Herbert W. Armstrong Died 24 Years Ago
Hebert W. Armstrong died on January 16, 1986, at age 93 1/2. Many never heard of him, but millions did.
To learn a little about how he approached religion as a young man, here are some excerpts from his Autobiography:
Before our marriage my wife had been quite interested in Bible study. She had been for years an active Methodist.
After marriage, although she had not lost her interest in the Christian life and the Bible, she had not had the same opportunity to express it, or participate in religious fellowship with others. While we lived in Maywood, suburb of Chicago, we had joined the River Forest Methodist Church. The fellowship there had been more social than spiritual or Biblical.
But all Mrs. Armstrong’s active interest in things Biblical was reawakened when she became acquainted with Mrs. Runcorn. One day Mrs. Runcorn gave her a Bible study. She asked my wife to turn to a certain passage and read it. Then a second, then a third, and so on for about an hour. Mrs. Runcorn made no comment — gave no explanation or argument — just asked my wife to read aloud a series of Biblical passages.
“Why!” exclaimed Mrs. Armstrong in amazement, “do all these Scriptures say that I’ve been keeping the wrong day as the Sabbath all my life?”
“Well, do they?” asked Mrs. Runcorn. “Don’t ask me whether you have been wrong — you shouldn’t believe what any person tells you, but only what GOD tells you through the Bible. What does He tell you, there? What do you see there with your own eyes?”
“Why, it’s as plain as anything could be!” exclaimed Mrs. Armstrong. “Why, this is a wonderful discovery. I must rush back to tell my husband the good news. I know he’ll be overjoyed!”
A minute or so later, Mrs. Armstrong came running into my parents’ home, with the “good news.”
My jaw dropped! This was the worst news I had ever heard! My wife gone into religious fanaticism!
“Have you gone CRAZY?” I asked, incredulously. “Of course not! I was never more sure of anything in my life,” responded my wife with enthusiasm.
Indeed, I wondered if she really had lost her mind! Deciding to “keep Saturday for Sunday!” Why, that seemed like rank FANATICISM! And my wife had always had such a sound mind! There was nothing shallow about her. She had always had a well-balanced mind, with depth.
But now, suddenly — THIS! It seemed incredible — preposterous! “Loma,” I said sternly, “this is simply too ridiculous to believe! I am certainly not going to tolerate any such religious fanaticism in our family! You’ll have to give that up right here and now!”
But she wouldn’t! “Doesn’t the Bible say that wives must be obedient to their husbands?” I asked.
“Yes, in the Lord, but not contrary to the Lord,” she came back.
It was amazing how many logical arguments came to my mind. But always she had the answer.
I felt I could not tolerate such humiliation. What would my friends say? What would former business acquaintances think? Nothing had ever hit me where it hurt so much — right smack in the heart of all my pride and vanity and conceit! And this mortifying blow had to fall immediately on top of confidence-crushing financial reverses!
In desperation, I said: “Loma, you can’t tell me that all these churches have been wrong all these hundreds of years! Why, aren’t these all CHRIST’S churches?”
“Then,” came back Mrs. Armstrong, “why do they all disagree on so many doctrines? Why does each one teach differently than the others?”
“But,” I still contended, “Isn’t the Bible the very source of the teaching of all these Christian churches? And they do all agree on observing Sunday! I’m sure the Bible says, ‘Thou shalt keep SUNDAY!’ “
“Well, does it?” smiled my wife, handing me a Bible. “Show it to me, if it does — and I’ll do what it says.”
“I don’t know where to find it. You know I’m no Bible student, I could never understand the Bible. But I know the Bible must command the observance of Sunday, because all the churches observe Sunday, except the Seventh-Day Adventists, and they’re regarded as fanatics. The Sabbath was the day for the Jews.”
I even threatened divorce, if my wife refused to give up this fanaticism, though in my heart I didn’t really mean it. In our family divorce was a thing unheard of — and beside, I was very much in love with my wife — though at the moment I was boiling over with anger.
“If you can prove by the Bible that Christians are commanded to observe Sunday, then of course I’ll do what I see in the Bible!”
This was her challenge. “O.K.,” I answered, “I’ll make you this proposition: I don’t know much about the Bible — I just never could seem to understand it. But I do have an analytical mind. I’ve become experienced in research into business problems, getting the facts and analyzing them. Now I’ll make a complete and thorough study of this question in the Bible. All these churches can’t be wrong. I’ll prove to you in the Bible that you are mistaken!”
This was in the autumn of 1926…
WE HAD MOVED TO the Pacific Northwest in the summer of 1924. My wife’s brother, Walter Dillon, and her sister Bertha, had driven Walter’s Model T Ford back to Iowa in August…In June, 1925, Walter and his young wife, together with Bertha and my wife’s father, had returned to Oregon…
Walter’s wife had been indoctrinated with the theory of evolution in college. One day she and I became engaged in a discussion. The evolutionary doctrine came into the conversation. I mentioned that I was not convinced of its validity.
“Herbert Armstrong, you are simply IGNORANT!” accused Hertha. Her words stabbed deeply into what was left of my ego. “One is uneducated, and ignorant, unless he believes in evolution. All educated people now believe it.”
That accusation came hot on the heels of this Sabbath challenge from my wife. Of course, Bertha was only about 19, and had had but her freshman year in college. She was yet immature enough to be a bit oversold on what had been presented to her as a mark of intellectual distinction. Nevertheless, her manner was cutting, and a bit sarcastic, and I accepted it as a challenge.
“Hertha,” I responded, “I am just starting a study of the Bible. I intend to include in this research a thorough study of the Biblical account of creation. Since it is admittedly one of the two — evolution or special creation — I will include an in-depth study of evolution. I feel sure that a thorough study into both sides will show that it is you who are ignorant, and that you merely studied one side of a two-sided question in freshman biology, and accepted what was funneled into your mind without question. And if and when I do, I’m going to make you EAT those words!“
And so it developed that I now had a double challenge to go to work on — a dual subject involving both the Biblical claims for special creation, and also a more in-depth study than before into texts on biology, geology, paleontology, and the various works on the theory of evolution.
As one exposed to a fair amount of the worlds’ education, I would simply state here that most who claim evolution as truth simply have not studied into it enough. Two articles of related interest may include Is God’s Existence Logical? and Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II.
Part of Herbert W. Armstrong’s legacy is that he took the Bible to be the word of God and taught:
…the Bible tells us to PROVE all things (Armstrong HW. The RESURRECTION was NOT on Sunday. 1952).
Which of course, it does as the Apostle Paul wrote:
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV).
Sadly many have falsely maligned Herbert W. Armstrong (please see the article 15 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong), while others have exalted him beyond appropriateness (please see the article The Elijah Heresies ). Since his death, only relatively few seemed to really understand his work and what he felt Christ expected of the church.
Those truly interested in learning more about Herbert W. Armstrong, should read the article Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today?.
And everyone should try to live by the following teaching of Herbert W. Armstrong:
“Don’t believe me – BELIEVE YOUR BIBLE – BELIEVE GOD! I always say…check up! Listen without prejudice, with open mind, then check up–go to your BIBLE, and BELIEVE what you read there.”
(Herbert W. Armstrong, Plain Truth magazine, Sept. 1963, Personal pg.1)
Several articles of possibly related interest include:
Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today? Includes quotes from the 1973 edition of The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong and explains how he is and should be viewed today.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from evangelists?
Here are Some Quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong on Laodicea and Holding to Doctrine.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.
 |
Tweet |
|