Gerald Flurry is well known for spouting off racist comments, much like his idol Herbert Armstrong. Now that Gerald Flurry owns the copyright for Mystery of the Ages (after losing a humiliating court battle) he continues to publish and endorse the racist polices of Armstrong.
The following is from a defunct exCOG blog that is still filled with a wealth of information.
Herbert W. Armstrong's views on interracial marriage were not at all a secret. I have found various sermons and written works by Armstrong that express a great deal of racism. The following collection of quotes is intended to illustrate how open Armstrong was about his racist beliefs, and how he enforced his prejudices upon members of the Worldwide Church of God.
"God originally set the bounds of national borders, intending nations to be separated to prevent interracial marriage. [...] Noah was of perfect lineage in his generations. His wife and three sons were of that same white strain."
Mystery of the Ages; H.W. Armstrong; pg. 149"God intended to prevent racial intermarriages. But man has always wanted to violate God’s laws, intentions and ways. They wanted to become one race or family through intermarriage
of races."
Mystery of the Ages; H.W. Armstrong; pg. 151
Below, I have transcribed pieces of one of Herbert W. Armstrong's shockingly racist sermons. I have included a link the the audio of the entire sermon. He was 90 years old when he spoke these words. I have capitalized certain bits of text to note the volume of Armstrong's voice. Anyone who has heard a sermon by HWA will remember his bouts of screaming, when he was trying to make a point.
Apparently, what had spurred him to write this sermon was a letter, written by one of his followers."Today I want to speak on what may possibly be the very next attack that Satan will use against this church [...] interracial marriage.""It was stated that the blacks in God's Church are dissatisfied with such doctrines that are not in keeping with the current social trend in the world [civil rights movement] that are a part of this nations background. [...] And this letter also says that they are trying to line up a group of blacks to give ME AN ULTIMATUM, that I get on the side of the social trend of this world, or else! I'll tell you what I'll give them, I'LL GIVE THEM THE 'OR ELSE!' (church audience laughs) I WON'T COMPRIMISE ONE MILLIONTH OF AN INCH! And if you will, you can go into the Lake of Fire if you want to. [...] Some are saying that we have to to have racial balance at ambassoders college. [...]""Genisis 6:1; And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face ofThis is obviously a twist of scripture. Armstrong is trying to 'prove' his racist beliefs with the Bible. There is no mention in the Genesis 6 that God sent Noah's flood because of interracial marriage; nor is there any evidence that Noah was white. HWA himself declares this, but there is no evidence in the scriptures.
the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Genisis 6:2; That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were
fair; and they took them wives of ALL WHICH THEY CHOOSE."
"That's what they want to do today. A black man wants to take a white woman for a wife, THAT'S WHAT HE CHOOSES. [...] Now I don't know any cases where a WHITE MAN wants to marry a black woman, WHY IS THAT? Answer that for me! Why is it only BLACK MEN who want to marry white women?"
And why should 'the church' question him? He is God's end-time Elijah... GOD TALKS TO HIM (or at least that is what WCG members were told.) Going against Armstrong was like going against God, for members; leaving the church was the worst sin one could commit. Apparently, these are concepts that are found in many cults*.
10 comments:
The three white man-black woman weddings I attended in the same year are of course immaterial.
Moses married a Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1. Lets just say her skin was not lily white. Some PCGers might not be aware that a black and white couple can reproduce and have children. This would indicate they are the same species. One's level of melanin determines the whiteness or darkness of your skin. Mr. Furry, though might be related to a monkey or a single cell amoeba.
Gerald Flurry and Dennis Leap endorsed the racist ban on interracial marriage in their 1997 booklet, Ezra and Nehemiah: Building God's Temple.
Also the late Ron Fraser condemned interracial marriage marriage in his 1997 booklet, South Africa in Prophecy. Fraser quoted an article by HWA at length in condemning interracial marriage.
the Scripture about Noah's lineage had nothing to do with anything physical: Noah was perfect in his generations in that each of his forefathers had the Holy Spirit of God;
many of armstrong and flurry's generation are obsessed with racial indentity which is the principle reason why the Church's growth has been stunted to this very day;
even in Kefa's (Peter) day obsession with lineage was a destabilising factor in the Church, and until the matter is fully addressed and overcome, the Church will remain stuck in limbo...
In Paul's address to the Greeks of Athens, we read: "From one man (one blood) he created all the nations throughout the whole earth." --Acts17:26 (NLT)
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote: "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." --Galatians 3:28 (NLT)
It should also be noted that when the KJV renders Genesis 6:9 as "These are the generations of Noah," that the Hebrew word rendered as generations suggests an account of the man and his descendants. A different Hebrew word is used in "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Here, the word generations suggests the period of time in which he lived. The NLT makes this clearer: "This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God."
Herbert the Deceiver's twisting of that verse about Noah, saying it meant he kept himself "racially pure," is one of the most obviously untrue (and idiotic) things that the Armstrongite slaves still believe in. (Yes, slaves. Hear me, Jerry? Hear me, Dennis?)
Just try another Bible translation, people: "Then the Lord said to Noah, 'Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.'" Genesis 7:1 NASB
It's about Noah being RIGHTEOUS, doing the right thing when the rest of the world wasn't. That's simple to understand, but you poor fools in COG-land insist on what the old man said, no matter how nonsensical.
The very fact that Moses had a black women should show HWA didn't know what he was talking about.
I don’t know why anyone would be preoccupied with the ‘racial purity’ of Noah. The genealogy of Jesus Christ certainly wasn’t ‘pure’ Israelite.
For a start we have Salmon marrying Rachel the Canaanite (of Jericho fame) and then their son marries Ruth the Moabite. So at most Ruth’s son was only 25% Israelite, assuming everyone else was of ‘pure’ stock. The line carried on down to Jesus Christ.
But that is not all. Go earlier or later, and there are other mixes of races.
Going back earlier and it would seem likely Tamar was a Canaanite. She produced a son via Judah himself that went into the melting pot of Christ’s ancestry.
Going further down the line Solomon, son of King David, had Bathsheba as his mother. Likely enough Bathsheba was a Hittite (she was previously married to Uriah the Hittite.
Reading what the Bible says, you have to conclude that God was not concerned in the least about His son having a mixed race ancestry. If God isn’t worried about such details, why should anyone else be?
Truth!!
This is so true!!
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