Herbert Armstrong had a very low opinion of this world's education system, and the scholarly elite which it produced. In his book, Tomorrow - What It Will Be Like (Chapter 5: Education and Religion Tomorrow), he wrote: We covered a section on this world's paganized, agnostic, decadent education earlier in this book. The academic system was founded by the pagan philosopher Plato. It has always remained pagan. Injected into it, in more recent times, has been German rationalism and the atheistic theory of evolution. He continued: Modern education has been based on a false, erroneous, untrue foundation. The supposedly educated of this world, even the great minds, have absorbed false knowledge. They have been trained in a false approach to knowledge. Almost always, error is based on a false assumed premise or hypothesis, taken for granted, never questioned-and, of course, unproved. The "educated" minds have been filled with such false hypotheses. They have allowed a false sense of values to flood their minds. Armstrong reasoned that the whole concept of education had been perverted and twisted, and he concluded that a whole new system would have to be instituted when God's Kingdom was established on this earth!
Unfortunately, like many Fundamentalists and Literalists before him, Armstrong viewed the findings of science as an attack on God and religion. This caused him to reject any evidence which he felt contradicted the Bible or his belief system. In his mind, they simply had to be wrong! Armstrong reasoned that - if they were right, then he and God would be wrong - and that could NEVER be. If this reasoning is beginning to sound circular to you, then you may be on to something! For Herbert Armstrong and his followers, the Genesis account of creation explained the mechanics of how life in all of its varied forms came to exist on this planet. Instead of seeing those chapters as an emphatic statement about God's role as Creator, they see it as the ONLY valid scientific explanation of how the earth and universe began! In other words, they turn spiritual/supernatural revelation into a scientific text. In reality, the Theory of Evolution provides a well-documented explanation for the diversity of life that we see all around us. It is evidence-based, and it has absolutely NOTHING to say on the subject of God and/or "his" role in creation!
At any rate, all of his angst about the educated of this world served as the basis for Armstrong's speculation about education in "The World Tomorrow." Armstrong wrote: In God's millennial civilization, the basis of all knowledge dissemination will be revelation. Light will replace darkness-truth will replace error. Understanding will replace crass materialism. True knowledge will replace intellectual ignorance. (Tomorrow - What It Will Be Like) Likewise, Herbert reasoned that this world's educated elite would be the toughest nut to crack when Christ returns. He wrote: Yes, indeed, the educating and reeducating of the world will be one of the most important tasks the Kingdom of God will face, after Christ returns to rule. Today people follow the false and deceptive values. Their entire thinking will require a reorientation-a change of direction. Now, while Mr. Armstrong's reasoning appears reasonable and progressive at first glance, we can clearly discern that it is extra-biblical when we take a second look. Armstrong identified a problem (education and the educated of this world) and then reasoned that it will have to be resolved in "The World Tomorrow," without referencing any scriptures to back up his reasoning! Moreover, Armstrong then proceeded to offer what he felt would be a reasonable solution to the problem: Christ would use his (Armstrong's) folks to reeducate the world!
In support of this conclusion, Armstrong turned to one of his favorite passages about the future Kingdom. However, before we address his interpretation of the passage, I'd like to quote it for our readers without prejudice. In the fourth chapter of the prophet Micah, we read: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore... (Micah 4:1-3, ESV) Now, in response to this passage, Armstrong wrote: This knowledge-this teaching-and even knowledge of God's Law-shall go forth from the Church-and from Jerusalem, the new world capital. The problem, of course, is that this passage does NOT mention the Church anywhere - Armstrong injected this into the passage! Notice also that it is the nations themselves who will be seeking God's help - "that HE may teach us his ways." Notice too that there would not be any opportunities for them to learn about war anymore. In other words, Micah has absolutely NOTHING to say about ACOG folks reeducating the rest of the world!
Talk about a leap in logic. Herbert Armstrong went on to write: This Headquarters Church, at Christ's own world capital of Jerusalem, then, undoubtedly, will be given the administration of the world's new system of education. Did you notice that word "undoubtedly"? In other words, this is the only reasonable conclusion for us to reach! Is that, however, true? Even so, the speculation didn't stop there. Armstrong went on to conclude: Also, the indication is that the teaching of spiritual truth-of the true gospel, the spiritual conversion of the world-will be directed, worldwide, from this Headquarters Church, under Elijah and the overall direct supervision of Jesus Christ. Now, laying aside the fact that all of this is unsupported by scripture and is based entirely on Armstrong's reasoning out the "problem," how likely do you think that it would be for God to use a group of educators to retrain the world whose own teachings have been so thoroughly discredited by reputable sources? Indeed, Mr. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God doesn't even exist today - some forty years after the death of its founder!
At this point, I think that it would be appropriate to actually examine some of the appropriate prophetic scriptures dealing with the dissemination of spiritual knowledge in God's Kingdom. In the book of Jeremiah, we read: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34, ESV) Notice that God intends to put his law within them and write it on their hearts. Moreover, we are informed that it will no longer be necessary to instruct people to "Know the Lord, for they shall ALL know me." Finally, this passage seems to imply that spiritual knowledge is inextricably linked to forgiveness of sins! In other words, no teachers appear to be necessary in this passage!
Finally, there is that other Armstrong favorite passage from the book of Isaiah. Anyone with any background whatsoever in one of the ACOGs will remember the often-quoted passage from the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. After talking about the shoot which emerges from the stump of Jesse (Jesus Christ) and the nature of his person and reign (Isaiah 11:1-5), we are treated to a vision of his Kingdom. We read: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:6-10, ESV) Once again, we notice that the nations will seek him. Also, we are told that "They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be FULL of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Universal knowledge of God and "his" ways, but no mention of ACOG teachers reeducating people!
