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Fear Religion: Herbert Armstrong and the All Powerful Satan

I made a very strong statement in my last submission, where I said that I believed that the Worldwide Church of God was not a Christian Church - because of it's focus on the power of the Enemy. I mentioned a Worldwide News Article which put a lot of focus - not on the saving power of Jesus Christ - but on the extreme influence that Herbert believed Satan was having on the Church. 

The message he was giving the Church on December 8, 1980 was not by any means a Christian message of reassurance of the power of Christ. The message was a message which was completely and totally wrapped in a suffocating dose of fear of the enemy, lest you start to think in any way against him, the Church, the Church's Government, doctrine, or the ministers - lest suddenly you come under the influence of the evil one. Check out these quotes. 

FROM THE WORLDWIDE NEWS, DECEMBER 8, 1980 

"If you allow a bit of self-centeredness, vanity, covetousness, envy or jealousy, spirit of competition or resentment of authority - especially that of the Government of God and His Church - to enter your mind - if you begin to act on such impulse, you have already entered Satan's way." 

The Christian focus would not be stating "you have already entered Satan's way" - that's fear religion. The Christian focus would have talked about prayer, and that the Battle belongs to God through the victory of Christ. It would be focusing and centered on Christ, not on how you are slipping into the depths of the abyss because of your failures and imperfections. Because when you start to focus on what you are doing wrong all the time, you aren't focusing on the positive, but the negative, and your growth is stunted. It's amazing how much of this entire diatribe is resolutely and powerfully negative. 

Then Herbert says: 

"I would never want to put myself in the hands of a psychiatrist or therapist. If one would ask me to totally relax my mind, and let my mind be blank, I would immediately rise up and walk away. If I should obey I might open the door of my mind to a demon." 

More fear religion! It's as if he never believed that Christ is in you, anyway! Where's Christ in you? Where's God? If you let your mind calm down, if you let your thoughts ease - was he saying Christ was never in you in the first place? Is he saying that Satan is more powerful than Christ? That letting your mind be blank in calmness forces out the Holy Spirit or Christ in you? Because that certainly sounds like that's what he's saying, isn't it? Herbert said: 

"Under normal circumstances, NO ONE NEED FEAR A DEMON MAY TAKE POSSESSION, unless you open your mind by letting it be blank, or under control of another, or you lose your mind in an emotional angry rage" 

There's no "unless". If you have Christ in you, you are a new creation. This is biblical. The old is gone, the new has come. You are under control of Christ. He has purchased you. He has adopted you. His fruits are evident in you. The Holy Spirit resides with you. Having a calm and sound mind - peaceful (blank) doesn't case Christ out or allow Satan in. Christ is far more powerful than that! Where's the power of Christ? I am often amazed how many times Herbert relegates Christ to one of the most innefective, wimpiest, non-powerful entities ever to exist in his writings - utterly powerless in so many ways. 

Then Herbert says: 

"Satan is going about seeking whom he may destroy from God's Church and Kingdom. Don't let the one he destroys be YOU!"

Again. Where's the power of Christ? Where's the message of Adoption? Reconciliation? Victory? And is the Battle the Lord's - or ours? Who told us to fight our own battles? The Battle IS the Lord's - and were we taught this? 

Here is one of the most Anti-Gospel things that Herbert Armstrong ever said:

"Don't think, well that applied to them, not to ME! Be sure you do not start, even so little at first, even in Satan's direction. Let no jealousy or contention of any kind against another -whether another member or another YOUR RANK in the Work, even start to KINDLE in your mind! For God is NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS. For if God spared not even the ANGELS that sinned He would no more spare YOU!"

Is Jesus emphasized here? No. Is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit emphasized here? No. Are the fruits of the Spirit listed here? No. The message here is fear of Satan, not living in the presence of Jesus Christ. For the Believer, the Devil has no power - a message absolutely absent from Herbert's anti-Christian message. Where is the Lord at all in this diatribe? Anywhere? No, the message he gives is that there is not an indwelling Holy Spirit working in and with you. The picture that is painted is of an absent Holy Spirit and an open door to an empty house, where there is no Jesus, and no Spirit, and no indwelling Christ in you, where the slightest sinful thought or action sends Jesus cowarding aside, where there is no room for repentance and forgiveness as an adopted Son of God - just FEAR of a devil that will creep in at the slightest wayward thought. What kind of Gospel message is this? Where's the victory over sin and death the Bible talks about? Where's the power of God? Where's the "new creation"? Where's any Christian message in any of this? Herbert said "If God spared not even the ANGELS that sinned he would no more spare YOU!". HELLO! John 3:16 Says that God so loved the World that He (ALREADY) gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life! HELLO, JESUS has already spared us through his death, resurrection and life! Who is he talking to here? Believers, or unbelievers? Christians, or non-Christians? I say again, WHERE is Jesus Christ in ANY OF THIS? 

