Herbert W. Armstrong's Documented Prophetic Record by Decade

Herbert W. Armstrong's Documented Prophetic Record by Decade

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'Church of God' ministers tend to claim that HWA was not a false prophet - he merely speculated about future events.  Disillusioned church members tend to claim that HWA actually was a false prophet.  Which conclusion is supported by fact? 

What did HWA say about himself?

Plain Truth May 1944 "God has called me to the special mission of WARNING THIS NATION."

Plain Truth July 1953, p.6  "I do not speak to you by authority of men, or any politically organized church of men - but in the name, and by the AUTHORITY of JESUS CHRIST, the living HEAD of the TRUE CHURCH OF GOD!"

"1975 in Prophecy", 1956, pages 10, 12, 20 "... At the outset of this article I stated that the KEYS that had kept prophetic doors locked and closed from human understanding have now been found -- or, more properly, been given to us by God ...”

Plain Truth Dec. 1956, p.3  "Is there any way to test if it really is a prophecy? Is there any way to prove if it really is from God?  Don't take my word for it; read it for yourself!

"Scripture is full of warnings about false ministers and false prophets. The world is filled with such men and organizations... ...God must somewhere have His work TODAY. How do you recognize it? Here is the test Jeremiah was inspired to give: 'The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of that prophet shall come to pass, THEN SHALL THE PROPHET BE KNOWN THAT THE LORD HATH TRULY SENT HIM' (Jer. 28: 9). That is how you can know who is preaching the truth today - when what he says comes to pass."

"But who today understands what the prophets foretold? Why, only the ministers today whose word comes to pass! - those who are appointed and guided by God to preach the truth!   ... we have been warning you about is happening! - precisely as we have stated.... This is how you can know that our work is not of men but of God!"

Co-Workers Letter Nov. 27, 1958   I'm going to give you the frank and straightforward answer. You have the right to know all about this great work of God-- and about me.  First, let me say - - this may sound incredible, but it's true - - JESUS CHRIST FORETOLD THIS VERY WORK - - IT IS, ITSELF, THE FULFILLMENT OF HIS PROPHECY (Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10).

How well have HWA's claims held up?

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Deuteronomy 18:22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

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1930’s

1.     Plain Truth, February 1934, page 3   "We may be absolutely certain that we are in, and for about three years have been passing through, this great world-wide tribulation…. We have seen that the "day of His wrath" is the "Day of the Lord," which is a day of DESTRUCTION. WHO will be able to stand it?  You can’t escape it. It is just as CERTAIN as are all these other events which have happened right on schedule."

2.     Plain Truth, June/July 1934, page 3  HWA drew a chronological chart of End-Time events and labeled 1936 as the end of the time of tribulation and "the End of the Age."

3.     Plain Truth, June/July 1934, page 5  "...the year 1936 will see the end of the Times of the Gentiles.... we may expect the present worldwide depression, time of trouble and fear of war to continue until the year 1936!... quickly after that time, we may expect to see the heavenly signs of the sun and moon becoming dark, the stars falling.... which shall be followed by the 'Day of the Lord."

4.     Plain Truth, 1935   "Mussolini will be world dictator."

5.     Plain Truth, March 1938, p.8   "Mussolini and the Pope will hatch up an idea between [them] of setting up a world headquarters at Jerusalem—and so Mussolini’s armies will enter Palestine (Dan. 11:41)  and eventually will capture just half of the city of Jerusalem!"

6.     Plain Truth, January 1939  p. 4 "Mussolini will fight Christ!"

7.     Plain Truth, August 1939, p.6  "Once war is resumed, it must continue on thru the great Tribulation, the heavenly signs, the plagues of the Day of the Lord, and to the second coming of Christ, at the last battle, at Armageddon!…  This war will be ended by Christ’s return! And war may start within six weeks! We are just that near Christ’s coming!"

8.     Plain Truth, 1939  "Hitler will give his power to Mussolini."

9.     Plain Truth, 1939  "Franco will give his power to Mussolini."

10.  Plain Truth, 1939  "Ethiopia & Libya will join USSR in WW2."

11.  Plain Truth, 1939-40  "Mussolini will conquer Egypt & Palestine."

1940’s

12.   Plain Truth, April/May 1940 "...Armageddon, we believe, must be at least three or four years away..."

13.   Plain Truth, April/May 1940 "Democracy Doomed!" article,   "Today England is a dictatorship as absolutely as that of Hitler or Mussolini."

14.  Plain Truth, Dec 1940  "Britain will be conquered by Nazis."

15.  Plain Truth, Dec 1940  "Turkey will turn traitor to Britain."

16.  Plain Truth, May/June 1941  "Hitler now emerges as the "BEAST" of Revelation!"

17.  Plain Truth, May/June 1941  "Bible prophecy ... shows the Roman Axis forces will take Egypt, Suez, Palestine - even Gibraltar."

18.  Plain Truth, May/June 1941 Herbert W. Armstrong: "Britain will go down."  

19.  Plain Truth, Sept/October 1941  "Plain Truth readers know world events before they occur."

20.  Plain Truth, Sept/October 1941  "Hitler MUST BE THE VICTOR in his present Russian invasion!" 

21.  Plain Truth, Sept/October 1941  "A settlement will be reached, giving Hitler the supplies and resources he must have and undoubtedly part of Western Siberia."

