By Billy Hall, Contributor 
Herbert W. Armstrong founder of the Worldwide Church of God. - File Photo
HOW DID it happen? Historians of the Christian Faith are astonished those who are by now aware and convinced of a church moving itself from heresy to orthodoxy. One reason for the slow movement of the story is the incredibility of the unprecedented event.
Another reason for the slow recognition is the reluctance of mainstream evangelicals to be convinced that the Worldwide Church of God has been theologically 'reborn', and so is a bona fide evangelical church.
In that classic work, Kingdom of the Cults, as many as 34 pages are devoted to explaining 'Armstrongism', the teachings of the founder and ruler of the Worldwide Church of God for 50 years. Now, all those pages have to be deleted, not because Herbert W. Armstrong has died but because his teachings too, have died, and have been buried by his appointed successor.
Herbert W. Armstrong, a successful USA advertising and business executive, as well as flamboyant preacher, used his secular skills to promote his beliefs and wage 'war' against all other churches for approximately 50 years, particularly through the media empire of his making The Plain Truth magazine, and the radio and television programme entitled The World Tomorrow.
MASS MEDIA
According to him, he was a specially raised up 'Messenger of God', with only two predecessors the Apostle Paul in the first century, and in the Middle Ages, a businessman faithful to the Word, Peter Waldo. Again and again, Armstrong proclaimed himself to be the only true Apostle since New Testament days, and his church the only true church, preaching the only true message of salvation.
Through his use of the mass media millions heard him, and in 1988 when the church peaked, the membership numbered 145,000 in 800 congregations, in more than 100 countries, and the annual budget was estimated at US $200 million. His financial support came from the faithful congregants. From offices in California he issued apostolic 'revelations' and decrees that included members paying as a standard procedure triple tithes 10 per cent for regular giving, 10 per cent for benevolent or philanthropic causes relevant to needy members, and 10 per cent to cover annual expenses to celebrate the annual feast of Tabernacles.
Members came under strict rules. Women could not wear short hair and men could not wear long hair. Women were told not to use makeup, and both men and women were forbidden to smoke. But strangely, drinking was allowed in moderation. Indeed, the rules were a mixed bag, for dancing, card playing and movie going were permitted. Yet, the weight of the rules restricted severely. Members were warned against developing close friendships with 'outsiders, and against celebrating 'pagan' holidays - Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day - or becoming involved in worldly activities such as politics, even through voting or holding of governmental office.
The Sabbath-keeping demands were detailed and demanding, from Friday evening sundown to Saturday evening sundown. Similarly, several Old Testament Feasts were kept - The Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and The Last Great Day ((Leviticus 23: 36).
One of his quirky rules outlawed consulting medical doctors. He believed instead that the sick should follow the injunction of the Apostle James in his Epistle and call for the local church elders, who will then anoint them with oil, and pray over them, and as God's Word promises, he told his followers, they would be healed.
But in the last seven years of his life he experienced more and more angina pain because of his heart problem and so began taking nitro glycerin pills. At one point he was taking 17 medications daily. Not surprisingly, shortly before his death in 1986, at the age of 93 years, he suggested re-examination of his "inspired" teachings, beginning with those having to do with healing.
Until then, no leader ever questioned his "inspired" rulings. Greg Albrecht, Editor of the Plain Truth, in 1977 was quoted in the magazine, Religious Broadcasting, in which he commented that Herbert Armstrong "believed that he alone was the apostle and that the ministers and members should simply implement and follow his instructions. There was little chance of doctrinal dialogue".
But after his death in January 1986, at age 94 his appointed successor followed through on the founder's deathbed suggestion to re-examine doctrines, and pursued that purpose rigorously and comprehensively. His successor, Joseph Tkach Sr. (pronounced Ta-cotch), invited other leaders to join him in a thorough examination of the denomination's teachings.
EXAMINERS
The principal examiners were Joseph Tkach Sr., Joseph Tkach Jr., Greg Albrecht, the magazine editor, and Michael Feazell, the church administrator. These came to be known pejoratively as, "The Gang of Four".
The process was long and agonising, taking several years before the most definitive and public pronouncement was made, in December 1994, when Joseph Tkach Sr, in a celebrated sermon, subsequently published, and circulated widely, told the faithful that they were New Covenant Christians, no longer under obligation to keep Old Covenant worship requirements.
Before Joseph Tkach, Sr., died in 1995 he appointed his son, Joseph Tkach Jr., to succeed him. Faithful to his father's vision, the son has continued the historic journey to orthodoxy in the evangelical tradition, even though the road to orthodoxy was rocky and the journey painful.
He says the whole exercise was most stressful for his father, who was flooded with questions, and continually attacked as having ulterior motives. But the only agenda the doctrinal evaluation team of four had, he explains, was to do diligent research and to give honest answers.
Working as a team, he said, they would continually share thoughts, consult others, write papers, teach, present sermons, all in an effort to get things right. Meanwhile, some members were resigning, some were drifting, and some were attacking, he says.
Well, they did seem to get it right, for in May 1997 the Worlwide Church of God was accepted as a member of the (US) National Association of Evangelicals, accepting the NAE's Statement of Faith. The journey was complete, from heretical sect to evangelical orthodoxy.
