Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Thursday, March 26, 2020

CGI: Exposing the Devil and His Wiles



EXPOSING THE DEVIL AND HIS WILES

In CGI’s latest Armor of God  “Web Chat” (Signals & Signs of the Devil), Bill Watson and Mike James discuss the pervasive influence of Satan on American culture. According to them, “What is so insidious about this being, known as the devil and his kingdom of demons, are his methods—they are so subtle! His influences are so hard to identify when contending with laws and circumstances that now have normalized and legalized so much evil and, sadly, are currently so acceptable to the moral relativism and postmodern thinking we are presently experiencing. As a matter of fact, it’s hard to believe just how much of his operations and involvement are in our face! Frankly, unless you are ‘woken’ (aware and alerted) to his ‘signals and signs’ you will never recognize just how close and interactive you are to his participation in something that you may be involved with—but unaware of the influence his ways may be having on you, your children, or family and friends. It’s both astonishing and surreal, but disturbing at the same time.”
It turns out that much of the ensuing conversation is centered around an article (Occult and Satanism in America) that appeared on the website of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (a self-described “organization of lay Catholic Americans concerned about the moral crisis shaking the remnants of Christian civilization”). In the preface to the article, we are informed that: “This article-report is based on studies by the author as well as an interview with ex-Satanist Zachary King. It is meant to raise awareness regarding the growing popularity of the occult and Satanism in America, its threat to our children and how society is being transformed to be more accepting of the devil.” The author of the article then goes on to assert that witchcraft is the fourth largest religion in the United States – WHAT? Then, after explaining how Satanists desecrate Catholic rituals, the author asserts without offering ANY proof that “satanic high priests today will assist in an abortion and offer the killing of the baby to the devil. Lawyers are consulted to make sure everything is done according to the law. In addition, many high priests dedicate all the abortions in the world to the devil every night during the witching hour.” (For the record, I am personally opposed to abortion, BUT REALLY?) see Occult and Satanism in America
Although Mr. Watson seeks to assure his audience that he isn’t promoting crazy conspiracy theories based on dubious sources, he then proceeds to show the audience an FBI document showing symbols used by pedophiles and the organizations which they have founded to promote their perversity. “What does this have to do with the subject at hand?” you may ask. Pastor Watson next produces an image of Disney’s Moana and would have us believe that the symbol which represents the heart of Te Fiti in the movie is actually one of the symbols pictured on the FBI’s pedophilia page! Next, Mr. Watson treats his audience to a panoply of images of celebrities giving what he interprets as a Satanic sign with their fingers. At first glance, such an assertion may seem ridiculous and pointless. Nevertheless, if we think about what might underpin Pastor Watson’s speculation, it does fit the religious right’s narrative about Hollywood’s alliance with the evil “liberal/progressive” agenda.
Of course, an Armstrong Church of God program on this subject wouldn’t be complete without at least one reference to Revelation 12:9! Surprisingly, it didn’t escape Mr. James’ attention that the referenced scripture also applied to Mr. Watson and himself. Indeed, it is an integral part of Armstrong theology that Satan has deceived the whole world and is ultimately responsible for all human sins. It is, however, rare for an Armstrongite to acknowledge that that deception might also apply to him/her!
From my perspective, Herbert Armstrong and his followers have attributed way too much power and authority to Satan. They love to quote the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, but they arbitrarily cut off their citation before the prophet completes his thought. We read there: “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.” See Isaiah 14:12-15
The same could be said of that other favorite of Armstrongites when they talk about Satan - found in the twenty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel. We read there: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone— red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald—all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. ‘You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. So I threw you to the ground and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings. You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire out from within you, and it consumed you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All who knew you are appalled at your fate. You have come to a terrible end, and you will exist no more.” See Ezekiel 28:12-19
