Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Truth Shall Make You Free: Chapter 20 Church Doctrine - True or False?



published by: 

The Truth Foundation
11 Laurel Court
Freehold Township, New Jersey 07728
1981


What follows in this chapter is a classic Armstrongite apologetics.  He might as well have taken some of HWA's booklet's a copied them.  This is all classic COG doublespeak. 

It also contains SDA mythology and uses information from Ralph Woodrow's book, "Babylon Mystery Religion". COG members loved this book because it supported their view of Catholics and Hislop's "Two Babylon's" Woodrow several years wrote a book refuting his information in that book.  He has this to say about the Babylon Mystery Religion


Chapter 20   CHURCH DOCTRINE TRUE OR FALSE?


(pg. 261) AND WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE PAULA AND ME? WHERE DOES IT LEAVE the others who have spoken out against this corrupt religious organization? One might ask, why we haven't done the same as many of those who have left organizations commonly known as "the cults." Why haven't we proclaimed our escape from Armstrongism as some others who have left the Church have done? The reason we haven't done that, the reason that this book is not an expose of Armstrong's false unscriptural teachings, is simply because basically his teachings have been correct. The problem here is that he is a man who has turned from his righteousness, and in so doing threatens to drag those who remain into a system of growing apostasy. The financial dealings, the way the money was handled, the way that Church leaders did not comply with California state law, all these matters which are a concern of the state authorities, are only a small part of the entire problem. What must be understood here is that this was not some religious belief invented by Herbert Armstrong for the purpose of building his own private Church.

What about the beliefs of the Church as taught by Armstrong? True, there were some erroneous teachings as mentioned earlier regarding the matters of healing, divorce, make-up, etc. Most of those errors have been corrected and are errors in teaching that are not unique to the Worldwide Church of God. Many other religious organizations, many of them highly regarded and respectable, in (pg. 262) corporate some of the same self-righteous errors in their teaching.

As we review the basic doctrines of the Worldwide Church, it can be shown that they are true, but have been criticized as being false, due to the fact that in some cases they are not in line with the teachings of the traditional modern Christian Church.

To begin with, God the Father is all powerful and eternal, He has always existed and is the Creator of all things. With God the Father, and also being Eternal, was the Word. It was through the Word that God the Father created all things. This is clearly spelled out in the first chapter of John and of course ties in with the opening verses of the book of Genesis. The Word, who was referred to as the Lord in the Old Testament, is the personage of the God family who later gave up His divinity to be born as a human being in order that he may be tempted as we are, suffer and die and then be resurrected to eternal life. The various books in the New Testament attest to this fact. He is our Savior, the first born of many brethren, and salvation is only through Him. When we repent and are baptized in accordance with Acts 2:38, we then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power that God imparts to us in order to enable us to follow His ways. That is not to say that we have perfection, since we can still sin because we are still human. But by asking for forgiveness, those sins are covered under the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is not the third person of some mysterious trinity, an impossible-to-understand concept of three beings in one. In the first chapter of John it is clearly stated that in the beginning there was God the Father and the Word, who later became Jesus Christ. The Trinity doctrine is false and comes out of Babylonian paganism. Only by understanding this and understanding the fact that the Holy Spirit is God's mighty power does it then make sense that Christ was conceived in Mary of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, He could not have been conceived of Himself through some mysterious three in one personage. Nor would Christ later have prayed to God the Father, if God the Father was Himself. In fact, He clearly stated that all the power that He had came from His Father in Heaven.

While salvation comes only through Christ and His grace, and not through keeping of the Commandments, we are nevertheless to keep them. The Commandments are the Royal Law of God. We are not to keep the Commandments out of fear, but for a very simple reason. (pg. 263) Christ said: "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15).

Clearly the Commandments are still in effect. They were not done away with at Christ's crucifixion. What was done away with was the penalty of death under that law, for those who repent and accept Christ as their Savior are no longer under that penalty of death but have the promise of eternal life. What was done away with by Christ's sacrifice was the need to keep all of the ritual laws; and animal sacrifice which was symbolic and prophetic of His sacrifice.

And what is wrong with these Commandments? If all mankind were to strive to keep the Commandments, out of a love for Jesus Christ, the world wouldn't be in the mess it's in. Can any reader find fault with the following?

            1. You shall have no false God.
            2. You shall not make any graven images (idols).
            3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
            4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy.
            5. Honor your father and your mother.
            6. You shall not murder.
            7. You shall not commit adultery.
            8. You shall not steal.
            9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
            10. You shall not covet your neighbors' belongings.

It's that fourth commandment that so many people say does not have to be kept. Protestants claim that the seventh day Sabbath is Jewish, and that Sunday is to be kept as a memorial to Christ's Resurrection. Yet the Scriptures clearly record that Christ and the apostles kept the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the seventh day and the keeping of Sunday has come into most of Christianity through the Roman Catholic Church which in turn got it from the pagan Babylonian religions. They have chosen to follow the ways of false religion rather than follow and believe in Christ's simple statement: "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." (Matthew 12:8). The Sabbath is the day on which the Lord rested after His six days of creation. To keep the Sabbath is to keep a memorial of that creation. And the keeping of the Sabbath serves to identify those who desire to worship God in truth. "My Sabbaths ye shall keep, (pg. 264) for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." (Exodus 31:13).

In the book "From Sabbath to Sunday," Dr.Samuele Bacchiocchi clearly establishes that Sunday was adopted by the Christian Church as it drifted away from the truth. The introduction to the book states: "The investigation shows that the adoption of Sunday in place of the Sabbath did not occur in the primitive Church of Jerusalem by virtue of apostolic authority, but approximately a century later in the Church of Rome. An interplay of Jewish, pagan, and Christian factors contributed to the abandonment of the Sabbath and adoption of Sunday observance instead. The fact that Sunday became a day of rest and worship not by Biblical apostolic authority, but rather as a result of political social, pagan, and Christian factors, makes it virtually impossible to construct a valid theology for Sunday observance. The author argues that the traditional attempt to justify Sunday rest by appealing to the Sabbath commandment is paradoxical, to say the least. How can the fourth commandment be legitimately applied to Sunday, when it is the seventh and not the first day that the commandment demands to keep holy when it is claimed that Jesus abolished it?"

The book goes through a lengthy scholarly investigation of the factors which ultimately led to the declaration by the Roman Catholic Church that Sunday was to be the day of observance. It was the influence of the sun-worshipping cults, which had their origins in ancient Babylon, that so corrupted the early Church and finally resulted in the abolishment of God's Sabbath in favor of Sunday, the day of worship of the sun.  

