The Major Problems with Armstrongism
(which this blog and others have identified)
The following teachings of Herbert Armstrong have been thoroughly refuted here and elsewhere:
1. The nature of God. His teachings about the Trinity, and more particularly those that were related to the Holy Spirit.
2. The nature of the human potential. His teaching that man would one day be equal to God.
3. The biblical origins of the English-speaking nations of the earth. His teaching that the people of the United States and Britain are the descendants of the birthright tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh).
4. That the return of Jesus Christ to this earth is imminent. He repeatedly engaged in date setting and misleading people about the signs of the times.
5. That Christians are obligated to observe the commandments of Torah (including the weekly Sabbath, Holy Days, tithing, and clean and unclean animals as food.
6. That the symbolism of the Holy Days reflected Armstrong's understanding of God's plan. More particularly, his understanding of the meaning of Atonement, Trumpets, and Tabernacles.
7. The nature, purpose, and fate of the angels. Especially, as it related to Satan and his demons.
8. The nature of the ekklesia. His teachings about government within the Church, the composition of the Church, disfellowshipping, and that traditional Christians were deceived members of a false church, a pseudo-ekklesia.
9. The influence of paganism on Christianity. More particularly, his teachings regarding Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Saint's Days, etc., and his rejection of the cross as a Christian symbol.
10. The interpretation of prophecy. More particularly, his headline theology and insinuating modern nations, institutions, and leaders into biblical prophecies.
11. The nature of the Gospel. More particularly, his de-emphasis on the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth and what all of that meant for humanity.
12. The nature of the Kingdom of God. He ignored the anti-authoritarian message of Christ and dismissed the fundamental change that was being wrought in the nature of humanity. Instead, he emphasized a literal government which would forcibly impose its will on everyone.
13. The nature and purpose of human sexuality. More particularly, his teachings about dating, marriage, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage, child rearing, appropriate clothing, makeup, and what constituted sexual lust.
14. The nature and role of faith and works in the life of a Christian. His understanding of love, mercy, forgiveness, repentance, faith in Christ, and physical works was twisted and inconsistent with what is revealed in Scripture.
15. The way that Scripture was used and interpreted. Mr. Armstrong's insistence on literalism and proof-texting; and his rejection of all textual criticism, along with the way he ignored context, doomed his interpretations of Scripture to failure.
Lonnie Hendrik/Miller Jones
27 comments:
One of those items misses the mark. Here's a revision:
5. That Christians are obligated to observe an inconsistent sampling of the commandments of Torah (including the weekly Sabbath, Holy Days, tithing, and clean and unclean animals as food, but excluding other commands, such as those about grooming and attire, which felt odd to an American man born in the 19th century.
"The following teachings of Herbert Armstrong have been thoroughly refuted here and elsewhere:"
Only in your own mind.
That being said, there are a few instances where HWA was slightly off base but they've been pretty much corrected in the legitimate Churches. There will always be a few kooks that take everything he said as absolute gospel but we don't worry about them anymore than we worry about the mega churches out there.
A listing Lonnie that is pretty complete, laying out in about one page the immense failures of the Armstrongism cult.
What futility in trying to rescue from this pile of waste anything to do with an alleged one true church doing something special.
In my view the biggest failure of them all is at number 11 - the gospel - where Armstrong completely misses one of the most important messages of the new testament. Perverting it into a prophetical role so as to magnify his importance in the doing some work or mission. When all along his 'work' had nothing to do with the real gospel message.
This list defines Armstrong as one of the most 'successful' religious conmen of our time with his continued regurgitation of prophecies which failed and for which he continued to lie about it all along such was his self delusion.
It is fitting it all came crashing down. I like to think God had some hand in it.
Basically you have your own religion, and are out of kilter with even mainstream Christianity.
16. The common belief that Armstrong was an apostle or God's end time messenger that restored all things (equating him to one of the two witnesses).
This doesn't line up, because Christ has not yet returned and HWA has passed.
I agree! But from their perspective, one man's eschatology is another's scatology! The COGlodytes are going to read this and proclaim, "Why that's a list of Mr. Armstrong's restored truths!"
Since the branch of religion we call "Christianity" is divided into 41,000 denominations, one could probably come up with 15 points on every one of them. Much is subjective and semantical.
When it comes to faulting Armstrongism, I try to stick with points that have have greatly harmed members such as a lording ministry and date setting. Ayatollah Dave Pack being a good example.
In my mind (!) Herbert had the most deceptive mix of truth and error........ever.
I was reading an online article yesterday on media stars who have left the "Church of Scientology" and are publically speaking out against it. COS leaders refer to these people as "suppressionists", and consider them to be enemies.
We who are part of the antiCOG movement are usually classified as "dissidents". But, I much prefer the term "suppressionist".
I really would like to do all I can to suppress the Armstrong heresies so that they can no longer harm others. That's what Irenaeus did, particularly to Simon Magus.