Thus, from the perspective of these two prophets (Isaiah and Ezekiel), Satan will one day face extermination! In the words of Ezekiel, he “will exist no more.” This is also consistent with Satan and his minions being thrown into the Lake of Fire (which is the second or ultimate death). See Revelation 20 This is also consistent with there not being ANY anguish or pain that will be part of the new world which John informs us that God intends to create at the conclusion of all things. See Revelation 21
Unfortunately, Herbert Armstrong’s interpretation of the symbolism surrounding the Israelites’ Day of Atonement observances was in large part responsible for his followers’ skewed perspective on Satan and his powers. By equating the Azazel with Satan, he made Satan responsible for all of their sins (and, by extension, ours). This line of REASONING reminds me of the comedian Flip Wilson’s famous line that “the devil made me do it!” The Biblical principle, however, is clearly that each and every one of us is responsible for our own sins! See Ezekiel 18, especially verse 20 In keeping with this exalted view of Satan and his abilities, I’ve noticed that Armstrongites often seem to overlook James’ admonition to “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” See James 4:7
Of course, the notion that Satan might have a deleterious impact on the human psyche is not peculiar to Armstrongism. In Valdesolo’s The Psychological Power of Satan  we read that our beliefs about Satan can be indicative of our thinking about a whole host of issues. Valdesolo reports that “BPE (Belief in Pure Evil) predicts such effects as: harsher punishments for crimes (e.g. murder, assault, theft), stronger reported support for the death penalty and decreased support for criminal rehabilitation. Follow-up studies corroborate these findings, showing that BPE also predicts the degree to which participants perceive the world to be dangerous and vile, the perceived need for preemptive military aggression to solve conflicts, and reported support for torture.”
Valdesolo goes on to assert that “if we accept the message from decades of social psychological research, that at least some instances of violence and malice are not the result of ‘pure evil’ — that otherwise decent individuals can, under certain circumstances, be compelled to commit horrible acts, even atrocities — then the results of these studies serve as an important cautionary tale. The longer we cling to strong beliefs about the existence of pure evil, the more aggressive and antisocial we become.  And we may be aggressing towards individuals who are, in fact, ‘redeemable.’  Individuals who are not intrinsically and immutably motivated by the desire to intentionally cause harm to others. That may be the greatest trick the devil has ever pulled.”
The notion that Satan continues to have a profound impact on our society and culture is also not confined to Armstrong and his followers. Scientific studies have been performed that demonstrate that a large percentage of Americans still attribute negative events to Satan. See Attributions to God and Satan About Life Altering EventsLikewise, those who have studied the impact of Milton’s Paradise Lost on our notions about Satan are quick to point out parallels to some of our most cherished American notions about ourselves.
In an article (What’s So ‘American’ About John Milton’s Lucifer?) from a 2017 edition of The Atlantic, we read that “Milton’s Lucifer can be read as a kind of modern, American antihero, invented before such a concept really existed. Many of the values the archangel advocates in Paradise Lost—the self-reliance, the rugged individualism, and even manifest destiny—are regarded as quintessentially American in the cultural imagination.”
The author goes on to say that “Milton’s Lucifer is neither bestial, a reptilian Other, nor the goofy incompetent of a medieval morality play; rather, he’s a conflicted, brooding, alienated, narcissistic self-mythologizer. In other words, he’s a thoroughly modern man, and in a country as preoccupied with modernity as the United States is, he’s arguably an honorary ‘American’ as a result. Milton’s fellow countryman, the novelist D.H. Lawrence, remarked in his under-read 1923 Studies in Classic American Literature that, ‘The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.’ The novelist had in mind not just the pioneer clearing lands that do not belong to him, but also the honey-worded con man who can justify his crimes in the sweetest language.”
Perhaps Mr. Watson and Mr. James are more correct about Satan’s influence on America than they would care to imagine! It is also possible that they have not thought through all of the logical implications of what they are saying about this powerful cherub! Moreover, in light of the sources which they chose to use and cite in their chat, they may want to consider using more reputable sources in the future. After all, as they themselves have pointed out, Satan is quite capable of deceiving/misleading everyone (including them)!
--Miller Jones

19 comments:

  1. Why would an American even think like this? You write in a very British matter of fact manner Jones.

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  2. Satan continues to have a profound impact on the churches of god. Now that is true.

