Herbert W. Armstrong

Herbert W. Armstrong

Herbert W. Armstrong (31 July 1892 – 16 January 1986) was the founder of the Worldwide Church of God and an early pioneer of radio evangelism, taking to the airwaves in the 1930s from Eugene, Oregon. He later founded Ambassador College and the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, which promoted the arts, humanities, and humanitarian projects. Through his role with the foundation, Armstrong and his advisors met with heads of governments in various nations, for which he described himself as an "ambassador without portfolio for world peace."

As head of the California-based church which he founded circa 1933, Armstrong was a controversial figure. The Church's doctrines and theological teachings, sometimes referred to by critics as Armstrongism, centered on

1) his belief that the true Gospel message of Jesus had been replaced by a message focusing on Jesus the person,

2) that the true Gospel had not been preached around the world since the Apostles (and not at all for centuries),

3) that the key to interpreting Bible prophecy was the knowledge that the British and American peoples were descended from the lost ten tribes of ancient Israel and

4) that what is typically thought of as the Mosaic Law (including observance of the Sabbath, various dietary prohibitions, and observance of the Levitical "Holy Days" and the Ten Commandments) was, in fact, God's law for mankind today and a "prerequisite for the unearned gift of salvation"—a major deviation from the grace-based teachings of mainstream Protestant churches.

These doctrines and teachings are explicated in his book, Mystery of the Ages (viewable online), and in more detail in the Ambassador College Correspondence Course.

Armstrong believed that world events during his lifespan mirrored Bible prophecy, indicating a soon-coming return of Jesus Christ.

Background

Herbert Armstrong was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 31 1892, into a Quaker family. He regularly attended the services and the Sunday school of First Friends Church in Des Moines. At age 18, on the advice of an uncle, he decided to take a job in the want-ad department of a Des Moines newspaper, the Daily Capital. His early career in the print advertising industry which followed had a strong impact on his future ministry and would shape his communication style.

On a trip back home in 1917, he met Loma Dillon, a schoolteacher and distant cousin from nearby Motor, Iowa. They married shortly thereafter (his 25th birthday on July 31, 1917) and returned to live in Chicago. His career in advertising began to take off (with his earnings exceeding the equivalent of USD 200,000/year in today's currency). On May 9, 1918, they had their first child, Beverly Lucile Armstrong, and on July 7, 1920, a second daughter, Dorothy Jane Armstrong. In 1924, after several unforeseen business setbacks, Armstrong and family moved to Eugene, Oregon where his parents now lived. He continued in the advertising business despite the setbacks.

Armstrong's wife encounters Church of God (Seventh Day)

Once in Oregon, his wife, Loma, began spending time with Ora Runcorn and other members of the Church of God (Seventh Day).

This small Sabbatarian church (observing Saturday as the Sabbath) claimed to trace its history back to the original Apostles. Their accompanying claim was to never have had any affiliation with a Protestant denomination or the Catholic Church at any time over the centuries. About 10 years after Loma's contact with Mrs. Runcorn, in 1935, this belief was detailed in the book A History of the True Religion Traced From 33 A.D to Date by Andrew Dugger and C.O. Dodd. Armstrong later commissioned additional research into the history, resulting in A True History of the True Church, by his associate Herman Hoeh.

The resulting account went back to Stephen Mumford’s Seventeenth Century congregations in Rhode Island, and from there, in reverse order chronologically, they traced themselves back to the so-called Sabbatarians, Lollards, Waldensians, Bogomils, Athyngani (or Athingians) and Paulicians of medieval and ancient European fame, and beyond them on down to certain early Christians congregations primarily in Italy and Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), including early church leaders like Polycarp and Polycrates of Ephesus — who had contact with the apostle John in his latter years, and who, notably, had fought for the observance of Passover and against Easter — and ultimately down to the Apostles. The Church of God and the WCG cited some supporting evidence to assert that the common denominators of all these Christian groups include Sabbath keeping (seventh day), the name “Church of God” (the names history knows them by, according to this view, were nicknames imposed by outsiders and enemies), the primacy of God’s law, rejection of the Trinity, belief that the Holy Spirit is the spiritual power of God for man, the keeping of the traditional Old Testament Holy Days (rejecting Christmas and Easter as non-Biblical innovations), and other doctrines.