22.  Plain Truth, Sept/October 1941  "The Red Army is unable to attack him as Hitler turns his wrecking machine to the British Isles, the United States and Palestine."

23.  Plain Truth, Sept/October 1941  Herbert's repeated predictions that Hitler and Mussolini would also conquer Syria, Jordan and the rest of the Middle East during World War II.

24.  Plain Truth, Sept/October 1941  "Hitler will emerge from this Russian campaign stronger than ever."   

25.  Plain Truth, September/October 1941  "Our God is now about to punish… if our stiff-necked and rebellious people go on defying… trusting only in material and military defense… We shall be invaded, CONQUERED, uprooted from our homes and transplanted to other lands across the seas—ruled over as slaves."

26.  Plain Truth, 1942  "Rommel will conquer Jerusalem & Egypt with help of German army coming through Caucasus and southern Russia."

27.  Co-worker letter, January 23, 1945  " Where are we, now, in the prophetic unfolding of God's PLAN?  We are already IN the very crisis at the close of this age, spoken of by Daniel the prophet.  We are in that period portrayed by the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—of the Book of Revelation. Jesus explained these in His Olivet prophecy (Mat. 24).  The false prophets representing a false, counterfeit Christ, have appeared. We are now in the midst of the final age-end WORLD-WAR—nation against nation; kingdom against kingdom!  We are in the beginning of the famine and pestilence to follow in the wake of world-war!"

28.  Plain Truth, July 1945  "Although Germany is destroyed Japan will develop atomic bomb to destroy America."

29.  Coworker Letter,  December 1947  "...in a few years NONE OF US will be living in our present homes—EVERYTHING material we possess now will be swept away from us...it will strike DURING THIS PRESENT GENERATION—it cannot now be more than A FEW YEARS..."

30.  Coworker Letter,  December 1947  "YOU, dear Co-Worker, are not going to be permitted to enjoy your home, your freedom, your present privileges and pursuits, many more years.  Just a few more years—perhaps six or seven—perhaps twelve or fifteen—and a re-united Fascist-Nazi Europe will STRIKE—America's great cities will be blown out of existence in one night without warning...   I tell you, ON THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST, IT IS COMING!"  

Note:  By 1947, many of HWA’s major documented prophecies were already proven wrong.  This may explain the move from Oregon to California.

1950’s

31.  Plain Truth, March 1950  On the United Europe: "Definitely Britain will not be in it."

32.   Plain Truth, March 1950 "ONE THIRD of our people will die from starvation, malnutrition, and epidemics of disease in the greatest national tragedy ever to hit the world up to that time! And this is not a fanciful fairy story - this is PROPHESIED, and CERTAIN - and in the next FEW YEARS!" 

33.  Plain Truth, March 1950, p.5 "It will take a few years for all this to develop to a point where this Nazi-Fascist rebirth of the ROMAN EMPIRE will be ready to STRIKE with the most tremendous power ever conceived by man. But it’s already developing - and FAST! Much more rapidly than people know! Most certainly it is easily possible the thing will be fully developed and ready to strike in SEVEN years! Yes, TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON US, FAST, AND WE’RE TOO SOUND ASLEEP TO REALIZE IT!"    

34.  Plain Truth, August 1950 Article entitled "Hitler Did Not Die"   "Thus it has been proved conclusively and beyond doubt that Hitler did not die - his body was not there - HE HAD ESCAPED."

35.  Plain Truth, August 1950  "The next Pope will be a miracle worker, a supposed proof that God is using him to order and pacify the world!"

36.  Plain Truth, October 1951, p.14  "The fact is that nearly all the prophecies refer directly to the END-TIME events of this 20th Century, A.D."

37.  Plain Truth, June 1952, p.5  "For it is those of this very present generation who shall be worshiping this “Beast” or his “Image,” or shall have received his “mark,” that will suffer the unspeakable tortures of the SEVEN LAST PLAGUES!"

38.  Plain Truth, June 1952, p.5   "The time is at hand! The plagues of God's WRATH will be poured out..."

39.  Plain Truth, June 1952, p.5   "Every sign tells us these things will happen, plunging the world into the most frantic, frenzied state of anguish ever known, WITHIN A MATTER OF A FEW YEARS!"

40.  Plain Truth, June 1953, pp.1-2  "But now, once in the END of this age, just before God takes all power and authority and rule away from mortal man forever, God’s last and final intervention in the affairs of THIS WORLD IS occurring before your very eyes!"

41.  Plain Truth, July 1953, p.4   "This same DUAL PRINCIPLE runs all thru prophecy! First, a former, or preliminary fulfillment which is merely the type or forerunner of a second, the final climactic fulfillment occurring, usually, during this CRISIS AT THE CLOSE we already have entered!"

42.  Plain Truth, August 1952, p.1 "HITLER Did Not Die.  Adolph Hitler's fake suicide in his Berlin Bunker is exposed as History's greatest Hoax!  Hitler is alive, directing Nazi Underground, today!"