So far as Dennis "getting it" goes, I believe that the effects of the Kool Aid simply wore off. Per his writings here, He had already been acting as a buffer between the authoritarian leadership of the WCG, and the members of the churches he pastored for years prior to the changes.
7.12 am, there was undue influence to take all of Herb's utterances as absolute gospel. I recall how in Spokesman's club, most agreed that Herb's writings would become part of the bible one day. Many members were given life long mental scars by their ministers for questioning church teachings. Also many members were young, so they transfered the trust acquired towards their school teachers onto Herb and his ministers, and this trust was betrayed. Calling the victims of this level of mind control "kooks" is blaming the victim. The splinters haven't been shrinking and splintering for no reason.
PLEASE, this blog has uncovered several failed prophecies and concepts of HWA. Also if you're just a little bit off, or a few instances by the time you get to the end, it's massive. And the ACOG have not corrected themselves, namely in the attitude/spirit. A group of people who think the Almighty is so concerned about the nations of America/Britain over His called out ones (real church) is a joke.
Right on the money 1:38, the splinters haven't changed in "servant leadership" with the lord it over you, even after there is no more ambassador college, no more job opportunities or things set up for young members is a problem.
HWA was slightly off base but they've been pretty much corrected in the legitimate Churches. 7:12
Unfortunately the person who wrote this is even more deluded than the fake apostle was and it shows the level people can sink to when surrendering their gift of critical thinking including even basic bible study. Let's face up to the fact there is no restored or reinvented/improved one true church in the US of A its all a delusion of men - sad to see.
Nothing as substantial as the cult(s) constructed by Armstrong.
This blog is about Armstrongism and NOT about other Christian churches so it really doesnt matter how many "points" you can come up with.
Far from subjective each of these points can be supported by good biblical understanding. Something the offshoots can never accept as they wish to adhere to all the false teachings largely because in my view the false reaching of tithing brings in some money into their little empires.
The false teaching of BI is most easily disproved and adheres to be a handful of loony tune churches largely in the USA
What profit is it in the long run to be jaded and cynical?
Herbert Armstrongs beliefs repeatedly got challenged and changed, even whilst he was alive.
You present a impression that all beliefs had been accepted totally and that all Churches in the Church of God movement accepted everything wholeheartedly. Many did not even accept Herbert's lifestyle whilst alive. Even his own family spoke out.
I would estimate that the very ones now, in 2024, who continously turn over the soil and rake the muck on Herbert Armstrong absolutely spent their youth proclaiming him an apostle and behaved like perfectly trained WCG youth on the members.
Most major denominations have "corrected" in recent times. The reason isn't because of a repented attitude but rather that the Internet has exposed their lies, distortions and crimes( to potential new members. Hence the Jehovah's Witnesses no longer publicly claim that their governing body is infallible, but as their dissidents point out, it's still their church culture. Questioning this belief can result in expulsion. Churches have adapted to the internet by becoming more subtle and devious.
Anonymous 1:38 wrote, “here was undue influence to take all of Herb's utterances as absolute gospel.”
Miller did an effective job in underscoring the proud, contrarian spirit of Armstrongism. I would have included maybe something about Armstrongist racial policy but I think we all know from our experience as exiters that Armstrongism has many other “features.” The list could be expanded with little effort, if space and time permitted.
There is an interesting parallel to Armstrongism that is happening in the USA today. No matter what autocratic, anti-constitutional and racist statements Donald Trump makes, his poll numbers do not go down and sometimes seem to expand a bit. The more extreme his statements become, the more his White Nationalist base (aka, MAGA Republicans) applauds, whoops and hollers. And the Democrats, as is their wont, don’t get it. The Democrats think that if they reveal the “true” and unvarnished Trump to his base, his base, comprised of reasonable people, will abandon him. So, this is their lame strategy. And, so far, it seems like nobody on the Democratic side except maybe James Carville recognizes that this strategy has been a total flop. The fact is, the White Nationalist crowd likes Trump’s “bad boy persona.” They cheer for the gratuitous attacks on others, the threats, the disruption, the dictatorial flair. Watch the faces light up in the crowd on TV when Trump says something disgusting. Trump knows their hot buttons. His base wants him to keep repeating the calumny about Haitians eating pets so he does and embellishes it. And the Democrats and the News Media, who still live in a somewhat normative world, do not understand why digging up the truth is so ineffective with the MAGA base.
So, now I am going to indict not the Armstrongist ministry but the Armstrongist lay membership. The Armstrongist lay membership wants Armstrongism to be different from the Christian churches. They are proud of the list that Miller has published. In their minds what is different is better if they decided to be followers of what is different. They keep showing up to listen to the phony prophecies and the odd heresies. We may characterize them as the oppressed but they lend abundant support to their errant leaders by their faithful presence at weekly Sabbath services. They are proud to be contrarian. It makes them right and everyone else wrong. The more contrarian the better. For me, it is horrific to stand by and watch a self-immolation.
Scout
Anon 1022:03
These points ARE very subjective! This is shown by the very way they are presented, they are subject to opinion and interpretation.
