Herbert W. Armstrong's Documented
Prophetic Record by Decade
'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?
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.
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).
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.
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.