Worldwide Church of God collapse

by cog_survivor 42 Replies latest jw friends

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  jam

  Welcome, good read.
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  Bonnie_Clyde

  Many years ago I wrote Herbert Armstrong a letter asking if he had ever been a Jehovah's Witness. He responded that he had never been a witness but that he had read our magazines.
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  binadub

  That was my understanding, too, back in the 1960s. I think the idea that he had been a JW may have evolved a little later, but I could be wrong.

  ~Binadub
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  yknot

  Thank you for sharing...... Very very interesting.... Reminds me of the post Dogpatch put up about them a few years ago...... I thought it was a parody at first but it was a man making an appeal on behalf of the belief system... I only know one JW couple who has ever had any contact with HWA followers...... Again thank you for sharing!
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  smiddy

  Welcome,a very interesting post , I was familiar with the" plain truth"in the 60`s and thought how similar it was to jw`s. The new adverts we are seeing now claiming H.W Armstrong was right ,who are behind that campaign ? just curious

  smiddy
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  bigmac

  COG wrote--

  "because the church was their control and they had little internal self control."

  hmmmm. just what i think about most JW's.
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  Hermano

  Very interesting, thanks for posting.
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  cog_survivor

  Herbert Amstrong didn't seem to have any compunction about borrowing from other religions and repackaging it as his own personal reveal from God. Since members were discouraged against reading other religious publications, he could get by with it.

  There's an anecdote in a letter on line from someone who knew him back in the day that said he used an article from a 7th day Adventist paper in his own publication to the church and claimed that God revealed it to him (no credit to the article). When this gentleman called him on it, he said that he did read the article and God revealed it to be true to him.

  Binadub - After Tkach assumed authority a lot of the top guys laid low for a bit but then when the rumblings of change happened they began to peel off to form their own groups.

  Gerald Flurry - formed the Phildelphia Church of God. Worldwide rules at their harshest point is his line

  Roderick Meredith - eventually ended up as head of the Living Church of God. Richard Ames is his sidekick from the old regime. They pretty much adher to all the old Worldwide rules but attitude is a little less harsh because they are still attempting to pull in the disaffected from the other groups

  David Pack - heads the Restored Church of God. Mostly internet and bluster based

  Several others went off to form the "United Church of God" which attempts to run the church by committee. They adher to the old Worldwide Rules but try to be a bit nicer about it. (still too controlling and lacking transparency from what I hear)

  United Church of God experienced a split recently I think they formed the Church of God an International Association

  Smiddy - The "he was right campaign" (gag) is put out by Gerald Flurry's group
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  kurtbethel

  My Church of God sojourn is this:

  Around 1972 my mom used to listen to GTA on the radio, a show called the World Tomorrow. Around 1975 I was at the fairgrounds and signed up for my free "Plain Truth" magazine. Around the same time I was also getting Bible Students' Divine Plan of the Ages. Around 1984 I was reading Plain Truth and other publications. Keep in mind that I read a lot of other stuff, with more of a scholarly interest that being a true believer.

  A couple years ago I listened to several talks by a David Pack. The man is full of arrogance and bombast, so I deleted the talks and moved on. Interesting Adventist offshoot there.
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  binadub

  cog_survivor:

  Did you happen to know Leroy Neff?

  ~Binadub