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Herbert Armstrong - A comparison of Armstrong & Joseph Rutherford of the Jehovah Witnesses

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Some interesting similarities are worthy of note.  Armstrong claimed he was an ‘ apostle ’ and special messenger - appointed to warn so called ‘Israel’ (USA/UK/other Anglo countries) and the world of end times and disasters - that his Radio/Worldwide Church of God was the ‘one true church’. He said only he taught the true gospel (only to be expected given the claim to be the only one true church) - whilst all others were said to be deceived by Satan and teaching false gospels. Armstrong said he ran things by God’s way of Government - which he said was God the Father, then Jesus, then Armstrong himself in number three.. Rutherford did not use a title of ‘’apostle”’ but it was effectively the same because he taught that Christ had inspected all religions in 1918, chose the Watch Tower Society in 1919, and that the President of the Society was the one through whom Christ directed the ‘work’.  In this sense Rutherford was like Armstrong concerning teachings on God's government. Wh...
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Herbert Armstrong's gospel - is it the Gospel in the Bible?

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Herbert W Armstrong - Gospel preached. Armstrong claimed with much fan fare that only he preached the true gospel. Armstrong set out his gospel doctrine in many publications - booklets such as “ What is the true gospel ”; magazine articles; and radio and television broadcasts. This is all publicly available and the message was the same throughout his 52 year preaching career.   For example the  Plain Truth magazine  1979; and chapter 6 of a book titled ‘ A Voice Cries Out Amongst Religious Confusion’  - shown in this link;  ‘What & Why the Gospel’ ; In a publication titled: ‘ A true history of the true church’  Armstrong   said  his Radio - then later Worldwide Church of God  was the “ one true church” linked all the way back to the original apostles.  (The identifying sign for such claim said to be 'sabbath keeping', along with an alleged obedience of the rest of the ten  commandments).  He claimed, on many occasions,...
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Herbert Armstrong - the Book of Romans

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This book is one of the greatest ever written. All I can hope is bring out, in this post, teachings that stand out to me. It helps to express them in writing so as to come back to it now and again to re-evaluate. Please click here to go to my Post in Quora wherein I seek to understand its purpose and how it informs of the Gospel messag e.  I also seek to understand particular verses that some use to almost undo the very purpose of the book itself.   Edit: Why do I make the label Herbert Armstrong apply in this Post. My answer is that he was one of those who select certain verses from Romans and use them to undo the very message it contains. I explain these verses in some detail in context of the whole book of Romans. 
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Herbert W Armstrong - Wednesday crucifixion theory - Why it is unlikely to be correct

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Armstrong, his Worldwide Church of God, and the many offshoots in existence today, insist on a Wednesday crucifixion. The view seems to imagine a big conspiracy as being afoot by those who think Jesus was crucified on a Friday.  A Wednesday crucifixion idea is also held by others. It does not appear to be a commonly held belief, nevertheless it’s worthy of study. It is important to address the counting method associated with this Wednesday theory which requires there be a third night, based on Matthew chapter 12 verse 40 regarding Jonah being ‘’.. three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’’. This is worked out to be 72 hours precisely from the crucifixion to the resurrection. The verse 40 in Matthew 12 is pivotal to this Wednesday view , and I will examine whether its counting method is supported by the scriptures, and by custom.  All of the other verses concerning the timing of the cruci...
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Herbert Armstrong - teaching of a pagan cross

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Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God promoted the idea that the cross is pagan.  I note that the Jehovah Witnesses have the same belief - they insist Jesus dies on a stake rather than a cross, and allege the cross is of pagan origin.   I would not at all be surprised if Armstrong took his idea from the Witnesses, he was after all a great copyist. Perhaps many in the Millerite movement held such belief.  The purpose of this pagan theory is, I believe, to denigrate and unsettle believers whilst promoting other pagan theories such as those concerning Christmas, Easter and Sunday worship.  I investigate whether these claims are true, and conclude they have no substance.  Please follow the link to my post in Quora.  See here.
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Herbert Armstrong - soul or spirit after death - an intermediate state?

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 What scriptures suggest an intermediate state after death? There are some scriptures in both Old and New Testaments which suggest an intermediate state beyond death, by a plain reading of them. By that I mean a state whereby the spirit extends beyond death - and prior to the resurrection of the body which the bible teaches. My purpose is simply to list those scriptures. This may be of interest to some few readers - there may well be other scriptures I am unaware of and I will add edit notes if I find more. (Armstrong churches and others such as the Jehovah Witnesses teach that the spirit does not live on - there is nothing - described as 'soul sleep' by some. These organizations equate the living on of the soul with paganism, as they do with many other matters such as birthdays - Christmas, Easter, the cross, and so forth). Please see my commentary here in Quora.
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United Church of God - How is it Different to other Churches - do their teachings line up with the Bible/?

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The United Church of God is one of the branches of the Worldwide Church of God, founded by a Herbert W Armstrong in the 1930’s, in the USA.  UCG is the biggest offshoot.   Their full name is  "The United Church of God,  an International Association ". It was established in 1995 when certain Ministers of the Worldwide Church of God didn't like changes to the doctrines of Herbert Armstrong.  Each of the offshoots claim to be loyal to Armstrong doctrines, and to be the one true church - meaning of course there is now a big number of one true churches.  They have been described by another responder as:  '' 7th Day Sabbatarians, reject Christian holidays in favor of the seven Levitical Feasts and require legalistic observance of the Law of Moses as they interpret it ’.   I generally concur with that description.  They teach British Israelism, being a belief USA and UK are two of the ten tribes of ancient Israel.  They believe being ‘born...
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