43.  Plain Truth, 1953 "Middle East in Prophecy" article predicts "Russia and China will never split but will remain united until Christ's coming."

44.  Plain Truth, Nov. 1953, p.13  "’These days are more terrible than most realize. The time is ominous, storm clouds are brewing above and below the horizon. Within less than a quarter of a century this world will be plunging to destruction in order that men might know once and for all time that the Creator RULES and that His laws alone bring peace and happiness."

45.  Plain Truth, Aug.-Sep. 1954, p.1  "CATASTROPHIC EVENTS soon to bring END OF THE WORLD!  Prophecies of BOOK OF REVELATION at last revealed!"... Here we begin a startling, eye-opening series of articles explaining the long sealed prophecies of the BOOKOF REVELEATION...  We are now in the very CRISIS AT THE CLOSE of this present evil and unhappy world!"

46.  Plain Truth, Aug.-Sep. 1954, p.6  "John was projected into the period of OUR present, and the immediate future. ... Ezekiel was not actually taken to Jerusalem, but the SPIRIT lifted him up and carried him IN VISION to Jerusalem. In like manner, John, IN SPIRIT, was carried to see IN VISION the events of the DAY OF THE LORD - the events ALREADY, now, beginning to take place on earth - the events YOU AND I SHALL LIVE TO ACTUALLY SEE! This vision is VITAL! The theme, or subject, of the prophecy is NOT the Middle Ages - it is the teeming, chaotic PRESENT - this very time you and I are just now starting to LIVE THRU! GOD HELP US, then, to UNDERSTAND! And so the very purpose of this Book is to show US of this generation NOW LIVING, the coming world-shaking events of the DAY OF THE LORD - the time of GOD’S JUDGMENTS at this age - END leading up to, and climaxing in, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, and the happy, peaceful WORLD TOMORROW!"

47.  Plain Truth, Oct. 1954, p.3  "John appears to be taken up to heaven, to the very throne of God. There, projected some 1900 years into the future - into our PRESENT LIVING GENERATION - he sees, in VISION, the events already occurring, and those SOON TO TAKE PLACE, on the earth."

48.   Plain Truth, Oct. 1954, p.15  "But in verse 14, Jesus interrupted to tell them WHEN the end shall come - AFTER THE VERY EVENT NOW TAKING PLACE - YES, ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE THIS MINUTE. [quotes Mat. 24: 14]. ... And THAT’S the world event of THIS VERY HOUR! THIS HOUR is THIS SCRIPTURE FULFILLED IN YOUR EARS! He that hath an ear to hear, LET HIM HEAR! ... so here we have THREE successive world-shaking events to come-first, and, now, NEXT to occur in a very few years, THE GREAT TRIBULATION."

49.  Plain Truth, Nov-Dec. 1954, pp.15-16  "We are now in the very WORLD-CRISIS at the CLOSE of the allotted duration of man’s rule over his fellows."

50.  Plain Truth, Nov-Dec. 1954, p.16  "A Prophecy for Today!" "This last resurrection - the TENTH - has, of necessity, to be in OUR TIME, and YET IN THE FUTURE ... There you have it! The TEN Dictatorships forming the UNITED EUROPEAN EMPIRE - a resurrected ROMAN EMPIRE - which the United States and the British governments are now bending every effort to bring about! But this United Europe will not cleave together long - IT COULDN’T! The prophecy reveals its very SHORT duration - 'must continue a SHORT SPACE,' - 'receive power as kings ONE HOUR with the Beast.' WHEN it, therefore, arises, THE SECOND COMING WORLD will be very NEAR. And today we SEE this very thing BEING FORMED. It may take a very few more years. But it is ON ITS WAY - conditions are shaping to this end far more rapidly than anyone seems to realize - yes, IT’S LATER THAN YOU THINK! These things are already BEGINNING to come to pass!"

51.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1955, p.1  "Weather Bureau experts are frankly frightened about America‘s future. They KNOW that within 20 years this nation will be toppled from its dizzy economic heights by the worst drought in history! Here are the FACTS and what prophecy says WILL HAPPEN!"

52.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1955, p.1  "Prophecy proves it [great drought] will happen - before 1975! Here are the FACTS."

53.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1955, p.3  "WE CAN understand it [prophecy - specifically Revelation], because JESUS CHRIST is the Revelator! HE is the interpreter! And we have found HIS interpretation, which is TRUE! Yes, we CAN know where world affairs today are LEADING. We CAN know what’s GOING to happen during the next 5, 10, and 20 years!"

54.  Plain Truth, Feb.-Mar. 1955, p.1  "WORLD WAR IS HERE - NOW!"

55.  Plain Truth, Sep. 1955, p.1  "Here is an amazing prophecy, which few understand, yet which explains the real meaning behind Russia’s struggle for world dominion. It explains what‘s going to happen to our nation IN THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS!"

56.  1975 in Prophecy, 1956, on p. 20, paragraph 6, HWA writes: "Yes, millions of lukewarm inactive professing Christians will suffer martyrdom, and that before the anticipated push-button year of 1975 dawns upon us!" Then on p. 31, paragraph 10, he writes: "your fate, and I say to you on authority of God Almighty that it is absolutely sure!"

