The following information about the Worldwide Church of God was extracted from the pamphlet titled, The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error, which is available from Moody Press. All Scriptures quoted here were taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, and used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. The Worldwide Church of God was founded by Garner Ted Armstrong and is commonly referred to as Armstrongism. ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR From the Teachings of Armstrongism GOD God is a Family, a Kingdom, not a limited trinity (The Plain Truth, Aug 1958, p. 17). The doctrine of the Trinity is false, pagan (The Missing Dimension in Sex, 37). God is a family: God is reproducing Himself and man was created to literally become God (What it Means to Be Equal with God, p. 43). At the present time there are only two beings in the God Family, (1) God the Father, Father of Jesus Christ, (2) God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the One who became Jesus Christ, God the Son ("The God Family" in Tomorrow's World, May 1971). You can become God ("God's Power" in Tomorrow's World, Nov 1971, p. 12) But quantitatively, man will never equal God the Father, just as surely as God the Creator (Jesus Christ) will Himself never quantitatively equal God the Father (What it Means to be Equal with God, p. 44). YAHWEH was the God of Israel. They (Israel) did not know God the Father ("Is Jesus God?" in The Plain Truth, Sept 1958). TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH From the Word of God GOD GEN 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. DEU 4:35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. JOH 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. 1TI 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. MAT 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. MAT 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." GEN 11:7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. ISA 48:16 Come near me and listen to this: "From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there." And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his Spirit. ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR From the Teachings of Armstrongism JESUS CHRIST Before Jesus was conceived by Mary, He was not the Son of God ("Just What do You Mean--Born Again?" p. 43 in Tomorrow's World, Oct 1971). God the Creator (Jesus Christ) Himself will never quantitatively equal God the Father (What it Means to be Equal with God, p. 45). Jesus Christ was born a Son of God by a resurrection from the dead . . . and as a born son of God, Christ is God! God Almighty His Father is God. They are two separate and individual persons (Why Were You Born? pp. 21-22). God the Father did not cause Jesus Christ to get back into the body which had died. Jesus Christ was dead . . . and the resurrected body was no longer human. It was Christ resurrected, immortal, once again changed (The Plain Truth, Apr 1963, pp. 10, 40). Christ's body disappeared. Christ was raised as a divine spirit being (If You Die, Will You Live Again?, p. 6). TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH From the Word of God JESUS CHRIST JOH 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. MAT 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ISA 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 1TI 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. JOH 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. JOH 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. ROM 1:4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 1CO 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. HEB 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. ACT 1:11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR From the Teachings of Armstrongism HOLY SPIRIT The Father and the Son are in definite locations with respect to each other . . . spirit proceeds from them and fills the entire universe. Spirit is God's life (How You Can Be Imbued with the Power of God, p. 5). Theologians have blindly accepted the false doctrine that the Holy Spirit is a third person--the heresy of the trinity. This limits God to Three Persons! (Just What Do You Mean--Born Again?, pp.17, 19). God's Spirit dwelling in you is God's own divine love (What Do You Mean--Unpardonable Sin?, p. 9). Whenever we become members of God's begotten family, we receive a portion, a seed or germ, of the Father's Holy Spirit. Notice that the Holy Spirit, the germ by which we are begotten, comes from the Father (How You Can Be Imbued with the Power of God, pp. 3, 4). TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH From the Word of God HOLY SPIRIT JOH 15:26 When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. JOH 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. JOH 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. JOH 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ROM 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. EPH 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. ROM 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR From the Teachings of Armstrongism SIN In literally hundreds of places in your New Testament, Jesus Christ and His inspired apostles teach absolute obedience to all of the Ten Commandments (The Plain Truth, p. 18). We must repent of sin, repent of transgressing God's law, which means turning from disobedience as a prior condition to receiving God's free gift (The Inside Story of the World Tomorrow, p. 48). Sickness is only the penalty of physical transgression, and whenever one is sick, he is paying that penalty. Healing is nothing more or less than the forgiveness of sin. God is the only real physician! Scripture labels other modes of healing idolatry. Medicine has a pagan origin (Does God Heal Today?, p. 8). TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH From the Word of God SIN ROM 3:10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one. ROM 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 1JO 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. 1JO 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1JO 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 1JO 5:17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. ROM 14:23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. JAM 4:17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR From the Teachings of Armstrongism SALVATION Jesus alone, of all humans, has so far been saved (Why Were You Born?, p. 11). The blood of Jesus Christ does not finally save anyone. It saves merely from the death penalty (of sin)(All About Water Baptism, pp. 1-3). Baptism is an essential ordinance for salvation. You must be baptized to become a true Christian ("This is the Worldwide Church of God," in Tomorrow's World, Feb 1971, pp. 16-17). Along with the physical act of baptism is promised the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands (Tomorrow's World, Apr 1971, pp. 41-42). One who is born of God is merely begotten spiritually. He is not yet really born. Only those who develop spiritually shall finally be given immortality . . . at the second coming of Christ (All About Water Baptism, p. 2). When Jesus Christ returns to this earth, He will, for the first time, set His hand to save the world. He will offer salvation (to all people) (There is a Real Hell Fire, p. 6). A majority of those who die without Christ will be resurrected and gain opportunity to believe during the Millennium (Predestination--Does the Bible Teach It?). TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH From the Word of God SALVATION ACT 16:31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." JOH 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. JOH 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. JOH 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. TIT 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. EPH 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. ROM 3:24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ROM 10:4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR From the Teachings of Armstrongism REDEMPTION The purpose of life in us is that God is really creating His own kind, reproducing Himself. At the time of the resurrection we shall be instantaneously changed from mortal into immortal. We shall then be God! You will actually be God, even as Jesus was and is God. You are setting out on a training to become Creator, to become God (Why Were You Born?, pp. 21-22). We . . . will generate eternal life intrinsically within ourselves (What It Means to Be Equal with God, p. 43). Furthermore, we will counsel and advise our Creator-Father (What It Means to Be Equal with God, p. 45). Physical human beings in Tomorrow's World . . . will worship before the feet of God's present-day human servants (Your Destiny--The God Family, p. 37). TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH From the Word of God REDEMPTION EPH 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. 1PE 1:18-19 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. REV 1:5-6 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. HEB 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. COL 1:20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. HEB 10:12, 14 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR From the Teachings of Armstrongism RETRIBUTION When a human being dies, he is DEAD, which means that his body, mind, and soul are all dead. He simply stops being (Do You Have an Immortal Soul?, p. 41). The wicked will be resurrected at the close of the Millennium, but only to be annihilated (Lazarus and the Rich Man). Rebellion against the Law of God means eternal punishment and everlasting death. God will save no person He does not rule (Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?, pp. 35, 58, 93, 94). "Everlasting" means "age-ending." The translation "everlasting" is misleading, since the fire itself will not burn forever. The concept of "hell" is part and parcel of the folklore and mythology of the whole world . . . as a place of punishment and torture of the wicked (Tomorrow's World, pp. 14, 18). TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH From the Word of God RETRIBUTION ROM 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. DAN 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. HEB 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. REV 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 2TH 1:7-10 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. MAR 9:45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. Bible Bulletin Board internet: www.biblebb.com modem: 609-324-9187 Box 318 Columbus, NJ 08022 ....online since 1986 Sysop/Webmaster: Tony Capoccia