Herbert W Armstrong

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,...

Matthew chapter 5 in verse 19 we read of Jesus's words.  19 “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” In context of this verse, Jesus states in verse 20 : 20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Pharisees were extremely strict in their interpretation and keeping of the law, enforced and extending to all kinds of rules - concerning Sabbath and other laws; food matters; wearing religious phylacteries and the like. Jesus says our righteousness must  exceed  that of the Pharisees. Was Jesus referring to a need to strictly abide by rules as did Pharisees? Is he demanding believers must keep the ten commandments of Exodus ch 20, the annual festivals o...

Does Matthew chapter 12 concerning Jesus’s resurrection and the “sign” of Jonah have to mean exactly 72 hours? Please note in a separate Post I have addressed the Wednesday crucifixion theory. This Armstrong doctrine is used to criticize the 'world's churches' for celebrating the Friday crucifixion.  I found there are no strong grounds for Wednesday and set out the reasons.  This particular blog focusses on Matthew 12,   ‘’ For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” These words are the basis of a theory which holds that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, and resurrected exactly 72 hours later on the sabbath towards sunset. Whether it was a historical fact that Jonah did spend exactly seventy two hours inside a large fish we of course do not know. Jesus referred to this event, but He does not state explicitly that His citation affirms the historical c...

Nicodemus, like many Jews, had been looking for the kingdom of God to be set up there and then. Presumably he was hoping to learn more from this ‘teacher come from God," who can tell him more about the Messiah and his kingdom. Being a Pharisee he likely held opinions as to his right of citizenship in this kingdom. Regarding it as a continuation of entitlements stemming from King David - he was born a Jew, of the seed of Abraham, of the same race with the great king David. It was in this context we read of Jesus’s reply. His first words were: Verse 3: KJV: ‘’  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God .’’ Some, such as Armstrong offshoots, and the Jehovah Witnesses, say it occurs only at the end of things. Please see this link to Quora wherein I discuss the issue.  

  What message comes to us from the Millerite movement in the USA in the mid 1800’s onwards? In this commentary I show how we learn important lessons from the Millerite movement.  I propose to explain the experience of notable actors of that time, and draw conclusions. I discuss the behaviors of Miller; those who followed such as E G White and other Adventists who adopted and amended his theories, Nelson Barbour who was an Adventist having an influence on C T Russell who founded the Watchtower.  I include Herbert W Armstrong because - although he came later than these others - there was a connection and he deserves mention for reason of the fact he surpassed the others in the making of a never ending stream of false prophecies during his fifty plus years of preaching things religious. The message , as I will show - given their teachings and behavior - are the dangers a believer faces when allowing such forecasters/prophets/interpreters of prophecy to have an influence in ...

The Jewish Encyclopedias shows there were three kinds of tithes: (1) that given to the Levites as stated in Num. xviii. 21  et seq  and termed "the first tithe" ("ma'aser rishon"); (2) the tithe which was to be taken to Jerusalem and there consumed by the landowner and his family, and which was termed "the second tithe" ("ma'aser sheni"), it being taken from what remained after the first tithe had been appropriated; and (3) that given to the poor ("ma'aser 'ani"). Therefore two tithes were to be taken every year except in the seventh year: Nos. 1 and 2 in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years; Nos. 1 and 3 in the third and sixth years.’’ The scriptures are in Leviticus 27: 31-33, Numbers 18:21-32 and Deuteronomy 14:22–27 and 26:12, I note Wikipedia “ Tithes in Judaism ” has a detailed commentary on tithing and it conforms with the extract from the Jewish Encyclopedia. I make some comment on this system: Money became...