I am a former member of an organization named Worldwide Church of God.

My mother joined the organization when I was about six years old. I attended as a child until I was twelve. I began attending again at age 22, following a long period of depression and anxiety related to an existential crisis.

Worldwide Church of God was cultic in nature. It taught that it was the only true church on earth, and that others outside of the church were spiritually blinded and not Christians. This included Roman Catholics and Protestants alike.

The leader, Herbert W. Armstrong, believed that he was an Apostle in the sense of the Twelve Apostles. He believed that he was the Elijah to Come who would precede Jesus Christ at his Second Coming.

Armstrongites believed that they alone possessed the true faith, and the early church since apostolic times had become corrupted.

Sunday observance was an identifying sign of their corruption (in essence, the mark of the Beast). True believers observed the Saturday Sabbath, festivals and clean/unclean meat laws, according to their understanding of the Bible.

Keeping the Sabbath was the test commandment of true faith. No one could expect to understand the Bible until he began to observe the Sabbath.

Herbert Armstrong, the founder, died in January 1986.

Joseph Tkach, Sr became the new leader of the church, assuming the title of Pastor General. He led the church for some time, and then he died of bone cancer. Under his leadership, the Church reversed several of the teachings of Herbert Armstrong, including the requirement to observe the Sabbath, festivals, and clean/unclean meat laws.

Mr. Tkach rejected the notion that other Christians were sincere but deceived unbelievers, the position that Herbert Armstrong held.

I continued to attend services after the death of Joseph Tkach, Sr. for a while. I left Worldwide Church of God to attend a nearby evangelical fellowship.

Worldwide Church of God became Grace Communion International (GCI). GCI rejected Armstrong’s peculiar teachings, but adopted some beliefs that I consider to be heterodox at best. These include women eldership, rejection of penal substitutionary atonement, and a tendency towards universalism.

Since then, I have attended churches belonging to several different denominations including Baptist, Evangelical Free, and Christian and Missionary Alliance. Due to frequent relocations related to my employment, I didn’t settle into a particular church for years.

I am currently attending a church that I would characterize as Particular Baptist.

Though the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) under Herbert W. Armstrong has long since splintered and reorganized under new names, its teachings continue to circulate in various offshoots.

These Armstrongite offshoots include United Church of God, Restored Church of God, Living Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God, and many other groups that are Sabbatarians (Saturday observers) with “Church of God” in the names.

These churches maintain the following core Armstrongist teachings:

• Sabbath observance (Saturday, not Sunday).
• Annual Biblical festivals and holy days (Leviticus 23), rejecting Christmas and Easter as pagan.
• British Israelism – teaching that the Anglo-Saxon nations are the descendants of the “lost ten tribes” of Israel.
• Salvation process – includes justification, sanctification, and eventual deification (Theosis) in the resurrection, denying that believers are “born again” now.
• Dualism or bi-theism – God is a Family currently composed of the Father and the Son; the Holy Spirit is not a person.
• Future judgment periods – Most of humanity is not being judged now; the Great White Throne Judgment is for the majority of mankind after the Millennium.
• Kenotic Christology – Jesus ceased to be God during the incarnation.
• Rejection of mainstream Christian doctrines – including the Trinity, immortal soul, and eternal hellfire.

Armstrongism claims to represent biblical truth and the restoration of apostolic Christianity, yet upon closer examination, it becomes clear that Armstrong’s teachings stand in direct contradiction to core Christian doctrines. This essay will examine Armstrongism’s teachings in comparison to evangelical Christianity, demonstrating how Armstrong’s distortions unravel the gospel itself.

Following is a list of core Christian doctrines, the Armstrongite belief associated with the doctrine, the associated biblical Christian teaching, biblical support for it, and why Armstrongism is wrong.

This presentation is an outline than an in-depth discussion.

I do not address second and third order doctrinal matters in this post. I believe that it is appropriate to focus on the core Christian doctrines. I am not interested in arguing about peripheral issues.

If you want to have an honest discussion with me on these issues, feel free to contact me via email.

1. The Nature of God: Trinity vs. Bi-theism

• Armstrongism: Denies the doctrine of the Trinity and instead teaches a form of bi-theism, the belief in two separate Gods—the Father and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is not a divine Person but an impersonal “force” or “power.” Armstrong taught that God is a “family” presently consisting of the Father and the Son, into which believers will eventually be born as gods.
• Biblical Christianity: Affirms one eternal God who exists as three co-equal, co-eternal, and co-essential Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Persons of the Trinity are distinct but not separate, sharing the same essence (Greek: homoousios). Armstrongism denies this by advocating a homoi-ousian (similar essence) theology, echoing the heresy of semi-Arianism rejected at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325.
• Scriptural Support:
  • Matthew 28:19 – “Baptizing them in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
  • John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
  • Acts 5:3–4 – Lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God.
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: The bi-theistic view effectively makes Christianity polytheistic and undermines the unity of the Godhead revealed throughout Scripture. The Holy Spirit is not a force but a divine Person (cf. Ephesians 4:30). Armstrongites believe that redeemed human beings become God in nature. This is a blasphemous claim, as God by definition is uncreated, unique and alone possesses self- existence (aseity). Redeemed believers will become like Jesus Christ in terms of his resurrected, glorified humanity, not in terms of his deity. Their existence is always dependent. Aseity is an attribute that belongs to God alone.

