A Fool's Errand

Many of the folks who emerged from the collapse of the old Worldwide Church of God hoped that they would be able to find a group that preserved some or all of Herbert Armstrong's theology. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, that hope has not been realized in ANY of the groups which have emerged as a consequence of the death of the parent organization. None of those groups can justly claim to have preserved Armstrong's theology without adulteration. Indeed, even the most conservative groups have changed, made significant modifications to, and/or have introduced important additions to the original corpus. Likewise, those of us who recognized that there were serious flaws with some of the teachings of the Worldwide Church, have been faced with the staying power of some of the most offensive teachings within even those groups which are considered the most progressive or forwarding thinking Armstrong Churches of God.

For those who long for that old-time religion of Herbert Armstrong, there is no help or comfort. Moreover, I find it hard to muster any sympathy or compassion for their plight. One would think that the complete collapse of the parent church, and the subsequent history of the splinters, would have served to engender at least some doubts about the efficacy and sustainability of Armstrong's theology! In other words, to remain completely devoted to Armstrong's teachings smacks more of willful ignorance than Godly faithfulness!

Nevertheless, after my experience in and with one of those "moderate" or "progressive" groups (CGI), I have to say that I no longer hold out any hope for those of us in the other camp. To be clear, there simply isn't ANY version of Armstrongism in existence that works! In other words, NONE of the descendants of the old Worldwide Church has successfully addressed all of the important flaws in the original theology. And, the failure to address those erroneous teachings has rendered all of them ineffectual and unsustainable. In short, Armstrongism is dying a slow and painful death, and all I can say is "May it rest in peace!"

What are those important flaws in the original theology? I would characterize them as the following: 1) The failure to acknowledge that Jesus Christ fulfilled the law for us, and that our salvation is accomplished exclusively through him, 2) The identification of the peoples of Western Europe and the English-speaking peoples of the earth as the "lost ten tribes" of Israel, 3) The perpetuation of headline theology - the interpretation of ancient prophecies related to Israel in light of current events, 4) The substitution of a warning message to Israel and other nations for the Great Commission which Christ gave to his disciples, 5) The use of the top-down, authoritarian model of church government, and the adoption of a twisted interpretation of the Old Testament tithing system to support it, and 6) The insistence that a true Christian is identified by the knowledge which he/she possesses - rendering everyone who does not accept the "truth" of Armstrongism a "so-called" Christian. While some groups (or some of the folks within some groups) have rejected one or more of these teachings, NONE of them has rejected ALL of them.

Hence, for me at least, while I continue to believe that I have a few brothers and sisters in Christ within some of the splinters, I find that NONE of the organizations known as the Armstrong Churches of God can legitimately claim to be part of God's ekklesia. In other words, for me Armstrongism is completely irredeemable. I continue to see value in Sabbath observance, the symbolism of the Holy Days, and many of the teachings and beliefs associated with the resurrection of the dead, but I now see Armstrongism (in all of its current manifestations) as a hot mess! What do you think?