The following appeared in Appendix A, pages 471 to 473, of Kingdom of the Cults, by Walter Martin (Bethany House Publishers, 1997). The late Dr. Martin was founder of the Christian Research Institute, and original host of The Bible Answer Man radio broadcast. He was succeeded by Hank Hanegraaff.
This updated appendix replaces the 1985 edition's chapter 12, "Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God--Anglo-Israelism."
Some statistical material has become out of date since the book was printed.
By Kurt Van Gorden
Edited by Gretchen Passantino
Doctrinal heresy is a sin against God (Galatians 5:20).
An ideal world would be free from doctrinal heresy and the other results of sin. This ideal world we must await in Christ Jesus who will grant such perfect existence in his future kingdom (Revelation 7:17; 21:4).
Until that time we must contend with heresies and cults that dot church history, leaving their mark of remembrance. Cults come and go, but rare indeed is the repentance of cult leadership that results in heresy being replaced with biblical Christianity.
Such is the story of the Worldwide Church of God. Once known far and wide as the cult of Armstrongism, it now, through repentance, joins hands with conservative Christians in heralding the gospel.
Its official organ, The Plain Truth magazine, embraces the very doctrines its past issues condemned. It interviews contemporary Christian leaders it once derided. It accepts advertising from various Christian publishers it once shunned.
The Worldwide Church of God, originally founded by Herbert W. Armstrong (1892- 1986), was led through this remarkable change by his successor, Joseph W. Tkach (1927-1995).
He reversed Armstrong's most damnable doctrines in full acceptance of the Trinity, Christ's divinity and humanity, the person and deity of the Holy Spirit, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and salvation by grace through faith alone.
Gone is Anglo-Israelism. Gone is the bondage of legalism as a test for fellowship. Gone is the God Family of divine humans. Gone is the exclusivism and cultism.
Not all followers of Armstrong, whose teaching we term "Armstrongism," accepted this welcomed change.
Joseph W. Tkach and the administrators made earnest attempts to hold the church together during their doctrinal reexamination period. But those dedicated to Armstrong's cultism grew impatient, forming about fifty splinter groups from 1985 to 1995. These groups are disassociated from the Worldwide Church of God and each claims succession from Armstrong.
Preceding them, another fifty splinter groups separated from Herbert W. Armstrong during his lifetime.
Armstrong's teaching bred a hundred factions of which ninety presently remain. The founder's son, Garner Ted Armstrong, leads quite a successful movement with the Church of God, International.
Garner Ted Armstrong was once viewed by millions on television as the flamboyant commentator of The World Tomorrow program. Amid charges of sexual misconduct, his forced departure from his father's domain landed him in Tyler, Texas, with thousands of television followers.
His playboy lifestyle followed him into the 1990s with new charges of sexual misconduct, again forcing a temporary step-down from his new church (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 23, 1995).
Nevertheless, faithful Church of God, International members reinstated him as their iconic representative on 315 cable stations in North America. His espoused doctrines follow that of his father, namely, denial of the Trinity, denial of the bodily resurrection, and denial of biblical salvation.
Among those that broke away during the reformation of the Worldwide Church of God, the largest is led by another self-proclaimed successor to Armstrong, Gerald Flurry.
The Philadelphia Church of God, located in Edmond, Oklahoma, has a television log of sixty stations in five countries. Their program, The Key of David, echoes Armstrong's prophetic speculation.
The Philadelphia Trumpet, their official magazine, is a constant reminder of Herbert W. Armstrong's old doctrines in the face of the reborn Worldwide Church of God. Gerald Flurry minces no words in prodding and jostling the Worldwide Church of God for its baptism into historical Christianity.
Most of the splinter cults of Armstrongism retain the name "Church of God" somewhere in their title. They mix legalism, including strict Sabbatarianism, with a variety of Armstrong's leading doctrines.
Two other noteworthy groups among these are the Global Church of God, located in San Diego, California, and the United Church of God in Arcadia, California.
The former has a television following on two superstations covering much of the United States, while the latter publishes The Good News magazine and covers thirty television stations with programming.
Joseph Tkach Jr., son of Joseph W. Tkach, currently heads the Worldwide Church of God. Leading this church through the exodus of error was costly, which is seen in the loss of many thousands of members.
The Plain Truth magazine now circulates approximately 130,000, down considerably from their high of eight million. Much better though is the loss of size than the compromise of truth.
The World Tomorrow television program has ceased and actual church membership has dropped to half of its normative to 40,000 constituents.
Their Pasadena, California, campus is shrinking and the church-supported Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, has closed its doors.
On the positive side, the Worldwide Church of God has a remnant of 300 pastors committed to preaching an uncompromised gospel. Their message is that you must be born again by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
The Plain Truth magazine is greeted as a refreshing Christian voice. Prominent denominations and Christian leaders have extended the right hand of fellowship to its church leaders.
The church now holds membership in the National Association of Evangelicals, while the magazine is a member of the Evangelical Press Association and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
As for the present changes in the Worldwide Church of God, they wrote, in an interview with this writer, "The Worldwide Church of God has abandoned unbiblical doctrines of Herbert W. Armstrong."
This abandonment may be viewed as parallel to one of Armstrong's toughest decisions, which was to excommunicate his son, Garner Ted Armstrong, from his church.
He said, "Perhaps another evidence of the Worldwide Church of God being the one original Church of God is that its apostle did remove his son, who was secularizing God's Church and college, besides other sins."1
Again, he wrote, "Finally, four leaders ... came to God's apostle, saying, `We have to report to you that your son has systematically destroyed all that Christ has built through his apostle and is building something for himself. Like a spoiled child, he wants his own way.'
"God's apostle, to be not guilty of Eli's sin, removed his son from all authority and disfellowshipped him from the church."2
In a similar way, those in the Worldwide Church of God have abandoned the false teachings of their founder, Herbert W. Armstrong. It was emotionally painful, for many of them had known Armstrong for decades. But to stand for biblical truth and accuracy one must hurtle all barriers.
The changes did not occur overnight. Their progressive change is reflected in their newest statement of beliefs, which says, "This Statement of Beliefs does not constitute a closed creed. The Church constantly renews its commitment to truth and deeper understanding and responds to God's guidance in its beliefs and practices."3
Since they have left an open book on their creeds, we write this chapter based upon current publications offered to the public. Accordingly, newer information may demand further analysis.
In the remainder of this chapter we will sketch Herbert W. Armstrong's background and examine his teachings with Scripture. We must be careful to distinguish the doctrines of Armstrongism and today's Worldwide Church of God.
The cults that follow Mr. Armstrong's teachings are cults indeed, denying the major tenets of the Christian faith.
Based upon the published changes, the Worldwide Church of God is not a cult, however, because it has shown repentance and abandonment of Armstrong's false doctrines and demonstrates adherence to biblical truth.
Therefore, we will make known the changes in the Worldwide Church of God that separate it from the cults of Armstrongism.
The ninety cults of Armstrongism believe that Mr. Armstrong spoke with the authority of "Elijah." We cannot list all ninety groups on every subject, so we will generalize their teachings as that of "Armstrongism," while comparing it to the Worldwide Church of God or the Bible.
Footnotes
1 Herbert W. Armstrong, "Seven Proofs of God's True Church," The Plain Truth (April 1979): 3:40.
2 Ibid., 3.
3 Statements of Beliefs of the Worldwide Church of God. (Pasadena: Worldwide Church of God, 1995), 1.