57.  Plain Truth, Feb. 1956 P. 1  "U.S.A. Riding to Total Collapse in 20 Short Years!" article  "You're going to be shocked to read what goes on undercover in the United States. Five major vices threaten the total collapse of our country inside of 20 years. The handwriting is on the wall of America, now!"

58.  Plain Truth, February 1956  Same article  "...I've shown you from the very word of God what is next coming in prophesied events...It's prophesied for 15 to 20 years or less."

59.  Plain Truth, Apr. 1956, p.2  "He has revealed that there remains only the one more 19-year cycle (of which we are well into the 4th year already) - after which it will be Too LATE!!! It’s far later than we think!"

60.  Plain Truth, Apr. 1956, p.22  "What happens by the middle of the 1960s ... This SEVEN YEARS of national trouble takes us - if the dates which appear so definitely indicated by these prophecies are correct - from 1965 to 1972! Many of you will remember that over three years ago we told you of the strong indication that the last half of this - Gods-work of spreading the gospel of the Kingdom of God to all the world would probably end in 1972!"

61.  Plain Truth, Apr. 1956, p.23  "Notice what God says is going to happen to our people in about ten years from now!" [severe drought, war, economic collapse, slavery...]

62.  Plain Truth, May 1956, p.1  "WOULD you say that it is an amazing thing if 2600 years ago there were men who could look down into the future and foretell what is going to happen to Egypt? - and to all major nations in the next 15 or 20 years in this last half of the 20th century? You would say that that is impossible, I suppose. But Is It? Such men did exist! Such prophecies were made."

63.  Plain Truth, July 1956, pp.3-4  "To understand the time, the place, and all the facts of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38, we need to begin at the 1st chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy and read the book clear through. ... Ezekiel’s Message is for our day - and it is, therefore, a message for America and Britain, NOW! ... No such destruction and captivity has ever yet come to the House of Israel since this was written! Therefore it is still in the future - IN OUR TIME! It is a warning to Britain and America - NOW!"

64.  Plain Truth, July 1956, p. 4  "Coming to chapter 6, the local scene of the vision shifts to the mountainous land of Palestine - but the MESSAGE is for AMERICA AND BRITAIN, today!"

65.  Plain Truth, Sept. 1956, p. 14  "If YOU would rather hear God’s Truth in place of the soothing cries of 'Peace, Peace' (Jer. 6: 14), write in immediately for Mr. Armstrong’s AMAZING booklet, '1975 in Prophecy!' This startling booklet is profusely illustrated with pictures-actually showing you a step-by-step account of what God says IS GOING TO HAPPEN within the next 10, 15 to 25 years!"

66.  Plain Truth, Sept. 1956, p. 20  "No matter WHAT the immediate and temporary outcome of the present Suez Canal crisis, Britain and America will not have control of it when this amalgamated European power rises up-and it will occur inside of 15 or 16 more years - perhaps sooner."

67.  Plain Truth, Oct. 1956, p. 18 [article title: "The SUEZ Crisis In Prophecy!"]"The Nazi underground is now plotting a war that shall end AT ARMAGEDDON! It is the START of the final WORLD WAR! It is NOW being prepared UNDERCOVER! Do you really REALIZE it? IT IS STARTING NOW! This war now secretly being prepared will Only END with the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST! Are you ready for that event? It is now NEAR - EVEN AT THE DOORS!"

68.  Plain Truth, Nov. 1956, pp.5-6  "The Prophecy for OUR DAY ... And notice, this coming martyrdom will be like the previous one - only 1000 times more terrible in intensity. Christians living today are to be martyred 'as their brethren were' in past ages.... This coining horrifying tribulation is now being plotted in secret, underground, by a fascist [Hitler and his Nazis hold up in a secret compound in Antarctica] Babylonish religious [Roman Catholic] political system ... "

69.  Plain Truth, Feb. 1957, p.14  "For many years, the Plain Truth magazine has been bringing you the actual prophesied events scheduled to happen within the next 10, 15 or 25 years."

70.  Plain Truth, Feb. 1957, p.14  "If you haven’t yet read Mr. Armstrong’s amazing point-by-point summary of prophetic events from now until 1975 - write in immediately for the booklet '1975 in Prophecy.' We’ll send it to you by return mail."

71.  Plain Truth, Mar. 1957, p. 3  "In less than 40 years all nations are going to live in a Utopia! They will be forced to learn the ways of peace. A Utopia of God’s making - not man’s - is fast approaching."

72.  Plain Truth Mar. 1957, p. 15  "Notice that this whole abominable system is to culminate in a great False Prophet who is to be manifest in OUR TIME - before Christ’s second coming and is to be destroyed by Christ when He returns. This diabolical individual is living TODAY!"

73.  Plain Truth, Apr. 1957, pp. 7-8  "For You - for your family and loved ones - the really significant point in this is that these men and many of their counterparts in Germany and France are NOW beginning to build the very power which God says will ultimately destroy our people! And they are basing it on the same principles and describing it in almost the EXACT way that The PLAIN TRUTH has been warning you to watch for over the past twenty years! Prophecy is future REALITY! It is NOW taking place before your very eyes!"

