Another only one

by Gig 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  abbagail

  Welcome Loris! Nice to see you "out and about" again!

  The other day, the subject of Herbert Armstrong came up at LRD also, with a few of us wondering whether he had ever been a JW, and I knew I had written the WT a letter back in the 80's inquiring about Armstrong, but at the time didn't feel like looking for it in the file cabinets, lol.
  http://www.lambsroar.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=2172#2172
  http://www.lambsroar.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=2173#2173
  http://www.lambsroar.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=2174#2174
  http://www.lambsroar.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=2184#2184

  Now that I see the same subject being discussed here at JWD here, I had to see if I could find that letter, to confirm what I remembered. Since the WT has been known to fib, maybe their response to the letter was also a lie (the part about HW not being a JW at any time). Either way, I have re-typed the letter word for word since I do not have a scanner, and I posted it here, FYI...

  Letter to Me from WTS re: Herbert Armstrong, 5/7/86
  http://www.lambsroar.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=2262#2262
  Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2003 10:25 am
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  Nathan Natas

  Here is an "apostate" WWCOG website that might be of interest. This fellow's sad story is similar to what many JWs have experienced, with different "rituals." The site's name "The Painful Truth" is a play on Armstrong's "The Plain Truth."

  http://www.herbertwarmstrong.com/pain.htm

  To quote from GRITS' letter from the WTS about HWA's affiliation with the WTS, mentioned above:

  In a paper authored by Mr. Armstrong, the statement is made that he has "never been a member of the 'Jehovah's Witnesses,'" and we have no reason to doubt this statement.

  Sometimes if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck it might be a goose - a completely different bird. There is no evidence that BOTH the WTS and HWA were lying. HWA was never a JW.

  It is plainly true that HWA borrowed a bit from here and a bit from there with which to cobble together his theology.

  Personally, I think the WWCOG doctrine of mandatory TRIPLE TITHING (30%!!!) was a masterpiece of uncaring cynicism. Many WWCOG members went into debt or lived lives of deprivation to meet the requirements of the WWCOG.

  Oddly (to me at least) the WWCOG "looked foward" to 1972, just as the WTS did, and apparently modified their expecation to 1975, as did the WTS.

  As Yerusalem mentions, when HW Armstong died, his hand-picked successor (who was not his own son, Garner Ted Armstong, by the way) began an intensive reform of the church, and it became much more mainstream. As a consequence, most of its members left, in search of the high control that validated their lives. They had no trouble finding it, as many "orthodox" variants sprung up, each claiming to follow Herbert W's path.

  Garner Ted Armstrong has his own personal sexual scandals lead him to expulsion from his father's church and then to expulsion from a church that GT Armstong founded but did not exercise sole control of. Now Garner Ted has his own organization and is in sole control of it. Whoop-tee-doo for him.

  Edited by - Nathan Natas on 3 February 2003 12:0:51
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  Elsewhere

  I remember hearing Armstrong's name around the Kingdom Hall in hushed tones because he was THE Apostate of all apostates. My Mother would just get all shivery thinking about how demonized *he* must be!

  Makes one wonder... how many demons can dance on the head of an apostate?
• 

  jazbug

  Here's the answer I got when I wrote to the WW Church of God concerning Herbert Armstrong:

  Greetings Mary, Thank you for your message. Herbert Armstrong was not affiliated with the Jehovah's Witnesses. However, during the years when Armstrong formed his theological ideas, he came into contact with various religious groups and their writings and teachings. These included Jehovahs Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, the Church of God (Seventh Day), the Seventh-Day Baptists, Pentecostals as well as evangelical Protestant groups and individuals. For example, he studiously read and admired the works of Charles Finney, the influential nineteenth-century American evangelist. Armstrong and his wife attended various churches. I hope this answers your question. Your interest is appreciated. Paul Kroll Personal Correspondence