Loma Armstrong's interaction with this church led to a confrontation between her and Armstrong. As he described in his autobiography, his wife was now interacting and accepting the beliefs of a seemingly unique, non-mainstream Christian church, something which he knew the business community and high society frowned upon.

Beginnings of Armstrong's ministry

Based on a discussion with Mrs. Runcorn, his wife Loma was persuaded that the Bible taught Sabbath observance on Saturday, the seventh day. Her assertion of this to her husband was met with dismay. As recounted in his autobiography, he had aspired to rub shoulders with men of sophistication and great success, but her new beliefs threatened that, initially appearing to him to be "religious fanaticism." She challenged him to find an authority somewhere in the Bible for Sunday observance, so he decided to end her "fanaticism" by disproving her belief, confident that the majority of churches were following the Bible teaching.

As his business was struggling against larger competitors, Armstrong had the time to take up the challenge; he began what would become a life-long habit of intensive, lengthy Bible study sessions by himself, including exhaustive cross-referencing of scriptures combined with the study of the original Greek and Hebrew renderings.

He soon felt God was inspiring this, opening his mind to “truths” that historical Christian churches had not found or accepted. In the course of his research, he also studied the writings of various Christian denominations, and even looked into works regarding more esoteric subjects such as pyramidology.

Shortly after, as related in his autobiography, his sister-in-law ridiculed Armstrong for not accepting the teachings of Charles Darwin on the evolution of the species. This was at a time when evolution was in the news thanks to the highly publicized Scopes Trial in Tennessee, litigated from 1925 through the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1927. This issue became a major part of the foundation of Armstrong's conversion. Though not very religious at the time, he had always taken the existence of God for granted, and began to study evolution extensively (and would later write frequently and in detail about what he had uncovered, focusing on a scientific refutation of evolution). His studies on the Sabbath and evolution convinced him that his wife was right, and that the theory of evolution was false. Overall, this became the starting point of Armstrong's delving into the Bible, and for several months he devoted virtually all his free time in this pursuit.

Ultimately, while an ordained Church of God (Seventh Day) minister , Armstrong soon became perplexed about whether the Church of God (Seventh Day) could be "God's true church" or not. On the one hand, this church seemed by far closer to the biblical description of the true church, in his view, than any other. He believed scripture prophesied the Church would never die, would be a tiny flock, and that they would be a Ten Commandment abiding, Sabbath-keeping Church, and he knew that the name of the church in the epistles was "Church of God" and would always be kept in the Father's name; yet he was amazed at the church's extremely limited impact on the world, and in their lack of understanding of what he believed was the Gospel that the Apostles had preached.

Further, he had been greatly disappointed when he had approached the ministry with what he thought was a wonderful biblical truth: a manuscript that he had been working on about the biblical identity of the American and British peoples in prophecy. Armstrong would write years later that the top ministers agreed with his findings but did not want to proclaim it (it would later be published by Armstrong under the title The United States and Britain in Prophecy). In his autobiography, he stated that he came to realize that it was in fact the true church, but that its "weak spiritual condition" had been prophesied in the third chapter of the book of Revelation, and that this spiritual weakness was causing God to now direct him in leading a revived work into the next church era.

Ministerial opposition and new direction

In the spring of 1933, a controversy arose that Armstrong later credited as the test that propelled the major work that followed. Two local Church of God minsters, Sven (Sam) A. Oberg and A.J. Ray, believed Armstrong's pre-baptism counseling should emphasize abstinence from unclean meats and "thorough education" of God's law. Armstrong agreed with the importance of God's law but said scripture taught new converts who understood what was taught must repent immediately of sin as they understood it and be baptize immediately, receiving deeper knowledge of the law later. According to Armstrong, Oberg and Ray succeeded in getting the church leadership to force Armstrong to handle baptism "their way". Armstrong immediately wrote a letter canceling his $3 a week pay. He did not resign from the conference but refused further salary. Armstrong continued fellowshipping with the members and the ministry but soon his ministerial license was revoked over the obvious doctrinal differences--apparently as a formality in 1938,. as he had already begun sharing his diverging views over the radio in September of 1933.