74.  Plain Truth, June 1957, p. 4  "[Speaking of Ezekiel chapter 5] No such destruction and captivity has ever yet come to the House of Israel since this was written! Therefore it is still in the future - IN OUR TIME! It is a warning to Britain and America - NOW! ...  Coming to chapter 6 [of Ezekiel], the local scene of the vision shifts to the mountainous land of Palestine - but the MESSAGE is for AMERICA AND BRITAIN, today!"

75.  Plain Truth, Aug. 1957, p.3  "WHETHER YOU want to believe it or not, you are CERTAIN to be affected by the rapid fulfillment of Bible prophecy!"

76.  Plain Truth, Aug. 1957, p.4  "Here is something DEFINITE! Here is something you can TEST and PROVE! ... God is going to use this power to PUNISH us for our sins and our rebellion against His laws! This is DEFINITE. Most of you will live to SEE it come to pass!"

77.  Plain Truth, Aug. 1957, p.6  "After 1965, we are destined to run into increasing trouble with the Gentile nations. America and Britain will begin to suffer from trade embargoes imposed by the brown and oriental races, and by the coming German-dominated United States of Europe” or “European Empire” - whatever it will be called. We will begin to experience the pangs of starvation and of scarcity of goods! ... Finally, when we are weakened from drought, hunger, disease and riots within our borders - and our economy crippled by foreign trade embargoes - the revived “beast” power in central Europe will attack us! Fully one third of our people will perish in the hydrogen bomb attack."

78.  Plain Truth, Aug. 1957, p.6  "But meantime, these prophecies are REAL! They are DEFINITE and SPECIFIC. They WILL COME TO PASS! ... You can KNOW! You can be SURE! You are NOW BEING WARNED!"

79.  Plain Truth, Oct. 1957, p.4  "In former articles in the Plain Truth magazine, we have shown you what the Almighty God says is SURE to happen to OUR NATION within the next few years. We have made those articles specific - definite, actually NAMING the nations which will be involved, and showing from the scriptures what your Creator says will happen. Here is another specific occurrence that you are going to SEE happen! "[Describes wars never again being won by military might, rather there will be trade wars.]

80.  Plain Truth, Oct. 1957, p.4  "World War III Is Already Begun! Believe it or not, the next world war is already being fought - and America and the British Commonwealth of Nations are rapidly LOSING that war! ... There is at this moment a tremendous world-wide struggle going on for domination of WORLD TRADE - and we are LOSING OUT, EVERYWHERE!"

81.  Plain Truth, Oct. 1957, p.5  "Germany, after becoming REUNITED with Eastern Germany, and finally united with a group of NINE OTHER NATIONS in Europe, is destined by the sure, un-breakable, unchangeable Word of God to CONQUER THE UNITED STATES AND THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS!"

82.  Plain Truth, Dec. 1957  "God prophecies that finally, within the next fifteen years, fully ONE THIRD of our whole population will die of disease and famine."

83.  Plain Truth, Dec. 1957, p.19  "Methods of warfare have changed. Most people, however, are not really aware of HOW these changes will affect THEIR LIVES in the next few years. It has suddenly become possible for madmen in seats of great power to speak the word that might plunge this fear-filled world into a great, awe-inspiring HYDROGEN BOMB WAR! Frightened scientists and world leaders WELL KNOW such a war could mean the frightful END OF ALL HUMAN LIFE! This is REAL! THIS IS YOUR LIFE!"

84.  Plain Truth, Dec. 1957, p.20  "In what way could we possibly be besieged? IN A TRADE WAR!"Trade War Here Now !"

85.  The Proof of the Bible, 1958  "We are just coming now to the grand smash climax of this whole age when there are far more prophecies--far more world shaking events--to happen in the next 15 or 20 years than ever happened before in the history of the world!"

86.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1958, p.4  "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE LONG TO WAIT, NOW, TO FIND OUT WHETHER THE BIBLE SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY! For your Bible foretells all about today’s chaotic scientific world bent on the destruction of WHOLE NATIONS! It tells what is SOON GOING TO HAPPEN! You won’t have long to wait-then you’ll KNOW - yes, and most of you will come to know too late!"

87.  Plain Truth, June 1958, p.1  "SLAVE LABOR CAMPS are coming back! America is heedlessly plunging toward the greatest national humiliation of her history! It’s time you faced the cold FACTS of prophecy - it’s time you KNEW the truth about YOUR OWN FUTURE!"

88.  Plain Truth, Oct. 1958, p.4  "Now turn to Ezekiel 25. Here is another prophecy for our day. Here is a prophecy revealing what is going to be the fate of the Allied intervention in Jordan and the Lebanon. This is a prophecy to be fulfilled in the early 1970’s. This prophecy has never been fulfilled before! ... My sanctuary, [a temple or sanctuary is yet to be built by the Jews in Jerusalem!) when it was profaned [which shall happen in less than 14 years from now]..."

89.  Plain Truth, Nov. 1958, p.4  "Jesus said certain specific things HAD TO HAPPEN prior to the “end of the age.” Read it! This is a prophecy for NOW! ... In the pages of The PLAIN TRUTH, and over The World Tomorrow broadcast, you have been reading and hearing forewarnings of these very occurrences that are NOW BEGINNING TO MAKE THE NATIONS’ HEADLINES! It’s time to wake up, and realize WHO is causing it to happen!"