In addition to the sun worship origins of Sunday, another motivation was the anti-Judaic feeling prevalent in the Church at Rome in the fourth century. Pope Sylvester said during his reign from 314 to 335, "If every Sunday is to be observed joyfully by the Christians on account of the Resurrection, then every Sabbath on account of the burial is to be regarded in execration of the Jews." This was part of his proclamation of a fast day on the Sabbath as a means of showing contempt for the Jews.

By the middle of the fourth century, Sunday worship had supplanted the Sabbath and only a small remnant of faithful believers remained outside of the established Church. Today, all Sunday keeping groups unknowingly acknowledge the authority of the (pg. 265) Pope whether they are part of the Roman Catholic Church officially or not. This includes every sector of the Protestant Church.

Several years back, in Chicago, a Roman Catholic priest named Father Enright, gave a speech entitled "The Power and Authority of the Catholic Church." He said; "Take, for instance, the day we celebrate Sunday, what right have the Protestant churches to observe that day? None whatever. You say it is to obey the commandment, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' But Sunday is not the Sabbath, according to the Bible and the record of time. Everyone knows that Sunday is the first day of the week, while Saturday is the seventh day and the Sabbath, the day consecrated as a day of rest. It is so recognized in all civilized nations. I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who will furnish any proof from the Bible that Sunday is the day we
are bound to keep, and no one has called for the money. If any person in this city will show me any Scripture for it, I will, tomorrow evening, publicly acknowledge it and thank him for it. It was the Holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week. And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Laodacia 364 A.D. anathematized those who kept the Sabbath, and urged all persons to labor on the seventh day under the penalty of anathema. Which Church does the whole civilized world obey? Protestants call us every horrible name they can think of-anti-Christ, the Scarlet Colored Beast, Babylon, etc., and at the same time profess great reverence for the Bible, and yet by their solemn act of keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the power of the Catholic Church. The Bible says, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy', but the Catholic Church says, 'No, keep the first
day of the week', and the whole world bows in obedience."

Enright said simply that the Catholic Church could establish Sunday as the day of rest because, "Show me one that claims or possesses the power to make laws binding on the conscience. There is but one on the face of the earth - the Catholic Church – that has the power binding upon the conscience, binding before God, binding under pain of hellfire."

And just to make it more interesting, Dr.Bacciochi's book distributed in the United States by the author, in Berrien Springs Michigan, is printed by the Pontifical Gregorian University Press, in Rome and carries the Papal Imprimature on its cover. Dr.Bacciochi is a Seventh Day Adventist, and was the first non-Catholic (pg. 266) to graduate from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The book is from his thesis for his doctorate. There can be no question, then, that Sunday observance is a man-made observance contrary to Scripture. And just as pagan, just as contrary to Scripture, is the observance of many days commonly accepted as Christian holidays. Days such as Easter, Christmas, New Year's Day, and lesser days such as Valentine's Day, May Day and Halloween, have all come to us from the pagan Babylonian religions through a Christian Church that long ago departed from the truth. It is a historical fact that Christ was not born in December. It can be proven from the Bible that He was born six months after John the Baptist, and John the Baptist was born around the time of the Passover. This would place Christ's birth at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall. By December, the area around Bethlehem is very cold and there are no flocks in the fields for the shepherds to be watching over, as the Scriptures record having been the case at the time of Christ's birth.

Easter is a paganization of the Passover. The other days and their origins can be found in any good encyclopedia. In the book "Babylon Mystery Religion," Ralph Woodrow the author shows that the pagan beliefs that are now part of Christianity originated with Nimrod in ancient Babylon. The author states: "After Nimrod's death, his wife Queen Semiramis, claimed that he was now the Sun-god. And later, when this adulterous and idolatrous woman gave birth to an illegitimate son, claimed that this son, Tammuz by name was Nimrod reborn. Now the queen-Mother of Tammuz had no doubt heard of the prophecy of the coming Messiah to be born of a woman, for this truth was known from the earliest times (see Genesis 3:15). Satan had first seduced a woman, Eve; but later through a woman was to come the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Satan, the great counterfeiter, also knew much about the Divine Plan. Thus, he began to set up counterfeits of the true plan centuries before Jesus came. Queen Semiramis, as an instrument in Satan's hands, claimed that her son was supernaturally conceived and that he was the promised seed, the 'Savior'. However, not only was the child worshipped, but the women, the MOTHER was also worshipped as much (or more) than the son! As we shall see, Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz were used as (pg.267) puppets in Satan's hand to produce false religion - though often appearing as the true! - and this corrupt system filled the world."

This Nimrod and Semiramis were the origins of all the Sun-god legends that have come out of the middle East and spread throughout the world.

Christmas trees, rabbits, eggs, all the other trappings associated with these so-called Christian days, are merely pagan symbols of fertility and have no place in Christianity. The early Roman Church, in its attempts to spread its religion throughout Europe, took the easy way. Instead of teaching people the truth, they forced the people to convert to what they called Christianity and, to make it easier, allowed the people to continue with their pagan practices, and absorbed these practices into the Church by "Christianizing" them.

As an example, after Woodrow refers to the Encyclopedia Britannica reference to the Easter egg as a symbol of fertility he then says, "How then, we ask, did this custom come to be associated with Christianity? Its adoption into the Romish 'church' is but further evidence of the great compromise that was made with paganism - a compromise to gain popularity with both sides! And as when other rites were adopted by the 'church', apostate leaders attempted to find some similarity between the pagan rite and some Christian event; so in this case, it was suggested that, as the chick comes out of the egg, so Christ comes out of the tomb! Thus, fallen church leaders - void of God's Holy Spirit - told the people that the egg was a symbol of
the resurrection of Christ! Pope Paul V even appointed a prayer in connection with the egg! 'Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy creature of EGGS, that it may become wholesome sustenance unto thy servants eating it in remembrance of Our Lord Jesus Christ.' And so another 'mixture' passed into Babylon Modern and has in turn become part of our present day customs."

An earlier, more detailed book on the same subject was written in 1853 by Alexander Hislop, a minister in the Church of England. At that time, there was a rather large movement to bring about correction in the Church, and bring about a repentance and a return to the truth, away from the pagan beliefs that it had adopted from the Roman Catholic Church. Entitled "The Two Babylons"  it goes into (pg. 268) great detail documenting that the traditional Christian holidays are pagan. It states: "In leading proof of the Babylonian character of the Papal Church, the first point to which I solicit the reader's attention, is a character of MYSTERY which attaches alike to the modern Roman and the ancient Babylonian systems. The gigantic system of moral corruption and idolatry is symbolized in this passage by the emblem
    
It's interesting that the only time anything close to the current practice of Christmas is mentioned in the Bible is in Jeremiah 10:24: "Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

And Easter customs are also mentioned in a similar way. In Ezekiel 8:16, God is showing Ezekiel various abominations, regarding the worship of Tammuz. He then tells Ezekiel to turn and he will see greater abominations. "And He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east."

