“I want to make a statement about…me…now, if I became deceived, I will never tell you what I’m going to tell you now…I am telling you if I go off into strange ideas, misconduct, rebellion, you name it, don’t follow me. I want to tell you that now, because if I start doing that I’m gonna try to get you to follow me! I’m gonna come to you and tell you it doesn’t apply, it doesn’t mean me, no, no, no, no, no, no, it’s OK to follow me because ABCD and XY and Z. Do you understand what I’m saying? Listen to me now, when I tell you don’t follow me if I go off into weird ideas, or if I get off into other things that are total absolutely unscriptural conduct, because if I do I’m gonna paint it with a different face and try to get you to follow me. Do you understand what I’m saying brethren? Please remember that, because I promise you that if I become deceived, I’ll forget it, and I’ll want you to forget it…And I hope you’ll remember it well enough to quote it right back to me…But I’ll tell you what, I’m not going anywhere.”
-David C Pack
December 12, 1998
The Clarion Call of Apostle David C. Pack
Video and audio files can be found here and on Rumble
It was clear even when Herbert Armstrong was a minister of the Church of God Seventh Day before he began the Radio Church of God, from the articles he wrote in the Bible Advocate, that he was fascinated and addicted to prophecy — in other words, he was a prophecy nut from the very beginning.
It is speculation, but since he seems to have absorbed all of G. G. Rupert’s publications in his early days in Portland, Oregon at the library, he probably encountered “The Yellow Menace” as well as was directed to British Israelism through Rupert.
He started out in the CoG7D as a low man on the totem pole, but with his “amazing” (non-) knowledge derived from Rupert, he began to ‘see’ (in his own mind) that he was far SUPERIOR to the other ministers and even the leaders of the CoG7D. His pride, hubris, arrogance, narcissism all combined into a force where he believed that he should be the one to be directing things because he had better understanding far and away above everyone else (Robert Coulter labelled him an autocratic liar). If you don’t believe that, just look at the statement that he was the first to preach the gospel in over 1900 years. Because of this, he held the CoG7D leaders and ministers in contempt as being terribly inferior to himself. What an ass.
And so it was that Herbert Armstrong started this trend of prophecy in the Armstrongist churches of God, laying the foundation for the chaos to follow based on his unwarranted assumption that British Israelism was the key to prophecy — thus making himself and all of those following him false prophets upon whom is declared by Scripture to have the death penalty hanging over them, destined (if you believe Revelation) for the Lake of Fire.
There is another amazing thing about all this prophecy, including the European Union which was to usher in the Great Tribulation to take down the United States and Britain: The assumption that he had built the biggest and best of the Sabbath keeping Churches of God, with more members in a church with more ‘life’ than anyone else.
Armstrongism now represents around 10% of all the Sabbath keeping churches of God — a virtual minority, even compared to the Church of God Seventh Day. Yet Armstrongists think in their little minds that collectively they are greater in number than the so-called Sardis Christians.
It seems ironic that at this time, the Armstrongists both think they are rich and increased in goods (as well as membership) AND they have a name that they are living but are really quite dead. (And sometimes deadly.)
The Armstrongists are totally blinded by their Herbert Armstrong idol god to think that their golden calf of Ambassador College have led them into the wilderness on the way to the promised land.
They are half right.
I get a kick out of the way people end up using our materials in perverse and opposite unintended ways. Like the people who state that it sickens them to follow an incestuous pervert so they are glad that it was actually Rupert who consolidated the system of beliefs we all now call “Armstrongism”
Actually, Ol’ Greenberry was just one plagiarized source for the amalgam of Armstrongism. If there had been theological peer review, and educated opinions written, it would have been known that most of what HWA taught was well known, and previously rejected heresy.
We’ve also encountered people who claim to be open-minded, and who claim to read widely, but end up evaluating and correcting all of this input with their ultimate standard—Armstrongism. I have given up hope on the abilities of these people to even recognize something which is superior to, or has more merit than the teachings of HWA.
BB
It was prophecy that got me interested in listening to TWT, as GTA was doing a series on OT prophecies. And in HWA’s own words, he was going to exhaustively research all religions, but the apparent fulfillment of OT prophecies convinced him that Christianity was the true one. When errors in The Proof of the Bible were pointed out, I pondered if that meant HWA would have to keep looking.
There is a thematic tie with the Corporation of God and real corporate tactics. How many corporations capitalized on other people’s ideas, patents and products? When HWA exploded over discovery of errors in The Proof of the Bible, he was placated by being told it was the fault of the author of the book he plagiarized.