90.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1959, p.3  "Jesus Christ Himself had foretold this event! [The first broadcast of the World Tomorrow radio show]... What really occurred that Sunday morning precisely at 10 o’clock was a momentous event. It was the fulfilling of a definite corner-stone prophecy of Jesus. More than that, it was the initial, start-off event of the fulfilling of some 90% of all the prophecies in the Bible! And approximately a third of the whole Bible is prophecy!"

91.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1959, p.8  "For years, The World Tomorrow broadcast and The Plain Truth magazine have been shouting this message - revealing from the prophecies in your Bible the coming UNITED EUROPE now being formed. But first Germany must PULL OUT of NATO, and she must have an understanding with Russia!" 

92.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1959, p.8  "YOU LIVE IN THE PROPHESIED 'TIME OF THE END!' The end of all man’s allotted 6,000 years is at hand! And it's MUCH CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!" 

93.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1959, p.9  "Prophesied for OUR TIME! ... This [speculation about reunited Germany spearheading a European 'Beast Power'] is conclusive PROOF the prophecy is for OUR TIME - the time just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. ... Almost unnoticed by the world that CRISIS IS ALMOST UPON US! ... As already reported in the pages of The Plain Truth, a vast TRADE WAR is underway." 

94.  Plain Truth, Jan. 1959, p.14 .. "Jesus promises protection from the colossus that is rising to bathe the world in blood. A time of GREAT TRIBULATION is just ahead - and may well come within 13 years!"

95.  Plain Truth, Apr. 1959, p.5  "Here, Daniel saw four great BEASTS. And again, nearly all of the commentaries, the Bible reference books, are agreed on the historical fulfillment of this chapter. But almost NO-ONE, it seems, understands the PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR DAY, NOW!"

96.  Plain Truth, Apr. 1959, p.17  "The six nation “Euromart,” or the “common market” now in effect in Europe, already comprises the bulk of the nations included in the “ten toes” of Daniel 2, and the “ten horns” of Revelation 17! So far, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy have bound themselves together into a single unit for economic cooperation. FOUR MORE ARE TO FOLLOW!"

97.  Co-Worker letter, August 13, 1959  "I say to YOU, now, that your money—your home—every material thing you have—will be taken from you SOON—probably in 12 to 13 years, certainly in 15 or less!"

98.  Plain Truth, Aug. 1959, p.3  "Mr. Armstrong reports from Germany the world‘s greatest miracle of our time. It was prophesied. It spells DOOM for U.S.A. in ten to fifteen years - unless we HEED!"

99.  Plain Truth, Aug. 1959, p.3  "And yet, about 90% of all of the prophecies in the Bible pertain to events that are yet to happen in the next 10 to 20 years from now, believe it or not!"

100. "Middle East in Prophecy" 1950s article and reprint by HWA, “China will NOT be a major independent world power, but will always follow Russia's lead."

101. Radio and sermons, 1956 onward after Suez (on radio and in sermons): "Britain will never win another war."  "...Britain will never regain sea gates she lost."

102. Plain Truth, 1956 "Britain will collapse into famine & anarchy within 3-5 years."

103. Plain Truth, Radio, Sermons, from the 1950s HWA prophesied that Germany would become the dominant military power and the one major nuclear power of Western Europe.  

104. Coworker Letter, 2/13/59 "Today we are in the SEVENTH YEAR of our SECOND 19-year TIME-CYCLE which God has allotted for this MASS-PROCLAIMING of THIS MESSAGE FROM GOD! If God does not cut the time short, we may have another 12 years to complete this GREAT COMMISSION."

105. Sermons from 1950s onward, HWA stated that "King Hussein of Jordan would grant the WWCG a tribulation-time "place of safety" at Petra."   

1960’s

106. Co-Workers letter, December 1960 "In 12 years or less the U.S.A. will suffer the worst depression ever suffered by any nation."

107.Plain Truth,1961 HWA prophesied that the Berlin crisis would lead to the collapse of America and the rise of a united Nazi Germany.

108.Plain Truth, July 1962 "Do these heads of state know that a whole third of the Bible is prophecy - and that about 90 percent of that lies bare in advance world events that will occur within the next ten to fifteen years from now?" 

109.Plain Truth, January 1963  "Possibly not more than seven years from now - America suddenly will wake up to the gigantic THREAT that shall be rising, or even then have arisen, in Europe. ...." 

110.Plain Truth, Jan., 1963, page 21, "Somewhere along about seven to ten years from now the REVOLUTION IN THE WEATHER will become a national and international calamity. Drought, epidemics of disease, will reap a mounting harvest of death across North America -- and in Britain. Economic depression will strike ... And the time will be right for the new United Europe to strike!"

111.Plain Truth, March 1963  " ... the present movement of events, together with the prophecies, strongly indicate that the BIG CRISIS - the threatened invasion - will not come about until 1972 . De Gaulle will be too old by that time. THAT IS ONE REASON HE IS HURRYING" to unite Europe and keep Britain out. 

