PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- MARCH 31, 2008
Herbert Armstrong in the early 1950s What is Armstongism?
Q. I have been enjoying your magazine and website for some time now. I just signed up to be a Partner. One thing I would like to know: What were the major flawed teachings of Herbert Armstrong? I remember being warned of "Armstrongism" when I was younger, and I vaguely remember reading his magazine, Plain Truth, decades before it was transformed into the real Plain Truth! Just wondering if you could give a synopsis of what was taught by Mr. Armstrong.
A. Herbert Armstrong was a radio and television evangelist whose ministry was active from the mid-1930s until his death in 1986. He founded the Worldwide Church of God, which claimed nearly 200,000 attendees in the late 1980s. His Plain Truth magazine began publication in 1934 and boasted a circulation of over eight million by the time Armstrong died. Plain Truth Ministries inherited the title, but the Christ-centered magazine we publish is completely different than that of the Armstrong years, for in spite of his large and dedicated following, Armstrong's teachings were deeply flawed. I cover some of this in my book Bad News Religion. Here is a brief summary:
1) Herbert Armstrong started his ministry as a Saturday sabbatarian. He concluded -- "true" Christians must "keep" Saturday. "False" Christians go to church on Sunday. For more about sabbatarianism, be sure to read "If the Ten Commandments are still 'in effect' -- what about the weekly Sabbath -- is it on Saturday?" in this Update.
2) He then added more old covenant restrictions/regulations to his so-called "Sabbath truth" (which he borrowed from Adventism) -- so that his teaching resembled some kind of Jewish sect using Christian terminology. His old covenant, Jewish teachings, which he called Christian, included the necessity to observe seven annual Jewish holy days, and to keep kosher (as instructed by old covenant dietary laws). This, of course, set Armstrongism (initially known as the "Radio Church of God" -- later renamed the "Worldwide Church of God") apart from many other movements/groups.
3) Additionally, Armstrong accepted a semi-Arian view of the nature of God, somewhat like that taught by the Watchtower Society (Jehovah's Witnesses). Of course, the nature of God is the fundamental teaching of Christianity -- and when one strays from an orthodox, biblical teaching of who God is, one finds oneself in deep do-do, the swamps, the forest (pick your metaphor). This alone meant that Armstrongism was and is cultic, by standard definitions of cultic teaching.
4) Further disassociating his movement from Christianity (while still calling himself and his followers Christian), Armstrong believed Christmas and Easter to be pagan -- a sin to celebrate! He also taught the celebration of birthdays to be a sin -- and in common with many fundamentalist Christian groups, he taught a host of other restrictions in terms of one's personal life, dress, grooming, interaction with culture (or the lack thereof!).
5) One of Armstrongism's most bizarre, off-the-wall teachings concerned his view of biblical prophecy. He taught that the 10 "lost" tribes of Israel were the northwest European and Anglo-Saxon nations of the 20th century (modern-day descendants of these tribes included England, the U.S., France, Netherlands, Norway, etc.) This teaching, which he appropriated and refined, is known as British-Israelism. It was a teaching that originated in England several centuries ago when some were seeking a biblical/theological justification for British colonialism -- annexing much of the world under their "empire." They determined that the British Empire was a modern day fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham and therefore their political/military empire was justified -- it was just what God wanted them to do! Herbert Armstrong tied his version of "British-Israelism" to dispensationalism, the futurist methodology of seeing biblical prophecy as meant for the "end times." This gave Armstrong a unique prophetic voice, which he called a warning message, somewhat like, as he often likened it to, the watchman on the walls of the book of Ezekiel.
6) I believe God has used those kinds of elements, a part of my past, to help direct the ministry I am blessed to lead today. While the individual teachings of Armstrongism are unbiblical (a name that is necessary today for there are many groups and churches that are based on his teachings -- with some essentially vying to be deemed most worthy of having the right to his "true" legacy) together, as a whole, they contribute to a toxic spiritual stew. The common denominator in the gumbo of Armstrongism is legalism -- the bottom line is that one must adhere to a religious concoction, obeying it, following it, so that maybe, one day, one might barely "make it" (Armstrongism inspeak), being judged worthy by God to be a part of his kingdom (heaven was disavowed by Herbert Armstrong -- he believed the reward of the believer is eternal life in God's kingdom on earth).
7) Given this background, perhaps you can further appreciate the miraculous reformation God brought about so that those of us involved in Plain Truth Ministries could not only recognize Christianity for what it is, to disavow cultic, unbiblical teaching, and to center our ministry on God's grace and our relationship with him. As those of us who work in PTM came out of, were rescued and saved from Armstrongism by God's grace, we began to see that similar, perhaps not as toxic, but nonetheless spiritually debilitating teachings exist within Christendom. Hence, our ministry -- to so many who have had similar experiences -- or who find themselves trapped in some kind of religious bondage.
This is but a thumbnail sketch, but we hope it provides a window into what Armstrongism was -- and unfortunately is, for sadly, it exists in many forms today. Hope it helps -- and again, thanks for joining us as a Partner. We are thrilled with the work that God enables us to do, in his name, helping in so many people's lives around this world.
RETURN TO PTM WEEKLY UPDATE CONTENTS PAGECopyright © 2008 Plain Truth Ministries -- Worldwide.