God called it an abomination for people in His temple to be facing the east worshipping the sun. It appears that the Easter sunrise service was in existence long before the time of Christ. It is purely of pagan origin.

And what about hot cross buns and the Queen of Heaven? In Jeremiah 7:18, God inspired Jeremiah to write: "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women kneed their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger." And in Chapter 44:19, it again records the making of cakes to the Queen of Heaven, and that God poured out famine and pestilence on Jerusalem for such practices.

(pg. 269) The Worldwide Church correctly teaches that these pagan practices should not be followed, and instead God's true Holy Days should be kept. These days were mentioned earlier in the book and are outlined in the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus. It says in the first and second verse: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts." And the feasts were then listed as explained in the opening chapter. The forty-fourth verse concludes: "And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord."

Those feasts were kept by Christ and the apostles, as we are to keep them today. In I Corinthians 5:7-8, Paul wrote: "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness: but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Christ, in keeping the Passover with His disciples before His Crucifixion, changed the method of observing the Passover. He instituted the foot washing ceremony as a sign of humility, and instructed us to continue doing so, as recorded in John 13:14-15; "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do, as I have done to you".

Regarding the taking of the wine and the unleavened bread, Christ said in Luke 22:19 and 22: "And He took bread, and gave thanks and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given to you: this do in remembrance of me."

Likewise also the cup after supper, saying: "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." We are to keep the Passover service annually as Christ did, and are not to keep a monthly, daily, weekly communion or any other such observance.      

Pentecost also is to be observed, for it is quite clear that the New Testament Church continued to observe the day. In Acts 2:1, it says: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."

This is the account that tells of the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Had the early Church not assembled on the day of Pentecost after Christ's Ascension into heaven, those not there (pg. 270) would not have received the Holy Spirit. By the example set forth in the Scriptures, we are to continue observing this day.

The Fall Holy days - the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day - are also to be observed. It was so important for Christ to keep the Feast of Tabernacles that just a short time prior to His Crucifixion, He kept the feast in disguise, as His time was not yet come to be killed. At that time the religious leaders were seeking to kill Him, as recorded in the seventh chapter of John. The disciples attended the feast without Christ and then John says in Verse 10: "But when His brethren were gone up, then went He also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, where is He?" After attending the feast secretly, Christ later spoke out publicly and caused
quite a commotion. John records: "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.' (But this spake He, of the Spirit, which they that believe on him shall receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)." (John 7:37-39)

If we are to believe on Christ, and have the Holy Spirit, we must do as He says: "And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46.

Other pagan beliefs that have permeated Christianity are the ideas that when one dies, one either goes to heaven, if they were good, or to an ever-burning hell, forever to be tortured if they were bad. There is no scriptural support for this belief. The dead are dead in their graves. "For the living know that they shall die; the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten." (Ecclesiastes 9:5)

The apostle John made it quite clear that no one had gone to heaven other than Christ. In Chapter 3, verse 13, he said: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down fromheaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." And in the Book of Acts, Peter is recorded as saying, in Chapter 2, Verse 29: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day."

The truth of the matter is very simple. It is that at Christ's coming, (pg. 271)  all of those who have received His Holy Spirit and had died will be resurrected. The entire chapter ofI Corinthians 15 should be read to get a clear picture of this. Paul makes it quite clear that a natural physical body that has died, when it is resurrected, will be a spirit body. He says in Verses 52 and 53: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruptibn, and this mortal must put on immortality."

The Bible clearly shows that the traditional doctines of either go to heaven or go to an ever-burning tormenting hell are false. The truth is that when Christ returns after the great tribulation, which is a time of trouble, atomic war, famine and all types of natural disaster, soon to come on the earth, He will descend from the sky with power and great glory, and, according to Matthew 24:30, all the earth shall see Him.

The apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 4:13 through 17 makes the entire chain of events that will take place quite clear. He says: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

That does not mean, however, that we will remain forever in the air. It means we will be with the Lord wherever He is going. And He is going to Jerusalem to descend on the Mount of Olives.The prophet Zechariah in the Old Testament tells of this coming of Christ, as He comes to destroy all the waring nations who have given themselves totally over to Satan's ways. In Chapter 14, verse 4, Zechariah says: "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."

(pg. 272) And the apostle John, in his prophecy in Revelation 20:4, said: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither hath received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."

 That is the destiny of all the true believers and worshippers of Jesus Christ: to be given immortality at His coming and to reign with Him for a thousand years over the earth.Christ will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords from Jerusalem, which will be the capital city of the entire earth. During that thousand years, Satan will be bound and will not be able to go out and tempt and deceive the people of the world. It will be a time of great cleaning up and reconstruction, which will be a necessary result of the great wars which would have
just previously encompassed the entire earth. This, then, will be the Kingdom of God. All living at that time will then have the opportunity to see what it is like to live in a world of perfect government under Christ as King. The saints, those then reigning with Christ, will have the wonderful opportunity to assist Him in instructing the human inhabitants of the earth in the good and righteous ways of God. One may ask what will happen to all the other dead people. If they haven't gone to heaven or hell, where are they? The apostle John records in the same chapter of Revelation: "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years are finished. This is the first resurrection."

This means that the people who have died, not having attained salvation during their human life, will remain in their graves during the time of the Kingdom of God. At the end of the thousand years they will be resurrected into a perfect world. This would take place after Satan will have been let loose for a short period of time to continue to attempt to deceive people who had had the opportunity to live under Christ for a thousand years. Those who then follow Satan will be destroyed, not eternally tormented, but destroyed. Satan and all of his demons, being spirit beings, will not be destroyed and they are the ones that will be tormented forever and ever.
    
After this takes place, and the rest of the dead are raised at the end of the thousand years, they will be judged according to their works. Christ, in His righteous judgment, will then give each one of these people either eternal life or death. That second death will be (pg. 273) permanent, but not a time of eternal torture. And at that time death and hell, hell meaning the grave, will also be destroyed.
    
The last two chapters of Revelation describe a wonderful scene, where at the end of the thousand-year-reign of Jesus Christ on earth, God the Father will bring His throne down from Heaven to the earth where He will then reign over the entire universe. The earth will then be the headquarters of God's entire creation, with inhabitation by God the Father, Jesus Christ, the angels, and all of the millions who will then have been given eternal life and will be as Christ; in other words they will actually be gods as He is God.

One may ask, what then? This can only be understood by grasping the wonderful reality that God created the entire universe. In order that man, after conversion to spirit beings and sons of God, may have dominion over it, Hebrews 2:b through 8, says: "But one in a certain place testified, saying: What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him."