In 1933 Armstrong began holding public Bible studies in and around Eugene, Oregon, inviting people who had shown interest. This campaign was successful and small congregations began to sprout up. The subject of his first radio broadcast, conducted that year, was on the "Gospel of the Kingdom of God".

Radio and publishing

In October 1933, a small 100-watt radio station in Eugene, Oregon, KORE, offered free time to Mr. Armstrong for a morning devotional, a 15-minute time slot shared by other local ministers. After positive responses from listeners, the station owner let Armstrong start a new program of his own. THe broadcasting fees were $2.50 at a time when Armstrong's own salary was only $3.00 a week. On the first Sunday in 1934, the Radio Church of God was born. These broadcasts eventually became the well-known, The World Tomorrow, of the future Worldwide Church of God. Shortly thereafter, in February, 1934, Armstrong began the publication of The Plain Truth, which started out as a normal church bulletin. The broadcast expanded to other cities, including KXL in Portland, Oregon and KSLM in Salem, Oregon in 1936. In 1937, Armstrong signed on with the more powerful KWJJ. Shortly thereafter, radio stations in Seattle in 1940 and Los Angeles in 1942 were recruited to broadcast the program.

From his new contacts in Los Angeles, Armstrong began to realize the potential for reaching a much larger audience. He searched for a suitable location and chose Pasadena, California, as being ideal as it was a conservative residential community. During this time, Armstrong also reflected on starting a college to train people in his growing church. Hence, in 1946 Armstrong moved his headquarters from Eugene to Pasadena and on March 3, 1946, the Radio Church of God was officially incorporated within the state of California. It quickly acquired its own printing plant and was broadcasting internationally in prime-time radio time slots. On October 8, 1947, his new college, Ambassador College opened its doors with four students.

Reaching out to the world

During the 1950s and 1960s, the church continued to expand and the radio program was broadcast in England, Australia, the Philippines, Latin America, and Africa.

In 1952, The World Tomorrow began to air on Radio Luxembourg, making it possible to hear the program throughout much of Europe. The beginning of the European broadcast provides the context of a booklet published in 1956 called 1975 in Prophecy! In this controversial book, Armstrong hypothetically portrayed a scenario with 1975 as the possible date, conveying vividly one prophetic possibility. He thought that World War III and Christ's return was as the doorstep, probably to occur within his lifetime--to him a joyous truth, as the Bible describes a utopia to follow, and Armstrong used the eighth chapter of Romans and the second chapter of Hebrews, among other passages, to show that God had exciting plans for mankind that went far beyond an earthly utopia.

Several books and booklets focused on the key events that would signal the imminence of Christ's return, and taught of a specific end-time prophecy to be fulfilled, manifested in the form of European peacekeeping forces surrounding Jerusalem, at which time his church would be taken to a place of protection, or "place of safety" -- possibly Petra in Jordan. World War III was predicted to be triggered by a “United States of Europe” led by Germany which would destroy both the United States of America and the United Kingdom. From the place of safety they would continue the work and prepare to help Christ establish Utopia upon His return.

During his life these several books and booklets were published by the church and distributed for free "as a public service." This literature included a fifty-lesson Bible correspondence course which used hundreds of scriptures to explain the Bible and doctrine. The book The United States and Britain in Prophecy was published, the content of which Armstrong pointed to as proof of the Bible's authority, and it became the most well known and requested church publication with over five million copies distributed. The Plain Truth magazine continued to be published and circulated, eventually reaching a monthly press run of eight million, the vast majority of which were distributed free to medical waiting rooms, prisons and on newsstands.

Becoming the Worldwide Church of God

On January 5, 1968, Armstrong’s church was renamed the Worldwide Church of God. By this time, Garner Ted Armstrong (the son of Herbert W. Armstrong) was the voice and face of the new television version of The World Tomorrow. It was speculated that with his charisma and personality, he was the logical successor to Armstrong, but doctrinal disagreements and widespread reports of extramarital sex led to his suspension; after initially changing his behavior he returned, but these issues resurfaced, coupled with his challenging his father's authority as Pastor General, resulting in his permanent excommunication.

The volume of literature requests for material written by Armstrong continued to grow during the 1960's and 70s, and the literature was translated into several languages and distributed to a worldwide audience.