Let me make this stronger. Was JESUS MENTIONED AT ALL? Not in the Context of the Gospel. Not in the Context of victory in Jesus Christ. Here was Herbert's message in a nutshell: 'Satan is wrathful against the Government of God and if you go against the Government of God you let Satan in." Meaning, the Church - meaning Herbert Armstrong. 

Herbert says in this article if ONE POINT of "truth" is rejected, the Spirit of God "leaves you". Where is this biblical? Where is "I'll never leave you, never forsake you?" In retrospect, we can know that a lot of what Herbert taught was not truth - but lies. A lot of what was taught was unscriptural, presumptuous, and heretical - and when it came to prophecy, outright and blatant lies. This is what you were told not to reject, or "the Spirit" would leave you. What was the truth here? Was it what Herbert told us - or what history reveals the actual, real truth actually was? 

This entire diatribe was written during a time of "attack" on the Worldwide Church of God by the State of California in December of 1980. What this really was was fear religion - trying to keep people on board the Church, his idea of government, his key points on the Sabbath and Holy Days - making people believe any rejection of THESE POINTS - was akin to rejecting Jesus Christ - and opens the door to the devil. He would use language like these two sentences - which are his direct quotes, over and over: 

"Satan is more subtle and diabolically clever than we, many times over." 

"Now Satan will try harder than ever." 

Instead of focusing on the power of Jesus Christ, the love of God, the indwelling of the Spirit, Christ in us, the Holy Spirit as Teacher and Instructor, the adoption of sonship we have in Christ, the New Creation we are in Christ through Jesus, the reconciliation of mankind to the Father, and our personal relationship with the Living Christ - a relationship not built in fear, but in victory - a relationship built in love and atonement with God - we were told that all of that did not matter in the event we doubt or actually think negatively about any of the lies that we were told. The devil was used as a trap to keep people from seeing the truth about Freedom in Christ and Christ in Us in His victory through Him. I sure never saw THESE scriptures mentioned!!!

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart…” Psalm 91: 1-4

"This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. 2 Chronicles 20:19

"In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. - Romans 8:37

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 15:57

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts.”- Zechariah 4:6

"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one". - 2 Thessalonians 3:3

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

“One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you." - Joshua 23:10

submitted by SHT

Who the Birthright Promises Are For

Zombie Ministries: Dead Men Still Do Tell Tales

Anonymous notes: 

"What is this?

"Isn't RLDEA now basically a "zombie" ministry promoting sermons by a dead guy? It's GTA version 2.0."

"Regarding RLDEA being a "zombie" ministry...

I get that observation if the person sees no value in the works of Ron Dart. No problem there.
But some of us believe that Ron's stuff is of really high quality. For that reason, we enthusiastically promote it. We believe that it can be helpful to those who wish to better understand the Bible."
--Wes White

Also noted: 

 "Ron Dart was an excellent teacher, very little that I disagreed with. (maybe he was wrong, maybe I was, or maybe we both were) I'm glad his material is still available."

As I mentioned as well as others, if one quotes from the Bible, Old Testament or New, to promote their own view of how all of life should or must be, they too are trusting in a Zombie Ministry.  All the authors of the Bible are dead and those dead men have been telling their tales and repeated by millions for over 2000 years.  Believing that "well that's different" because the original now dead Zombie Apostles were inspired by God directly and meant to pass it all on.  Actually that's not true as none of them thought anything they taught was for anyone but those of their own generation and would not be written up and circulated for two thousand years into the future, but that's another hot topic. 

In 2006, just three short years after the death of GTA, hearing him again on the radio  and experiencing the phenomenon of locally popular radio evangelists, now dead, still filling the airwaves and promoted by their surviving families to keep it all going, I found such a practice strange.  But now, I have mellowed with the realization that anyone using scriptures today is practicing the same kind of Zombie Ministry that still goes on.  Whether it is on tape, video or in books, new or old, bringing up the dead to continue their ministry as if they are not dead is indeed Necro- Evangelism.  So one has to at least admit that all religions by now are Zombie Perpetuated as those long dead still blast out their teachings to the living.

Just for fun: 

Necro-Evangelism-When Dead Men Do Tell Tales

Dennis Diehl 2006

"There is a phenomenon in evangelism that is quite strange to me. I call it Necro-Evangelism and it is where local or even national radio evangelical and fundamentalist churches continue to play the sermons of long dead founders to convert the masses. There are at least three major churches in my area and one I know of nationally that practices Necro-Evangelism and I'd like to explore the pitfalls of this if I might.  (Update: Whether they are "pitfalls" or not I no longer care.)

I find it funny in a macabre way to hear, usually the surviving son of the now dead evangelist, inviting the audience to stay tuned for a message from my now long dead father and pastor so and so. 