Bottom line - the world will be reeducated in a sense, but it won't be as Herbert Armstrong imagined it. Scripture indicates that it will be accomplished by a Divine miracle, and the willingness of the people of all nations to learn about God and his will for us. Moreover, as with our own experience, it appears that this will be accomplished by believing in Jesus Christ and accepting what he has done for us. In other words, no crash course in Torah will be necessary! What do you think?
by Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix
5 comments:
In Isaiah, “holy mountain” is used in: Isaiah 2; Isaiah 11; Isaiah 56;
Isaiah 65 and it is said to refer to God’s rule, not a future earthly kingdom.
Paul quotes Isaiah 11:10 directly in Romans 15:12: Micah 4:1–4 describes:
nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord; swords turned into plowshares; universal peace. But the New Testament seems to apply this imagery to the church (Hebrews 12:22–24) and spread of the gospel/the kingdom already inaugurated in Christ.
The only passage that explicitly mentions a 1,000‑year period is Revelation 20, and Isaiah/Micah never reference it.
It's perplexing to say the least. Taking it to be 1000 yrs as taught it does speak of the willingness of the people of all nations to learn about God and his will for us as you explain - not thankfully Armstrong or the JW elite ruling over as they claim the right to be administering Christ’s government, directing mankind’s restoration, and participating in His rod‑of‑iron rulership.
Thanks Millar for the post. Yes I once like many, sincerely believed HWA and the teachings of wwcog to be rock solid, unmovable, set in stone. The saddest thing looking at the Armstrong movement today is I don’t doubt, the many who also sincerely believe the theology. Come to Me all you who labour, for My load is easy and My burden is light said Jesus. A far cry from the Armstrong model of salvation. Cheers.
I came to the conclusion a long time ago that the ACOG and JW notions about God's Kingdom were NOT consistent with what Jesus and the Hebrew Prophets taught about it. Thanks for contributing these observations to the discussion.
Herbert Armstrong deliberately and systematically destroyed prospective members' trust in all of the bedrock institutions and practices of modern society which most people rely upon to live. He then dropped himself into their lives as God's perfect solution to the dilemma which he had created. The stalwarts, being seized with desperation, took this very seriously. My brother and I experienced this breakage and destruction of trust in summer of 1956 as our dad read us "1975 In Prophecy" on the front porch one Saturday afternoon.
There were a couple of things back then that they could never, ever make me turn on and hate. Like Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Bo Diddley to start with. And that list grew as more musicians embraced that wonderful genre of music known as Rock n Roll! They could also not make me turn on and love my "unconverted" relatives less than the brethren in the church. We had been a very close family, and suddenly, when only being able to see these relatives once or twice a year, it made us love them all the more intensely! Not less. I didn't want them to be tortured by the Germans!
The daily multiple angry spankings, mostly for doing notmal things that kids do which were now considered as interfering with or disrupting our parents' fanatical practices of Herbert W. Armstrong's religion really instilled a lot of hatred and anger in us. That's one thing that, although we've corrected and recovered from much of the damage, I really wish had never happened. Once someone incites hyper anger in you, anger that is sometimes explosive, it is so very difficult to shake that loose or to bring under control. That's why there is a scripture against parents provoking their children to anger! I find it odd that parents do not realize that they themselves provoked the anger. Instead, they call their children "rebellious"! God warns about anger in other scriptures as well!
Ultimately, the sun began to peek out from the figurative ominous storm clouds in 1972, and by the time 1975 arrived, it was once again a beautiful sunny day. In fact, it was party time as our trust in Herbert W. Armstrong and his doctrines and practices had been destroyed and obliterated, just as he had done to all the normal institutions and support systems on which we had depended up until he destroyed them in 1956! The rock n roll was even better (it's now called classic!), and the Southern California hot rodding, motorcycling, and beach culture were very pleasant. HWA and GTA had pretty much destroyed their own credibility through the things they had done in their personal lives, and their false prophecies, and provably bogus interpretations of scripture. We enjoyed making exciting new friends from the Black, Asian, and Chicano communities, embracing the multiculturalism of the melting pot that has always been the USA.
Ultimately, we applied ourselves to careers and living life with an improved set of ethics, and over all, life has been good. Sometimes it's fun to freak people out by telling them I grew up in a cult that taught us that Jesus was going to return in 1975, and when He was a no-show, I walked. That does tend to shock others, because there is nothing about my life which would tend to suggest such a cultic background today. So, it actually ends up being a source of inspiration to others. People so love stories about their friends and associates overcoming bad backgrounds!
I do not understand how the death spiral of Armstrongism has been such a long, arduous one, although it has been interesting observing the Gamaliel principle and its effects. By all rights, the whole danged thing should have collapsed back in 1975, or '76. I guess it's important that remnants survive as examples, and a warning to innocent people who might otherwise be fooled by it. And, that's OK, just so long as the number of victims remains relatively small!
The ACOGs will teach the world God's way in the millennium? What a joke. Their church culture denies the very existence of rights. Or more precisely, their teaching is that the ministers and their boot lickers have all rights, while ordinary members have none. A recent article in a ACOG rubbished the whole bill of rights because it doesn't include "do not speak evil about the ruler of your people" (Exodus 22:28). As if there aren't laws against slander.
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