112. Co-Worker Letter, July 31, 1963 “Time is running out on us.  Only a few more years remain to finish God's Work!   …But the Work is, as of this moment, still, RIGHT ON SCHEDULE!  …There is time to finish His Work--BUT NO TIME TO LOSE!”

113.Plain Truth, October 1963 "ALL HUMAN LIFE will be blasted out of existence by nuclear warfare and other means of mass destruction - perhaps not more than twelve or fifteen years from now!" 

114.Co-Worker letter, October 27, 1963 "We may now have only eight or nine more years to FINISH His Work!"

115.Co-Worker letter, Nov 22, 1963,  "in eight years all of our ministers will be silenced."   

116.Sermon, November 23, 1963  "In eight years all of our ministers will be silenced!"

117.Co-Worker letter, Nov 30, 1963  "We have only eight years to finish the Work."

118.The Plain Truth, January 1964, "We may have an occasional good year in the weather, but the trend in general will continue until--probably by 1971-1972--it will become an acute disaster, especially to the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia."

119.Plain Truth, Dec. 1963 "The Bible does not specifically say whether God will man will actually allow man to succeed in his mad race to the moon.  But it does foretell that men will die in the attempt!   Your Bible prophecies that human bodies will be scattered to the uttermost parts of the heavens.  Read it in Deut. 30:4.  Man does not have the knowledge to cope with the many hazards - known and unknown - which confront travelers in space." 

120.Plain Truth, January 1964 HWA prophesied very explicitly that the coming year "shall increase drought and upheavals in the WEATHER pattern...the trend in general will continue until - probably by 1971 or 1972 - it will become an acute disaster, especially to the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia." 

121.Plain Truth, May 1965 "Hitler will be falsely resurrected by the Pope."

122.Co-Worker letter, Dec 13,1965, "We are in the grand smash climax - only 6 years left."

123.Co-worker letter, Dec. 1965  " Everywhere on earth events are HURLING this world toward the prophesied grand-smash Climax. We may have barely six more short years to finish this great Work the living CHRIST is doing through YOU and me!  I say MAY--I am not setting dates, yet biblical prophecies indicate the strong possibility that time remaining for us is indeed JUST THAT SHORT!"

124.Co-worker Letter, June 27, 1966, WE MAY HAVE ONLY ONE OR TWO MORE YEARS LEFT TO FINISH THE WORK THE LIVING CHRIST IS DOING THROUGH HIS CHURCH! Time is running out on us! It is now FAR later than you think!

125. Co-Worker Letter, April 17, 1967  "God says He will do nothing without first WARNING the people (Amos 3:7).  Very soon, now, God is going to INTERVENE in WORLD AFFAIRS, just prior to Christ's Coming...  Through this rapidly growing Work, NOW WORLDWIDE--God has been WARNING THIS WHOLE WORLD..."

 "...And now, HERE IS THE STUPENDOUS ANNOUNCEMENT! ...Right now, just prior by probably not more than five to seven years, to the coming terrible DAY OF THE LORD, the living CHRIST has moved swiftly to OPEN THE ALL-IMPORTANT DOOR THAT HAS BEEN CLOSED SINCE THE DAYS OF THE ORIGINAL APOSTLES!

"...After TURNING HIS BACK on Jerusalem ever since 69 A. D. after turning Jerusalem over to be "trodden down of the Gentiles," since 69 A.D., ALMIGHTY GOD HAS OPENED TO THE WORLD TOMORROW,   E X C L U S I V E L Y, THE GIGANTIC DOOR OF SUPER-POWER RADIO  F R O M   J E R U S A L E M !

"...THIS VERY THING NOW OPENED TO US IS FORETOLD IN PROPHECY!  Thousands of years ago, the Almighty GOD said He would open this very DOOR!  Yes, this event is written IN YOUR BIBLE! That, alone, makes it an event of INCREDIBLE MAGNITUDE!

"...I want you to notice the thrilling PROPHECY:  It's in the remarkable 40th chapter of Isaiah.  It refers to THIS VERY WORK --to THIS VERY BROADCAST GOING FROM JERUSALEM!

Notice, the first two verses speak of the very beginning of the Millennium, just a VERY few years ahead of us, now:  It means that Christ's COMING is now very near! This is undoubtedly the most significant event in the history of this Work! 

Co-Workers, I have to tell you, this powerful station IN JERUSALEM is costing a great deal of money!" 

126.The Plain Truth, Feb. 1967, p. 47, "The God who is REAL says of OUR PEOPLES: 'Prophecy against the prophets of Israel . . . O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes of the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up a hedge for the House of Israel TO STAND in the BATTLE IN THE DAY OF THE ETERNAL (Ezek. 13:1-5).' That is NOT a message to ancient Israel—but to OUR NATIONS TODAY. The 'DAY OF THE ETERNAL'—a time foretold in more than thirty prophecies—is going to strike between 5 and 10 years from now! You will know, then, how REAL it is. You will wish, then, you had heeded. I am not writing foolishly, but very soberly, ON AUTHORITY of the living CHRIST!"  

124.The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy, Introduction, 1967, "A STAGGERING TURN in world events is due to erupt in the next four to seven years. It will involve violently the United States, Britain, Western Europe, the Middle East."