Some of these evangelistic types have been dead for just a few years, and so we might attribute his ongoing ministry as shock that the man died on the part of the family who has no clue on how to keep the business going. Others have been dead for decades and I suspect that as long as the tapes play and can be recopied, they will continue to preach right up until the Second Coming and maybe beyond! Usually there is a college or "work" that the family of the now deceased evangelist has inherited, or stuck with,  to be maintained and, while the current family members might be up to the task, it's just good to hear the founder as if he was alive and well on the air. Others, to me, seem like the type that would never themselves be able to do what dad did with evangelism, but can't give up on the programming dad put in their heads nor the bucks it still can generate. That is an observation about method, not sincerity.

People hate change and this delays reality for many who have grown up on the words of the evangelist, now dead. One local college where I live continues to play the sermons of the long dead founder even though two or three generations have taken over the family business of evangelizing since his death. I don't believe I have ever heard a sermon on the air by any of the sons, all identically named after the founder save for the II,III or IV behind the name. Some Christian evangelists might be happy to return to glory, but you'd never know it as family desperately tries to keep things the same  as always  before he became a Necro-Evangelist. Why do we do this and what is the message it sends? 

First of all, it matters not if it is a right or wrong thing to do. I am sure the argument is "well if we had Jesus or Paul on tape, would we not play it?" Well yes of course. We read their words every day still so hearing them on tape would just be a technological upgrade. However, pseudo-taperipha would probably be a problem and all we need is controversy over the "Jesus Tapes" to add to the already confusing topic of Biblical errancy issues. 

So while Necro-Evangelism might keep the family church, college or business going a few more generations, is it the thing to do really and what message does it send? One advantage is that, indeed, it does buy the unskilled or founder beaten children time to regroup and figure out what to do now that dad is gone. All their life they had preached that the Second Coming was going to for sure be in their lifetime but now what? Usually the first generation founds something, the second maintains it, and the third loses it all. Necro-Evangelism can postpone the Necro-evangelist having to being shown to be mistaken as they all are, for a time, but not for long. 

1. If family is involved,  Necro-evangelism tells the audience that the sons do not have the conviction or skills that dad may have had but aren't willing to give it up as something dad did but we don't wish to do. So we play dad's sermons and don't have to come up with our own, live ones.

 In my town, one such family member certainly does not have the voice quality or sound of conviction of his dad for sure, so I can see why he might wish to have dad keep it all going. He confines himself to introducing "my deceased dad, Dr...." and selling his tapes and even the library books his dad cherished, which obviously he doesn't. But he also has another line of work from what I understand, so does not depend on his Necro-Evangelist dad for his sole income.

2. Necro-Evangelism sends the message the survivors are spiritually lazy, but again, just can't give up on the potential to have a following or keep it all going. The second generation makes forays into the world of evangelism, usually getting caught up in politics more than dad did because down deep they know most of what dad either predicted or said did not really happen that way, and they just aren't convicted the same way dad was. 

Dad kept them out of "the world", and darn it, they are going to see it before they become Necro-Second-Generation-Evangelists too. Since dad impacted their lives with his own worldview, and often not in a very good way, they just don't have the same need to pass it along with dad the Necro-Evangelist's same fervor. In fact, they can't. So they busy themselves with producing dad's tapes and books and don't have to do much that shows their own creativity. They can run for public office or lecture as they wish, but keeping a ball rolling is much easier than getting it started. Anyone can be made the next president of a Necro-Evangelical College or Pastor of a Necro-Evangelistic Church. Starting the sucker is the hard part. Keeping it going can be a challenge but if we keep dearly departed dad in the picture, it is easier for sure.

3. Necro-Evangelism sends the message that the Necro-Evangelist knew all there was to know about the Bible and all related topics. There is nothing new to learn or even unlearn, since dad made no theological mistakes, which is not true. Since we all like to hear the "old, old story, let dad explain it over and over. This is one thing that is wrong with religion in general. It supposes that all it's spokesmen had it right to begin with. If they could read the bible, tell a few good stories, keep you interested and convince you that the reading was the same yesterday, today and forever, bingo!...why change a winning game? Problem is that for every tape played, there are many that can't be for they are either dated by comments made during the sermon or even the family realizes that how or what dad said that day is not true or not appropriate today so let's just not play that one. So you're really not getting the whole man, you are getting the "Best All Time Hits of the Necro-Evangelist," as selected by the next generation. That's kinda no fair to me!

4. Most of those that had been inspired by the now Necro-Evangelist are now themselves Necro-Christians so they aren't even around to hear dad anymore either. They were all about the same age and have long since moved on to other heavenly realms. The kids of those who loved the now Necro-Evangelist aren't going to be inspired by a dead man. Sorry, they just aren't. They will feel the above three points even if they don't voice it. Kids aren't stupid and will see what generations II and III might be up to and how lame it is. These kids tend to find churches by saying "as for me and my house, we shall serve a living evangelist" and not just the memory of the good ol' days when the parents thought the now Necro-Evangelist could do or say no wrong. I used to pastor a church that on way too many occasions sent out taped sermons from the then living Apostle and occasional Evangelist. It was hard enough when they were alive, don't make me listen when they are dead!"