Armstrongism

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Herbert W. Armstrong
Garner Ted Armstrong (1979)

Armstrongism is the teachings and doctrines of

Church of God (COG). These doctrines were also espoused by his sons Richard David Armstrong (until his death in 1958) and Garner Ted Armstrong
(until his death in 2003) with slight variations.

Herbert Armstrong's teachings have similarities to those of the Millerites and Church of God (Seventh Day) (sometimes referred to as "COG7" to differentiate it from similarly styled sects named "Church of God" which worship on Sunday and generally hold to traditional Christian teachings), from which WCG is spiritually and organizationally descended. The religion is a blend of Christian fundamentalism, non-belief in the Trinity and some tenets of Judaism and Seventh-Day Sabbath doctrine.[6] Armstrong himself had been a COG7 minister before the Oregon conference stripped him of his ministerial credentials and excommunicated him for his seeking to water down and change their long-established COG7 doctrines. It was in the fall of 1937 when Elder Armstrong's credentials were revoked by the Salem Church of God organization. The reason given by the Board of Twelve Oregon Conference of the Church of God, 7th Day (COG7) for this adverse action against Herbert W. Armstrong, was because he taught and kept the annual Feast days. But the real reason seems to have been because of his uncooperative attitude.[7] Armstrong then began his own ministry.

Armstrong taught that most of the basic doctrines and teachings of

controversy. Shortly after Armstrong's death in 1986, the Worldwide Church of God started revising its core beliefs towards the concepts, doctrines, and creeds of mainstream Christianity. This resulted in many ministers and members leaving the WCG to start or join other churches, many of which continue to believe and teach Armstrong's doctrines to one degree or another. In 2009, the WCG changed its name to Grace Communion International (GCI). Today, the official doctrinal position of GCI is mainstream evangelical
, although there are still GCI ministers and members who do not fully embrace all of the changes.

Doctrinal differences

Some of Armstrong's identifiable doctrines are in addition to or are different from traditional mainstream Christian doctrines. Many groups and churches which splintered in the aftermath of doctrinal changes within the Worldwide Church of God continue to hold many or all of these teachings of Armstrong.

God Family

The God Family doctrine holds that the Godhead is not limited to God (the Creator) alone, or even to a trinitarian God, but is a divine family into which every human who ever lived may be spiritually born, through a master plan being enacted in stages. The Godhead now temporarily consists of two co-eternal individuals (see Binitarianism), Jesus the Messiah, as the creator and spokesman (The Word or Logos), and God the Father.

According to this doctrine, humans who are called by God's Holy Spirit to repentance, who [accept], hope to inherit, the gift of

Kingdom of God
, which will ultimately grow to fill the entire universe, and he likewise will forever be worshipped as God by the children of God.

Church's authority

Armstrong taught that the

Acts of the Apostles (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 later historians like Eusebius
.

Sabbatarianism and other Old Testament beliefs

The observance of the

Jewish
and Gentile converts, continued to set an example for all Christians by observing the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week (from Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset).

Eventually, Armstrong accepted and observed many principles and laws which are found in the

Feast of Tabernacles. Furthermore, he taught that Christians should not celebrate Christmas and Easter
, based on his belief that these holidays were not of biblical origin, instead, he believed that the celebration of them originated as the result of later absorptions of pagan practices into corrupted Christianity.

British Israelism

Armstrong was a proponent of British Israelism (also known as Anglo-Israelism), which is the belief that people of Western European descent, especially the British Empire (Ephraim) and the United States (Manasseh), are descended from the "Ten Lost Tribes" of Israel.[8][9] It is also asserted that the German peoples are descended from the ancient Assyrians. Armstrong believed that this doctrine provided a "key" to understanding biblical prophecy, and he also believed that God called him to proclaim these prophecies to the "lost tribes" of Israel before the coming of the "end-times".[10] Grace Communion International, the lineal successor to Armstrong's original church, no longer teaches the doctrine,[11] but many offshoot churches continue to teach it even though critics assert that British Israelism is inconsistent with the findings of modern genetics.[12]: 181 

Other non-mainstream teachings

Controversies

Armstrongism is defined as a

Seventh-day Adventists (sabbatarianism, annihilationism, and their belief in the soul stays asleep until the body resurrection), Jehovah's Witnesses (which is different from the mainstream Christian belief that the soul stays awake and immediately goes to either Heaven or Hell instantly following death), and Mormonism (God Family doctrine).[13]

Churches of God

There are many splinter churches as well as second-generation splinters from WCG since Armstrong's death. Most of these churches hold fast to Armstrong's teachings and primarily pattern their organizations on how WCG operated. They are often referred to collectively as the "Sabbatarian Churches of God" or simply as the "Churches of God" or "the COG."

Notable churches

Notable publications

  • The Plain Truth – WCG's flagship magazine, originally written and produced by Armstrong's Radio Church of God; publication continues to this day.
  • The Good News
     – a WCG-produced Christian living magazine. The name was taken up by the United Church of God after the 1995 schism until 2016.
  • 1975 in Prophecy! – Armstrong's book describing an uncertain timeline for the book of Revelation impending apocalypse. Illustrated by Basil Wolverton
    .
  • The Philadelphia Trumpet – Philadelphia Church of God's monthly magazine
  • The Pillar – Restored Church of God's bi-monthly magazine for members.

Television and the internet

Notable people

See also: Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God

There are a number of people publicly associated with Armstrongism and the legacy of WCG.

References

  1. ^ "Armstrongism, The Worldwide Church of God, The Church of God International" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2017-04-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ "Armstrongism". Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  3. ^ Tkach, Joseph. "Transformed by Truth". pp. Chapter 7: What we Believed. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  4. ^ a b Mystery of the Ages, pp. 7–30
  5. ^ "What is "Armstrongism"?". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  6. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  7. ^ "John Kiesz Furnishes Information on Herbert W. Armstrong". exitsupportnetwork.com. 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  8. ^ Parfitt, Tudor (2003). The Lost Tribes of Israel: The history of a myth. Phoenix. pp. 52–65.
  9. ^ The United States and Britain in Prophecy.
  10. ^ Orr, R. "How Anglo-Israelism Entered Seventh-day Churches of God: A history of the doctrine from John Wilson to Joseph W. Tkach". Archived from the original on 2008-08-04. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  11. ^ "Transformed by Christ: A Brief History of the Worldwide Church of God". Grace Communion International. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  12. ISBN 9789004306370
    .
  13. ^ Martin, Walter (1985) Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House Publishers. pp.303-37

External links

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