The COG and its Peter Waldo Myths

by Ryan Caswell

Caswell Visuals

(Reposted with permission)

There have been many religious groups throughout history that claimed their organizations can be traced to the the 12 apostles. Using the analogy of an “unbroken chain” they claim their form of religion is the “purest” form of Christianity. In effect they seek to use this credibility to bolster their own religious beliefs insisting that Christ Himself taught their same particular doctrines.

The Seventh Day Adventists are a good example of this.

This doctrine of the “unbroken chain,” otherwise known as the teaching about “church eras” uses Revelation 2 and 3 to establish this. These 2 chapters describe seven churches found on a mail route in ancient Turkey. The doctrine teaches that instead of these groups being geographically separated, they are actually “eras in time” that make up the church, with specific warnings and praises given to each one.

In the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert Armstrong strongly believed and taught about these “Church eras.” This was a central point of his theology. Specifically Herbert claimed he was the modern apostle of the Philadelphian era, or the 6th era. In addition to his claim to apostleship, he also claimed to be a type of prophetic Elijah who restored true understanding that the church had lost through subsequent eras. So he alone was a representative restoring the foundational truths of God that the original 12 apostles taught.

A heady claim for sure.

In order to substantiate this claim, Hermon Hoeh (who was one of the early WCG Ambassador College and received his Doctorate in theology from Herbert himself) worked at the church’s headquarters and was tasked with examining the “True Church” through the centuries and trace it’s existence throughout history. While the WCG never claimed to have a perfect record of the church’s existence through the ages, they produced a book which was the manual on church history and in it they cited many historical sources that purported to show the church in snapshots throughout its history.

In this book, they claim the fourth era or Thyatira, existed during the medieval period with Peter Waldo as the most prominent leader and apostle to that church. They also claim his group was separate from the Catholic church and that they kept the Sabbath and Holy Days, in contrast to the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, Peter Waldo, who led the religious group known as the “Waldenses,” (which they identified as the 4th era) is used as a crucial link to connect the WCG, back to earlier eras.

Since the WCG boldly claimed one could trace their lineage and cited a variety of sources “proving” their claims, it should be relatively simple to examine those sources to see if they are true.

“In the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert Armstrong taught the doctrine of “Church eras” based on Revelation 2 and 3. This was central to his theology. ”— Ryan Caswell

WCG Offshoots Also Hold to This Belief

However, it is important to note that after Herbert Armstrong’s death, and the demise of the WCG, the hundreds of splinter groups that formed in its wake use the original church history book to substantiate their claims of church lineage. While some no longer publish openly the exact same quotes from the WCG book, they reference it in their sermons and among the membership.

There are 4 groups I would examine to see if they continue to claim Peter Waldo and the Waldenses were the crucial 4th era link.

United Church of God (UCG): While it appears they have removed the reference to Peter Waldo and the Waldenses in most of their public literature, you can still find references to them by searching the website. From their article “Famine of the Word,” when talking about the ancient church they state: “Consider this vignette from the Middle Ages. Many believe that Peter Waldo was converted about 1160, and translated the Scriptures into French to spread the good news to all who would hear him.” While in this article they don’t mention his role as apostle, they still imply his leadership as connected to their movement.

Additionally, an obscure sermon document still remains on their website dating back to 2018 called: “Spiritual Timeline of the True Church of God.” In this document, it identifies Waldo as a key member of the Thyatira era. So even though they may not publicly include it in their literature, it’s clear he still plays a key role in their history.

Church of God Worldwide Association (COGWA): This is a large spinoff group from the UCG, while they are nearly identical in teaching, they also don’t list much information on Peter Waldo or the Waldenses. However they do openly teach the doctrine of church eras. In their “Welcome to COGWA” brochure they do trace their roots through the Middle Ages (e.g. Peter Waldo) without listing him and his group as proof of how they do this. The brochure states: “This history continued in Asia Minor and, later, in Europe during the Middle Ages. The Church thrived for a time in England, but persecution eventually drove some of the believers to the American colonies in search of religious freedom.” So while they still believe it in tracing their lineage through the Middle Ages, they no longer commit to Waldo as a means to do this. One could wonder if there is a new link, or if they continue to use the Waldenses as a means to do so.