Humanitarian Projects Lead to Invitations From Royalty & Heads of State

During the sixties “Armstrong had sought to put into stronger action what he termed God’s ‘way of give.’” To Armstrong and his students, this is generally said to include “the way of character, generosity, cultural enrichment, true education: of beautifying the environment and caring for fellow man.” He began undertaking humanitarian projects, selecting underprivileged pockets around the world, which eventually led to the creation of the church-run Ambassador International Cultural Foundation in 1975. The Foundation’s efforts reached into several continents, providing staffing and funds to fight illiteracy, create schools for the disabled, set up mobile schools, and provide funding and staffing for several archaeological digs of biblically significant sites. The auditorium he built through the church hosted hundreds of performances at highly subsidized ticket prices of top performers including opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills and Placido Domingo; pianists Arthur Rubenstein and Valdimir Horowitz; cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Mstislav Rostropovich; Jazz singers Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, and Bing Crosby; other artists included Andres Segovia, James Galway, Marcel Marceau, and Bop Hope.

These humanitarian projects led to Armstrong receiving a remarkable series of invitations to meet with royalty and prominent world heads of state. The list included Margaret Thatcher, King Leopold III of Belgium, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Indira Ghandi, Anwar Sadat, Hosni Mubarik, Golda Meir Manachem Begin, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, Thai Prime Minster Prem Tinsulanonda, the late King Hussein of Jordan, Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (along with six successive Japanese Prime ministers), Ferdinand Marcos and top of leaders of China. He shared with them what he had always termed the "true" gospel of the Kingdom of God, afterwards claiming to have avoided religious sounding language and terminology, but speaking in plain, everyday layman’s’ terms.

Armstrong subsequently received several awards, the most prominent being the watch he received from then-abdicated King Leopold III of Belgium: the king's father, King Albert, had four such watches made from a World War I shell casing, to be presented to the four people who he felt made the greatest contributions to world peace. The first three were awarded almost immediately, going to General John J. ("Blackjack") Pershing, Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch, and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, (all of whom he apparently felt had brought peace by ending the specter of German aggression in Europe). Four decades passed before the last watch was awarded: by then Leopold had learned of Armstrong, as the Plain Truth magazine had been using some of Leopold's safari photos. He awarded the fourth watch to Armstrong in November, 1970.

Final years

The church, at its zenith membership, peaked at over 100,000 worldwide.

In August 1985, Armstrong’s final work, Mystery of the Ages, was published. He called it a “synopsis of the Bible in the most plain and understandable language”. It was more or less a compendium of Armstrong’s theology. This work is treasured by his followers, and the publishing copyright would become the source of lawsuits between the Worldwide Church of God and one of its splinter groups, the Philadelphia Church of God.

Armstrong had hoped and speculated that Jesus Christ would return in his lifetime judged on the sequence of events that the Bible - according to his understanding - indicated must precede the return of Jesus Christ. He had long written of, in The Plain Truth magazine, the belief that the primary sign to look for would be some sort of dissolving of the Eastern Bloc alliance under Soviet control, followed by those nations' subsequent incorporation into an eastern leg of a sort of United States of Europe. This, of course, certainly appeared to happen three years after his death, but the timing of these events, though not greatly surprising to him (according to his writings), was later than he had long hoped for.

In September 1985, with his failing health widely known, Armstrong disappeared from public view. Normally, he would have appeared at that year’s Feast of Tabernacles, a regularly held church festival. It was the first festival he was unable to attend since the church’s founding. According to The Worldwide News, Armstrong told his advisory council of his decision to appoint Joseph W. Tkach on January 7, 1986. Only nine days after naming his successor, Armstrong died on January 16, 1986, at the age of 93.

Further reading

• Herbert W. Armstrong, Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Vol. 1
• Herbert W. Armstrong, Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Vol. 2
• Ambassador Report, John Trechak, June 1976 to April 1999.
• 15 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert Armstrong, published February 2003.
• About Our Founder, Worldwide Church of God
• A history of the True Religion Traced From 33 A.D. to Date, by A. Dugger and C.O. Dodd
• Mystery of the Ages, by Herbert W. Armstrong
• Herbert W. Armstrong Searchable Library