    W.

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  3. In connection with a writing project, I have been collecting stories about the gods from several cultures. Most of those cultures assume there are multiple gods: pantheons of beings with separate interests (love, war, learning, weather, the seas, the forests, etc.) of varying degrees of power. Most are immortal, but not all. Some are benevolent, some evil, some merely mischievous. The benevolent ones are far in the minority, and even they are likely to wreak their wrath on mortal beings with painful consequences.

    It occurs to me that, from a cross-cultural perspective, Christianity has one of the largest pantheons out there even though they claim there is only one god in their cosmos. To make that claim, they have to fudge by grafting at least two, and usually three benevolent gods onto a single rootstock. Then they have the potential embarrassment of all the other supernatural entities out there: chiefly the adversary to their "one" god, plus the horde of immortal beings commanded by this adversary, plus the horde numbering twice as many in the retinue of the 3-in-1 god. They sweep all these inconvenient lesser entities under the rug by denying them the title of "god" even though in power and behavior they fit into that category as it is is manifest in other cultures.

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  4. Retired Prof. have you been watching Xena in your research? You'll learn much about some differing gods.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112230/

    km

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  5. The explanation given that people gradually morally decline, then tune in, or surrender to the foul attitudes that Satan radiates, resulting in a falling off the moral cliff, makes sense. I can think of no other explanation to explain the behavior of people that I've known all my life.

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  6. When I was in the church they always said that Satan would live on after Jesus burns the wicked in the lake of fire, I never believed this. Satan is a "dead man walking" so to speak. He is on death row waiting for the day of his eventual execution when Jesus will cast and kill him in the lake of fire. Contrary to the teaching of HWA and company Satan does not have a get out of jail free card while evil men are burned up for eternity.

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  7. 1:53pm Exactly. That was one of the stupidest things they ever taught, that spirit beings couldn't be killed. Yet they taught that Jesus, who was God, if he had sinned then he'd be dead forever. If God could die then why not Satan and the Demons?

    km

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  8. Hey, wait a minute! I'm not trying to be like the Ming Dynasty Chinese Emperor Hu Flung Poo and shit on anyone's parade here, but didn't the Armstrongs teach that Jesus had shed his Godhood when He became a human? To live a perfect life so that He could become our Savior by dying for humanity's sins? And then, after living a perfect life, he and later, we, could all become God as God is God?

    And didn't they also teach that Satan and the demons would be restrained and tormented forever, kind of Dante style, in the lake of fire, but that humans who refused to become Armstrongites would only be "mercifully" burned to death?

    BB

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  9. yes it is easily shown from scripture that Satan dies, is destroyed, ceases to exist.

    and, Satan was not an Archangel either....there is only one Archangel, otherwise He isn't "arch"....not quite sure how they came up with the "3 archangels" thing...

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  10. Not sure if BB is responding to my comment:

    "Yet they taught that Jesus, who was God, if he had sinned then he'd be dead forever. If God could die then why not Satan and the Demons?"


    I didn't mean to imply that Jesus was God while in the flesh. Just the fact that he "was" God in the past, and that if he had sinned while in the flesh his wages would be the same as ours, death.

    So the WCG's teaching that spirit couldn't be destroyed contradicted their teaching about Jesus' potential to sin.

    God could easily put Satan and the demons into physical bodies and destroy them.

    He hasn't yet because as I love to say, "Satan and the demons are God's bitches and he is using them to teach us to hate sin."

    Whether others agree with that statement or not, I DON'T CARE!

    km

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  11. few seem to realize that Satan is born as a human....it's his way out of prison...and he is killed, raised up in the third resurrection and destroyed in the lake of fire with the others.

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  12. 6:36am Tell us your birthdate so we'll know exactly when Satan was born human!