2. Jesus Christ: The Kenotic Christ vs. the Hypostatic Union

• Armstrongism: Taught a kenotic Christology—Jesus ceased to be God during His earthly life, becoming fully man only. He regained His divinity after the resurrection. This undermines the atonement and eternal nature of Christ.
• Biblical Christianity: Upholds the Hypostatic Union—Jesus is both fully God and fully man (two natures in one Person) from the incarnation onward (John 1:14, Col. 2:9). He never ceased being God, though He humbled Himself by taking on human nature (Phil. 2:5–8).
• Scriptural Support:
  • Colossians 2:9 – “In Him dwells all the fullness of deity bodily.”
  • Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: If Jesus ceased to be God, then His atonement loses its divine efficacy. Only God could bear the full weight of sin.

3. Human Nature and the Fall

• Armstrongism: Taught that humans are born morally neutral and are not guilty due to Adam’s sin. Rather, sin results from influence by Satan and environment.
• Biblical Christianity: Teaches original sin—humanity inherits both a sinful nature and guilt due to Adam’s transgression.
• Scriptural Support:
  • Romans 5:12 – “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned.”
  • Psalm 51:5 – “Surely I was sinful at birth…”
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: Minimizing the Fall leads to a diluted view of salvation and man’s need for divine grace.

4. Salvation and Justification

• Armstrongism: Salvation is by grace plus law-keeping, particularly the Mosaic Law. Justification is not a once-for-all legal declaration but a process intertwined with sanctification. Armstrongites obey Sabbaths, festivals, and dietary laws to prove their salvation.
• Biblical Christianity: Justification is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8–9). Good works are the fruit of genuine faith, not its root (James 2:17, Galatians 5:6).
• Scriptural Support:
  • Romans 3:28 – “We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
  • Titus 3:5 – “He saved us… not because of works done by us in righteousness…”
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: It confuses justification and sanctification, making salvation depend on works. Paul anathematized this in Galatians 1:6–9.

5. Regeneration: Born Again at Conversion or Resurrection?

• Armstrongism: Taught that believers are not “born again” at conversion, but only at the resurrection, when they will receive spirit bodies and become members of the God family.
• Biblical Christianity: Believers are regenerated at conversion, passing from spiritual death to life (John 3:3–8, 1 Peter 1:3). The new birth is a present spiritual reality, not postponed to the resurrection.
• Scriptural Support:
  • John 3:3 – “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: By delaying regeneration to the future, it nullifies the transforming work of the Spirit in the believer’s present life.

6. The Resurrection of the Dead

• Armstrongism: Believers will be raised with non-material spirit bodies, not bodily resurrections. The body is not redeemed but replaced.
• Biblical Christianity: Teaches a bodily resurrection, affirming the redemption of creation itself including the physical body (Romans 8:23, Philippians 3:21).
• Scriptural Support:
  • 1 Corinthians 15:42–44 – “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual [glorified] body.”
  • Luke 24:39 – Jesus said, “Touch me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones…”
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: This denies the restoration of the material order, undermining the hope of a new heavens and new earth.

7. The Law and the Old Covenant

• Armstrongism: Requires obedience to the Mosaic Law, including the seventh-day Sabbath, Old Testament festivals, and dietary laws. Yet the priesthood and Temple—essential for Mosaic observance—ceased in AD 70.
• Biblical Christianity: Believes the Mosaic Law was a shadow fulfilled in Christ (Colossians 2:16–17). The moral law remains, but ceremonial and civil components do not bind believers (Hebrews 8:13).
• Christ as Fulfillment: Christ is the True Adam, the True Temple, the True Israel (Matthew 12:6, John 2:19, Romans 5:14). Mosaic shadows find substance in Him.
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: Their observance of the Law is a selective “patchwork quilt” impossible to fulfill and undermines the finished work of Christ. The Sabbath, festivals, and new moons were required observances under the Mosaic Covenant. These all involved sacrifices at the Temple by the priests. There is no Temple and there is no priesthood now. The Temple and the geneological records to validate the priesthood were destroyed in 70 AD.

8. Judgment and the Second Resurrection

• Armstrongism: Only members of WCG are being judged now; the rest of humanity will be resurrected in a Second Resurrection to receive their opportunity for salvation after Satan is removed.
• Biblical Christianity: Scripture affirms all are accountable now. “Now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). There is no second chance after death (Hebrews 9:27). God commands all men to repent now (Acts 17:30-31).
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: It offers false hope and contradicts the urgency of the gospel call in this life.

9. British Israelism

• Armstrongism: British Israelism is a foundational doctrine. Armstrong taught that white Anglo-Saxon nations (Britain, Europe, U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, etc.) are descended from the “lost ten tribes” of Israel. This justified imposing Mosaic Law observance on these “Israelite” nations.
• Biblical Christianity: Flatly rejects British Israelism as unbiblical and racially charged. The New Testament identifies the true Israel as those who are in Christ (Galatians 3:28–29, Romans 9:6–8). Salvation is by grace, not genealogy.
• Why Armstrongism is wrong: It diverts attention from Christ and the gospel to national identity and legal observance. In Christ, ethnic distinctions are removed.

I recommend reading the book Manual of Christian Doctrine by Louis Berkhof to obtain a basic understanding of biblical Christianity. It was written by a Reformed theologian with a high school to freshman college level audience in mind.

It is available on Amazon.

Robert Sparkman

rob@christiannewsjunkie.com

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