128.The U.S. and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy, 1967, pages 11-12, "The events prophesied to strike the American and British peoples in the next four to seven years are SURE! That is why the events of the next four to seven years may prove this to be the most significant book of this century. These colossal world events, shrinking the first two world wars into insignificance, WILL COME, on schedule."     

129. The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy, page 184  "Now, other prophecies reveal, we are to have soon (probably in about four years) such drought, and famine, that disease epidemics will follow taking millions of lives ... Well, we have been getting foretastes of that! That condition is coming! And I do not mean in 400 years—nor in 40 years—but in the very next FOUR or FIVE!"

130. The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy, page 185  "You need to look at the prophecies of Jesus of Jeremiah, of Isaiah, and others, describing how much more INTENSE is to be the punishment God is going to lay on the British and American people in five to seven more years!"

131. "The United States and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy”, 1967 Edition, "The events prophesied to strike the British and American peoples in the next four to seven years are SURE! ... These colossal world events, shrinking the first two world wars into insignificance, WILL COME, on schedule."

132.United States and Britain in Prophecy, 1967, on p. 212, paragraph 3 he states: "By God's direction and authority, I have laid the truth before you!" referring to the impending doom.

133. Co-Worker letter, July 5, 1967  "the Jews will demolish the Dome on the Rock."

134.Plain Truth, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, "Former German Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss will unite Germany and make it the leader of the European Union." "When Germany becomes united, it will immediately turn on America, arm to the teeth with nuclear weapons, and make the whole world tremble."

135. Plain Truth 1967, "The Israelis will make a deal with the Vatican to build a Third Temple by 1972."

136. Plain Truth, January 1969 "I know whereof I speak, for no organization on earth has a more knowledgeable grasp and understanding of world conditions, trends, and causes, than ours."

137. Ambassador College Correspondence Course, Lesson 5, 1969, p. 15  "I know whereof I speak, for no organization on earth has a more knowledgeable grasp and understanding of world conditions, trends, and causes, than ours. ..."

138. Ambassador College Correspondence Course, Lesson 44, 1969, p. 16  "There is very little time remaining. You now know only a minority of humanity will remain alive just a few years from now."

1970’s

139. Plain Truth, 1974 "US will prove unwilling & unable to go to war to protect world oil supplies from Persian Gulf"

140. Plain Truth, 1974 After Nixon's resignation, "the United States will never again lead the world or be effective in war."

141. Co-worker letter, January 20, 1977  "During this generation--within 60 to 90 years or less-from 1927--Christ will come again..."

142. 1978 co-worker letter. HWA predicted that the next pope (who turned out to be John Paul II) would very rapidly united Europe.

143.Worldwide News, April/May 1978, HWA teaches "you can only come to Christ through him through the church government structure" and that you cut yourself off from Christ if you disobey HWA.

144. "The Proof of the Bible"  "The once great city of Sidon in southern Lebanon will remain a miserable little village, again in " In fact, while not a major metropolis, it is an extremely large town and regional center.

145.The Proof of the Bible."  "When Europe finally unites, it will either be fascist, or become so virtually instantaneously."

146. "Worldwide News, 1994 "Ministers who rebel against me and leave this organization are reduced to working with their hands."

1980’s

147. Co-Workers Letter, January 3, 1980 "The actual movement of world events as prophesied WARNS US that all this MAY now occur in the decade we entered day before yesterday--and, if delayed past 1990, most certainly during the decade of the 90s."

148. Co-Workers letter, 1982 "I hope to arrange for the use of Petra as a possible refuge or place of safety during the Great Tribulation when I see King Hussein. Pray for this please."

149.Plain Truth, September 1984, Personal from Herbert W. Armstrong "The Plain Truth brings you UNDERSTANDING of the very Word of God, the SOURCE of TRUTH--and of the PROPHECIES of events soon to occur, in the next two, five or 10 years!"

150.Mystery of the Ages, p. 298 "And, secondly, to reveal—preserved in writing for us TODAY—what is to happen "in the latter days"—actually within the next two decades—THIS LAST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY!"

Mr. Armstrong projected a great amount of confidence.  As a result, he convinced many to follow him.  He often made extremely bold claims ("I do not speak to you by authority of men, or any politically organized church of men - but in the name, and by the AUTHORITY of JESUS CHRIST, the living HEAD of the TRUE CHURCH OF GOD!").  However, the vast majority of his prophecies/predictions failed the test of time.

It is good that God reminds us pay attention to our doubts about presumptuous preachers, and to avoid living in fear of them (or because of them).

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Deuteronomy 18:22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

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Acknowledgement

Many individuals deserve credit for this list.  It contains much of the material from "Herbert W. Armstrong's 209 False Prophecies" (prepared by "The Watcher") but not those entries that did not contain specific references, not the quotes attributed to Hoeh, Meredith and Dorothy.  It also includes material from the "Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion" (Pam Dewey); "HWA Failed Prophecies" ("As Berean's Did" website); "Armstrongism, Religion or Rip-off" (Mariom  McNair), and other quotes from various Plain Truth's and Co-workers letters downloaded from the "HWA Searchable Library". 

Compiled by a reader of BANNED.  Also shared with Pam Dewey.