Armstrongism

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Armstrongism refers to the doctrines of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Some of the doctrines can be found in other religion groups including, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, and Baptists while others are attributed to Armstrong. The church that he founded has now rejected most of his own teachings, but Armstrong's doctines live on in the splinter churches founded by the followers of Armstrong who dissented with the WCG church leaders after Armstrong.

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[edit] Use of Name

Armstrong's followers refer to themselves as members of the Church of God, while the label Armstrongite is generally considered as an inaccurate and insulting way to describe them, feeling that the name will give the impression that they follow Herbert Armstrong when they feel that the focus of their beliefs must focus on God, and not on any mortal man.

[edit] Doctrinal differences

The following are some of Armstrong’s identifiable doctrines that are in addition to or are different from traditional mainstream Christian doctrines. Some or all of these are followed by the Armstrongist churches.

[edit] God Family

A doctrine taught by Herbert. W. Armstrong and asserted to be the core of the "true gospel" not preached since the first century. The Godhead is not limited to one God or a trinity, but is a family into which every human who ever lived may be born, though a master plan to be enacted in stages. In other words, God is reproducing after his own kind--literal offspring who will be God as God is God. The Godhead now temporarily consists of two individuals--Christ who was the "God" of the Old Testament--a spokesman (The Word or Logos), and the Father who Jesus Christ introduced in the New Testament and is superior.

[edit] Church authority

Armstrong taught the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. He taught that the Bible had been confused through many conflicting interpretations and it was not until the 20th Century that God had opened his mind and restored the full Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the Church through him. Meanwhile, he used several Bible scriptures to teach that all other churches calling themselves "Christian" were not merely apostate but actually counterfeits whose history could be traced back to the first century, as described in the epistles (which refer to a "false gospel" and false ministers and apostles), the eighth chapter of the book of Acts (the appropriation of "christian" trappings by influential and ambitious pagan religious figures [including a man known to secular history, Simon Magus, mentioned in Acts]), and first century historians like Eusebius; he also asserted, as proof of this, that the Church of God (Seventh Day) had always taught more Bible truth than any other group calling itself "Christian".

[edit] Sabbatarianism and Old Testament beliefs

The keeping of the Sabbath from dusk on Friday to dusk on Saturday was the first belief that Armstrong accepted. Eventually he eventually accepted and observed many principals and laws in the Old Testament scriptures and taught converts to do the same. These included dietary laws, tithing, and celebration of high Sabbaths, or annual feast days such as Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Related to this is that the celebration of Christmas and Easter was inappropriate as they are not of biblical origin, but a later addition to "Christianity."

[edit] Lost Sheep of Israel

Through his studies of the Bible and other sources, he came to the conclusion that the British and American peoples were Ephraim and Manassah, birthright tribes of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. This is often referred to as Anglo-Israelism, and two key points should be noted regarding Anglo-Israelism and Armstrong’s church: 1) Some white supremacist groups for their own reasons embrace aspects of Anglo-Isralism and, 2) Armstrong’s teachings inherently opposed racist ideologies and racial strife, but rather focused on the entire world being offered and eventually receiving the blessings of the gospel. Armstrong insisted when discussing the identity of America and the British Commonwealth as the “Birthright Lost Sheep of Israel” that God did not "play favorites" with nations. The reason for these nations special birthright blessings was stated to be Abraham’s obedience, and secondly as a lesson to mankind—so that God could show for all time that a nation possessing all the advantages of wealth and security will still not obtain happiness apart from God’s Kingdom. Armstrong claimed that much of Biblical prophecy could not be understood without this knowledge of the English speaking peoples’ identity. This claim can be found in a book called "United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy".

[edit] Other non-mainstream teachings

  • God will soon set up His government on earth, mankind will voluntarily turn from breaking God's law and going its own way, then 1000 years of peace, prosperity, justice, and utopia will follow
  • Non-believers, though responsible for their sins and must reap what they sew in terms of "cause and effect", are not eternally condemned, they are simply not yet saved
  • The vast majority of all those who ever lived will be saved, thus the relatively small number of true Christians of this age are predestined to be merely the early "firstfruits" of God's harvest to help teach the others after the second resurrection (see below)
  • The Ten Commandments are a prerequisite for receiving the unearned gift of salvation, and are an invisible, yet inexorable law set in motion that brings about every good effect when obeyed
  • The so-called Old Testament Holy Days are actually binding on Christians, and picture the seven steps in a master plan mapped out by God
  • triple tithe – in addition to the Old Testament 10% tithe given to the church ("first tithe"), a second 10% was to be reserved for one's own use during festival days ("second tithe"), and on the third and sixth year of each seven-year cycle, a third 10% was to be used for those in need within their family or sent to the church for distribution to widows and orphans ("third tithe")
  • one is not born again until the return of Christ
  • heaven is not the reward of the saved
  • punishment of the unsaved is not an ever-burning hell
  • humans are mortal - and the reward of the saved is immortality
  • three resurrections of the dead — (1) the first fruit believers, (2) non-believers raised to mortality and an opportunity to accept God's way, (3) resurrection of the wicked to final judgement
  • forbidden to eat "unclean meats" such as pork, shellfish, etc.
      • Hey! blow the dust off your Bibles and check it out Acts 17 !!CAUTION!! reading the Bible takes up * time you could be doing more important things!!

[edit] Armstrongist churches

There are many splinter churches, possibly more than 300, as well as second generation splinters. Some of these are listed below.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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Worldwide Church of God, "A Brief History of the Worldwide Church of God", [1]

[edit] External links

  • What is Armstrongism? Perhaps the most clear and straight-forward description of the tenets of Armstrongism but very pejorative in tone.
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