--the nature, role, and purpose of ?
--Biblical origins?
--? is imminent
--Christians are obligated?
--symbolism?
--influence of?
--interpretation of?
Some of these points I agree with but as written not all. "The Major problems with XYZ" can be presented to make anyone look bad. Hence, 41,000 denominations.
You may not agree with Armstrong on anything but are you in agreement with Lonnie on everything? I doubt it.
Also, anon 820:14
If one is going to attack a belief system with another belief system, then all is open to scrutiny.
BP8,
It's disingenuous to attempt to dampen the extreme cult heterodox teachings of Armstrongism simply by saying there are many denominations with different teachings. Many in one denomination would feel comfortable in another denomination.
This is not the case in Armstrongism because Armstrongists believe they alone are right and all others are wrong. Armstrongists have many false teachings to distinguish themselves from other churches and each is fundamental to their beliefs.
This is not the same as one denomination preferring only choral music vs instrumentation, or taking the eucharist each time they meet versus occasionally, etc.
Don't equivocate when you know better.
BB 740
I'm not trying to be disingenuous but straight forward. I'm pointing out that one man's truth is another man's heresy. Everyone believes the truth according to themselves and everyone believes a heresy according to someone else.
This goes way beyond a preference for music without instruments. Go on YouTube and witness the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants and protestants versus protestants. It's quite revealing and explains much.
Armstrongism past and present has many self evident major flaws and problems, including all the condemnations listed in Matthew 23 and more. They have and will reap accordingly. But that doesn't make the holy spirit a person, nor cast the sabbath and holydays in a negative light, nor deny that holyday symbolism saturates the New testament, nor makes the cross a "Christian" symbol, nor invalidate one's use of so called "headline" theology, nor makes homosexuality acceptable. The slant presented determines much!
I appreciate all of the comments. Looking over the comments, I feel the need to remind some of the commentators that this was meant to be a bullet point summary of the posts on this blog and others which have focused on the MAJOR problems with Armstrongist theology. All of those posts are full of scriptural references which take to task these components of Herbie's theology. We should note that there have also been posts related to other heretical teachings of Armstrong, and there is an entirely separate category of posts which have taken Herbie, GTA, Flurry, Pack, and others to task for their personal failures in the areas of morals, intellectual matters, and personality. I don't think that there is much subjectivity in identifying these particular teachings as "major" problems. However, I think that identifying which one is the most problematic would certainly be a more subjective exercise.
Finally, as I have said many times over the years, I am NOT an apologist for traditional Christianity! I am not a member of, or advocate for, any church or denomination. In my humble opinion, NONE of them present a flawless theology with which I am in complete harmony. Nevertheless, I think that there is a fairly substantial amount of agreement within the Christian community about what does and does not constitute orthodox Christian theology, and even most Armstrongists would agree that they are NOT in harmony with most of those (Indeed, they are quite proud of that difference). I believe that there is room in the ekklesia for a wide range of opinions on various issues, but Armstrongism diverges from traditional Christian theology to such a degree that any objective evaluation would characterize it as heretical and flawed.
Scout, it’s called “A Cult of Personality “
Having been fooled so easily once, you are so easily fooled again. Swapping one little cult for a larger one. Always depending upon the Ministry of Truth. Never thinking for yourself. "A man who speaks for God could never be corrupt and lie!" Did Mr. Armstrong actually have God's interest in mind? Surely, those lies about Mr. Armstrong were all conspiracy theories? And you think you would have learned your lesson by now, and yet you fail again. I ask, can political parties be corrupted? Can an establishment, like the MSM be corrupted? CNN, FauxNews, Google, NPR, etc... they all do it. Ever wonder why? Whose interests do they have in mind? With a world-wide economy worth trillions at stake, corruption could never take root there? "Presstitutes." A confession from the profession and a book that exposed the corruption within German MSM. I'm certain that the same could be said of much of western MSM. Time will soon reveal.
Scout, I had had great hopes for the awakening and new insights of Nick Fuentes, who had angrily and quite eloquently expressed the damages and massive betrayal he personally, along with the Jan. 6 insurrectionists had experienced as a result of following Donald Trump. That should have been a huge, incendiary wakeup call, but it died a quiet death after barely one news cycle.
The only thing that's going to blow up MAGA is massive, catastrophic damage by Trumpism to the commoners who worship him. Nobody really cares about the leaders of the Proud Boys, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Mike Lindell, or any other suffering ringleaders who are Trump toadies. It's only when the hurt and destruction gets personal and hits massive numbers of little guy White Christian Nationalists that there will be total capitulation. Unfortunately to effect that, America will most likely have to bleed a lot!
When it all unravels, it will be as generationally demoralizing as the great depression, WW-II, the assassination of JFK Vietnam, 9/11, or the Covid pandemic. Think of it as political chemotherapy! It's the only way people are going to learn. The bad news is that for all their derisive comments about RINOs, Conservative Extremists use the Rhino method. They retreat briefly and charge again! The next round will most likely be even worse!
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