism of believers into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were central tenets of belief and practice for Christians, he also promulgated what were considered unorthodox teachings concerning Old Covenant practices, national identities and the prophetic role of the Church he had founded:

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• A belief that the Old Testament commandment to observe the seventh-day Sabbath, various Holy Days and abstention from proscribed animals and fish was still in effect, although the Worldwide Church of God was not a mirror of the faith of either Orthodox Judaism or Reform Judaism. To this end he offered a booklet called: Pagan Holidays ? or God?s Holydays -Which?
• A belief in British Israelism, that primarily the former Anglo-Saxon peoples were the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel and by virtue of having this basic knowledge, hitherto unknown prophecies of the Bible had been revealed. Most particularly, Armstrong identified the United States and British Commonwealth with the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. To establish this claim he offered the public a book called: United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy. Some claim that the argument put forward in the "United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy" were strongly based on the writings of J.H. Allen, specifically his text "Judah's Scepter and Joseph's Birthright"http://www.bible.ca/pre-british-israelism-herbert-armstrong.htm. However, most of the denominations that still believe in Herbert Armstrong's interpretation of scripture believe that the work was originally revealed to Armstrong.
• A belief that the Worldwide Church of God had been given a commission to warn the world by print and broadcasting media before the end of the age would come about with a World War III brought on by a United States of Europe. For many years the key to the timetable was described as being two 19-year timecycles, with the second and last timecycle having commenced in 1953 when The World Tomorrow program was first transmitted by Radio Luxembourg. The end of that last timecycle was set for some time in February of 1972. All of this was laid out in a booklet called: 1975 in Prophecy!, which was written by Herbert W. Armstrong and illustrated by Basil Wolverton. As that date approached with seemingly very few developments suggesting the fulfilment of Armstrong prophetic scheme, there was naturally a de-emphasis placed on that speculation.
• A belief that the true Church of God was not Protesant as it could trace its history from the Day of Pentecost in the Book of Acts through present, and did not trace itself from the Protestant Reformation. Essentially Herbert Armstong taught that the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3 describe characteristics of the true Church that would occur in succession, and he specifically identified some of the groups that fulfilled these related prophecies. There were also many differences between the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. Some of these are documented in an article The Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert Armstrong.

Other doctrines

Among the most distinctive teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, (some held in common with the Seventh-day Church of God, and other Christian groups as well), were:

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• That eternal life was God's gift and works did not save anyone - but the works one did show the faith they had which will determine their reward and level of authority and service in the Kingdom of God.
• That not all who call themselves Christians are saved.
• That Christians who did not keep the Sabbath were "Christians, Falsely So Called"
• That those not saved, or not called have a resurrection to judgement and will finally learn of Jesus Christ and all who ever lived will come to have the opportunity to know God.
• The reward of the saved was not Heaven, but the Kingdom of Heaven with the Government of God being set up on the Earth, for the first time since Satan's rebellion, during the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on the Earth over those who survive great tribulation.
• That those called in this life would receive salvation at the return of Jesus Christ and reign with him 1000 years as kings and priests over humans with Jesus Christ as our elder brother.
• After the 1000 years, the Great White Throne Judgement period would occur in which all of mankind who ever lived would appear before the judgement seat of God and would have the opportunity to learn God's way and do his will for the first time ever. This would happen after Satan the Devil is cast into the Lake of Fire so he could deceive the people no more.
• The kingdom of God would be handed by Jesus Christ to God the Father.
• All who rejected God would be permanently destroyed ("anihilation of the wicked") in the Lake of Fire as opposed to being tormented forever and ever. This is to be Satan's punishment.
• That the Christian Godhead was a family made up of two personages, with the Father, whom Jesus revealed, and the Son, Jesus Himself. However, the Godhead would later expand to billions of personages, as the destiny of humans, if they obeyed the Law of God, was to be reborn as God beings.
• That the Holy Spirit was not a third Person of the Godhead, but rather it was the power that eminated from God the Father and Jesus Christ that can be in mankind making us one with them and enabling us to keep God's commandments as Jesus did.
• That Jesus Christ pre-existed before he was in the flesh as the Word and known to all as the God of the Old Testament.