What Paul is saying here is that eventually man would have authority and rule and control over the entire universe. And this is what will begin to take place after God places His throne on earth at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. The universe is endless; the stars and planets and other heavenly bodies are uncountable. Man cannot begin to grasp the immensity of God's creation. But yet the entire universe, except for earth, is void and barren. It will not remain that way, however. Under God the Father and Jesus Christ, all of the born-again sons of God will have a job to do. That job will be to make new creations throughout the universe, to make the entire universe a creation of great beauty that would be so wonderful that we cannot even conceive of it in our human minds. This is the purpose for which we were created. This is straight from Scripture and this is how it has been taught by the Worldwide Church of God.

Since the teachings of the Church are true, it would be foolish for one to reject those teachings because the leader, the one who brought that truth, has gone wrong and turned from God's ways. If only the Church leadership would repent. God is so merciful, that (pg. 274) as He says in the Book of Ezekiel, He would forget their sins if only they would repent and turn to His ways. The fact that the leadership has now turned from God's ways, and is leading so many of the members back into Babylon from whence they came, is no reason to reject the truth that they had brought.
 

The Truth Shall Make You Free: Chapter 19 Blackmail?


published by: 

The Truth Foundation
11 Laurel Court
Freehold Township, New Jersey 07728
1981


Chapter 19  BLACKMAIL?


(pg 253) ONE MUST WONDER WHAT IT COULD BE THAT COULD CAUSE Armstrong
to so attach himself to Rader, even to the point of totally destroying the Church that he worked so long to build. Could an elderly man be fearful of what Rader would reveal regarding financial dealings? Possibly, but not to the point of acting the way Armstrong has acted in the most recent months.

As I wondered about these things, I knew that I would have to investigate further rumors that I had chosen not to believe. There was the recurring story mentioned earlier about Stanley Rader's homosexual conduct. That alone, it would appear, would be sufficient for Armstrong to take some drastic action. Yet Rader's hold seemed to get tighter and tighter, to the point where he was finally able to have himself ordained an evangelist.

But this was not the only story regarding Rader's sexual conduct. In 1974, Mr.and Mrs.Jim Fox, members of the San Jose congregation of the Church, were in a restaurant of the Hilton Hotel in Madrid, Spain. Fox noticed Rader and Gotoh at another table talking to a woman, and then observed them writing something down on a piece of paper and handing it to her. Rader and Gotoh did not know the Foxes and were unaware that they were being watched by Church members. After handing the note to the woman, Gotoh and Rader left the table and Fox heard one of the men say that they would see her sometime later that evening. Fox then became quite (pg. 254) suspicious that the woman was a house prostitute and had those suspicions confirmed by the bartender. Still wanting to be absolutely certain, Fox discussed it with his wife and they  determined that he would approach the woman. Fox went to the woman's table and began to engage her in conversation. It did not take long for him to determine that she was indeed a prostitute, found out her price, and made tentative arrangements with her. He then left her table and went back to his wife and told her what transpired. As the reality of this hit them both, they became emotionally shattered. When they returned to the States, Fox discussed the situation with his pastor and was told that he should not mention it to anyone, and was assured that the matter would be taken to proper Church authority. Apparently, nothing further ever came of the situation. This disillusioned the Foxes with the Worldwide Church so much that they dropped out at that time. They continued to worship on their own and had no further fellowship with an organized church group until late in 1978 when they affiliated themselves with the Church of God International.

As this throws quite an additional cloud over Rader, it would seem that Armstrong would have even further justification for his removal. Yet in spite of this type of conduct, Armstrong continued to be fearful of what Rader would say to the world.

After the State of California made its allegations regarding financial improprieties, it would seem that there would be little more that Rader could say over and above that which had already been revealed through the press. There had to be something else. There were rumors that others knew what Rader had on Armstrong. I decided to pursue each rumor until I could come up with something concrete.

The facts were that the Worldwide Church of God was under the leadership of men who had sunk to the lowest depths of moral depravity.

Around mid-July 1979, rumors began to circulate that David Robinson, a minister of the Worldwide Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had been fired by Herbert Armstrong. Robinson had been a member of the Church for over twenty-five years, and now he was out as a result of a meeting that he had had with Herbert Armstrong in Tucson on July 4th. It had long been rumored that Robinson knew some of the facts regarding Rader's hold on Armstrong.

(pg. 255) Robinson told me, "Finally, I just had to go see Mr. Armstrong and confront him with his sins in hope that he would repent." During Robinson's visit, Henry Cornwall was present. Rader was out of the country at the time and during his absence, Cornwall was a regular fixture in the Armstrong home. Was he there to help Armstrong, protect him, or, as is more likely, isolate him? During the visit, Robinson asked Armstrong if it was necessary that Cornwall be present during their conversation, as the matters to be discussed were matters between two ministers. Armstrong just hung his head in shame and mumbled, indicating that Cornwall would stay.

Robinson told Armstrong that his sins were grievous and that he must repent and take the necessary steps to straighten out the problems of the Church. He referred to a meeting that he had with Armstrong at his hotel room at the Holiday Inn in Bartonsville, Pennsylvania, during the Feast of Tabernacles in 1976. He was staying there over night, during his appearance at the Mt. Pocono Feast site before approximately eight thousand people.

In spite of the fact that eight thousand people saw him and heard him speak, he denied having been there that year. Robinson was the Festival Coordinator at Mt. Pocono and was responsible for the overall administration for the week long gathering.

During the night of Armstrong's stay, Dr. Floyd Lochner, who was traveling with Herbert Armstrong, contacted Robinson and told him that Armstrong was having difficulty getting to sleep. As Lochner would not be able to remain with Armstrong for that time, he asked Robinson to visit with Armstrong for a while and keep him company. What Armstrong told Robinson that evening, after drinking excessively, shocked him. It was after bringing these matters to Armstrong's attention on July 4th, that Robinson was fired from the ministry.

Here is Robinson's account of that visit with Armstrong in the fall of 1976:

"He got one of the crystal wine glasses and filled it with Harvey's and downed it quickly, and then more. He said he needed it to relax. He said he had decided to quit wine before the Feast, but felt that he couldn't make the circuit without it now. He said he had decided to lay off when he discovered that drinking so much wine tended to render him impotent, he had enough of that anyway.”

“He intended to marry, he intended to marry Ramona. He got (pg. 256) his wallet out and showed me her picture and a picture of her son. Mr.Armstrong said he needed someone to lavish his love on, but now he was abundantly able to take good care of a woman. He said 'Ted has finally given his consent, even if grudgingly.' “

“He got back on the Church just briefly, that was the subject I preferred to talk on, except it took a dangerous direction. He said that there were ministers who were extremely liberal and he was going to deal with them. I agreed that there were. He said if I would name them, he would fire them. He requested that I give him some names.