In their sermon materials, Jim Franks (COGWA’s president) explicitly covers their connection in the following sermon “A Study of Church History”

Living Church of God (LCG): This splinter group confirms their belief in Peter Waldo and the Waldenses as a crucial medieval link in their own church history materials. In “God’s Church Through the Ages” they state: “After the death of Henri in 1149, the Church languished and seemed to go into eclipse. A few years later, a wealthy merchant in Lyons, Peter Waldo, was struck down by an unusual circumstance and began preaching the Gospel in 1161. After being shocked into contemplating the real meaning of life as a result of the sudden death of a close friend, Waldo obtained a copy of the Scriptures and began studying God’s word. He was soon amazed to find that the Scriptures taught the very opposite of much of what he had learned during his Catholic upbringing.” There are many other quotes which they copied verbatim from the WCG literature that makes it clear on their belief that Peter Waldo is a link between the apostolic era and their own church.

Restored Church of God (RCG): Restored, a splinter of Global (which subsequently became LCG) uses Peter Waldo to establish their church’s lineage also through the medieval ages. They also copy most of the WCG book into their own materials using the exact quotes and sources that Herbert used decades ago. One particular example is this from Restored’s book “Where Is the True Church? and Its Incredible History!”, it states: “We do not find anywhere in the writings of the Old Testament that the light of truth and of holiness was at any time completely extinguished. There have always been men who walked faithfully in the paths of righteousness...We do not believe that the Church of God absolutely departed from the way of truth; but one portion yielded, and, as is commonly seen, the majority was led away to evil” (Hist. of Waldenses, Comba, pp. 10-11).” This passage is specifically quoting Waldenses documents. There are many other quotes that could be included but the net effect is that they are using the exact same history presented by the WCG to establish their church history, with Peter Waldo being a crucial link.

So while the successive groups may not explicitly publish their affirmation to WCG church history, they continue to borrow the same foundational material that their parent organization, the WCG established in the 1950’s.

“While the COG splinter groups may not explicitly publish their affirmation to WCG church history, they borrow the same foundational material as the WCG in the 1950’s.”— Ryan Caswell

Examining the Source

Interestingly, the initial draft of WCG’s True Church book was published in 1959. This was a time when the access to information was much more limited than today. Members back then often didn’t have the time, experience or access to the literature that Hermon Hoeh used to build his historical iteration of “God’s True Church.” However, in the internet age and through Google books, Wikipedia and a variety of other online library resources, we have searchable access to virtually any book going back hundreds of years. So If Herbert’s claims (and those of the splinter offshoots after him) surrounding church history were correct, then we should easily substantiate them by examining the same resources Hoeh did in the 1950s.

Let’s examine the following quote from the WCG book: “A True History of the True Church,” which was also used verbatim in the RCG book produced several decades later. The book reads:

“Here is a marvelous record from these people, still preserved, dated 1404: "We do not find anywhere in the writings of the Old Testament that the light of truth and of holiness was at any time completely extinguished. There have always been men who walked faithfully in the paths of righteousness. Their number has been at times reduced to a few; but has never been altogether lost. We believe that the same has been the case from the time of Jesus Christ until now; and that it will be so unto the end. FOR IF THE CHURCH OF GOD WAS FOUNDED, IT WAS IN ORDER THAT IT MIGHT REMAIN UNTIL THE END OF TIME ... We do not believe that the Church of God absolutely departed from the way of truth; but one portion yielded, and, as is commonly seen, the majority was led away to evil." (Quoted in Comba's "History", pp. 10-11.)

Their enemies admitted that these people proclaimed the gospel of the Kingdom of God, that they baptized repentant believers and obeyed the WHOLE law of God.

But just as there was a false teacher, Jezebel, in the local church at Thyatira so now there were many FALSE teachers and FALSE brethren among these people. Some rose up among the Waldenses teaching that it was right to have Catholics, and later, Protestants, baptize their children and to attend IDOLATROUS mass once in a while. Others committed spiritual fornication by meddling in politics in the hope of avoiding persecution.

To correct His people God caused a frightful crusade to pass over them about 300 years after the death of Waldo. Only a faithful remnant escaped.” “A True History of the True Church” - “Called the “Church of God,”” WCG Book

The quote seems to suggest that the Waldenses are an extension of the “True Church” or “Church of God,” that preached the Gospel as Herbert described, baptized and kept the whole old covenant law. Additionally, this church provides a link for WCG back to the original apostles.

However, note the ellipse in the middle of the passage. This is the crucial context removed from the original quote.

