Author: James

The Worldwide church of God attempted to annihilate peoples personality, individuality, will, and character. The stranded souls that hitched their wagon to this organization unknowingly supported a power-hungry pharisaic and fastuous authoritative cult leader and his son, Garner Ted Armstrong. For all the alarums and excursions, the fact remains that without knowing it, we nurtured these two ungrateful incubi's. For that I can only ask for forgiveness. After my WCG experience, I went to college to educate myself so I would have a greater understanding of the world about me and to understand why I ever fell for HWA's scam religion. This lead me to the conclusion that the appropriate action to take, in my judgment, is to provide people with opportunities to learn, develop, and exercise their potential as human beings, by freeing them from men who exploit and abuse them. This website and others are my vehicle to do just that.
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Der Fuhrer, Herbert W. Armstrong

Way back in 1984, about two years after my baptism into the Worldwide Church of God, I readĀ The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, the classic history of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer. While reading the book, I was struck several times by the similarities between the Third Reich and my church. I should have heeded my misgivings and left the church then, but like a good cult member I pushed unfavorable thoughts to the back of my mind.

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One-on-one with Atonement

Blast from the pastā€¦.

Another Day of Atonement has now gone. This brought back memoriesā€¦ Atonement spelled ā€œAt-One-Mentā€ (like those little ā€œproofsā€ HWA used that only worked in English), a slightly shorter afternoon service, the guy who says itā€™s his treat for after-service refreshments, a sermon about Satan, the minister shows his empty glass (normally filled with water) and his remarks about how weā€™re all thinking of a nice steak (when weā€™re really thinking of a beer) and the New Yearā€™s Eve type countdown until sunset.

Behind this was another example of HWAā€™s flawed theology. The Day of Atonement (in the Hebrew, Yom HaKippurim) was not all about sticking it to Satan. It had to do with the annual atonement of the Temple, the Priesthood, and the Congregation of Israel. And as I have noted a few times before, COG theology is blissfully ignorant of the Levitical Priesthood and the Tabernacle/Temple system. Either the Portland Public Library didnā€™t have tomes like Eddersheimā€™s works on the Temple and First Century Palestine (written way before 1927) or HWA didnā€™t find anything he could use in them.

As I understand HWA theology (occasionally clarified by some convoluted explanations from Dr T) the Levitical system was a temporary addition (Plan C?) although it will be reinstituted in the Millenium (ā€œfor a short timeā€). The establishment of the Aaronic priesthoodĀ foreverĀ depends entirely onĀ foreverĀ not really meaning, uh, forever. So, I understand, this misunderstanding allows COGs to dispense with ā€œLeviticalā€ laws at their discretion. In fact, CG7 apparently used that reason to dispense with the Holy Days (except Passover) ā€“ because they were described in Leviticus. But all COGs, and almost all churches, keep tithing (first tithe), which was specifically for the Levites.

But now, coming soon, another feast, and as always, it will beĀ The Best Feast Ever!

Article by Hoss