“He said that he expected the Church would soon be run by a committee, and that they had seen to it that contracts had been signed which guaranteed that their standard of living, or as he said, my lifestyle, would not be diminished. He would continue to have the plane, etc., no one could take that away from him. He said he had been particularly proud of Ted, as he had sent Stan's contract back with a reduction and a boost in his own. That was the sort of ambivalence that made me cautious of Ted as well as other reasons when Mr. Armstrong spoke against Ted.

“I felt sure he thought he could do so, but woe to the other person who did. I am sure that is not still the case.

“One must stop at this point, and consider what had happened. This was the first time I had heard anything about contracts in the Church, and especially among the ministry. He said that he, Stan, and Ted had just signed contracts which called for salaries for the three of them well into the six figures.

“Here the very top minister in the whole of the Church, the apostle of faith, if you will, one who had taught so many years ago about George Mueller at Bristol, England, and he had
spoken and written of faith for so many years, now fearing a committee in the Church. He was afraid his income-his disposable income-might be diminished, his lifestyle curtailed, and had gone to the courts and the law to provide for his sustenance. Where did that leave the rest of us? Were we dumb sheep that didn't matter at all? I think of all the things I have faced in the Church, this was the heaviest blow of all. Contracts between the three top men to protect themselves from the Church. It seemed certain divine healing was now needed badly in spiritual matters in the Church. But there was more to come."

And there certainly was more to come. Armstrong then began to (pg. 257) concentrate on the terrible stress he had been under without a wife. He said that his great desire to give a woman so much love was frustrated by not having a wife, and as a result he frequently masturbated. He then showed Robinson a diary wherein he had recorded each incident of masturbation. He had carefully noted all the details of each occurrence.

It was only Robinson's strong faith in God that prevented him from becoming totally disillusioned when faced with such a startling revelation.

As time went by, Robinson was to become aware of Armstrong's alleged encounters with boys in Europe, and that Rader had allegedly secretly obtained photographs. Said Robinson, "Maybe HWA was drunk, I don't know. It's easily possible for those things to be photographed."

That began to fill in another part of the puzzle and confirm some of the rumors regarding Armstrong's immorality. But could that be enough for Rader to hold over him? Or was there more? The major rumor that had circulated for so long was the one regarding Dr.Lochner. Lochner, a physical education instructor at Ambassador College, was frequently Armstrong's traveling companion. It was Lochner who would give Armstrong his daily massage and accompany him on walks. Armstrong grew to trust Lochner with his most intimate secrets. The rumor was Lochner had recorded many of his conversations with Armstrong without Armstrong's knowledge, and had also amassed a large collection of incriminating photographs. For the past few years, Lochner had been on the payroll of the Church at $25,000 per year, but had no duties.

At this time in 1979, he was sixty-seven years old. The question, of course, was whether or not Armstrong was maintaining Lochner in a no-show job in order to keep him quiet. When Mike Wallace confronted Rader with the Lochner rumor, Rader said that Lochner always asks for work so that he could earn his pay. Rader indicated, however, that for some puzzling reason, no one seemed to have anything for Lochner to do. If that were the case, it would seem that Lochner would have been discharged long ago in order to save that $25,000, considering that many valuable employees had been let go in recent years for "budgetary reasons."

Finally, I decided to phone Dr. Lochner and confront him headon regarding the rumors. I was amazed that Lochner was  willing to speak as freely as he did. Perhaps it was because during the (pg. 258) gas crisis he had been cut off from his free gas supply by Church headquarters. Or perhaps it may have been due to his temporary removal from the payroll just a few weeks earlier. He was quickly reinstated, however, when he reminded Armstrong and Rader of his knowledge.

He said, "There's been a lot said about the information I have. I don't know why I've got the information I've got, but It's like I said to Mike Wallace, 'Mike, you can't use the information I have because you wouldn't use it totally. You've already established what you want to do. So you'd only take some of the information and the rest of it you'd leave people guess
about.'"

He then continued, "When you spend nights with a man and days with a man and years with a man, and he reveals to you the secrets of his life, the only way I would be entitled to reveal it would be if Christ would demand it of me."

While he was not ready to reveal all that he had, he did indicate a knowledge of sexual threesomes between a member of the crew on Armstrong's plane and two female members of the Armstrong family. He also knew and mentioned the names of the individuals involved.

Apparently, Lochner had done his homework even better than Rader.
    
Lochner said, "About the only person who would have more information than I do would probably be Stan Rader. And then he might not have that much information, he might not have as much information as I do. And I didn't go after the information, the information was given to me. I'm in a position now, where I've left it up to Christ. If he wants it revealed, there are ways He can get it revealed.

“Even with all the information I have I don't think I can take the prerogative of revelation of all I know."

Lochner seemed to be very carefully establishing the ground work for his self-justification in collecting pay for a no-show job. Continuing in my conversation with Lochner, I finally said to him, "What would you take as an indication that you should do something?" He replied, "Well, it's like one man called me not so long ago and said, 'Now's the time to bust them. Why don't you hit him for a million?' I said no. I've worked in this business for twenty-five years. My wife and I had worked very hard and worked full time but got a minimum of one salary, so I feel this way right (pg. 259) now, they have taken away my opportunities of the people being able to profit from my experience with my knowledge of physical fitness and child relations. They had promised that I can be employed as long as I'm physically fit and can do the job. Now, they don't use that experience and knowledge that I have. As long as they pay me for it, that's all right, but if they don't use it, I can't do anything about that. But I could do something about it if they stopped my pay."

Realizing that he had finally come to the key of the situation, I said, "That would be the sign that you would need, wouldn't it?"

He responded: "Well, that's what I felt. In other words, Christ is not going to come down here some night and tell me what I'm going to do. Now if He wants to put me in a position where I'd reveal it, He knows about it. Stan Rader and Herbert Armstrong are not the guiding factors in this. If He knows that I'm no longer worthy of the job, even though I'm just sitting here, it will mean that He wants the information revealed."

Lochner indicated that he had a knowledge of moral misconduct for at least a ten-year period. This would, again, seem to fit in with the statements made by Garner Ted that everything seemed to change drastically in a wrong way after his mother died. Lochner said that he felt that one of the reasons Armstrong was hanging on so tenaciously, so fearful of what might be revealed about him, was because he was not the type of man who would have the courage to get before the people and say that he had done wrong, had repented, and was sorry. And it appears as though Rader is very aware of this characteristic of Armstrong and has been able to use it to maximum advantage.

