The common denominators of Armstrongism and the Jehovah's Witnesses
Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before! With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
▼
That settles it. I'm convinced. There must be TWO "one and only true" churches. Having been born into it, I can't quite understand how anyone, including my parents, as unindoctrinated adults, could ever think any of this was even remotely plausible.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing I've been wondering, having been reminded by one of the quotes in the video, is how we could use the term "human nature" to mean something bad. Nature was, in our worldview, the creation of god. Hence Paul says, "Does not nature itself teach you..." If we can learn from that "nature" why not from our own "nature"? Isn't our "nature" under the umbrella of that larger "nature"? According to christians, are we not made by god in his image? How then can what is "natural" to humans be enmity against god, when, by definition, according to christians, it was created by god? Is it possible that god himself has engineered all this trouble? It's either that or else the word "nature" is not sufficiently defined for the purposes to which it is being put.
Now, I know full well that christians will say, "Well, the 'nature' of humans was 'corrupted.'" Of course, by what means or mechanism the "nature" of humans, en masse, could be "corrupted" is never ventured. Obviously not, because myth is full of occurrences for which no means or mechanism has ever been proposed, and my oh my does this not ever read like a gnostic myth. The "nature" of the animals, whatever that might be, is all nasty and brutish and fine and good without having to have been "corrupted." It simply makes no sense.
The fall of man is something that is merely necessary to explain the observation that humans are like cats and do not like to be herded, which is just a stop along the way to the demonization of that proclivity by one who seeks to herd them in order to relieve them of their money.
At least you didn't have to "cold call" , ie knock on doors in Armstrongism.
ReplyDeleteHerbie stole many teachings from the JW's- soul sleep, the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force, annihilation vs eternal torment, not celebrating common holidays, no to military service, and 1975 just for starters... The JW's still see 1975 as 6000 years since Adam in their chronology:
ReplyDeletehttp://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200000970#h=107:0-123:603
The Watchtower should have sued Herbie's shorts off when they had the chance.
Ronco
What a fascinating video. That is definitely worth watching.
ReplyDeleteShe might also be fascinated to know that the Watchtower cult pinched the idea that Armageddon would occur in 1975 from HWA, as Banned by HWA previously noted.
Also the founder of the Watchtower organization, Russell, used to teach that his followers would become God beings (1881).
"[Charles Taze Russell taught] that Christians “are divine beings — hence all such are Gods, thus we have a family of God….in the resurrection we will rise in our true character as Gods.”"
http://4jehovah.org/facts-the-watchtower-society-doesnt-want-you-to-know/#footnote9a
I mentioned this in a post of mine but this deserves further discussion here. Could it be possible that HWA pinched the God Family doctrine from an early teaching of the Watchtower cult?
How different from the propaganda the COGs gave us.
Actually HWA did not steal doctrines from the JWs. The JWs were heavily influenced by early Adventists missionaries , which included their founder Charles Taze Russell.
ReplyDeleteThe COG 7th Day holds the distinction of having been the generator of many of the core WCG doctrines. The COG 7 does not celebrate Xmas, eat pork, it does keep the sabbath, soul sleep, etc. There were a few COG7 ministers such as John Kiesz who kept the Holy Days as well. All of these were not HWA inventions.
The ideas of a supreme Apostle and the cult like sociology of the WCG can be laid at the feet of HWA though.