Armstrongism: The Diametric Opposite of Christ’s Teachings

Central to the teachings of Herbert Armstrong and his followers is the notion that the teachings of “Traditional Christianity” bear little or no resemblance to the teachings of Jesus Christ. In fact, in what many consider to be one of his most important books Tomorrow…What It Will Be Like, Mr. Armstrong wrote: “Reluctant though we are to recognize it, we find the established religious organizations which profess the name of Jesus Christ teaching the diametric opposite of His teachings-condemning the customs He practiced - following, instead, the pagan customs He condemned!” (page 21)

But what about Herbie’s teachings? How do Herbert Armstrong’s teachings compare to those of Jesus Christ?

Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God taught and practiced a hierarchical form of church government. In a memorial edition of the The Good News magazine which appeared shortly after the founder’s death, “The basic doctrine” was summarized: “God's government in His Church is a theocracy, with Christ at the helm and God's chosen ministers fulfilling responsibilities under Christ in the form of a pyramidal hierarchy. It is a government of faith, in which the leaders submit their wills to Christ and the members trust God to administer His Church through those leaders.” (page 28, May 1986 edition, Government in God’s Church)

Jesus Christ, however, taught that his followers should follow a model of government based on service to others. He taught: Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God taught and practiced the disfellowshipping of erring members. In the Pastor General’s Report of 12 June 1981, Robert Fahey clarified Mr. Armstrong’s position on the excommunication of problem members. He wrote: “Those who sow discord, cause division, speak evil of Church leadership, are contentious, or in any way try to pull God's people away from His Church, should be disfellowshipped. These are the ones we need to protect the flock from regardless of previous status. They may have to be publicly marked. They want us to be - of them--out of God's Church!” (page 1)

Jesus Christ, however, taught the religious leaders of his day that a good shepherd seeks that which has strayed away. He said: “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:4-7) He also taught his disciples the “Parable of the Tares.” Christ said: “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:24-30)

The Worldwide Church of God taught that everyone should tithe (give ten percent of one’s income) to the Church, and that this ensured complete equality (rich or poor) in what each individual contributed to the church. In the January 1982 edition of The Plain Truth magazine, an article entitled “There Is A Better Way” by Clayton Steep touted the equity of the tithing system. He wrote: “everyone would pay taxes at the same rate-l0 percent. Everyone would be in the same bracket. Those who have enough initiative and resourcefulness to become ' prosperous would not be penalized for their industriousness. (God doesn't penalize the prosperous tither. But humans do penalize those who honestly prosper.) No matter how much money a family made, they would still owe only 10 percent.” (page 16)

In the Gospel of Mark, however, we learn that Jesus had a different perspective on giving. We read there that: “Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” (Mark 12:41-44)

The Worldwide Church of God taught that God’s TRUE Church could be positively identified by finding the one that taught the correct doctrines. In their booklet Where Is God’s True Church Today?, Brian Knowles stated: “The Church of God, then, must be a Sabbath-keeping Church with the correct name. It must keep all ten of the Ten Commandments and live by every word of God - not rejecting part of the Bible. It is God's Church because it collectively possesses the Holy Spirit. It preaches the true gospel of the coming government of God, bearing the good fruit of the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the identification of God’s Church was based on its understanding of certain doctrinal “truths.”

Jesus Christ taught that his true disciples/followers could be easily identified by the possession of one trait. He told his disciples: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35) Now, I ask: Does lording it over the membership, disfellowshipping those who step out of line, failing to appreciate real sacrifice in giving and demanding an understanding of certain “truths” sound like a proper demonstration of love for one another to you?

Who was/is teaching the diametric opposite of what Christ taught? When we compare just a few of Armstrong’s teachings to those of Jesus Christ, we are forced to reach the conclusion that Herbert Armstrong was engaged in a little bit of “the pot calling the kettle black.”

**All of the writings of the Worldwide Church referenced in this post can be found at The Herbert W Armstrong Searchable Library