While there are a few such as David Robinson, who have a personal knowledge of factors in Armstrong's life which would disqualify him as a spiritual leader, the key seems to be Dr. Lochner. With Lochner knowing as much or more than Rader knows, it would be absolutely essential to keep him quiet. He seems to have developed a rather interesting rationale to justify his taking $25,000 per year for doing nothing: calling that continued paycheck a sign from Christ that he should not reveal what he knows. Obviously, had he gone for the big dollars, as was suggested to him by a friend, his rationale would not work. By not being greedy perhaps, he may continue to get away with it. Whether or not this could be construed as blackmail would
certainly be an interesting thing for the (pg. 260) courts to consider. Obviously, if he were to reveal what he knows, then Rader would no longer have a hammer over Armstrong's head. The key to breaking the bond between Armstrong and Rader would appear to be Dr.Lochner.

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isaiah 64:6.

As the legal maneuverings continue,  and probably will do so for some time as more becomes known regarding the unchristian conduct of Armstrong and Rader and the other Church leaders, as the Rader hierarchy increases its total control over the lives of the members, people seem to respond in three different ways. As some become more and more aware of the unscriptural conduct of their leaders they either slowly continue to drop out of the Church in total disillusionment or to continue in their belief on their own or in fellowship with other groups. Others, just as aware that they have come under false leadership, feel they have no choice but to stay with the Worldwide Church, as they are fearful they will lose their eternal salvation by leaving that physical organization. And, for the most part, there are the members so totally deceived that they continue to follow Armstrong, believing totally that he is God's apostle, and finally turning away from the truth of Scripture that they should know so well, believing instead that every pronouncement from Herbert Armstrong is inspired new revelation direct from God.

The Truth Shall Make You Free: Chapter 18 1979 vs. 1939

published by: 

The Truth Foundation
11 Laurel Court
Freehold Township, New Jersey 07728
1981



Chapter 18    1979 vs 1939


(pg 247) IN MAY 1978, SRI INTERNATIONAL, A LARGE MANAGEMENT Consulting firm in Menlo Park, California, delivered to the Church its report entitled "Evaluation of the Institutional Marketing of the Worldwide Church of God." SRI had conducted an in-depth analysis of the Church membership. Former religious affiliations, geographical data, and income levels were all taken into account. The means by which members came into contact with the Church and later into membership were carefully analyzed. Apparently, their findings were totally ignored.

In their summary they stated that early action was urged. The report stated: "The studies conclusions and recommendations cover several matters that SRI believes should be given the highest possible priority by the leadership of the Worldwide Church of God. In SRI's judgment, problems connected with the institutional marketing of the Church call for immediate attention and early action to prevent further deterioration of deleterious trends that threaten the continued well-being of the Church."

It was felt that a turnaround was achievable. As the report continued: "The final section of the report is action-oriented. Several recommendations are offered that SRI believes can and should be implemented. If the principal recommendations are implemented, SRI believes the Worldwide Church of God will be able to achieve a turnaround. If not implemented, SRI believes the Church's (pg 248) growth-related problems will probably remain unresolved, and the future well-being of the Church will remain in question."

In a comment that Armstrong should have paid particular attention to, the report stated: "The most profound kinds of changes are emerging from the bottom upward, not from the top downward." The report went on to say: "SRI'S understanding of the current era of change leads it to conclude that organizations like the Worldwide Church of God will have to be more flexible and more communicative than they have been in the past, to be able to adapt to the various constraints that were not present in the environments of the 1950s and early 1960s. It will be advantageous to develop improved flexibility so that changes can be accommodated with a minimum of disruption. Also it will be more advantageous to be more communicative with the people and groups that are affected by the Church, so that those groups and the Church will have a better understanding of the other's thinking."

In its conclusions and recommendations, the report stated that the Church was confronted with the necessity of significantly curtailing its expenditures to affect a turnaround in the Church. The report confirmed our own claim that much of the Church's money went for purposes other than preaching the Gospel, other than the purposes for which the money was collected. On this matter, the report stated: "Until this year, activities that contribute directly to the future regeneration of the Worldwide Church of God have received a relatively small and declining share of the Church's total budget, whereas a large and growing share has gone for nonregenerative purposes, such as Ambassador Auditorium, the AICF, Quest Magazine and Ambassador College."

Among its recommendations the report urged that "the Church try to reverse the deleterious trends that underlie its current financial predicament within the next year or two." In further recommendations, the report suggested "that the Worldwide Church of God consider temporarily curtailing its non-essential activities to give the Church time and funds to reverse the deleterious trends discussed previously."

The only action of note, taken by Herbert Armstrong in the month of May when this report was received, was that he fired Garner Ted Armstrong. And if there was ever any question in one's mind at that time that Stanley Rader was moving to take over completely, that should have become more clear through the passing (pg 249) months. It should have become especially clear through the early months of 1979 when it was quite apparent that it was Rader, not Armstrong, who was calling all the shots. And if that still was not enough to convince anyone of Rader's ultimate intentions, one must wonder if the event that took place in Herbert Armstrong's home on September 27, 1979 would be sufficient. At that time, Stanley Rader and his lieutenants Ellis
LaRavia and Joseph Tkach were ordained as evangelists. Rader, who had never been a minister, now holds the highest rank in the ministry other than that held by Herbert Armstrong as apostle. One can only speculate how long it will be before the crown prince is officially designated heir apostle by Herbert Armstrong.

Finally, the coup was complete, and while many members were stunned by the announcement of Rader's ordination, most cheered and applauded.

"Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar (whitewash), seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them saying, thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken." (Ezekiel 2:27 and 28.)

One must wonder if it was always Herbert Armstrong's motivaton to build an empire for himself. Or, could it be that there was a time when he was sincere, truly believed in what he was doing, and was trying to follow God's ways and grow in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ?In 1939, he apparently was quite differently motivated. In February of that year, an article was printed in a publication called The Good News of the Kingdom entitled "Did Christ Reorganize The Church?" Regarding organized Church government, Armstrong wrote that the old covenant as recorded in the 24th chapter of Exodus was a marriage ceremony. In that ceremony, the Lord joined himself to ancient Israel in a symbolic spiritual marriage. Armstrong writes: "IT WAS THE MARRIAGE THAT FORMED GOD'S PEOPLE INTO AN ORGANIZATION HAVING CHURCH GOVERNMENT!"  Because Israel had slid back and turned away from God, Armstrong notes that in Jeremiah 3:8, the Bible says: "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I HAD PUT HER AWAY AND GIVEN HER A BILL OF DIVORCE." But then even Judah began sinning worse than Israel (pg. 250) and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured them and destroyed Jerusalem, at which time the authority to rule and govern was taken away completely from God's people and given over to the Babylonians. He then points out that until Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God and destroy the Babylonian rule of this world, there is to be no Church government as a spiritually ordained line of authroity. He points out that at the time Christ was on this earth, He did not establish a biblical form of organization or a definite Church government. Armstrong states: "There is not one single HINT in the New Testament of any Church BOARD with authority to rule, to govern, to decide doctrine, or to handle tithes and Church finances (the whole Church)."

