Amid growing false cults, this important question is answered for King’s "Business readers: WHAT DOES ARMSTRONG PREACH? by Herbert V. Caneday, Member Editorial Committee,
Religion Analysis Service, Inc., Mpls., Minn. M any have appealed to this organization for infor mation about the teachings and belief of Herbert W. Armstrong of Pasadena, California. This radio person ality is supposedly the head of a school he calls Ambas sador College, editor of two periodicals, publisher of a Bible correspondence course, and main speaker on his own radio broadcast known as “ The World Tomorrow.” Discerning Christians quickly sense that his message is something less than orthodox and therefore unsound from the Scriptural standpoint. His doctrinal bias is peculiarly his own and that of a few associates he has gathered around himself. It seems to have no designative name as yet, unless one should call it “ Armstrongism.” Further more it is one of those hybrid things that is part of one thing and part of another; but it stands distinctly separate as being neither of the two. We understand that this man was once in Seventh- day Adventism and broke with that organized system. However, his teachings reveal that he did not forsake all the errors of that church, when he turned to embrace British-Israelism. Thus in himself and in his followers he has brought about a remarkably logical union of two illogical and unscriptural systems of teaching. But this merging of parts of two false cults cannot be expected to produce a new system that will be less erroneous than its spurious parentage. As editor of THE GOOD NEWS, Mr. Armstrong en dorsed an article entitled, “ Truth About Unclean Meats,” by one of his associates, Raymond F. McNair in the March, 1953 issue. In the concluding paragraph he leaves one with the unmistakable impression that there is no salvation for those who eat pork or other unclean meats as he says: “Where will you cast your lot? With those who partake of the forbidden foods and ruin your health, and receive God’s final judgment — to be destroyed? Or will you obey God’s perfect laws and live more healthily, happily, and abundantly now and forever? ‘Choose you this day whom ye will serve’ .” As editor of the above mentioned paper, Mr. Armstrong is equally guilty with the author of that false statement for its implications that eternal life may be obtained by abstaining from eating certain foods. God’s Word makes no such errors in its teaching. Another error held over from Seventh-day Adventism is Armstrong’s teaching that the ten commandments are binding upon Christians today. This man is also editor of THE PLAIN TRUTH and therefore responsible for the teaching in that paper. In the September, 1956, issue
he printed an article by Roderick C. Meredith entitled “ Is Obedience to God Required for Salvation?” The author insists tjre ten commandments are not “ done away” as is said in II Corinthians, chapter three, and therefore they are still in force. The seriousness of this Galatianism is revealed in a statement at the conclusion of the above mentioned article on page 24 — “You will have to repent of breaking God’s law. You will need to be baptized as an outward symbol of your willingness to bury your old, disobedient self. Then, God will give you the Holy Spirit, through which you w ill receive the love to keep His law.” This is preaching salvation by deeds of the law, concerning which Paul declared, “ Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” That which the Scriptures declared to be the “ministration of death,” these make to be the way of salvation. Mr. Armstrong himself wrote in THE GOOD NEWS, Page 14, of July 1952 saying, “The law provides for both worship of God, religiously, and obedience to God, and blessings from God -—•every need of man for his own good is a living, active, continuous relationship with the all wise, all powerful, all loving God.” If “ every need of man” is thus supplied in the law, why did Jesus Christ die for man’s sin, and why should these wish to call themselves Christians? This is pure Judaism. Most of our readers will have anticipated Mr. Arm strong’s next error as being that of Sabbath keeping. Here again he manifests the S.D.A. influence coupled with his belief that he is a part of the nation of Israel after the flesh. Under the title, “What is the Sign of a Christian?” Mr. Rod Meredith wrote in THE GOOD NEWS of July, 1952, saying, “Your Bible proclaims a definite SIGN by which God knows you are one of His children.” That sign, of course, is Sabbath keeping. He attacks preachers who do not keep the fourth command ment and says, “ God is going to punish these false preachers for misleading His people Israel — Britain and America.” (P. 3). He continued, “ The Bible says that if you are a Christian, you are spiritually an Israelite (Gal. 3:29) . . . The Gentiles who were not given this SIGN were without hope and without God. As long as you follow the practices and laws of the Gentiles you can’t be saved.” (P. 4). All of this is in opposition to God’s simple plan of salvation that is to be found, not in observing a day, but in receiving the Person of His only begotten Son. Still worse and more of the leaven of false teaching of
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