|
14 AUG 09
Looking around I find that Herbert is still a very controversial figure.
There are those who worship the ground he walked on, believing that his word was the absolute truth; and that even God's
word must be interpreted by Herbert Armstrong's word. Then there are those who have detected some errors and having
looked to him, as a god; have become so dissilusioned that they have turned against religion in general. It is my purpose
to maintain balance on all things.
HWA was a MAN. He was NOT perfect. He was not infallable. He was NOT God.
Neither was he totallly wrong in all things, nor was he totally evil. He was a MAN, like anyone else. Subject to the temptations
of all men and possessing his own set of weaknesses.
On this site I have mentioned some of his errors and failings.
I wanted to take the time to present some of the things that he had RIGHT.
1) He was right about a
Seventh day Sabbath
2) He was right about how to observe the Sabbath until about 1967, when he began
to water down doctrine
3) He was right about the day ending at sunset
4) He
was right about Passover being seperate from Unleavened Bread
5) He was right about how to observe
Passover and when
6) He eventually corrected himself and grew to understand a Sunday Pentecost, which
was correct
7) He was right about unclean meats
8) He was right about keeping
all God's commandments
9) He was right about eternal punishing in an everlasting hell fire being
false
10) He was right about the imortality of the soul and that the sinning soul shall die
11) He was right about tithing although too extreme in demanding it, lacking mnercy for the widow ect
12)
He was right to a large degree in explaining the Wave Offering
13) He was right to observe the Holy Days
14) He was right about British Israel, although he certainly did NOT originate that idea
15)
He was right about identifying the Holy Roman Empire as the final beast of ten nations
16) He was right about
identifying the Pope as a false pfophet
17) He was right in condemning the Primacy of Peter until he was
subverted about 1970
18) He was right in condemning hierachical church government until he was subverted
in about 1970
19) He was right in saying that the true Church is not an organization, but consists of those
who have God's Spirit. He later came to change this in practice and claimed to be the one true church. Many
of the daughters of that group also make such a blasphemous, God limiting, claim. Wherever God dwells, that is his temple;
his church. If He dwells in you, you are God's church regardless of where you live or whether you belong to a particular
group.
My take on Herbert W Armstrong. He was a man of extreme personality and energy.
He was a work in progress, making many mistakes and also learning from many of them. He thundered many failed prophecies
in the Name of the Lord; according to Deu 18:22, that makes him a false prophet. It is my fond hope that
he was a man ordained too young in the faith, who became lifted up in his own heart, and being consumed with zeal yet lacking
a good understanding, he presumed too much; and committed this sin. I sincerely hope that he found his error and repented.
Having been raised a Quaker by an authoritarian father, he was himself autocratic and over authoritarion. In
the 30's to 1970, he at least tried to put God first and did his best to control his difficult nature. After that,
he was totally subverted by Herman Hoeh and Stan Rader who played on his natural tendencies, to cause him to reverse certain
teachings and convert to the Masonic teaching that man can become equal with God, as well as the Catholic; Primacy of Peter
and Church Government errors.
Whether he found space to repent of that and what his relationship with God
ultimately became, is between him and Almighty God. I will not presume to be his judge. I do hope and pray, with
all my heart that he, along with every other human being will in the end overcome their faults and find the mercy of God.
For better or worse Herbert Armstrong was a remarkable man. Perhaps God allowed these things to both teach
him and to teach us, not to put men on so very high a pedestal. All people need to learn to rely on Almighty God and not on
other fallable men. Check and prove all things by God's word.
|