In total contrast to the present Worldwide Church of God form of centralized dictatorial authority, Armstrong said in his 1939 article: "All authority and power to rule is limited solely to each LOCAL congregation. But there is NO BIBLE AUTHORITY for any super-government, or organization with authority over the local congregations!" He then continues: "How, then did ORGANIZATION, and the idea of CHURCH GOVERNMENT get into the Church!”

“It came out of BABYLON! Spiritual BABYLON - that is, ROME! The same as nearly all other false doctrines of Satan."

Quoting from various publications such as the Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, and also from Myers' Ancient History, Armstrong shows that the idea of centralized Church government originated with Leo, the fist Pope in the real sense of the word. He reigned from 440 to 461 A.D., and it was Leo I who set up an ecclesiastical form of government. Armstrong comments: "And thus the very PRINCIPLE OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT becomes the IMAGE OF THE BEAST! “

“The whole thing is FALSE! It is NOT ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE! It is part of BABYLON! Those who are IN, and MEMBERS OF such an organized Church government, submitting to doctrines declared by unscriptural boards as a fellowship test are IN BABYLON and actually worshippers of THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST! And God is calling us, HIS people OUT of BABYLON today, before it is too late-before the PLAGUES fall!”

“Brethren, let us have the courage to accept the TRUTH, and to COME OUT."

In 1939, Armstrong was calling people out of spiritual Babylon. (pg.251) Forty years later, Armstrong is leading people right back into spiritual Babylon. Just as the Church of God at Rome, in the first few centuries after Christ, fell into total paganized Babylonish worship, Herbert Armstrong, instead of remembering his early teachings, has strayed from his ways and led this end-time Church of God in its first steps on a return to Babylon.

Armstrong continued in his article pointing out that the New Testament Church was a spiritual body, that no one organization constituted the true Church. His current teachings are totally contrary to that. He points out that when Christ returns, He will make a spiritual marriage with His Church. This is clearly stated in Revelation 19:7 where it is written: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." The Lamb referred to here is Christ and His wife is the Church, the spiritual body of true believers. And Armstrong clearly understood this in 1939, for he wrote: "This MARRIAGE will not be made with some one organization! It is THE INDIVIDUAL SAINTS - not some organization which shall possess the government, and rule."

He said further: "The CHURCH is the collective body of individual saints who are sanctified and CLEANSED by Christ! Let us stop speaking of some organizations as 'The Church' or 'our
Church'."

Regarding government and authority, he stated: "Our Heavenly Father never planted any super-organization, or established any Church GOVERNMENT, or set men IN AUTHORITY over either spiritual or financial affairs, in the New Testament church. Any such 'plan' was never planted of GOD - and therefore IT SHALL BE ROOTED UP!"

And if only he had remembered what he had said near the close of his article: "Organization and Church GOVERNMENT has brought us only strife, jealousies, divisions, bitterness! It is not of God and it can bear no other fruit." Yes, if only Herbert Armstrong had remembered the truth that he was teaching in 1939. One must wonder what it was that had caused Armstrong to go wrong.

It appears that as the Church began to grow and there was a great deal of money coming in, Armstrong's priorities changed considerably. Soon friendships with world leaders and a desire for magnificent buildings appeared to have a greater importance to him. And somehow he felt that he could rationalize this all away in (pg. 252)  his mind as part of his service to God. But once one begins to dabble in rationalizations of that sort, God quickly begins to withdraw His blessings and a downhill slide has begun. Armstrong is so proud of the fancy Ambassador College campus, so proud of the Ambassador Auditorium, so proud of the fine clothes and fine works of art that adorn his home, that he has forgotten the following passage from Isaiah 66:1 and 2:

"Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."

Apparently Armstrong never totally lost his old original desire. Once he began to stray, that desire again manifested itself to the point where his main objective was to visit world leaders under the guise of preaching the Gospel. In his autobiography he stated, regarding his past, "Now I had an idol. My whole mind and heart was set on that idol. I had worked hard, night and day, for that false god. My false objective was the intense desire - the desperate, driving, overpowering ambition - to become 'successful' in the eyes of important businessmen - to
be considered by them as outstandingly "IMPORTANT" - to achieve status"

One can see that attitude as a very prominent part of Herbert Armstrong's make-up today. It is no wonder, then, that he no longer can be effective as a spiritual leader.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15.

It appears though, that in spite of Armstrong's constant, increasing drift toward an attitude of total authoritarian rule, finally culminating in his appointing himself an apostle, that he was having a battle within himself. This can be seen in his rather ineffective attempts from time to time to move Rader aside. His strongest effort in that direction was his attempt to remove Rader at the end of 1978 and put him in a position of less authority. Yet we see that when the pressure was on, Armstrong literally jumped right back into Rader's arms.

The Truth Shall Make You Free: Chapter 17 A Yoke of Burden



published by: 

The Truth Foundation
11 Laurel Court
Freehold Township, New Jersey 07728
1981



Chapter 17 A Yoke of Burden


(Pg 241) Throughout the moves and countermoves taking place between the state and the Rader group, Osamu Gotoh could no longer be found. Apparently, he was out of the country and would not return. Although he handled large sums of money, running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, spending it all over the world, it will take an extensive investigation to determine how he fits into the overall picture. He was known as the mysterious Gotoh and remains so to this day.

Ray Wright, who in December was so anxious to help our attorneys, returned to the Rader camp. Many others, who in the very early stages of the receivership indicated that they were glad to see the wrongdoings brought to light, and who said that they wished Rader would finally be emoved, also returned to the Rader camp. Many ministers throughout the country who said that they would never follow Stanley Rader were standing before their congregations every Sabbath supporting Rader and threatening the members with the loss of their eternal life if they did not sacrifice to support Armstrong and Rader. Most of the area coordinators who during the first week of January were so solidly with Wayne Cole, were now faithful to the umbilical cord of a pay check.

 Over the several months since the imposition of the receivership, many ministers did finally leave the Worldwide Church, or were asked to leave because of disloyalty. Disloyalty was defined as an (pg 242) unwillingness to support the Rader regime each week at Sabbath services. However, those who left were a small proportion to the total number of ministers in the Church. Those who remained knew better, and remained to willfully deceive the flock over which they had been placed as shepherds. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God spoke quite sternly regarding men such as these. In Ezekiel 34:2 he says: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?"

During that same period of time, the barrage of propaganda through the Worldwide News continued. The members' minds, which by this time had been beaten to a psychological pulp, were now being totally submerged in a continuous outpouring of unscriptural nonsense from Church headquarters.