“Once the deleted comment is reinserted, it becomes clear that Comba, who was quoting a Waldense’ document, was describing the split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.”— Ryan Caswell

Removing Context

Consider the material that was ellipsed from the text:

“For if the Church of God was founded, it was in order that it might remain until the end of time. She preserved for a long time the virtue of holy religion, and, according to ancient history, her directors lived in poverty and humility for about three centuries; that is to say, down to the time of Constantine. Under the reign of this Emperor, who was a leper, there was in the Church a man named Sylvester, a Roman. Constantine went to him, was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and cured of his leprosy. The Emperor finding himself healed of a loathsome disease, in the name of Jesus Christ, thought he would honour him who had wrought the cure by bestowing upon him the Crown of the Emperor. Sylvester accepted it, but his companion, it is said, refused his consent, separated from him, and continued to follow the path of poverty. Then, Constantine went away to regions beyond the sea, followed by a multitude of Romans, and built up the city to which he gave his name--Constantinople--so that from that time the Heresiarch rose to honour and dignity, and evil was multiplied upon the earth. We do not believe that the Church of God, absolutely departed from the way of truth; but one portion yielded, and, as is commonly seen, the majority was led away to evil. The other portion remaining long faithful to the truth it had received. (Hoeh's deletion of History of the Waldenses of Italy, Emilio Comba, pp. 10-11)”

It is important to realize that Emilio Comba, was a celebrated Waldenses Pastor who lived during the early 1900’s. My assumption would be that he knows best how to position his group historically, rather than Herman Hoeh and the WCG.

Once the deleted comment is reinserted, it becomes clear that Comba, who was quoting a Waldense’ document, was describing the split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The “Church of God” in this passage is identified as the Catholic Church and that it was doctrinally pure through Pope Sylvester (who served 314-334 AD) and taught how it’s leaders should keep vows of poverty. Then, Constantine by founding the Eastern Orthodox Church was at fault.

This is completely different than how Herman Hoeh uses this quote. This isn’t identifying a small religious sect who kept the Jewish Sabbath or the Mosaic Laws. Comba identifies the “Church of God” as in fact the Catholic Church.

According to Comba, the Waldenses were Catholics in every way except their vow of poverty. Peter Waldo was simply a Catholic reformer, like Martin Luthor, who took a vow of poverty over his disagreements with the pope and was excommunicated from the “Church of God” (Catholic Church).

However this particular quote creates a humorous problem for COG members. If we were to re-insert Hoeh’s deleted quote into the church literature, it identifies the WCG as a splinter of the Catholic Church.

“Peter Waldo was originally a Catholic reformer, like Martin Luthor, who took a vow of poverty to resist the Pope. He was a Catholic in every way, with no documentation existing to suggesting otherwise. ”— Ryan Caswell

Is the WCG Truthful in Dealing with Historical Source Material?

A bigger question though is, “Was Herman Hoeh and the WCG treating historical documents truthfully?” It is obvious he deleted context from the original quote to make it sound much differently than it was originally intended. In doing so he radically changed the meaning of the passage. From my experience, reviewing source materials in other WCG literature, there are many other deceptions like this. Its quite common. Whether on British Israelism or church history, WCG used deceptive tactics to twist historical records. One has to question, would God allow his “One True Church,” to use such obvious errors to establish this crucial link in their church’s historical chain?

It is important to note that the Waldenses Church still exists and can easily be found online. Throughout the 1900’s, they have often been used as a “missing link” for religious sects who wanted to bolster their credibility. Over the years, they have refuted any involvement in Armstrongism and the Adventist movement. This includes the Seventh Day Adventists, the group where Herbert Armstrong “borrowed” much of his history from.

Peter Waldo was originally a Catholic reformer, like Martin Luthor, who took a vow of poverty to resist the Pope. He was a Catholic in every way, with no documentation existing to suggest he kept the Jewish Sabbath, Jewish Holy Days, or any of the Mosaic Laws. For a more exhaustive examination of the Waldenses, I recommend Bruce Renehim’s book “Daughter of Babylon.”

The splinter groups that formed after the collapse of the WCG similarly teach that Peter Waldo and his Waldenses are a crucial link in church history connecting their particular offshoot with the first century church. While they may not include this in written materials, you can find it in their sermons and references to it in other materials. They rely on the same historical errors to establish their history also.

This one passage is a prime example of Herman Hoeh and the WCG twisting historical records to imply scholarly credibility. Since we have more information at our fingertips today than previous generations, we can more easily see through these inaccuracies.

Always examine the source documentation and find out what the text says for yourself.