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  13. @ km

    I totally agree that Satan and his fallen angels will be put out of their miseries as God says the wages of sin is death. Satan is called a murderer and the father of lies; now we know that all murderers and liars will have their place in the lake of fire, and this includes Satan.

    The church claimed that Satan will live on for eternity because he is a spirit, but only God the Father and Jesus Christ have eternal life so where did they get this claim from? It's not in the bible, Satan will be destroyed in the lake of fire. If God was going to spare Satan it would not make any sense that Jesus will cast him into the lake of fire which is the second death.

    Some minister in the church once claimed that millions perhaps billion of people will be cast into the lake of fire. I don't buy into this either as I think that once we are all resurrected and see Jesus face to face that 99.999 percent of the human race will repent. I believe that a very small percentage of humanity will perish, and that would probably be maybe a few hundred to a few thousand if even that, but this is just me speculating.

    As for the Great White Throne Judgement, the church claims that this will last one hundred years. I think Jesus will keep the judgement going as long as it may take him to get everyone to repent. Remember that God says that He desires that no one should perish but that all come into everlasting life. Jesus tells us to keep forgiving our brother if he should sin against us, so Jesus would have to practice what He preaches, and He is ready and willing to forgive all sinners. I think that Jesus is so merciful he'll keep the judgement going until that last sinner repents. Only God knows how long the Great White Judgment will last for, all we can do is speculate. I'm going for God's mercy on that one.

    Craig

    Craig

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  14. Craig,

    I like your speculation, and I think you're probably right!

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  15. Craig, I agree with you 100% except for one minor point. While I agree that the vast majority will eventually be saved the number cast into the lake of fire will be larger than a few thousand I believe.

    My reasoning goes like this, one estimate of how many people that have ever lived on earth is about 100 billion, unless my math is way off 100 billion minus 99.999% who are saved would be one million people.

    Small percentage but still a lot of people.

    km

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  16. Craig, also my personal belief is that the GWTJ will take place in the last few hundred years or so of the millennium.

    Herbie claimed 1000 years plus 100, I disagree.


    km

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  17. Third century scholar Origen (Known for his Hexapla, an analysis of the Old Testament) taught that all spirits were created equal, existed before birth, and then fell from grace. He wrote that "those rational beings who sinned and on account fell from the state in which they were, in proportion to their particular sins, were enslaved in bodies as punishment" some demons, some men, and some angels. He also believed that all spirits, even Satan, could be saved. As he further wrote, "The power of choosing between good and evil is within the reach of all."

    BB

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  18. Origen???

    isn't he the one that castrated himself to get rid of evil lustful desires?

    seems like he came to regret that decision.

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  19. @5:16 Km

    Good point Km, Let's hope that those who do end up in the lake of fire don't reach your estimate of a million people, that's still one million too many. I just hope and pray that during the judgment that everyone who stands before Jesus comes to their senses and repents. We know that the beast and the false prophet are going to fry with Satan, let's just hope it's not more than these two, but I'm afraid it will be, that would be a shame if even one soul loses out on eternity because of their pride and unwillingness to repent.

    @ Miller Jones, this is just me speculating, I'm not a preacher or a prophet, this is not written in stone. I take God at His word that He is not willing that any should parish but come into everlasting life. I believe the Father and Jesus will do what ever it takes to get everyone into the kingdom of God. I believe that's how strong His love and mercy is and His desire that we should all have everlasting life. God's love for us is so strong that His Son Jesus sacrificed His life for us that we may live. I don't think God will let any of us go without a fight. I can only pity those who still reject God's goodness, love and mercy to allow themselves to die for all eternity for something as stupid a their pride. Pride will do none any good when they're gone forever. The worst part is once they're gone God says the former things will be forgotten. It's bad enough someone will willingly forfeit their eternity but what's just as bad is that no one including God will ever remember that they had existed, that's beyond sad. Let's just hope everyone makes the right choice and not join Satan at his final end.

    Craig

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