The Gospel of Herbert Armstrong vs The Gospel of Jesus Christ (Part 4)

In his book Mystery of the Ages, Herbert Armstrong wrote: "Why do the churches disagree on what actually is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ'? During the first twenty or thirty years after the founding of the Church in A.D. 31 a violent controversy arose over the very question of what is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ.' There ensued a hundred years in which all history of the New Testament Church was destroyed. It has been called 'the lost century of Church history.' When the curtain lifted, about the middle of the second century, there appeared an entirely different type of church calling itself Christian, but in the main preaching its own gospel ABOUT Christ, not the gospel OF Christ. The gospel OF Christ was the gospel Christ proclaimed. Jesus was a Messenger sent from God with a message, and that message was THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Christ’s message was Christ’s gospel-the gospel OF Christ. It had not been proclaimed to the world until the first week in 1953, when for the first time in about 1,900 years-a century of time cycles-it went out on the world‘s most powerful radio station, Radio Luxembourg in Europe." (Pages 293-294)

Now, we have already seen that Mr. Armstrong's characterization of Christ's Gospel message was flawed, and we have clearly demonstrated from Scripture that the Gospel of the canonical New Testament was focused on Christ and salvation through him. Moreover, we will shortly see that Armstrong's claim that Christ's Gospel had not been proclaimed for 1,900 years was ABSURD!

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, under "Article 2: The Transmission of Divine Revelation," we read: "God 'desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth': that is Jesus Christ. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth: God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations." Continuing, under the subheading of "The Apostolic Tradition," we read: "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. The Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline." The document goes on to note that this Apostolic preaching of the Gospel was handled in two ways: orally and in writing (Scripture).

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia Online, the first four books of the New Testament canon (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were designated as "Gospels" very early in the history of the Church. Indeed, we read there: "The first word common to the headings of our four Gospels is Euaggelion , some meanings of which remain still to be set forth. The word, in the New Testament , has the specific meaning of 'the good news of the kingdom' (cf. Matthew 4:23; Mark 1:15). In that sense, which may be considered as primary from the Christian standpoint, Euaggelion denotes the good tidings of salvation announced to the world in connexion with Jesus Christ, and, in a more general way, the whole revelation of Redemption by Christ (cf. Matthew 9:35; 24:14; etc.; Mark 1:14; 13:10; 16:15; Acts 20:24; Romans 1:1, 9, 16; 10:16; etc.). This was, of course, the sole meaning connected with the word, so long as no authentic record of the glad tidings of salvation by Christ had been drawn up. In point of fact, it remained the only one in use even after such written records had been for some time received in the Christian Church: as there could be but one Gospel, that is, but one revelation of salvation by Jesus Christ, so the several records of it were not regarded as several Gospels, but only as distinct accounts of one and the same Gospel. Gradually, however, a derived meaning was coupled with the word Euaggelion."

Hence, we see that what the Catholic Church has to say on the subject is consistent with what we have already read in Scripture. In other words, the basic message which that organization has promulgated down through the centuries is consistent with that Scriptural formula of a message about Christ and salvation through him. Now, this should NOT be regarded as an endorsement of the Roman Catholic Church or its doctrine. Rather, it simply demonstrates that that organization has proclaimed the same basic message which Christ and his apostles had proclaimed in the First Century. Indeed, even if we make an attempt to make the case that their messaging is not the same, their logic that that message is transmitted in the writings of the New Testament canon is unassailable! In other words, the narrative that the Gospel of the Kingdom was not proclaimed for 1,900 years does NOT hold up to scrutiny!

Likewise, in The Large Catechism of Martin Luther, we read: "Let it then be considered the sum of this article that the little word Lord signifies simply as much as Redeemer, i.e. He who has brought us from Satan to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same. But all the points which follow in order in this article only serve to express and explain this redemption; that is, how and whereby it was accomplished, how much be suffered and what he paid and risked, that he might redeem us and bring us under his dominion, namely, that he became man, conceived and born without [any stain of] sin, of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, that he might be Lord over sin; that he suffered, died and was buried, that he might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe, not with silver nor gold, but with his own precious blood. And all that in order to become my Lord. For he did none of these for himself, nor had he any need of it. And after that he rose again from the dead, destroyed and swallowed up death, and finally ascended into heaven and assumed the government at the Father’s right hand; so that the devil and all principalities and powers must be subject to him and lie at his feet, until finally at the last day he will part and separate us from the wicked world, from the devil, death, sin, etc." Now, I don't know about you, but that reads like the Reader's Digest condensed version of the Gospel of Christ to me, and this from the man who inaugurated the Protestant Reformation!

On the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) website, we read: "The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a body of like-minded local churches cooperating together to reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ." As part of their Baptist Faith & Message 2000, under the section on "Evangelism and Missions," we read: "It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ."

Also, in To be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism, we find a rather comprehensive summary of "The Gospel." We read there: "God created the world and made us to be in loving relationship with him. Though created good, human nature became fatally flawed, and we are now all out of step with God. In Bible language, we are sinners, guilty before God and separated from him. The good news of the Gospel is that God took loving action in Jesus Christ to save us from this dire situation. The key facts of this divine remedy are these: God the Father sent his eternal Son into this world to reconcile us to himself, to free us to love and serve him, and to prepare us to share his glory in the life to come. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose bodily from the dead to restore us to God. Given authority by his Father, Jesus now rules in heaven as King over all things, advancing God’s kingdom throughout the world. In the fullness of time, Jesus will return to establish his kingdom in its glory on earth, and all things will be renewed. Reigning in heaven over all things, Jesus Christ continues to draw sinners to himself. He enables us by his Holy Spirit to turn wholeheartedly from our sinful and self-centered ways (repentance), and to entrust ourselves to him to live in union and communion with him (faith). In spiritual terms, sin is the way of death, and fellowship with Christ is the way of life." (Page 20)

Hence, as we have demonstrated here, the notion that the "true" Gospel had not been proclaimed for 1,900 years is ABSURD! While we may not agree with all of the doctrines/beliefs of the various denominations of the traditional Church, it is very clear that they proclaimed the message about Jesus Christ, and the salvation which was available to us through him. And, if we insist that their message must be correct in all particulars, we must conclude that Herbert Armstrong and his followers have also failed that test!

* Also, the notion that a "lost century" of Church History occurred has been thoroughly discredited on this blog and elsewhere.