In the April 23rd issue was an article entitled: "And Now-Christ Sets Church on God's Organizational Track." Taking up a half page was an organizational chart (see p.243). The entire article by Herbert Armstrong went on to substantiate his claim as human head of the Church directly under Christ. The whole tone was government, authority, and power-all written in capital letters. He said: "I have realized for 52 years that God's form of government is ruled from the TOP DOWN." He claimed that his dictatorial rule of the Church was God's form of government. And reverting back to the harsh control over members lives reminiscent of the 1950s, the May 21st issue carried bold headlines: "HOW YOU DRESS FOR CHURCH-COULD IT KEEP YOU OUT OF THE KINGDOM?" While no one would argue that one must dress appropriately for various occasions, there is nowhere in the Bible where one can find his eternal life threatened due to his manner of dress. But that didn't matter to a Worldwide Church of God member. By this time, anything coming out under the authorship of Herbert Armstrong carried the weight of new and divine revelation.

In the June 25th issue, an article appeared called "What God Never Did-Never Will-Allow To Happen." After a lengthy rambling dissertation comparing himself to Moses, Armstrong ended the article by very nearly proclaiming himself a deity. He said, "Let me close with one thought. It is now a little late in life for me to turn to Satan's way, as so many others in high places have done. (pg 243 contained an organizational chart) 

(pg 244) God never yet has let one through whom He STARTED a great project turn wrong-and he has never yet let such an appointed leader of his die until his job was FINISHED!"

One can only conclude from such a statement that Armstrong feels that he is immune to turning to Satan's way, in other words he can no longer sin, and that he does not expect to die until Christ returns.

In another article entitled "How Satan Injects False Doctrines," Armstrong claimed that he was the one who restored all truth to the Church of God after nineteen hundred years. According to him, the satanic deceptions in the Christian church remained until 1927, when God began working with him. He wrote: "And beginning in the Fall of A.D. 1927, God began an absolutely UNIQUE WORK on the one the living Christ had chosen to be His apostle. He put me through the wringer that squeezed out all former misconcepts and untrue beliefs, using me to put His Truth into His Church, that is to rise and meet the glorified Christ in the clouds as He returns to establish the Kingdom of God!"

To say that the Church was without truth until he came along is an absolute lie, as we shall show in a future chapter, and Armstrong knows it very well.

To keep the money coming, Armstrong apparently felt the need to reinforce the tithing doctrine. In the July 9th issue, his front page article was entitled "Non-Tithing is Stealing." Armstrong made it quite clear that no matter what one's circumstances, they must tithe a full tenth of their income to the Church. He even threatened to again activate the computer snooping program. He wrote: "Heretofore I have made NO EFFORT TO CHECK OUR COMPUTER RECORDS TO FIND OUT WHO TITHES. I surely never wanted to "snoop". But it is A LAW! Neglect or refusal is MAJOR SIN! I am not pussyfooting! Commandment breakers won't get into the Kingdom of God, and I am commissioned to blot out the spots and iron out the wrinkles to make God's Church READY when He comes."

Again, Armstrong was hitting them with the loss of eternal life if the members did not tithe. And how skillfully he diverted attention from the allegations of stealing that had been brought against him and other high officials in the Church. If he truly felt a commission to blot out the spots and iron out the wrinkles, there was (pg 245) somewhere else that he could start other than laying another yoke upon the necks of the Church members.

Ending the article, Armstrong said,  "Failure to tithe is STEALING - COMMANDMENT BREAKING. It is without excuse! Keep current with God and HE will keep you current with your other obligations! This matter of STEALING FROM GOD is one matter that Christ is CLEANING UP IN GOD'S CHURCH NOW! No delay! And no excuses!"

At least Armstrong was speaking some truth here. The matter of stealing from God was being cleaned up in God's Church. But he just refused to face up to the fact as to how it was being done. In this case God's "ministers for good," the officials of California, were the ones who were doing the cleaning up. The article just quoted from was actually excerpted from what was written in the "Pastor's Report" of June 25th. In that publication, Armstrong was laying it on the ministers quite heavily also. They, too, are expected to tithe from their salary. He said to the ministers, "If you are on the payroll, unless tithing begins with the very next paycheck, YOUR PAYCHECKS WILL BE CUT OFF WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE."

It certainly is interesting to see how Herbert Armstrong practices his philosophy of love, and that of give instead of get in his relationship with his employees and followers. Not only were the Church members subjected to a continuing barrage of propaganda, but so were members of the press. A front organization called the "Emergency Committee for the Defense of Religious Freedom, a Voluntary Association of Lay Members of the Worldwide Church of God in Good Standing," was formed in March 1979. They prepared a several-hundred-page aide-memoire with supporting data for distribution to the media. This aide-memoire consisted of selected documents taken out of context in order to support the Armstrong/Rader position.

An interesting aspect of the publication was the constant reference to the Pope. It must be remembered that the Worldwide Church, as do many other churches, considers the Roman Catholic Church to be modern Babylon, the great whore referred to in the seventeenth chapter of Revelation. In the reference to the Pope, Stanley Rader, in a signed statement, said that, "The Church is hierarchically structured, with Mr.Armstrong as its pastor general (pg 246) (analagous to the Pope). As with the Pope, Mr. Armstrong's authority is virtually absolute." He went on to say that the executive committee of the Church board was "a group perhaps most closely comparable to the Papal Curia".

In the aide-memoire section outlining the Church organization according to Armstrong, it said: "His position and authority are comparable to those of His Holiness, the Pope. The Board of Directors is equivalent of the Papal Curia." Never, in all the history of the Worldwide Church, had Armstrong ever been compared to the Pope nor had the Church organization been compared to the Papal Curia as a means of justification. And certainly the title of His Holiness was never acknowledged as a title or name of any individual. And for very good reason: Our Savior is the only one who may be called His Holiness. To take on such a title to one's self, or call someone by that name is blasphemy. In Psalm 111:9 we read: "He sent redemption unto His people: He that commanded His covenant forever: Holy and reverend is His name."

This is the same verse, by the way, that has always been used to support the reasoning for not calling ministers reverend. One can expect that it may not be long before Herbert Armstrong
will have the title, the "Most Right Reverend Holy Apostle." It is not difficult to see that a Church which had come so far from false beliefs, which had come into the knowledge of so much truth, which had done as God commanded, had come out of Babylon, was now, through its internal corruption, going right back into Babylon. And the signs of this are quite clear, justification of itself by comparison to "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS" (Revelation 17:5).

The situation was fast deteriorating to the point where Armstrong and Rader were just fighting to hang on to the members through continued fear and intimidation. Before all this happened, the Church was already in trouble, and the leaders knew it. They knew it in spite of the fact that they were lying to the members, saying that things were better than ever, on the right track, God's government was being restored, etc. etc.